Things to do in Boston
Top sights and attractions to build your days around once you know when to go.
Museum of Fine Arts Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas. With more than 1.2 million visitors a year, it is the 83rd-most-visited art museum in the world as of 2024.
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is a ballpark in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, close to Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home field of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantially rebuilt in 1934, and underwent major renovations and modifications in the 21st century. It is the oldest active ballpark in MLB. Because of its age and constrained location in Boston's dense Fenway–Kenmore neighborhood, the park has many quirky features, including "The Triangle", Pesky's Pole, and the Green Monster in left field. It is the fifth-smallest among MLB ballparks by seating capacity, second-smallest by total capacity, and one of nine that cannot accommodate at least 40,000 spectators.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts, which houses significant examples of European, Asian, and American art. Its collection includes paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts. It was founded by Isabella Stewart Gardner, whose will called for her art collection to be permanently exhibited "for the education and enjoyment of the public forever."
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and museum of John F. Kennedy (1917–1963), the 35th president of the United States from 1961 to 1963. It is located on Columbia Point in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, next to the University of Massachusetts Boston, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, and the Massachusetts Archives and Commonwealth Museum. Designed by the architect I. M. Pei, the building is the official repository for original papers and correspondence of the Kennedy Administration, as well as special bodies of published and unpublished materials, such as books and papers by and about Ernest Hemingway. The library contains approximately 400,000 photographs, 9,400 video recordings, 24 million documents, and 9,000 audio recordings related to Kennedy's presidency.
Museum of Bad Art
The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) is a privately owned museum whose stated aim is "to celebrate the labor of artists whose work would be displayed and appreciated in no other forum". It was originally in Dedham, Massachusetts, and is currently in Boston, Massachusetts. Its permanent collection includes over 700 pieces of "art too bad to be ignored", 25 to 35 of which are on public display at any one time.
Boston Common
The Boston Common is a public park in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest city park in the United States. Boston Common covers 50 acres (20 ha) bounded by five major Boston streets: Tremont Street, Park Street, Beacon Street, Charles Street, and Boylston Street.
Harvard Art Museums
The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum, the Busch-Reisinger Museum, and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, and four research centers: the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, the Center for the Technical Study of Modern Art, the Harvard Art Museums Archives, and the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies. The three museums that constitute the Harvard Art Museums were initially integrated into a single institution under the name Harvard University Art Museums in 1983. The word "University" was dropped from the institutional name in 2008.
Freedom Trail
The Freedom Trail is a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km) path through Boston, Massachusetts, that passes by 16 locations significant to the history of the United States. It winds from Boston Common in downtown Boston to the Old North Church in the North End and the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. Stops along the trail include simple explanatory ground markers, graveyards, notable churches and buildings, and a historic naval frigate. Most of the sites are free or suggest donations, although the Old South Meeting House, the Old State House, and the Paul Revere House charge admission. The Freedom Trail is overseen by the City of Boston's Freedom Trail Commission and is supported in part by grants from various non-profit organizations and foundations, private philanthropy, and Boston National Historical Park.
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is a museum affiliated with Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1866, the Peabody Museum is one of the oldest and largest museums focusing on anthropological material, with particular focus on the ethnography and archaeology of the Americas. The museum is caretaker to over 1.2 million objects, some 900 feet (270 m) of documents, 2,000 maps and site plans, and about 500,000 photographs. The museum is located at Divinity Avenue on the Harvard University campus. The museum is one of the four Harvard Museums of Science and Culture open to the public.
Old North Church
Old North Church is an Episcopal church on Salem Street in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The church, built in 1723, is the oldest standing church in the city. Old North Church is notable for its role in Paul Revere's midnight ride on April 18, 1775, when two lanterns in the steeple were illuminated, alerting Patriots of British military movements amid the American Revolutionary War. The congregation continues to host services there, while the secular nonprofit Old North Illuminated oversees tourism and preservation efforts. One of the landmarks on Boston's Freedom Trail, the Old North Church is designated a National Historic Landmark and a Boston Landmark, and it is part of the Boston National Historical Park.
Bunker Hill Monument
The Bunker Hill Monument is a war memorial on Breed's Hill in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It commemorates the Battle of Bunker Hill, a major American Revolutionary War battle that took place there on June 17, 1775. The monument primarily consists of a 221-foot-tall (67 m) granite obelisk at the center of Monument Square Park, within the Monument Square Historic District. The obelisk was designed by Solomon Willard and erected between 1825 and 1843. It is flanked by William Wetmore Story's statue of William Prescott to the south and an entrance building to the north. Designated as a National Historic Landmark, the Bunker Hill Monument is part of the Freedom Trail and Boston National Historical Park.
Arnold Arboretum
The Arnold Arboretum is a botanical research institution and free public park affiliated with Harvard University and located in the Jamaica Plain and Roslindale neighborhoods of Boston.
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