Explore Boston

By land or sea, Boston’s quaint neighborhoods, brownstones, and cobble-stone paths beckon for attention. The self-guided Freedom Trail walk, starting at Faneuil Hall, heads through the North End and wraps up in Charlestown Navy Yard at the U.S.S. Constitution. Free sites include the Massachusetts State House, The Bunker Hill Monument, Boston Common, Kings Chapel Burying Ground, Old Granary Burial Ground and Copps Hill Burial Ground. Old North Church and Paul Revere’s House are also on the trail. For culinary mindsets, the North End Market Tour covers this Italian neighborhood’s markets and restaurants. Options to minimize walking while covering many Freedom Trail attractions include Discover Boston Trolley tours and Old Town Trolley. Touring Boston Harbor by boat can provide inexpensive relief from summer heat, with $1 shuttles from the North End to East Boston and the Charlestown Navy Yard. Boston Harbor Cruises’ half-hour tours sail from Long Wharf to the Bay and back. The Charles Riverboat Company offers an hour tour from the Cambridge Side Galleria, down the Charles toward Harvard Square. For excursions further from the city, AC Cruise Line on Northern Avenue offers a two-hour trip to Gloucester, along with whale watching and moonlight cruises. At Plymouth Plantation, details are plentiful on Christopher Columbus and the great pilgrimage of the Mayflower. Elevated views of Boston await from the Prudential Center Skywalk or the John Hancock Observatory. The Gibson House, Nichols House Museum and the Harrison Gray Otis House provide glimpses of Beacon Hill Victorian row houses.

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