WEB EXTRA: ‘The Great Hidden Gem’ For Boston Tourists

To gauge what might be ahead for the tourist season in Boston this summer, we spoke to the president and CEO of the Visitors Bureau, Pat Moscaritolo. We asked him to tell us what he considers to be a hidden gem that people should see when they come to the city.

VISITORS BUREAU CEO PAT MOSCARITOLO: I always tell people Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. It is so unique. There is no other city in the United States, that I’m aware of, that has a museum of that nature.

And, of course, it has now some intriguing history behind it because of what happened years ago with that theft. But when you go back and trace that this was a private home, and Mrs. Gardner had in her will this is what she wanted to do, and leave this to the people of Boston and future generations, to kind of understand what life was like, you know, almost a century ago.

You walk into that courtyard and you are transformed, I think, into thinking you may have just walked into a courtyard in Venice, or somewhere in Italy. So, she clearly got it right in terms of the “wow” that it creates.

Listen to Bob Oakes’ full interview with Pat Moscaritolo on WBUR’s Morning Edition.