169 Best Sights in Boston, Massachusetts

Reflecting a time when the South End was the most prestigious Boston address, this slice of a park is framed by lovely Italianate bowfront houses.

This ancient and constricted thoroughfare, one of the two main North End streets, cuts through the heart of the neighborhood and runs parallel to and one block west of Hanover. Between Cross and Prince streets, Salem Street contains numerous restaurants and shops. One of the best is Shake the Tree, one of the North End's trendiest boutiques, selling stylish clothing, gifts, and jewelry. The rest of Salem Street is mostly residential, but makes a nice walk to the Copp's Hill Burying Ground.

The Boston beer company's Jamaica Plain facility is where it conducts research and develops new products. A variety of tours (21-plus only) are available at different price points, all including samples; most tours must be booked online (though a few spots are reserved for walk-ins). Whether you take a tour or not, you can enjoy a beer in the taproom, which is open daily, or the beer garden, in nice weather. Parking is limited, so consider taking the T to Stony Brook.

This colonnaded granite structure is to Boston what Grand Central Station is to New York. Behind its 1900s facade, you'll find an airy, modern transit center that services the MBTA Commuter Rail for lines originating west and south of the city, the Red and Silver subway lines, and regional Amtrak trains. Thanks to its eateries, coffee bars, newsstand, and other shops, waiting for a train here can actually be a pleasant experience. South Station's bus terminal for Greyhound, Peter Pan, and other bus lines, is right next door. South Station is a great launching point for exploring a variety of neighborhoods, including Downtown, Chinatown, and the Seaport.

The fifth and sixth levels of the TD Garden house the Sports Museum, where displays of memorabilia and photographs showcase New England–based amateur and pro sports history and legends. Test your sports knowledge with interactive games, see how you stand up to life-size statues of heroes Carl Yastrzemski and Larry Bird, and take a 45-minute tour of the museum. Tours depart every half hour.

Rose Kennedy, matriarch of the Kennedy clan, was christened here; 104 years later, St. Stephen's held mourners at her 1995 funeral. This is the only Charles Bulfinch--designed church still standing in Boston, and a stunning example of the Federal style to boot. Built in 1804, it was first used as a Unitarian Church; since 1862 it has served a Roman Catholic parish. When the belfry was stripped during a major 1960s renovation, the original dome was found beneath a false cap; it was covered with sheet copper and held together with hand-wrought nails, and later authenticated as being the work of Paul Revere.

While Boston's Symphony Hall—the home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops—is considered among the best in the world for its sublime acoustics, it's also worth visiting to enjoy its other merits. The stage is framed by an enormous organ facade and an intricate golden proscenium. Above the second balcony are 16 replicas of Greek and Roman statues, which, like the rest of the hall, marry the acoustic and aesthetic by creating niches and uneven surfaces to enhance the acoustics of the space. Although acoustical science was a brand-new field of research when Professor Wallace Sabine planned the interior, not one of the 2,500 seats is a bad one—the secret is the box-within-a-box design.

With its not-quite-nostalgic name, this sports and concert arena opened in 1995 to the chagrin of diehard local sports fans who occasionally still grieve the crusty, original Boston Garden it replaced. Today, the TD Garden is home to the NBA's Boston Celtics and NHL's Boston Bruins teams, hosts 200 events every year, and seats nearly 20,000. During the offseason, see international touring musicians and bands, Disney on Ice, wrestling events, and Boston's famed Beanpot tourney.

Cast-iron fences, Victorian-era town houses, a bubbling fountain, and a grassy area all add up to one of Boston's most charming slices of a neighborhood.

This neighborhood is located in the southeastern part of Somerville. Used by the Union Army during the American Revolution, today it's home to numerous restaurants, shops, and bars and is considered one of the area's most under-the-radar hot spots. The Union Square Farmers Market is held on the plaza every Saturday from mid-May through October.

Summer concerts, yoga, pop-up beer gardens---there's a lot to do on top of the Kendall Center Green Garage. To access the hidden roof garden, use the elevators in the garage and find your way up to the top for a spot of green grass and flowers (and a even a new pickleball court) in the most unlikely place.

Built in 1943, this Fletcher-class U.S. Navy destroyer survived action in Asian waters during World War II (including seven Pacific battles and two kamikaze hits). She served the Navy until 1960. Walk beside her and take in her size, explore her top deck, or go below deck for a guided tour offered by the National Park Service. She is the namesake of Captain Cassin Young, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism at the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; he was killed in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in the fall of 1942. Check the website for special opening hours.

On the Harvard University side of Harvard Square stands the Wadsworth House, a yellow clapboard structure built in 1726 as a home for Harvard presidents. It served as the first Massachusetts headquarters for George Washington, who arrived on July 2, 1775, just a day before he took command of the Continental Army. The building traded presidents in for students (such as Ralph Waldo Emerson) and visiting preachers as its boarders, and today, it houses Harvard's general offices.

Now a modest but engaging house museum, this 1808 Federal-style structure was designed by Asher Benjamin. From 1845 to 1859, it was the home of noted historian William Hickling Prescott, and today it's the headquarters for the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Guided tours venture through rooms furnished with period furniture, including Prescott's former study with his desk and "noctograph," which helped the nearly blind scholar write. Fun fact: Prescott's secret staircase allowed him to escape into his study when bored by guests in the parlor.

Boston's Chinatown may seem small, but it's said to be the third largest in the United States, after those in San Francisco and Manhattan. Beginning in the 1870s, Chinese immigrants started to trickle in, many setting up tents in a strip they called Ping On Alley. The trickle increased to a wave when immigration restrictions were lifted in 1968. As in most other American Chinatowns, the restaurants are a big draw; on Sunday many Bostonians head to Chinatown for dim sum. Today the many Chinese establishments—most found along Beach and Tyler streets and Harrison Avenue—are interspersed with Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, and Malaysian eateries. A three-story pagoda-style arch at the end of Beach Street welcomes you to the district.

In 1776 Dorchester Heights hill commanded a clear view of central Boston, where the British had been under siege since the preceding year. Here George Washington set up the cannons that Henry Knox, a Boston bookseller turned soldier, and later secretary of war, had hauled through the wilderness after their capture at Fort Ticonderoga. The artillery did its job of intimidation, and the British troops left Boston, never to return. The view of Boston from the site is magnificent. Sadly, the tower is not open to the public, but the lovely park grounds are a destination on their own on a warm day.

Lion and tiger habitats, the Giraffe Savannah, and a 4-acre mixed-species area called the Serengeti Crossing that showcases zebras, ostriches, warthogs, and wildebeests keep this zoo roaring. The Tropical Forest, with its Western Lowland Gorilla environment, is a big draw, and kookaburras, emus, and kangaroos populate the Outback Trail. From May to September butterflies flit and flutter at Butterfly Landing, where docents are on hand to answer questions and give advice on attracting the colorful insects to your own garden. Franklin Farm entices children with sheep, goats, and other farm animals. In winter, call in advance to find out which animals are braving the cold. The park, 4 miles from downtown, is reached by Bus 16 from the Forest Hills (Orange Line) or Andrew (Red Line) T stops; there's plenty of parking.

If the name sounds familiar, it's because a Beacon Hill home bears the same name. This is the first of three houses built for Harrison Gray Otis, Boston's third mayor and a prominent citizen and developer. It's owned and operated by Historic New England, an organization that owns and maintains dozens of properties throughout the region. The furnishings, textiles, wall coverings, and even the interior paint, specially mixed to match old samples, are faithful to the Federal period, circa 1790–1810. You may be surprised to see the bright and vivid colors favored in those days. Otis lived here only four years before moving to more sumptuous digs, also designed by Charles Bulfinch, on Beacon Hill. A second-floor room brings to life the home's days as a late-19th-century boardinghouse, and a display describes the "champoo baths" of former resident Mrs. Mott. From May through October, Historic New England runs a Beacon Hill walking tour from the house. It highlights the two sides of Beacon Hill, taking visitors past grandiose mansions and more modest townhomes. Along the way, you'll pass the African Meeting House, Louisburg Square, and the Boston Common. The $15 price includes admission to the Otis house.

The Hynes Convention Center hosts conferences, trade shows, and conventions. It's connected to the Prudential Center, where visitors can find a branch of the Greater Boston Visitors Bureau in the center court of the mall.