Fun Things to Do in Boston

Faneuil Hall Harvard Square Boston Museum of Science Boston Center For the Arts Paul Revere House Duck Tours Boston Symphony Hall Swan Boats

From the North End to Bay Village, the Back Bay to the South End, Jamaica Plain to Charlestown, Boston boasts diverse populations, languages, foods and plenty of fun things to do.

Many of them are within easy reach of our downtown Boston area kid-friendly hotel. Walk the historic Freedom Trail, explore museums and colleges, visit the Paul Revere House and enjoy the modern waterfront metropolis.

Faneuil Hall. A five-building complex that includes Quincy Market, historic Faneuil Hall features more than 100 places to eat, shop and drink. French merchant Peter Faneuil gave the hall that precedes the marketplace to his adopted home of Boston in 1742. It has been called the "Cradle of Liberty" because of the many revolutionaries and abolitionists who delivered important speeches and fiery town meetings here. Located in Downtown Boston, Faneuil Hall has served as an open forum meeting hall and marketplace for more than 250 years. The first floor served as a marketplace for the local townspeople to sell their goods. The second floor housed the town meeting hall. For more information, visit  www.faneuilhall.com.

Fenway Park. Though generations have come and gone, Boston’s Fenway Park remains, much like it did the day it opened on April 20, 1912. The home of the Boston Red Sox resounds with the echoes of great baseball players: Cy Young, Babe Ruth, Jimmy Collins, Duffy Lewis, Tris Speaker, Harry Hooper, Joe Cronin, Bobby Doerr, Johnny Pesky, Ted Williams, Jimmie Foxx, Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice and Carl Yastrzemski, to name just a few. Fenway Park is actually the second home for the Sox. In 1901, the Boston Pilgrims became one of the charter members of the fledgling American League. For more information, visit www.redsox.mlb.com.  [Top]

Harvard Square. Students, street musicians (known as buskers), preachers, and political-cause proponents make for a nonstop pedestrian flow at this most celebrated of Cambridge crossroads. Harvard Square is where Massachusetts Avenue, coming from Boston, turns and widens into a triangle broad enough to accommodate a brick peninsula (beneath which the MBTA station is located). Harvard Square boasts internationally recognized educational institutions, ethnically diverse restaurants, unique shops, historic sites, and a wide variety of services, all in an environment that mixes European flavor, American history, and international cultures. Sharing the peninsula is the Out-of-Town newsstand, a local institution that occupies the restored 1928 kiosk that used to be the entrance to the MBTA station. Harvard Square is bordered on two sides by banks, restaurants, and shops and on the third by Harvard University. For more information, visit www.harvardsquare.com.

Boston-New England Aquarium. On June 20, 1969 the New England Aquarium opened its doors to the public for the first time. The Aquarium was designed with the intention of providing an underwater experience for the visitor and of being a cultural institution that would reconnect Boston to its waterfront. In its more than 30 years of existence, the Aquarium has grown a lot. They have developed several programs to help preserve and bring a better understanding of marine life and their exhibits have been under constant expansion and renovation. From the Giant Ocean Tank, opened in 1970 that was, at the time, the largest circular, salt water tank in the world, to the new Matthew and Marcia Simons IMAX®, the only 3D theatre in Boston, opened in December 2001, the Aquarium continues its tradition to serve as a leader in research, education and conservation. For more information, visit  www.neaq.org.  [Top]

Boston Museum of Science. Founded in 1830, the Boston Museum of Science is devoted to collecting and studying natural history specimens and is the first museum to embrace all the sciences. More than 1.6 million people visit the Museum and its 400 interactive exhibits each year. The Museum includes the Charles Hayden Planetarium and the Elihu Thomson Theater of Electricity. The Museum's spectacular Current Science & Technology Center is a dynamic outlet for science news presenting the latest innovations and discoveries, featuring live presentations on a dramatic suspended stage. At the Discovery Center, you can put an animal skeleton together, pat a black bear, and send a message to a friend on the other side of the exhibit. The Discovery Diner serves science and art activities, Discovery Boxes offer families an in-depth exploration of sound, dinosaurs, minerals, and skulls, and a creature habitat lets you observe small live animals at close range. For more information, visit  www.mos.org.

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.  The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is dedicated to the memory of our nation's thirty-fifth president and to all those who through the art of politics seek a new and better world.  Located on a ten-acre park, overlooking the sea that he loved and the city that launched him to greatness, the Library stands as a vibrant tribute to the life and times of John F. Kennedy.  Tour the Museum which portrays the life, leadership, and legacy of President Kennedy, conveys his enthusiasm for politics and public service, and illustrates the nature of the office of the President.  Students and scholars can also arrange to conduct research using our collection of historical materials chronicling mid-20th century politics and the life and administration of John F. Kennedy.  The Kennedy Library is one of  twelve Presidential Libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration.
For more information, visit  www.jfklibrary.org  [Top]

Boston Center For the Arts. A visual and performing arts complex that includes the historic Cyclorama; and two Resident Theatre Companies, the SpeakEasy Stage Company and The Sugan Theatre Company. The BCA is also available for corporate and special events, weddings, trade shows. Call 866-764-3603 or visit www.bcaonline.org.

The Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum. This 15th century Venetian palace created at the turn of the century by Isabella Stewart Gardner, houses more than 2,500 art objects, among them works by Rembrandt, Botticelli, Raphael, Titan, and Matisse. The interior flowering courtyard and outdoor gardens are known for their unique botanical beauty. Guided Tours are given every Friday at 2:30pm. The Museum features three special exhibitions per year. Enjoy concerts from September through May. Jazz at the Gardner concerts bring the soulful sounds of jazz to the Gardner's musical offerings with performances by artists among the most renowned and innovative. The Cafe offers a full bistro style lunch. For information, visit  www.gardnermuseum.org.

The Freedom Trail. Follow the 2.5 mile red brick road through Boston’s and America’s rich history to 16 historic sites, all significant in this country's early struggle for freedom. Explore Boston Common, America’s oldest park, the Benjamin Franklin Statue, Faneuil Hall, the Paul Revere House, the State House and many other historic landmarks. What makes the sites on the Freedom Trail so special is that each one has a role in the beginning of a nation and each one connects us to the spirit of Boston's early patriots whose hearts were ignited by the spark of liberty. Individual sites have varying operating times and some charge admission. Wear sneakers and comfortable, weather-appropriate clothing. Plan to spend around 4 hours on the Trail, depending on your itinerary and local distractions along the way. Call 866-764-3603 or visit  www.thefreedomtrail.org.  [Top]

Paul Revere House. The Paul Revere House presents living history performances, concerts, craft demonstrations and more at the home of the famous patriot and silversmith, Paul Revere. Watch a silversmith or basketweaver ply his trade, attend a storytelling program about life in Revolutionary Boston, or listen to a rousing concert of colonial tavern songs. In honor of Independence Day, colonial costumed singers and story-tellers dramatically bring Revolutionary Boston to life on July 3rd with three special performances. For information, visit  www.paulreverehouse.org.

New England Holocaust Memorial. The New England Holocaust Memorial, located on Union St. near Faneuil Hall, features six luminous glass towers with the six million prisoner numbers of those who perished in concentration camps during World War II. At night, its six 50-ft-high glass-and-steel towers glow like ghosts who vow never to forget. During the day, the monument seems at odds with the 18th-century streetscape of Blackstone Square behind it.  www.nehm.org [Top]

Duck Tours. Tour Boston aboard a "DUCK", an authentic, renovated World War II amphibious landing vehicle. First, you'll be greeted by one of our legendary tour ConDUCKtors, who'll be narrating your tour. You'll cruise by all the places that make Boston the birthplace of freedom and a city of firsts, from the golden-domed State House to Bunker Hill and the TD Banknorth Garden, Boston Common and Copley Square to the Big Dig, Government Center to fashionable Newbury Street, Quincy Market to the Prudential Tower, and more. As Boston unfolds before your eyes, your wacky guides will be giving an overview and interesting insights about this unique and wonderful city. The entertaining 1/12 hour tour ends with a "splashdown" right into the Charles River for a smooth sail and breathtaking view of the Boston and Cambridge skylines. The Museum of Science and the Prudential Center are DUCK departure point! Tours are available daily, March 31 - November 30. For reservations, call 617-723-DUCK or visit  www.bostonducktours.com.

The Children's Museum. The Children's Museum is designed specifically to help children understand and enjoy the world in which they live. The Museum provides real objects, direct experiences and enjoyment that foster learning, in an informal environment, and seriously fun! Home to ARTHUR'S WORLD, the Smith Family PlaySpace, and sponsor of annual The Big Apple Circus, the Museum is Boston's best place for kids and all the adults in their lives! Call 866-764-3603 or visit  www.BostonChildrensMuseum.org.  [Top]

Boston Symphony Hall. Symphony Hall, completed in 1900, was the first concert hall in the world to have scientifically planned acoustics. The acoustics are envied around the world - 100 years after its construction! Symphony Hall has provided a world-class venue for concert performances of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Handel & Hadyn Society, the Boston Celebrity Series, and many other artists and musical groups. Call 866-764-3603 or visit  www.bso.org.

Boston Public Garden. The Public Garden, established in 1837, is the first public botanical garden in the United States. Today, with its plant material chosen for ornamental excellence as well as its botanical diversity, it forms a green and flowering oasis in the heart of Boston. No visit would be complete without a stroll in the Garden which is maintained by the Boston Parks and Recreation Department in cooperation with the Friends of the Public Garden. Take a self guided walking tour, or take time to sit on a bench, during any season, and you'll encounter a wonderful sense of this city sanctuary. Located on Charles Street. For information, call 866-764-3603.  [Top]

Swan Boats. To the delight of the young and old, each April for over 120 years, the Swan Boats appear in the Public Garden Lagoon with grace. The only boats of their kind in the world, the Swan Boat driver paddles passengers around the Public Garden Lagoon for a perfectly lovely 15 minute cruise. Call 866-764-3603 or visit  www.swanboats.com.

Franklin Park Zoo. The Franklin Park Zoo, founded in 1911, is a 72-acre site nestled in Boston's historic Franklin Park, long considered the "crown jewel" of Frederick Law Olmstead's Emerald Necklace Park System. The largest zoo in New England, this oasis of green features lions, wild African dogs, snow leopards, gorillas, hippos, zebras, a children's zoo, plus hundreds of free-flying birds in Bird's World and the indoor Tropical Forest. Franklin Park Zoo's new Dinosaur Kingdom exhibit transforms the naturalistic, outdoor environs of the Bird's World Flight Cage and surrounding grounds into a realistic Mesozoic jungle where life-like moving, roaring, and even breathing, animatronic dinosaur replicas from the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods co-exist together.Call 617-541-LION or visit  www.zoonewengland.com.  [Top]