Where to meet up in Back Bay

Back Bay runs west from the Public Garden along Boylston Street, Newbury Street and Commonwealth Avenue. Copley Square is its center, with Trinity Church on one side and the Boston Public Library across Dartmouth Street. Shops, restaurants and office towers line the main streets, so Back Bay suits a weekend brunch, an afternoon of shopping with friends, or dinner and drinks after work.

Meeting points that people can find without directions:

• the plaza in front of Trinity Church at Copley Square
• the Boston Public Library, facing the square
• Newbury Street, one block north of Boylston Street
• the Prudential Center, a mall and office complex on Boylston Street

Getting around

• Copley has all four Green Line branches, B, C, D and E. Park Street is three stops east, after Arlington and Boylston.
• Arlington, by the Public Garden, has the same four branches.
• West of Copley the branches split. The B, C and D stop at Hynes Convention Center, and the E stops at Prudential.
• Back Bay station, on the south side of the neighborhood, has the Orange Line and commuter rail trains on the Framingham/Worcester, Franklin/Foxboro, Needham and Providence/Stoughton lines.

Late at night, plan the trip home around the downtown transfer stations. The MBTA's subway guide says to reach Park Street, Downtown Crossing, Government Center, Haymarket, North Station or State by 12:35 a.m. Sunday to Thursday, or by 1:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, to make the last connections. None of them are in Back Bay, so leave a little earlier. The same guide gives typical subway hours of 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. on weeknights, until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and from 6 a.m. on Sunday.