Prudential Tower and Shops at Prudential Center

Visible from throughout metro Boston, the iconic Prudential Tower rises 52 stories (making it the second tallest skyscraper in Boston, trailing only the nearby Hancock Tower) and is crowned by the popular Prudential Skywalk observation deck, which affords fantastic views of the city and surrounding countryside. Built in the early 1960s, "the Pru" contains offices and rather lacks when it comes to aesthetics - it's a boxy, somewhat grim icon of the era in which it was constructed. The adjacent Shops at Prudential Center contain more than 75 stores (including Barnes & Noble, Godiva, J.Jill, L'Occitane, Lord & Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue, Shaw's Supermarket, and Sharper Image, plus several restaurants, including Legal Sea Foods, P.F. Chang's, Cheesecake Factory, and California Pizza Kitchen, and Copley Place Mall, with still dozens more shops, is next door. There's also a touristy but fun (because of the views) restaurant, Top of the Hub, near the top floor of the Prudential Tower. The Prudential Center straddles the popular Back Bay and gay-famous South End neighborhoods, and is located at 780 Boylston Street.