The streets of Harvard Square are overrun with Au Bon Pains and Gaps, and nary an independent bookstore remains, but once you walk inside the gates of the country's most storied university, it's easy to tune out all the noise and forget everything but your own bitterness at not getting accepted. Walk it off with a stroll around the campus, pop into Memorial Church for some perspective on the school's history, or visit one of the small, excellent museums, such as the Peabody Museum of archaeology or the Sackler art museum, then be thankful that nothing you saw will be on a test. (Click here for an interactive campus map.)

Back outside the gates, there are any number of options for cheap, mediocre food, but for a reliable and reasonably priced lunch, try Cambridge 1 for thin crust pizza and good salads. If you'd like something more expensive, Harvest is a popular place for students to take visiting parents.

• 1. Harvard Square
  Cambridge, MA 42.373576-71.118973
• 2. Harvard Yard
  Cambridge, MA 42.3744664-71.117557
• 3. Memorial Church
  One Harvard Yard, Cambridge, MA 02138 42.374866-71.115979 More Info
• 4. Peabody Museum
  11 Divinity Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138; 617-496-1027 42.3774687-71.1141237 peabody.harvard.edu
• 5. Sackler Museum
  32 Quincy St., Cambridge, MA 02138; 617-495-9400 42.375095-71.114593 artmuseums.harvard.edu
• 6. Cambridge 1
  27 Church St., Cambridge, MA 02138; 617-576-1111 42.3745-71.12 cambridge1.us
• 7. Harvest
  44 Brattle St., Cambridge, MA 02138; 617-868-2255 42.3737-71.1219 harvestcambridge.com