How to get to lots of places _without_ a car.  If you're going to be driving, look here

Buses

The MIT/Wellesley Exchange Bus  The Exchange Bus runs between Wellesley and MIT on weekdays. There is no cost to ride the Exchange Bus. It exists to shuttle Wellesley students to classes at MIT and vice versa, but you do not need to be taking an MIT class to ride it. The trip into the city takes about 35 minutes with good traffic conditions, and the bus is a coach bus with comfy seats. A schedule can be found here. The bus picks up in front of Schneider Center at Wellesley, Bldg 34 on Vassar St at MIT and Bldg E40 on Amherst St at MIT.  It drops off at Schneider, Vassar St, and the Kendall T stop.  On request, the bus will stop at the Woodland MBTA stop.** does it always stop at Woodland now?

The Senate Bus  The Senate Bus runs between Wellesley, Woodland, Harvard, MIT, and Beacon St on weekends. You must buy a ticket to ride the Senate Bus. Tickets can be purchased at the Info Box at Schneider Center, Out of Town News in Harvard Square, MIT Coffee House at the MIT Student Center (3rd floor - open all night but they tend to run out of tickets), and Marlboro Market near Beacon St on Mass Ave. Tickets vary in price from $1.75 at Wellesley to $2.50 at some of the other places, so you're best off stocking up on tickets or a 10-ride punch pass at the Info Box. A schedule for the Senate Bus can be found here. The bus picks up in front of Schneider Center at Wellesley and drops off at Harvard Yard, MIT Kresge (across the street from the strange aluminum building - really in front of McCormick Hall), and BU's Danielson Hall on Beacon St. Certain buses also stop at the Woodland MBTA stop. The bus takes about 50 minutes to get from Wellesley to Beacon St.

Greyhound and Peter Pan  Greyhound and Peter Pan can get you most places you want to go, including Maine, New York, Northampton, New Haven....  I've never gone anywhere on them and don't know the phone numbers, though!

Trains

Commuter Rail

An alternative way to get into the city if you don't want to take a bus is the Commuter Rail. The Wellesley Square stop on the Framingham/Worcester line is in the vil, about two blocks down from the college walking entrance. It is on the left if you're walking away from Wellesley, right where the first road on that side intersects Rt 135. The train drops off at South Station, which is also a T stop on the Red Line. A one-way ticket costs $2.50, and can be purchased on the train. It's a good idea to have extra money with you, though, as there are signs saying that you'll be charged a service fee for paying for your ticket on the train on the way out of the city. Tickets can also be purchased at South Station. Schedules for the Framingham/Worcester line can be found here. The trip takes about half an hour.

The T

The T is shorthand for MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority), Boston's public transportation system. The T is what you are most likely to use to get around once you're in the city. There are T trains, both under and above ground, and T buses. Trains are generally more useful than buses. A map of the complete train system can be found here. T tokens cost $.85 each. Some useful T stops are Kendall, where you get off to go to MIT, Harvard Square and South Station on the Red Line, Logan Airport on the Blue line, and the MFA on the Green Line. The Green Line goes outside of the city to some suburban areas, such as the Woodland stop near the Newton-Wellesley hospital, where the Senate and Exchange buses stop. To go into the city from Woodland, it costs $2.00, and takes at least half an hour.

Amtrak

Amtrak trains leave from South Station and Back Bay, and will take you almost anywhere in the country. In particular, Amtrak is a convenient and relatively comfortable way to get to places on the east coast. It costs about $50 to go one-way to New York City, and takes about 4 1/2 hours. Look here for more information.