The complete guide to Travels with JFK

WHERE DID IT ALL BEGIN?

WHERE DID IT ALL BEGIN?

In County Wexford, Ireland. In a humble white house, so far down an ever-narrowing lane that you'll think you've missed it. Tucked away in Dunganstown is the Kennedy Homestead (00 353 51 388264, www.kennedyhomestead.com) where JFK's great-grandfather Patrick was born and lived until he sailed for America in 1848 during the Great Famine. One bedroom is all that remains of the original homestead; the rest was demolished in 1870 to make room for the present farmhouse where JFK's relatives still live. Open from May to September; May, June & Sept Mon-Fri 11.30am-4.30pm; July-Aug daily 10am-5pm, admission €4 (£2.80).

JFK paid a visit during his 1963 homecoming tour of Ireland (when a single-storey extension with an inside toilet was quickly added). It has become a place of pilgrimage and is run by Patrick Grennan, a distant cousin of JFK who is unaware that he has inherited the Kennedy charm. In the old cowshed you can watch videos of JFK's visit, and in the barn is a fascinating display of photos, letters and documents. The visit ends in the bedroom, empty but for an old dresser and a picture of the president that reduces many to tears.

HOW DID HE GET HOME?

JFK left Ireland in style in the Sixties version of Air Force One, a Boeing 707 that can now be seen at the Museum of Flight in Seattle (001 206 764 5720, www.museumofflight.org). It opens daily, 10am-5pm, admission $11 (£7). You can reach it easily from Seattle-Tacoma airport, accessible daily from London on British Airways (0870 850 9 850, www.ba.com).

Kennedy's ancestors' departure in the emigrant ship, The Washington Irving, had been less grand. In New Ross, County Wexford, you can visit a replica of a "coffin ship", the Dunbrody Famine Ship (00 353 51 425239, www.dunbrody.com) run by the JFK Trust.

It is moored at the very dock from which Patrick Kennedy left, and where JFK spoke in 1963. Costumed guides re-enact the tough six-to-eight-week voyage but manage to make it fun. Admission €6.50 (£4.50), open 10am-4pm winter, 9am-6pm in summer.

Close by is the beautiful JFK Arboretum (00 353 51 388171), named in his honour in 1968, which is well worth a visit. It opens 10am-5pm winter, 10am-6.30pm spring, 10am-8pm summer; admission €2.75 (£2). Then head over to Ballyhack to catch the car-ferry to Passage East and follow directions to Woodstown. It was here in 1967 that Jackie and the two children came for privacy. Locals recall seeing them walking on the sands. Follow in their footsteps, nothing much has changed and in the silence, it's easy to picture them here.

County Wexford is about three hours' drive south from Dublin. Alternatively, take the Irish Ferries vessel from Fishguard (08705 17 17 17, www.irishferries.com) to Rosslare.

Irish Tourist Board (0800 039 7000 www.southeastireland.com).

WHERE CAN YOU GET AN EARLY GLIMPSE OF THE MAN THE CHILD WOULD BECOME?

JFK was born at three o'clock in the afternoon on 29 May 1917 at 83 Beals Street, Brookline, a pleasant suburb of Boston. Tree-lined and quiet, it's still residential, and even the squirrels that cross your path don't hurry. Joe and Rose Kennedy moved here in 1914 and four of their nine children were born here. John Fitzgerald, Jack, as he was known, was the second. The detached wooden house is now the John F Kennedy National Historic Site (001 617 566 7937, www.nps.gov/jofi, open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am-4.30pm, admission $3/£2). Of all the places that influenced and shaped JFK, it is here, with hindsight, that you will see the first signs of the man he would become.

Rose Kennedy's voice is heard over the empty chairs and empty tables; she talks, as most mothers would, of ordinary things; of playtimes, bedtimes and mealtimes.

At dinner on Sundays, the children would be questioned on the gospel and would be expected to join in conversations on historic events that shaped the nation. Upstairs you can see the twin-bedded master bedroom where JFK was born. Casually mentioned in the nursery is the fact that Jack's favourite book was King Arthur and his Knights. The first step on the road to Camelot.

WHERE DID HE MAKE HIS FIRST SPEECH?

The story goes that six-year-old JFK was with his maternal grandfather, the mayor of Boston, John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, at the city's Omni Parker House Hotel (001 617 227 8600, www.omnihotels.com). It's said that JFK was stood on a chair and urged to speak. His words, "This is the best grandfather a child ever had", have since been heralded as his first speech. It was in the hotel's press room in 1946 that JFK announced his candidacy for US Congress and also where, in 1953, he held his bachelor party. He had proposed to Jackie in the hotel's restaurant, at the table in the corner. You can stay in the Kennedy suite, named after Joe and Rose. On the wall are pictures of the family and from the window you can see the JFK Federal Building.

The hotel is said to be the oldest operating hotel in the US. Its Last Hurrah Bar is still a political meeting place; sink into the leather sofas and watch today's movers and shakers as JFK stares down from photos on the wall. Accommodation starts at $139 (£90) per room (based on double occupancy).

WHERE DID HE LIKE TO EAT?

JFK liked to eat at Ye Olde Union Oyster House (001 617 227 2750, www.unionoysterhouse.com, open Sun-Thurs, 11am-9.30pm, Fri & Sat 11am-10pm) in Union Street, Boston, said to be the oldest restaurant in America. Today there is a brass plaque in his favourite spot, booth number 18. He would come here at noon on Sundays, thankful for the privacy that the upstairs booth provided and enjoy his favourite meal: lobster stew.

You can eat there too, although the booth is in great demand so you will need to book. The restaurant, which is a National Historic Landmark, is wonderful and rambling, the floors slope and people crowd around the semi-circular oyster bar as they have since it opened in 1826. Family run, the restaurant is unpretentious, the food excellent and the prices sensible.

HIS SPEECHES WERE INSPIRING - WHERE DID HE LEARN TO WRITE LIKE THAT?

He studied politics, government and economics at Harvard and graduated in 1940. His rooms are now used by the John F Kennedy School of Government. You can take a tour, self-guided or with a Harvard student, around Harvard Yard and the campus. Student-led tours are free and start from Harvard Events and Info Centre, Holyoke Center, Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge. Times vary; call 001 617 495 1573 or visit www.harvard.edu.

Nearby, on the corner of JFK Street and Memorial Drive is the JFK Park. Traffic races by this quiet spot near the Cambridge River.

WHERE CAN YOU GET THE BEST IDEA OF HIS TIME AS PRESIDENT?

At the John F Kennedy Library and Museum at Columbia Point, overlooking Boston Harbour (001 877 616 4599, www.jfklibrary.org.) The exhibition starts with a photo gallery of this large, striking family. On show is one of his exercise books with a plea for a raise in his allowance. The argument was well put - a sign of the politician he would become - and he was awarded a few more cents a week. It's finished, touchingly, with a full signature in an immature hand. Later, you can spot that same signature, virtually unchanged by the years, on documents relating to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

It's an excellent museum; you can follow JFK's campaign and his thousand days in the White House, there's also a good section about Jackie although it doesn't go into her later years.

The exhibits end on 22 November 1963 in a darkened corridor but then you turn a corner and you can see the legacy of those years. Finish in the glass pavilion where a giant Stars and Stripes hangs; read the quotations which, as you leave, will echo as loudly in your mind as your footsteps on the marble floor.

It opens 9am-5pm. Closed Christmas, Thanksgiving & New Year's Day. Admission $8 (£5.50). From Boston, take MBTA Red line to the JFK/Mass stop, and the free shuttle from there. A taxi from central Boston will cost about $12 (£8).

WHAT ABOUT THE PRIVATE MAN?

An easy, two-hour drive south from Boston will take you to Hyannis, Cape Cod. It was here that the Kennedy family would spend summers and where JFK would go when he needed to think. It was his safe harbour in a troubled world and is the best place to get a glimpse of the private man. Stop first at the John F Kennedy Hyannis Museum in the Old Town Hall, Main Street. (001 508 790 3077, www.hyannis.com). Walter Cronkite narrates a video about the Kennedys in Cape Cod and happy family photos complete the picture. Opening times vary, phone for details. Admission $5 (£3.20).

Rose and Joe had bought a summer home in 1927. Later JFK, brother Robert and other family members bought homes here, creating what has become known as the Kennedy Compound. Some of the Kennedy clan still live here so it is strictly off limits, but Hy-Line Harbour Tours (001 508 778 2600, www.hy-linecruises.com, $12/£8) will take you around the bay and you can get a distant view.

On Ocean Drive in Hyannisport is the JFK Memorial which faces the waters where he swam and sailed. In town, you can see where the family worshipped at St Frances Xavier Roman Catholic Church. Just up the street is the National Guard Armoury, empty now but used by JFK as an election night headquarters.

Hyannis is proud and very protective of the Kennedys, although one restaurant/brew-pub poses the question; "Ask not what your brew can do for you - but what you would do for a real brew."

For information on Boston and New England call the brochure line on 0870 2640 555 or visit www.discovernewengland.org. Discount fares to Boston from London in winter cost around £250 outside the Christmas/New Year peak.

WHAT ABOUT JACKIE?

JFK met Jacqueline Bouvier in May 1951 in Georgetown, Washington, when, as a writer for the Washington Times Herald, she would often interview him. They married in September 1953; a huge society wedding at St Mary's Church, Newport, Rhode Island, which can be visited (001 401 846 4926).They spent their wedding night in New York at the Waldorf Astoria (001 212 355 3000, www.waldorf.com). There is a Presidential Suite where he later stayed as president and where his rocking chair has a home. Accommodation costs from around $300 (£190) per room.

The couple flew to Acapulco for the honeymoon, staying in a villa lent to them by the president of Mexico.

John and Jackie set up home in Georgetown, Washington. There's currently an exhibition about the newlyweds at The Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building in Jefferson Drive (001 202 357 2020, www.si.edu) called "Camelot at Dawn". It runs until 4 January 2004 and contains photos of the couple taken in May 1954. It opens Mon-Sat 9am-4pm, admission free.

You can also join a walking tour - John and Jackie in Georgetown (001 301 588 8999, www.tourdc.com/gtspring).

WHAT WAS CAMELOT?

John and Jackie spent a little more than one thousand days as president and First Lady in the White House. This era, when it seemed even the sky was no limit, became known as Camelot.

As First Lady, Jackie soon began expensive restorations to the White House. Sadly, since the attacks of September 11, tours of the White House have been suspended. For now, you'll have to be content to peer over the railings for that famous view of the White House or call into the White House Visitor Center. (001 202 208 1631, www.nps.gov/whho/WHVC/). It opens 7.30am-4pm, admission free.

JFK was very supportive of the arts, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on the Potomac River in Washington was designed as a living memorial (001 202 467 4600, www.kennedy-center.org, admission free).

For more information visit www.washington.org. Discount off-peak fares from London to Washington cost around £255.

TO THE MOON AND BACK

The Russians sent the first man, Yuri Gagarin, into orbit in April 1961, but Kennedy was determined that America should be the first to the moon. In 1969, Apollo 11 took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, now known as the Kennedy Space Centre (001 321 449 4444, www.ksc.nasa.gov) landing on the moon on 21 July. This giant step for mankind was Kennedy's legacy, and you can recall that moment and follow space exploration at the centre. It's a full day out; most interesting is the bus tour of the Apollo and Saturn V Centre. You can see the Sixties control room where remarkable things were achieved with technology that these days, seems so basic. It opens every day (except Christmas Day and certain launch days) from 9am-5.30pm, admission $28 (£19).

For more information visit the website www.go2orlando.com.

Discount off-peak airfares from London to Orlando cost around £300.

WHERE DID THE DREAM END?

In Dallas, on 22 November 1963. Kennedy had ignored warnings about visiting Dallas, yet the welcome, at first, seemed warm. As the motorcade travelled along Dealey Plaza, the 46-year-old president was shot. He died half an hour later.

There are numerous theories about who shot JFK. Some suspect a conspiracy but at the time, Lee Harvey Oswald, later shot dead by Jack Ruby, was accused of shooting the president from his hiding place on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository at 411, Elm Street. It now houses the Sixth Floor Museum (001 214 747 6660, www.jfk.org) which examines the assassination in detail. It's spooky to see the corner window and to look down on the road and the grassy knoll. A new exhibition opens today. Called "Remembering Jack: Intimate and Unseen Photographs of the Kennedys", it is a collection of photos by Jacques Lowe. Open daily 9am-6pm, closed Thanksgiving and Christmas, admission $10 (£6.50).

Various tours around Dallas are available, including "In the steps of Lee Harvey Oswald" (001 214 421 4500, www.dallashistory.org). Nearby, claiming "The truth shall set you free" is the Conspiracy Museum (001 214 741 3040, www.conspiracymuseum.com) which explores theories into JFK's and other US assassinations. Open daily 9am-6pm, adults $7 (£4.50).

Info from Texas Tourism (020 7978 5233, www.traveltex.com). Discount off-peak airfares from London to Dallas-Fort Worth cost around £350.

WHAT IS THE ETERNAL FLAME?

The funeral of the United States' youngest president took place on 25 November 1963 at St Matthew's Cathedral, Washington. That sad day is recalled in an exhibition, "The Presidency - a Glorious Burden", at the National Museum of American History in Washington (001 202 357 2700, www.americanhistory.si.edu, open daily 10am-5.30pm, closed Christmas Day, admission free). A naval war hero, JFK was buried in Arlington Military Cemetery (www.arlingtoncemetery.org).

Jackie was buried next to him in 1994. His grave is surprisingly simple. Made from stone from Cape Cod, it looks a little like a rockery garden. It has become a shrine where the Eternal Flame, lit to keep the legend alive, will burn forever. Expect to see tears and real grief as visitors file slowly past. Look up for an inspiring view across to Washington; you'll walk away feeling a sense of that lost promise and wondering what might have been.

Open every day from 8am-7pm April-Oct, the rest of the year it closes at 5pm.

In memory of Kennedy

His name lives on around the world

After the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, memorials and statues were erected and streets and parks, schools and colleges, freeways and boulevards all around the world were renamed after the charismatic president.

New York International Airport was re-dedicated in December 1963 as John F Kennedy International Airport and the millions of travellers who use it now refer to it simply as JFK.

Berlin: Rudolph Wilde Platz, where JFK made his historic "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech was renamed John F Kennedy Platz. You can take a bus tour to follow Kennedy's route taking in Checkpoint Charlie, Tempelhof Airport, Schoneberg Town Hall and the Brandenburg Gate (00 49 030 44024450; www.germany-tourism.co.uk; 020-7317 0908).

Britain: in 1965, the Queen unveiled the Kennedy Memorial in an acre of ground near the Magna Carta Memorial at Runnymede. Carved in the Portland stone are words from his inaugural speech that accord well with the ideals set down in Magna Carta.

Canada: in the St Elias Mountains, south-west Yukon Territory, Mount Kennedy was named in honour of JFK in 1965. It was climbed for the first time by a team that included Robert Kennedy, the president's brother.

Solomon Islands: once Plum Pudding Island, this South Pacific isle is now Kennedy Island. In August 1943, a young lieutenant, John Kennedy, and his crew, swam for its shores after their ship was sunk by a Japanese destroyer.

Havana: for a different perspective on the Cuban Missile Crisis, visit the Museo de la Revolution in Havana. There's an American spy plane and objects from the Bay of Pigs Invasion (020-7240 6655; www.cubatravel.cu).

Israel: there is a JFK Memorial Building in the Judean Hills, a JFK Memorial Peace Forest and the JFK Chair at the Bar-Ilan University.

Compare Travel Insurance - 5 day Euro cover from £4.33 and Annual worldwide policies from just £43.08