Where to meet up in Downtown Boston

The glass entrance to the Downtown Crossing station on Franklin Street in Boston at night, with planters in front of it — The Orange Line entrance to Downtown Crossing on Franklin Street. Photo by 4300streetcar (CC BY 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Downtown Boston covers Downtown Crossing, Boston Common and the blocks around Faneuil Hall and Government Center. Offices, shops and the State House are all close together here, so it suits a lunch with coworkers, drinks after work, or a day out with friends who ride in on different lines.

Spots that are easy to name in a plan:

the Park Street station entrance at the corner of Boston Common
the pedestrian streets of Downtown Crossing, around Washington and Winter Streets
Quincy Market at Faneuil Hall Marketplace
City Hall Plaza, next to the Government Center station

Several stations sit a few blocks apart, and each has a different mix of lines. Pick the spot by the line most of the group rides.

Getting around

Park Street has the Red Line and the Green Line's B, C, D and E branches. Boylston, the next Green Line stop south, has the same four branches.
Downtown Crossing has the Red and Orange lines.
State has the Orange and Blue lines.
Government Center has the Blue Line and all four Green Line branches.
Haymarket, near Faneuil Hall, has the Orange Line and the Green Line's D and E branches.

The subway closes overnight. The MBTA's subway guide gives typical hours of 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday to Thursday, 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Sunday.

Park Street, Downtown Crossing, State, Government Center and Haymarket are all on the guide's list of stations for the last connections of the night. Anyone changing lines on the way home should be at one of them by 12:35 a.m. Sunday to Thursday, or by 1:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.