With significant historical sites, world-class museums and hallowed sports stadiums, Boston has enough places to engage visitors for a lifetime of sightseeing. While the Freedom Trail and Faneuil Hall consistently rank among the city’s must-visit spots, here are 10 more attractions and landmarks you shouldn’t miss.
The golden-domed Massachusetts State House is an important building for many reasons. Of course, the state’s senators, representatives and governor conduct the commonwealth’s business here. When you take a free guided tour, you’ll learn some fascinating history and enjoy the gorgeous architecture and artwork. Charles Bulfinch designed the State House and Samuel Adams laid the cornerstone in 1795. Paul Revere installed its copper dome in 1802, which was later covered in gold.
Your guide will also highlight the Sacred Cod in the House of Representatives Chamber. The almost five-foot-long wooden effigy symbolizes the importance of the salt cod industry to the area.
One of the city’s newest attractions, View Boston sits atop the Prudential Tower, offering 360-degree panoramas of the area. Taking up three floors in the 52-story building, the venue features indoor and outdoor viewing spaces, state-of-the-art immersive experiential exhibits, an open-air observation deck and two dining outlets. Digital maps allow you to zoom in on places to learn more about them.
If you want to eat or drink while overlooking the city, the Stratus cocktail bar on the 51st floor has an open-air deck with indoor and outdoor seating, while the Beacon restaurant serves traditional New England fare. There’s also an immersive 270-degree theater with street-level vistas of neighborhoods and popular Boston attractions.
Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum
This hands-on, interactive venue is an entertaining way to learn about this momentous event in the nation’s history. You can throw (fake) tea overboard, climb on replicas of the brigs Beaver and Eleanor (two of the three ships involved in the Boston Tea Party) and engage with period actors about colonial issues. “Samuel Adams” greets visitors to discuss what’s at stake in 1773.
The museum sits on Griffin’s Wharf, close to where the actual Tea Party occurred on December 16, 1773. Exhibits include 3D holograms, talking portraits, the Robinson Tea Chest (one of two original tea chests known to exist) and the film Let It Begin Here, screened in a panoramic theater, which makes you feel like you are part of the Lexington and Concord battles of April 19, 1775.
Most people probably don’t make it a habit to visit the local library unless they want a book. However, our nation’s first free library, located in a magnificent 1895 Renaissance Beaux-Arts Classicism building in the Back Bay, is a must-see. World-class artworks, murals and a gorgeous 3,250-square-foot reading room with a 50-foot-high barrel-arch ceiling will wow you. The main entrance features immense stone lions crafted by Louis Saint-Gaudens, a grand marble staircase and murals painted by French artist Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, depicting the nine muses.
In addition, there is a mural series, “The Triumph of Religion,” painted by John Singer Sargent. Make sure to visit the stunning Renaissance-style courtyard, a replica of the one in Rome’s Palazzo della Cancelleria.
Known as “Old Ironsides,” the USS Constitution is the oldest commissioned ship in the U.S. fleet. Launched on October 21, 1797, as part of the nation’s new navy, the ship’s hull was made of live oak, the toughest wood grown in North America. None other than Paul Revere sheathed her bottom in copper. The “Old Ironsides” nickname was coined during the War of 1812, when shots from the British warship Guerrière appeared to bounce off the ship’s hull.
Today, it serves as America’s Ship of State, and visitors are welcome aboard. You can explore the top three decks while the crew is happy to explain naval history, ship facts and figures. Don’t miss the excellent USS Constitution Museum next door for more information and hands-on exhibits.
Old North, built in 1723, is Boston’s oldest-standing church building. It’s also where Revere and the sexton Robert Newman famously signaled the departure by water of the British regulars to Lexington and Concord on April 18, 1775. Take a behind-the-scenes tour to see the bell-ringing chamber and walk up the same stairs Revere trod upon at that pivotal moment.
In the church, sit in a box pew and listen to a short presentation about the founding of Old North, the lantern story and the church’s role in the American Revolution. In the crypt, 37 tombs serve as the final resting place of 1,100 people, the most famous of whom is Samuel Nicholson, the first captain of the USS Constitution.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
There’s a lot to see at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, as there are more than half a million works in its vast collections, ranging from ancient Greek art to modern photography. A one-hour guided tour (included with admission) is a wonderful introduction, where a docent will give an overview of museum treasures.
If you don’t take a tour, perhaps start your visit in the Art of the Americas, which has more than 16,000 objects spanning 3,000 years. Highlights include early colonial New England decorative arts and paintings, with John Singleton Copley’s famous Revere portrait and the silversmith’s Sons of Liberty Bowl. Other popular galleries include the Art of Ancient Egypt, with 65,000 works, and the Contemporary Art collection, with pieces from the second half of the 20th century to the present day.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Isabella Stewart came from New York to Massachusetts in 1860 to marry John Lowell Gardner, one of Boston’s leading citizens. She quickly became a society fixture and had a beautiful Venetian palazzo built to display her extensive art collection, primarily sourced from Europe. Among the pieces are Titian’s Rape of Europa, Giotto’s Presentation of Christ Child in the Temple and John Singer Sargent’s El Jaleo.
As stipulated in Stewart’s will, her home was to be kept exactly as she left it, though there have been some notable changes. In 1990, 13 pieces of priceless artwork were stolen and remain missing. An addition was built in 2012, with a music hall, exhibit space and much-needed conservation labs. Another museum highlight is its magnificent indoor courtyard with gorgeous seasonal floral displays. And if you are lucky enough to be named Isabella, you get free admission.
On the Boston waterfront in a modern glass-walled cantilevered building — a work of art itself — the Institute of Contemporary Art offers a wealth of programming, from changing exhibits with cutting-edge artists to live music and dance performances to film and digital media selections.
The museum was founded in 1936, and it has been identifying and showcasing the most important artists of the day ever since. This includes luminaries like Andy Warhol, Edvard Munch, Laurie Anderson and Roy Lichtenstein. You can also take a water shuttle to the ICA Watershed, a cool seasonal exhibition space in East Boston.
Fenway Park
The nation’s oldest Major League Baseball ballpark, home to the Boston Red Sox since 1912, is a revered local landmark. Whether or not you are a baseball fan, the hallowed stadium is worth a visit. Guided tours run year-round, and enthusiastic docents relay fun trivia as they lead you all over the park, including the seats above the iconic 37-foot left-field wall affectionately known as the Green Monster.
Other highlights include seeing where Ted Williams’ famous 502-foot home run in 1946 landed, learning about Pesky’s Pole and actually walking onto the field.
