Upon first glance, the area of the city known as the Fenway doesn’t seem to offer much. A gritty network of streets lined with pubs and discount stores, the neighborhood has traditionally been the stomping grounds for students of nearby Boston University. Scratch beneath the surface, however, and you’ll find several of Boston’s premier cultural attractions, including the Museum of Fine Arts and the jewel box Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

The Fenway neighborhood gets its name from the Back Bay Fens, a winding, swampy greensward that serves as the drainage channel for the city. Today, The Fens is a rambling parkland, lined with ball fields and community gardens, including the hidden Kelleher Rose Garden, a dreamy garden full of vine-covered trellises and over 100 varieties of roses.

The center of the Fenway neighborhood is Kenmore Square, a lively crossroads of student bars, discount stores, and burrito joints, just down the street from the historic home of the Boston Red Sox: Fenway Park. Behind the baseball stadium, Landsdowne Street is lined with the city’s flashiest dance clubs, where international students shake their stuff after midnight.