Massachusetts Self-Guided Driving and Walking Tours Bundle

The first stop along our red-bricked Freedom Trail tour is right at the corner of Boston Common: the Massachusetts State House! This building is both historic and architecturally beautiful…. and of course, we can’t forget about it’s eye-catching golden dome! We’ll pause in front of the State House to catch up on a couple of key Revolutionary War characters (and soon-to-be American heroes) and a little colonial history. We’ll also take a look at the Robert G Shaw and 54th Memorial, which stands opposite the State House. Who was Shaw and what made the 54th Regiment so significant? We’ll get into all of those details right here.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

From the State House and Shaw Memorial, we’ll continue following the Freedom Trail. That brings us through Boston Common and out to the Park Street Church. As we walk, we’ll dive into the most important question of all: what prompted the Revolutionary War? As we peel back the layers, we discover that the battle for American Independence was one falling domino in a long chain of dominos stretching across multiple continents and older wars…

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

This brings us to the truly ancient Granary Burying Ground! Established in 1660, this is only Boston’s third-oldest burying ground. Can you imagine what’s changed in the last 400 years? Well for one thing, this ground is so old it actually holds the grave of Mother Goose. We still hear her stories today! We’ll also visit the graves of American legends like Paul Revere, Robert Paine, and James Otis. And we can’t miss John Hancock and Sam Adams’ graves either! Lastly, we’ll visit the graves of those killed in the Boston Massacre, one of the stepping stones to the full-blown revolution. We’ll be heading to the site of this Massacre later.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

From the Granary, we’ll continue following the Freedom Trail’s red bricks. We’ll check out the King’s Chapel along the way and pause in front of the Latin School. This historic site contains a number of fun statues to pose with (including a donkey!) and quite a lot of rich history to dive into.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

A few steps down from the Latin School, we’ll find the Irish Famine Memorial. Here we’ll jump a bit later into Boston history and talk about the new wave of immigrants after the revolution. We’ll learn about the hardships they faced and overcame… and where these communities are today.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Just across the street from the Irish Famine Memorial, we’ll find the historic Old South Meeting House. This small, tucked-away building is easy to miss but we’ll pause in front of it. Here, we’ll be transported back in time to one of the most fateful events leading up the Revolutionary War… the Boston Tea Party. We’ll learn all about the organizers, their motivations, and of course the consequences of their “tea party”.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

As we continue along the Freedom Trail, we’ll learn more about the Tea Party and the Sons of Liberty who were behind it. We’ll also pass the historic Old Corner Bookstore while walking and dive into it’s connection to colonial Bostonians.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Our red-brick road finally brings us to the one of the most popular stops along the Freedom Trail: the Old State House. We’ll pause here to identify key architectural features and learn about it’s significance (and long history!). Then, we’ll walk around to the other side….

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

… to see the site of the infamous Boston Massacre! But was it a massacre? Or just a rowdy riot, as the British said? We’ll dive into the thrilling tale while standing at the very spot where history unfolded. We’ll also learn about Crispus Attacuks, an honored American hero.

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We’ll follow the Freedom Trail to another popular resting spot: Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market! First we’ll explore the site’s fascinating history and then explore it’s huge range of food options!

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As we continue our journey along the red-bricked path of the Freedom Trail, we’ll also dive into the story of the historic Haymarket, the new and striking Holocaust Memorial out in front, and the stunning view of the Custom House Tower a little beyond. We’ll learn a bit about each of these sites as we make our way to another popular stop.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Our path brings us to another popular stop along the Freedom Trail: Paul Revere’s House! Here we’ll learn about Paul Revere’s famous “Midnight Ride”, it’s immortalization in a poem by Henry Wadsworth-Longfellow, and the truths and myths behind this historic moment.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

From Paul Revere’s House, we’ll make our way to the Old North Church. This is the iconic site where the “one if by land, two if by sea” lanterns were lit, silently signalling the British troops’ movements to colonial revolutionaries.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

From the Old North Church, we’ll follow the Freedom Trail farther up to the historic Copp’s Hill Burying Ground. This historic cemetery in Boston’s North End is older than the Granary… but only by a year!

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Our last few stops are a little farther along, over the bridge and into the Charlestown Navy Yard. There we’ll see the historic and impressive USS Constitution — and learn all about her epic battle against the Guerriere. We’ll explore the naval battles of the War for Independence in more detail while at this historic site.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Finally we’ll follow the Freedom Trail up to the Bunker Hill Monument, built to commemorate the Battle of Bunker Hill. We’ll walk around this hill, exploring the site of this epic battle and getting an understanding of the brutality and intensity of the battle for freedom. This site is the last along our comprehensive tour along Boston’s historic Freedom Trail.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Our tour continues past two picturesque student dorms – Mower and Holworthy. We’ll learn about their significance and then continue to the famed Harvard Science Center.

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Next up: the imposing High Victorian Gothic Memorial Hall. This is the most beautiful building on campus, without contest.

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Our tour continues beyond the Library and towards more dorms. First up: Weld Hall, once home to President JFK. As we check out the beautiful architecture, we’ll also learn about the dorm’s other famous residents.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Then we continue to Wigglesworth Hall, Bill Gates’ once-domain. We’ll learn about Gates and other notable alumni who lived in this dorm.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Prefer someone more recent? Gray’s Hall was home to Malia Obama…. and a couple other names you’re sure to recognize.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

That brings us to Matthews Hall, where Matt Damon once lived!

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

And we can’t forget Straus Hall, once home to Mark Zuckerberg. And so many others too! Our tour continues through campus, exploring traditions and anecdotes until we’re almost back to where we started: Johnson Gate.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Your tour through this quaint New England town begins at the Salem Visitor Center. From here, you’ll embark on a journey which will peel back the seemingly pleasant exterior of Salem and reveal a dark, violent past which still haunts it to this day

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

After that, make your way to the Samuel Pickman House, a creepy house with an even creepier history. Supposedly, a father chained his daughter up in the basement for days without food or water… and some say she still lingers to this day

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Up next is the graveyard where most of the witch trial victims are buried. Ironically, this is also the final resting place of the chief investigator during those trials, who directly caused many deaths

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

The path takes you next to the old Town Hall. There’s a little-known secret about this place, though–supposedly, it sits atop miles of secret underground tunnels!

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

At the Joshua Ward House, up next, you’ll get a glimpse of what remains of the residence once belonging to Sheriff George Corwin, who signed the arrest and execution warrants of those accused of witchcraft

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

After that, you’ll arrive at St Peter’s Episcopal Church, which sits on land the town confiscated after the owners, accused of witchcraft, skipped town

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

The next cemetery is the Howard Street Cemetery, the final resting place of Giles Corey. Corey was another victim of the trials, and was later immortalized by Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Then you’ll pass by an impressive statue of Roger Conant, Salem’s founder and first governor, as well as the Witch Museum, filled with all sorts of deep-dive info about the trials and the surrounding mass hysteria

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

One optional stop takes you to the Gedney House, a perfect example of the peculiarities of colonial architecture

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Another detour brings you to the Broad Street Cemetery, where Sheriff Corwin ended up after suffering a mysterious heart attack

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Then you’ll see Hamilton Hall, a venue which has hosted esteemed figures like Alexander Hamilton, FDR, and the Marquis de Lafayette

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

The next optional stop is the Ropes Mansion, the former home of a wealthy Salem resident who became the center of a bitter distrust in the midst of a smallpox epidemic

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

After that is the so-called Witch House. Once home to Judge Jonathan Corwin, who presided over some of the witch trials, it is one of very few buildings still standing from that era

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Next on the optional route is the John Bertram House, one of the oldest assisted living facilities in the entire country

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

If you like hauntings, you’ll have to stop at the Hawthorne Hotel, supposedly one of the most haunted buildings in town!

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Literature fans won’t want to miss the Nathaniel Hawthorne statue, dedicated to one of America’s greatest authors

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

The next stop along the optional route is the Mercy Tavern, which has a seriously seedy history, including a whole lot of kidnappings!

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

You can also visit the birthplace of famous author Nathaniel Hawthorne, which has been preserved in its original condition

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

The final optional stop is the House of the Seven Gables, a dour building which inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne’s supernatural Gothic novel of the same name

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Our historic tour begins at one of Boston’s most underappreciated marvels of architecture: South Station. We’ll take a moment to analyze the enormous eagle and clock dominating the facade.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Right across the street, we’ll find a stunning example of modern architecture with the Federal Reserve. As we walk past, we’ll learn the intriguing stories behind the bland name.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

At Russia Wharf, we’re officially at the start of our Harborwalk journey and our trip into the past. We’ll learn about the booming international trade during the colonial era…. the foundation which would later lead to the epic Boston Tea Party.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

As we walk along Boston’s Harborwalk, we’ll look out across the water for a glimpse of an actual blast from the past: a colonial ship packed with tea crates! We’ll learn about the events of Boston’s Tea Party but we’ll also dive deeper: what really caused this riot? Why were taxes so high? What did a far-away international war have to do with the price of tea in Boston?

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Our journey brings us to Rowe’s Wharf — named for one of the tea smugglers who encouraged the “Tea Party”! We’ll learn about John Rowe and his adventures with the law as we walk through.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

The Harbor Hotel is a stunning piece of architecture, blending modern and colonial styles seamlessly. It’s 80-foot copper dome contains a glass cupola. If you walk to the center of the archway and look straight up, you can see all the through the top of the dome to the glass cupola above.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

As we continue our walk along Boston’s Harborwalk, our journey back in time takes us from the Boston Tea Party into a more recent era. As we walk, we’ll admire the beautiful Moakley Courthouse across the water and learn about its significance to the city and its people.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

The Brutalist-style Harbor Towers are unmissable. Brutalism was all the rage in the 1970s. Today, the style polarizes observers. Some people see a kind of strange beauty in the sparse, overbearing structures. Others see, well, just plain ugly buildings! These days, you can always identify the style anywhere by its grim, fortress-like appearance. We’ll learn about the towers, Boston’s struggle between affordable and luxury living, and one of the city’s most ambitious projects: cleaning up this very harbor.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

We’re now approaching a popular stop in Boston and along the Harborwalk: the Aquarium! This huge attraction is partially built over the Harbor, allowing the aquarium access to the natural environment of Boston’s Harbor.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Our tour along the scenic Harborwalk ends at one of Boston’s most historic spots: Long Wharf. From colonial battles against the British to modern crowds of tourists, this Wharf remains a Boston hotspot. Enjoy the views and the history as we conclude our story at this scenic stop.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

The MA Visitor Information Center is a major stop for visitors traveling to and from Boston, Plymouth, Cape Cod, and throughout all of New England.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

“Mayflower II is a reproduction of the 17th-century ship Mayflower, celebrated for transporting the Pilgrims to the New World in 1620. The reproduction was built in Devon, England during 1955–1956, in a collaboration between Englishman Warwick Charlton and Plimoth Plantation, an American museum.
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5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

“Across the street and up the hill from Plymouth Rock is the historic Mayflower Society House – an 18th century home originally built by Edward Winslow, great-grandson of the Pilgrim Edward Winslow. The story of the Society House extends across three centuries. Experience its rich history on a tour where you will learn about the many influential Plymouth families who lived here and preserved this home over the years. Hear fascinating stories about the struggles of the Winslow family – Loyalists during the Revolutionary era; stand where Ralph Waldo Emerson and Lydia Jackson exchanged vows; relive the great restoration in 1898 by famous New England architect Joseph Everett Chandler, and imagine the hive of activity this peaceful house would have been when it was used as a Red Cross headquarters during World War II.
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5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Plymouth Rock is the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims who founded the Plymouth Colony in December 1620.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

“Massasoit is a statue by the American sculptor Cyrus Edwin Dallin in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It was completed in 1921 to mark the three hundredth anniversary of the Pilgrims’ landing. The sculpture is meant to represent the Pokanoket leader Massasoit welcoming the Pilgrims on the occasion of the first Thanksgiving.

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5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

The park up ahead and walks toward the center. This is Brewster Gardens, named for William Brewster, one of the original Mayflower passengers.

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“Brewster Gardens is a bronze statue, The Pilgrim Maiden by Henry Hudson Kitson (1922), and a stainless steel sculpture honoring Plymouth’s immigrant settlers from 1700 to 2000. The Pilgrim Maiden is dedicated to the intrepid English women whose courage and devotion brought a new nation into being.
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5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

“Burial Hill is a historic cemetery or burying ground on School Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Established in the 17th century, it is the burial site of several Pilgrims, the founding settlers of Plymouth Colony. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.

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5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

“The Richard Sparrow House is a historic house at 42 Summer Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and the oldest surviving house in Plymouth. The house was built around 1640 by Richard Sparrow, an English surveyor who arrived in Plymouth in 1636.

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5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

The Plimoth Grist Mill is a working grist mill located in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It is a reconstruction of the original Jenney Grist Mill, and it stands on the site of the original mill.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included