If you are ever stuck in a rut, remember that part of the Charles River Campus’s appeal is its prime location – downtown Boston is always just down the street. When you need a break from the monotony of the dining hall, you will not necessarily have to venture too far. Commonwealth Avenue offers everything from Thai to Mediterranean to Italian fare. Try the Sunset Cantina in West Campus for tasty and reasonably priced quesadillas, burritos and desserts. Just a few stops outbound on the Green Line is Brown Sugar, a cozy restaurant that offers the best Thai food around. When you’re craving fast food, stop into UBurger in Kenmore Square, where a fresh-ground burger, hand-cut fries and a frappe will cost you less than $7. When you think Boston, you think Red Sox. Fenway Park is just a short walk down Brookline Avenue off Kenmore Square. When the Red Sox take the field, Kenmore Square becomes a playground for baseball fans from around the world. Taking in at least one home game is an essential experience for a new Bostonian, and a seat in the bleachers won’t drain your wallet. Even though all the Sox home games are sold out for the rest of the season, Fenway Park releases day-of tickets two hours before each game at Gate E. Next to Fenway Park, Lansdowne Street has always been the heart of the Boston club scene. This fall, however, two student-favorite clubs, Avalon and Axis, will merge into a 35,000-square-foot music venue, meaning students will have to turn elsewhere to get their late-night dancing fix. Aria and The Roxy on Tremont Street near the Boylston T stop are still open for club nights, but some may be restricted to 21-plus. On a nice weekend, residents turn out in droves to browse the shops on Newbury Street, easily accessed by the Hynes Convention Center and Copley T stops. The west end of Newbury is home to Urban Outfitters, the original Newbury Comics and nearly every kind of café imaginable — from Sonsie to Stephanie’s. But as the street numbers go down, prices go up – high-end fashion-lovers should take note of Marc Jacobs, Chanel and Emporio Armani, located near the Public Gardens end of Newbury. Boston Common and the Public Garden, as well as the Charles Rivers Esplanade, are ideal locations to jog or picnic in favorable weather. And from November to March, the Boston Common Frog Pond opens for ice skating at $4 per person and another $4 to rent skates. If you’re still thinking about food and are in the mood for Italian, take a trip to the historic North End, just a few steps off the Green Line at Haymarket Station. Restaurants such as La Brace, Giacomo’s Ristorante and G’Vanni’s Ristorante line the streets among small stores and pastry shops – most popular of all, Mike’s Pastry, which is always packed with connoisseurs of the sweets. Down the street from the North End, Quincy Market off the Government Center stop offers any type of food or pastry a college student could want, and they’re all served to go. The new London-based Japanese restaurant, Wagamama, where a huge bowl of noodles, meat and vegetables will cost between $9 and $13, just opened its first American location inside the Faneuil Hall Marketplace. The Comedy Connection in Faneuil Hall is also a great place to go at night to see local and nationally recognized comedians. When it comes to museums in this intellectual corner of the world, there are plenty worth checking out. The Fogg Art Museum on Quincy Street is the oldest art museum in Boston, with pieces dating back to the Middle Ages. The Museum of Science, which usually costs $17 to get in, offers a free-admission day for college students in the fall. The New England Aquarium, just a short walk from the North End and famous for its penguin tank, is worth the trip. Admission itself is a little pricier than most other museums, though — it’s $18.95 to get into the aquarium, which also boasts breathtaking whale watches, and the nextdoor IMAX theater costs another $12.95. For the grand total of free, a student ID is all you need to get into the Museum of Fine Arts on the E Line. A recent addition to the art scene is the Institute of Contemporary Art at 100 Northern Avenue on the Boston waterfront. Admission is $10 with student ID, but free on Thursday nights between 5 and 9 p.m.