The 5 Most Exciting Tourist Spots in Boston 2024

From the time of the colonies to the Revolutionary War, Boston may have the most history of any place in the United States. If you want to get a sense of that history, it’s not a surprise that its key sites have become a pilgrimage trail for Americans and other people.

On top of that, the Freedom Trail is a great way to see what the city is like now because it connects or goes near some of the most popular tourist spots. The T, America’s first subway system, connects Boston’s most important areas and makes it easy to get around on foot.

Cambridge, Massachusetts, is across the Charles River from Boston. The Boston shore of the river is set aside as the Esplanade Park for summer leisure. As a tourist destination, Cambridge is part of Boston and is linked by the same public transportation system, even though it is its city.

Between these two places are Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), two of the most famous and important universities in the United States. Because there are so many universities and schools in the area, Boston is a young, lively, and culturally interesting place to live. At night, you’ll never run out of things to do in Boston thanks to its many restaurants and music, theater, and entertainment venues.

Although it has many tall buildings, I find Boston to be a very pleasant place to visit. This may be because I used to live there and know how confusing the downtown streets can be. Learn about the best things to do in Boston with this helpful guide to the city’s best sites. Walk with me through my favorite city.

1. Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum

Early in the American Revolution, on the night of December 16, 1773, angry people in Boston swarmed ships from England and threw tea into the water at this site to protest a tax on goods sent to the colonies. At the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, you can take walks that include a reenactment of the event, which takes place on full-size replicas of the ships from which the Sons of Liberty dumped tea overboard.

Through films, interactive exhibits, and other multisensory experiences, costumed historical interpreters take tourists through that important night in history. We can all throw tea into the bay, of course. There is only one known tea chest from that dangerous shipment that you can see in the museum.

This is not a live history museum; it’s more of a place where you can spend time learning about history. This is one of the best things for families in Boston to do because kids have fun while learning about life on a ship and American history.

2. Harvard Square and Harvard Art Museums

Harvard University is the oldest college in the United States. It was formed in 1636 and is widely regarded as one of the best academic centers in the world. You can take a fun and informative free walking tour of the campus led by a student at the Harvard Information Center. The students will talk about history, Harvard lore, and their own experiences. You can also get a tour by downloading it from their page.

It is said that Harvard Square has more places to buy ice cream than any other U.S. city and is a lively hub for students, “townies,” and tourists. Harvard Yard is right in the middle of Harvard Square.

The Harvard Art Museums are housed in a building built by Renzo Piano that is right next to Harvard Yard. It has three collections that used to be separate, and each of them was a major U.S. art museum. Few universities have collections that are so impressive. The Fogg Art Museum focuses on early Renaissance art from Italy, while the Busch-Reisinger Museum has Expressionist art from central and northern Europe, as well as Bauhaus items and works by Kandinsky and Klee.

The museums also have one of the best collections of Chinese jade in the world. They also have some of the best collections of Chinese bronzes, Japanese prints, Indian art, and Greco-Roman artifacts, especially vases and sculptures.

If you like books as much as I do, you should check out The Harvard Bookstore, which is right across Massachusetts Ave. from The Yard. Since 1932, this independent shop has been in this spot. It is not connected to the University.

The Harvard Coop, which is across the street, is the place to go for souvenirs with Harvard on them.

3. Museum of Science

The huge Museum of Science has lots of hands-on exhibits that help people learn about science and technology. But the museum isn’t just for kids. You can learn about physics, biology, chemistry, ecology, zoology, astronomy, computers, and many other topics in more than 700 fixed, hands-on exhibits that are complemented by stage shows and interpreters. It’s just as fun for me as it is for my kids, and I could spend all day here.

A 65-million-year-old fossil found in the Dakota Badlands is one of the attractions. Other highlights include an electricity dome with ongoing programs, the Butterfly Garden, a live animal center, a chance to learn how to make weather predictions with local meteorologists, and ComputerPlace, where you can control a robot and learn about how your computer stores information. Every day, light and star shows happen in the planetarium, and the Mugar Omni Theater has a screen with a dome that rises five stories high.

Tip from the Author: If you bring your lunch to the museum, you can save money. You can enjoy it in the Atrium, on the plaza in front of the museum, or at picnic tables behind the building. But you can’t eat snacks in the exhibit rooms.

4. USS Constitution and Bunker Hill (Boston National Historic Park)

The USS Constitution, also known as “Old Ironsides,” is the oldest ship still in service in the US Navy. It is still led and staffed by Navy troops. Visitors can go below the desks and learn about how the ship was built and what it does at sea.

The USS Constitution Museum, which is across the pier, gives historical background through hands-on displays that show what life was like on a naval ship two hundred years ago. You can also take a tour of the battleship Cassin Young, which was built in 1942.

The Charlestown Navy Yard is in the Boston National Historical Park. The Bunker Hill Monument and Museum is also in the park and is only a short walk away. New England soldiers built an earthen fort on top of the hill before the fight of Bunker Hill, which was the first major fight of the American Revolution. The 221-foot-tall granite monument marks the spot.

5. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Its strange architect based the building on a 15th-century Venetian castle, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s collections are shown in rooms arranged around a four-story central courtyard with fountains and flowering plants.

Mrs. Gardner’s tastes and wealth of knowledge can be seen in her priceless 2,500-item collection of paintings, sculptures, furniture, tapestries, decorative arts, books, and papers. Her flashiness adds to the museum’s magical atmosphere.

Building behind the palazzo is a 70,000-square-foot glass-covered structure created by Italian architect Renzo Piano. It gives the original palace new views and beautiful rooms for music and visual arts, letting the museum show off exceptional modern works and artists. Instead of competing with or clashing with the original building, Piano’s wing just adds a new window to see Mrs. Gardner’s palace.

Visible walls in the new building let you see the palace and grounds from almost anywhere inside. Once you’re done with the museum, take a walk through the Fens, a long green area with a lovely rose garden that blooms from June to October.

This article’s author suggests that since The Gardner is so close to the Museum of Fine Arts, you might want to visit both on the same day. Although, if you’re not really into art, it’s better to see them on different days so you can enjoy each one more. Indulge in art at the Gardner and become immersed in the art world of Renaissance Italy in the 15th and 16th centuries.