Click on the slide show above to see more of Jamaica Plain.

Jamaica Plain. Sounds exotic, right? And to many otherwise savvy Boston-area residents, it is, even though this corner of the city is just 15 minutes by bike from BU and 15 minutes by bus from Copley Square. Home to treasures both natural (Jamaica Pond, the Arnold Arboretum) and a little less so (the Milky Way Lounge, the Brendan Behan Pub), Jamaica Plain manages to remain hidden, even though it’s always being discovered.

JP, as the locals call it, has a lot of what some people move to Seattle or Portland (Maine or Oregon) to find: it’s green, funky, friendly, artsy, and refreshingly diverse. It also has a lot of what makes Boston Boston: it’s where Frederick Law Olmsted ended the Emerald Necklace with a bang, where Papi gets his hair cut, where generations of Boston politicos have cut their teeth. With a booming culinary scene, a Latin quarter, some boho-chic cafes, and an authentically indie vibe, JP is just cool.

The Great Outdoors
Jamaica Pond
Jamaicaway and Pond Street
Follow the bike path that runs along the Emerald Necklace from the Landmark Center out to JP. Jamaica Pond is your reward for surviving the path’s steep uphill stretch. With two old-time pavilions framing a vista that sparkles in any weather, the pond restores the urban soul. The 1.5-mile path that surrounds it draws runners and walkers galore, and benches encourage people-watching. You can even rent sailboats and rowboats in the summer.

Arnold Arboretum
Arborway
An oasis of cool on a summer afternoon, a quiet retreat on a winter morning, a canopy of fiery colors in the fall, the Arnold Arboretum works in any season. Take a stroll along its pleasingly wide central avenue, or get lost on its off-road trails. The Arb is a working research institution of Harvard University, but it’s also a public park, designed by Olmsted as the last stop on the Emerald Necklace. Find a hilltop and your favorite tree, put down a blanket, and stare up at the sky.

Forest Hills Cemetery
95 Forest Hills Ave.
There’s no cemetery more romantic and profound than Forest Hills, and there are few parks more beautiful, either. Established in 1848, it is a monument to Victorian grandeur: its shaded groves, majestic sculptures, and winding lanes give rise to thoughts of poetry. Anne Sexton and e.e. cummings, two of the cemetery’s many famous residents, must feel right at home. Explore the modern sculpture park, take a guided tour, or attend a summer concert in the chapel.

Hyde Square and Environs
Bella Luna and the Milky Way Lounge
403-405 Centre St.
A neighborhood gem, this restaurant/lounge/bowling alley/music joint/dance club has anchored JP’s hip culture for 15 years. Bella Luna is the restaurant, known for its pizza and calzones, but also offering tapas on Tuesdays, tacos on Wednesdays, and other special culinary events revolving around fresh seasonal fare. The subterranean Milky Way is a space like no other in Boston, with something kitschy and fun happening every night of the week. Rising rents are forcing Bella Luna and the Milky Way to move from their current home, rumor has it to the same brewery complex on Amory Street that houses Ula Café (see below). But the lanes, sadly, might not be reborn in the new space, so get your bowling in while you can.

Video Underground
385 Centre St.
This local hipster video joint confirms your hatred of Blockbuster and makes Netflix feel cold and inadequate. Video Underground is run by and for movie lovers, the quirkier the better. It specializes in independent, cult, and foreign films: you can find whole genres you never knew existed, and there will be someone behind the counter to explain it all to you. And they screen films in their backyard on Thursday nights during the summer: a requested $5 dollar donation gets you beer and film-loving camaraderie.

Brendan Behan
378 Centre St.
A leprechaun-free Irish pub, the Behan works like a pub in the home country would: it keeps the focus on conversation. The décor is spare and understated, the vibe low-key, neighborly. The bartenders know how to pour a good Guinness, and the regular presence of regulars’ dogs makes a good excuse to meet new people.

El Oriental de Cuba
416 Centre St.
After a 2005 fire shuttered this local favorite for more than a year, El Oriental has resumed its role as anchor of JP’s large Hispanic community. A cafeteria-like place serving what is universally hailed as the best Cuban food around, it has a large and impressively diverse menu. The Cubano, of course, is the mainstay, and it’s sublime (if roast pork is your thing), but you’ll also find ropa vieja, rice with spicy octopus, tilapia or red snapper in garlic sauce, braised oxtail, and great tropical smoothies. Menus are in Spanish and English.

Rhythm & Muse Books & Music
470 Centre St.
Every urban neighborhood should have a Rhythm & Muse. It’s a tiny, cool, and authentically local hangout, selling books and music, playing host to a weekly book club and a monthly local speakers’ series, showing art, and booking local musicians for in-store performances.

The Centre Thoroughfare
Ten Tables
597 Centre St.
That name is literal. The place is small, and the buzz is big, so expect to wait. But the food will make it worthwhile: the menu — featuring lots of locally grown vegetables, homemade pasta, home-cured meats, and fish — has a simple European flair, and the open kitchen makes you feel as if you’ve walked into someone’s dining room. A vegetarian tasting menu is offered three nights a week.

On Centre
636 Centre St.
This is the kind of gift shop where, let’s face it, many of the gifts you buy wind up going straight to your own home. And that’s OK; you deserve it. The owner is an artist, and you can see his taste in the carefully assembled collection of fun, kitschy, pretty accessories, housewares, jewelry, and art. The prices are often surprisingly moderate, making it an ideal place for a splurge.

Centre Street Café
669 Centre St.
The brunch-seeking masses line up on the weekends — and the wait is rewarded by huge plates of very good, often southwestern-inspired egg dishes (potatoes Santa Cruz, a hearty breakfast burrito) and fruit-covered waffles. But dinner is a quieter, homier affair, with an accent on local, organic, naturally raised ingredients and a pan-ethnic menu. Daily specials might include roasted red pepper papardelle with fresh-picked veggies or pasture-raised beef ribeye steak.

Purple Cactus
674 Centre St.
This is JP’s version of fast food, but we’re not talking Mickey D’s. Using fresh and healthy ingredients, Purple Cactus has a decent-sized menu of burritos, wraps, and salads, all plenty filling and only about $6 a pop. Favorites include the roasted vegetable wrap, the Thai chicken wrap, and the taco salad, which has a zingy dressing and a lot of fresh carrots and tomatoes.

J. P. Licks
659 Centre St.
This is the one that started the craze, the flagship of Boston’s mini ice cream empire, and it’s the hub of JP’s center. On a summer evening, the place is packed with people from all walks of life and seemingly every corner of the globe, showing that ice cream is the universal language.

Boomerangs
716 Centre St.
This secondhand shop, where proceeds benefit the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, sells clothes, furniture, books, music, and housewares. Most of JP makes donations every time a kitchen is remodeled or an apartment packed up, so the finds can be unusual and valuable. And its window displays are works of pop art.

Salmagundi
765 Centre St.
Hats are back, judging from the crowds that fill this quirky, fashionable boutique on weekends. The young owners live and breathe haberdashery; it’s fun to present them with the “I look awful in hats” challenge and see what they’ll do for you. The shop also sells groovy bags, belts, T-shirts, beachwear, and accessories that you won’t find elsewhere.

Off the Beaten Path:
James’s Gate
5-11 McBride St.
Just off South Street, a short walk from JP center, James’s Gate is one of Boston’s best pubs. It’s Irish, but not professionally so; the Irishness mostly comes across as rustic, homey comfort. That’s aided by a menu heavy on comfort food (stews, “toasted” sandwiches, fish and chips), and by a fireplace that on winter days is about as welcoming a place as Boston offers. The Gate is also a restaurant (the building is divided down the middle), but with less charm and higher prices, there’s no need.

Ula Café
284 Amory St.
A café in an old brewery complex alongside the Southwest Corridor Parkway, Ula draws a perfect sample of one of JP’s defining demographics: laptop-toting urban bohemians. Everyone here looks like an architect or an artist — and, with good coffee and the locally grown vibe dialed high, you can, too.

Canto 6
3346 Washington St.
The sixth canto of Dante’s Inferno details the fate that awaits the gluttonous. We hope it looks something like JP’s Canto 6, which Boston magazine named the city’s best bakery last year. This tiny shop makes outrageously good chocolate almond croissants, strawberry scones, raspberry corn muffins, pear and goat cheese tarts, and small delicacies called canneles, which have a crème brulee–like outer shell and a deep vanilla-flavored custard inside.

Doyle’s
3484 Washington St.
Doyle’s is the home of old-style Boston (and Irish) politics. It’s also the home of a great bar and a charming, throwback family restaurant. The walls are lined with signed photos of everyone who is anyone in Boston, as well as a few from out of town (Bill Clinton, for one). The pizza is a specialty, the burgers perfectly serviceable, but it’s the environment and the history that make it special and draw you back.

City Feed and Supply
66 Boylston St.
Another indie JP landmark, a small urban grocery store featuring great (and healthful) deli sandwiches and an eclectic selection of locally made products, locally grown foods, and national organic brands. City Feed is hidden deep on a pretty residential side street, but a second location is new, at 672 Centre St., in the heart of JP center.

Upcoming event: The first Thursday of every month, shops along Centre and South streets are open late, with art openings, poetry readings, live music, and craft fairs.

Getting there: Jamaica Plain is served most regularly (and conveniently) by the #39 bus, running out of Copley Square along Huntington Avenue. JP is also accessible via the T’s Orange Line — take the Green Line inbound to Copley, get off and run across the square to the Back Bay stop on the Orange Line. The Jackson Square stop is closest to Hyde Square (though not recommended in the evening); the Green Street stop is closest to Centre Street’s shops and restaurants. One of the best and easiest ways to get to JP from BU is to bike; the Emerald Necklace bike path is one of greater Boston’s best.

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