For great insider insights, take a two-hour tour of historic Beacon Hill with a Hill resident and Circle for Charity member. At its conclusion, you’ll be welcomed into three exquisite private homes. Ask to see Louisburg Square and the home where the original Thomas Crown Affair was filmed (85 Mt. Vernon Street, for those who are interested).

Conveniently located on the first block of Newbury Street, Bella Sante is a haven from the summer heat and the winter snow. If you are staying at the Taj Boston, head here for a treatment after a long day shopping – it’s about a 30 second walk from the hotel.

Although the history of the Boston Ballet, which was founded in 1963, can’t compare to such old-world troupes as the Kirov or Paris Opera Ballet, the company has been ably lead by artistic director Mikko Nissinen. Appointed in 2001, Nissinen has dedicated himself to presenting contemporary, innovative choreography as well as Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, the latter of which it performs for a month every year.

This fifty-acre park, adjacent to Beacon Hill and Back Bay, is the oldest in the country. Originally used as grazing ground for cattle, the green was also the site of public hangings and served as a camp for British troops. Today this small but peaceful urban oasis offers city residents and local office workers a place to retreat and relax. The Common is across the street from the Public Garden.

Central to the Public Garden is a pond on which pedal-powered swan boats provide endless amusement to young visitors. Local residents transformed the lush area from salt marsh to public park in the mid-19th century, and it has since served as an extension to the Common, which is separated from the Garden by Charles Street. Fans of the classic children’s book Make Way for Ducklings should enter at the intersection of Charles and Beacon Streets, where the path to the pond features a bronze sculpture of the story’s web-footed heroes.

An esplanade lines both sides of the Charles River, which divides Cambridge and Boston and winds into the western suburbs. A popular place for jogging and picnicking, the Cambridge side offers beautiful views of the Boston skyline.

Just half a block from the Public Garden, Exhale provides a perfect place to Zen out with a combination of spa treatments and fitness classes. In addition to the traditional massages and facials, therapists trained in Eastern medicine also perform acupuncture, reiki and shiatsu massages. Monthly memberships for the highly rated yoga classes are available, but drop-ins are also welcome.

A highlight for baseball fans of all ages is a visit to the sport’s most fabled stadium, Fenway Park. Although there’s no bad time for a trip, the most exciting season occurs in the fall as the Red Sox fight their way towards the playoffs. If kids can’t sit through an entire game, take a tour of the ballpark or grab a seat by the windows of the Bleacher Bar and enjoy its views of the field.

The go-to salon for a blowout or touch-up while you’re in town, James Joseph offers trusted cuts, color and styling in a lofty space overlooking Newbury Street.

This stylish salon is frequented by everyone from posh Beacon Hill socialites to groovy South End hipsters and is where the Taj sends its guests. Booking time with Mario himself can be tough, but the staff works wonders in prepping hair for a night out. The salon’s nail services are also excellent. (Kobe Bryant is said to have used them for a pregame manicure when he was in town.) Russo’s line of olive-based hair and skin products is worth picking up as well.

Through mid-November, Cambridge families get their Sunday exercise jogging, biking and skating along the banks of the Charles when the city turns busy Memorial Drive into a pedestrian thoroughfare. Closed between Western Avenue and Mount Auburn Street (the section closest to the Harvard campus), the area offers a perfect place to enjoy the crisp fall air and burn off youthful energy. Rent children’s and adults’ bikes from Cambridge Bicycle (259 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge; 617-876-6555; www.cambridgebicycle.com) then finish your athletic outing with a picnic of sandwiches and bakery goods from Harvard Square’s best gourmet deli, Darwin’s (148 Mt. Auburn St, Cambridge; 617-354-5233; www.darwinsltd.com).

Opened in 1900, Boston’s Symphony Hall has been called one of the world’s top three concert spaces, thanks to its grand interiors and flawless acoustics. As the late New York Times editor and revered author R.W. Apple, Jr. noted in his 2005 book Apple’s America, it “need not take a back seat, aesthetically or acoustically, even to the Musikverein in Vienna.” The hall is home to the Boston Pops and to the nationally acclaimed Boston Symphony Orchestra.

If you can take the cold, ice-skating on the Common is one of the ultimate winter outdoor activities for families. Skate and locker rentals are available; children under thirteen skate free.

With more than 7,000 artifacts and 500,000 historic documents and photographs, Natick’s Museum of World War II boasts the most comprehensive collection of WWII relics in the world. For history-buffs or anyone interested in the time period, it is definitely worth the 40-minute drive from downtown Boston. Visitors must reserve a tour ahead of time; contact the Indagare Bookings Team for assitance.

The famous silversmith’s house in the North End was built in 1680 and is one of the few remaining early colonial homes in Boston. Much of the restored home is original and the wide hearths and the 18^th-century decor impart a feeling of old Boston. The house is very near to the Old North Church and Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, also important pre-Revolutionary sites.

While your kids may not be ready to read Thoreau, they’ll love exploring his retreat near historic Concord. The 462-acre Walden Pond State Reservation includes a web of hiking trails that circle the lake (swimmable in warmer weather) and a replica of the philosopher’s one-room cabin – a simply furnished structure that will positively shock your children with its lack of indoor plumbing and cable TV. While the area is particularly stunning during the peak of fall foliage, it’s also a great place to strap on showshoes or cross-country skis when snowy weather turns the park into a winter wonderland. Guided walks are available year-round.