Tours & Attractions - Area Overview
Practically every corner of Massachusetts has some historic site of national significance. Whether you’re visiting for the first time or have lived here all your life, head to Boston first and walk the Freedom Trail, which takes in 16 historic sites that trace the country’s path to independence for an introduction to what Massachusetts is all about. Enjoy, too, Boston’s world-class museums, mind-boggling array of restaurants, and sizzling nightlife. North of the city, the Revolutionary War battle sites at Lexington and Concord, bewitching Salem, the fishing port of Gloucester, and the shipbuilding village of Essex all make for memorable exploring. Then move farther afield, where the thickly settled South Shore offers a string of pretty harbor towns and a window on the real history of the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth. In the center of the state, Worcester typically gets short shrift by travelers but is home to several fine museums. Also in the center of the state and defined by the great Connecticut River that bisects its heart, the Pioneer Valley is home to the college towns of Amherst, Holyoke, and Northampton, where young minds meet academic tradition and political and social ideas of all kinds are welcome. Lying to the west, the Berkshire Hills are where you’ll find serene natural beauty and cultural richness—and they serve as the summer home of the Boston Symphony. And after so much history and activity, head to Cape Cod for miles and miles of stunning beaches—and to relax in the present.
1. Chinatown
City: Boston, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Description: A true urban Chinatown, a traditional Paifang Gate marks the ceremonial entrance to Boston’s Chinatown. Located between Downtown Crossing and the South End, since the 1870s the neighborhood has been the first Boston address for generations of Chinese immigrants. On weekends especially, the neighborhood explodes with the sights and sounds of the unfamiliar. Find intriguing goods in the mom-and-pop grocery stores and follow your nose to the nearest noodle or dumpling shop and indulge.
2. Citgo Sign
City: Boston, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 660 Beacon St.
Description: The double-sided 60-foot-by-60-foot red, white and blue CITGO sign is a landmark of the Boston skyline. The sign is located on top of the Boston University Bookstore Building but you can’t buy gas here, so don’t even try. For Boston Marathon runners, the sign is known as the one-mile-to-go mark. The illuminated red triangle with its dancing lights is beloved by Red Sox fans, who can see it from Fenway over the left field wall; when the Red Sox hit a home run in that direction, you’ll C-IT-GO.
City: Boston, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 4 Yawkey Way
City: Boston, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 200 Clarendon St.
5. North End
City: Boston, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Insider Pick:
Description: This tiny waterfront neighborhood has always led a colorful existence. Since its founding in the 1630s, Boston’s North End has been home to colonial artisans such as Paul Revere, slaves, and most recently Italian immigrants. Hordes follow the faded redbrick path of the Freedom Trail to visit the Old North Church and the Paul Revere House. But there’s an authentic residential feeling to the tidy streets where you can stop for a gelato, sip a cappuccino at a caffé, or enter the most homey trattoria and get a truly memorable meal of pasta and Chianti.
City: Boston, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 26 Clarendon St.
City: Boston, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 100 Northern Ave.
City: Boston, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 280 The Fenway
City: Boston, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 2 N. Grove St.
10. Museum Of African American History
City: Boston, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (617) 725-0022
Address: 46 Joy St.
Description: Starting in the early 1800s the north slope of Beacon Hill was home to an established community of free blacks. Tucked into a dead-end street on Beacon Hill sits the Museum of African American History. The museum includes the Abiel Smith School, established in 1834 as the first public school for black children. Next door visit the restored 1806 African Meeting House, which was a place of worship, a community center, and a gathering place where charismatic Frederick Douglass was a frequent speaker and the New England Anti-Slavery Society was founded in the basement by William Lloyd Garrison. The African Meeting House became known as the “Black Faneuil Hall” and Boston became the center of the abolitionist movement. The museum is closed Sun.
City: Boston, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 465 Huntington Ave.
City: Boston, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: Science Park
13. New England Holocaust Memorial
City: Boston, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (617) 457-8755
Address: Carmen Park at Congress and Union Street
Insider Pick:
Description: While not an official part of the Freedom Trail, the New England Holocaust Memorial is located along it and encourages visitors to think about the consequences of having freedom taken away. It is a sobering experience. At the memorial, located just a couple blocks from Faneuil Hall, visitors walk along a granite path through six 54-foot-high glass and steel columns that represent the main Nazi death camps; each is etched with 1 million ID numbers symbolizing the 6 million who died. Smoke continuously rises from metal grates beneath each tower; in the evening the towers are illuminated. Together the subject matter and the design of the site conspire to evoke a powerful reaction regardless of visitors’ religious or ethnic background.
City: Boston, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: Long Wharf
City: Boston, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: William J. Day Boulevard