You've Done This: Now Try This

From busy Stuart Street, turn right onto quiet Church Street. (The maze of one-way streets keeps traffic to a minimum.) Walk past the crooked-roofed brick homes with their painted shutters and cheerful window boxes, then at the corner of Fayette Street, grab coffee at Rachel's Kitchen (12 Church St.), a tiny corner cafe. Double back and make a right on Melrose Street to view the grander, five-story homes.

Afternoon Stroll

TOURIST: Freedom Trail

The 2 1/2 -mile path from the gold-domed State House to the home of Paul Revere takes you past 16 historic sites. Official guides in period dress also lead 90-minute tours.

INSIDER: Esplanade River Walk

Lush and green, the 18-mile Dudley White path snakes along the Charles River. Enter at the north end of Arlington Street, near Beacon Hill, by crossing over the Arthur Fiedler Footbridge to the Hatch Shell, where you might catch a free outdoor concert on weekends. Then wind your way up past the domes of MIT and the soaring spires of Harvard. Along the way, you'll see scores of sailboats out in the river and occasional gondoliers, who sing Italian arias as they ferry tourists past the city's soaring vistas. There's ample green space to rest or throw out a blanket and picnic along the way.

Haute Couture

TOURIST: LouisBoston

Housed in a grand 19th-century building on Newbury Street, Louis (pronounced Louie's) defines "establishment." The store offers high-end fashion (Marni, Proenza Schouler and Jack Vartanian), legendarily snooty staff and a see-and-be-seen steakhouse, Boston Public.

INSIDER: Achilles Project

The newest addition to the up-and-coming neighborhood Fort Point, the Achilles Project seems modeled on Louis, with impossibly expensive clothes and a stylish restaurant under one roof. But unlike its competition, the Achilles Project embodies cool. The limited-run collections from such European designers as Filippa K and from Maine up-and-comers Rogues Gallery hang in glass boxes that, in the evening, are rolled back against the walls to make space for an expanded cocktail bar where regulars can chat with their friends or play Guitar Hero on one of the hanging flat-screen TVs.

· 283 Summer St., 617-423-2257, http://www.achilles-project.com.

Ethnic Food

TOURIST: North End

Dozens of charming restaurants line the winding streets of Boston's most famous Italian neighborhood. On the menu: bland bowls of spaghetti marinara and soggy cannoli.