Boston had always been one of my favorite cities, but I didn’t realize just how well it worked for a family trip until last month when we visited with our girls (ages 4 and 7). It has the perfect mix of history, beautiful parks, incredible food, hands-on museums, and hotels that genuinely welcome children. We loved how easy it was to balance activities for the girls with experiences we enjoyed as adults.

If you're looking for an easy long weekend getaway from Chicago, Boston is hard to beat. Here's exactly how we spent our long weekend—from where we stayed and what we ate to the attractions our kids loved most.

I also rounded up all my favorite travel essentials for traveling with kids (and plane boredom busters) that I have been using for our family trips.