347 Best Sights in Massachusetts, USA

This small gem of a museum houses a comprehensive collection of American, Asian, and European paintings, prints, watercolors, and sculpture. The Currier & Ives (active 1834–1907) Collection is the largest holdings of lithographs in the nation.

West of Lexington's center stretches this 1,000-acre park that also extends into nearby Lincoln and Concord. Begin your park visit at the Minute Man Visitor Center in Lexington to see the free multimedia presentation, "The Road to Revolution," a captivating introduction to the events of April 1775. It is worth noting that 2025 marks the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution and new exhibits and events will be showcased all year at the park.

Continuing along Highway 2A toward Concord, you pass the point where Revere's midnight ride ended with his capture by the British; it's marked with a boulder and plaque, as well as an enclosure with wayside exhibits. You can also visit the 1732 Hartwell Tavern, a restored drover's (driver's) tavern staffed by park employees in period costume; they frequently demonstrate musket firing and militia drills and talk about life in Colonial Massachusetts.

Founded by Albert and Vera List, pioneer collectors of modern art, this MIT center has three galleries showcasing exhibitions of cutting-edge art and mixed media. Works from the center's collection of contemporary art, such as Thomas Hart Benton's painting Fluid Catalytic Crackers and Harry Bertoia's altarpiece for the MIT Chapel, are on view here and around campus. The center's website includes a map indicating the locations of more than 20 of these public works of art.

The MIT Museum is a place where art, science, and technology meet, with intriguing and extensive exhibits dedicated to the exciting worlds of artificial intelligence, MIT's renowned robotics, genetic technologies, and solar-powered vehicle Nimbus, to name a few. Allow an hour or two for a visit, and check the schedule for special programs and demonstrations by MIT researchers and inventors.

For great views with minimal effort, hike Monument Mountain, famous as a spot for literary inspiration. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville trekked it on August 5, 1850, seeking shelter in a cave during a thunderstorm. There they discussed ideas that would become part of a novel called Moby-Dick. While poet William Cullen Bryant stayed in the area, he penned a lyrical poem, "Monument Mountain," about a lovesick Mohican maiden who jumped to her death from the cliffs. Most hikers find the 2½-mile loop an easy stroll.

Founded in 1837, Mount Holyoke was the first women's college in the United States. Among its alumnae are poet Emily Dickinson and playwright Wendy Wasserstein. The handsome wooded campus, encompassing two lakes and lovely walking or riding trails, was landscaped by Frederick Law Olmsted, the co-designer of Manhattan's Central Park.

The 24,000 works in the college's collection include Asian, European, and American paintings, as well as sculpture and contemporary art from around the world. The coins and numismatics exhibit is definitely worth a look. 

A cemetery might not strike you as a first choice for a visit, but this one is an absolute pleasure, filled with artwork and gorgeous landscaping. Opened in 1831, it was the country's first garden cemetery, and its bucolic landscape boasts peaceful ponds, statues (including a giant sphinx), breathtaking mausoleums, and a panorama of Boston and Cambridge from Washington Tower. More than 90,000 people have been buried here—among them Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Mary Baker Eddy, Winslow Homer, Amy Lowell, Isabella Stewart Gardner, and architect Charles Bulfinch. The grave of engineer Buckminster Fuller bears an engraved geodesic dome.

In spring, local nature lovers and bird-watchers come out of the woodwork to see the warbler migrations, the glorious blossoms, and blooming trees, while later in the year nature shows off its autumnal range of glorious color. Brochures, maps, and audio tours are at the entrance, and the cemetery is a five-minute drive from the heart of Harvard Square.

The centerpiece of this 10,327-acre reservation south of Williamstown is Mt. Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts at 3,491 feet, and the fictional location of Pottermore's North American school of magic, Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The reservation has facilities for cycling, fishing, horseback riding, camping, and snowmobiling. Many treks—including a portion of the Appalachian Trail—start from the parking lot at the summit in Adams, an 8-mile drive from the mountain's base.

Mt. Vernon Street runs from the flat of the Hill, past Louisburg Square, and all the way up to the Massachusetts State House. Along with Chestnut Street, it has some of Beacon Hill's most distinguished addresses, but Mt. Vernon is the grander of the two, with houses set back farther and rising taller. Henry James once wrote that Mt. Vernon Street was "the only respectable street in America," and he must have known, as he lived with his brother William at No. 131 in the 1860s. James was just one of many literary luminaries who resided here, including Julia Ward Howe, who composed "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and lived at No. 32, and the poet Robert Frost, who lived at No. 88.

As April 19, 1775, dragged on, British forces met fierce resistance in Concord. Dazed and demoralized after the battle at Concord's Old North Bridge, the British backtracked and regrouped at this 1695 tavern 1 mile east of Lexington Common, while the Munroe family hid in nearby woods. The troops then retreated through what is now the town of Arlington. After a bloody battle there, they returned to Boston.

The Museum of African American History was established in 1964. Today, exhibits across one floor of the Abiel Smith School building (the first public school in the nation built specifically for Black children) recognize Boston's African American community, from slavery through the abolitionist movement. Visitors can also take National Park Service guided tours of the adjacent African Meeting House, built in 1806. It was from this church in 1832 that William Lloyd Garrison formed the New England Anti-Slavery Society.

When the island abolished slavery in 1773, Nantucket became a destination for free blacks and escaping slaves. The African Meeting House was built in the 1820s as a schoolhouse, and it functioned as such until 1846, when the island's schools were integrated. A complete restoration has returned the site to its authentic 19th-century appearance. Next door is the late-18th-century Seneca Boston-Florence Higginbotham house, originally purchased by Seneca Boston, a former slave and weaver, and purchased by Florence Higginbotham in 1920. The museum offers a free self-guided Nantucket Black Heritage Trail map that includes 10 sites around the island. 

Opened in late 2024, this whimsical entrée into the Seaport District has locals and visitors alike licking their lips. Check out 14 immersive, interactive exhibitions across two floors inspired by the eponymous dessert, including a sprinkle pool, a carnival, and the Hall of Freezers. It should go without saying that there are samples of the real thing—as many as you can eat, in fact.

Providing insight into Nantucket's African American history, the self-guided trail is divided into two parts, Downtown and New Guinea (an African American community in the 18th and 19th centuries). There are ten stops on the trail including the African Meeting House and the Seneca Boston Florence Higginbotham House.

Said to be the largest freestanding granite statue in the United States, this allegorical monument stands high on an 11-acre hilltop site. Designed by Hammatt Billings of Boston in 1854 and dedicated in 1889, it depicts Faith, surrounded by Liberty, Morality, Justice, Law, and Education, and includes scenes from the Pilgrims' early days in Plymouth.

The 30-foot span that gives this 48-acre park its name crosses Hudson Brook, yielding appealing views of rocky chasms. The marble arch at the park's center rises in what functioned as a marble quarry from the early 1880s to the mid-1900s. Natural Bridge has picnic sites, hiking trails, and well-maintained restrooms. In winter the area is popular for cross-country skiing. Do check for trail closures due to maintenance before going.

This town-managed beach—not to be confused with Nauset Light Beach on the National Seashore—is a 10-mile sweep of sandy ocean beach with low dunes and large waves good for bodysurfing or board surfing. Despite its size, the massive parking lot often fills up on sunny days; arrive quite early or in the late afternoon if you want to claim a spot. The beach gets extremely crowded in summer; unless you walk a bit, expect to feel very close to your neighbors on the sand. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (fee); showers; toilets. Best for: sunrise; surfing; swimming; walking.

Moved 350 feet back from its perch at cliff's edge in 1996, this much-photographed red-and-white lighthouse tops the bluff where the Three Sisters Lighthouses once stood. (The Sisters themselves can be seen in a little landlocked park surrounded by trees; they're reached by paved walkways off Nauset Light Beach's parking lot.) How the lighthouses got there is a long story. In 1838 three brick lighthouses were built 150 feet apart on the bluffs in Eastham overlooking a particularly dangerous area of shoals (shifting underwater sandbars). In 1892, after the eroding cliff dropped the towers into the ocean, they were replaced with three wooden towers. In 1918, two were moved away, as was the third in 1923. Eventually the National Park Service acquired the Three Sisters and brought them together in the inland park, where they would be safe. Lectures on and guided tours of the lighthouses (free, donations accepted) are conducted Sunday mid-May–October, as well as Wednesday from June--September.

Located at the north end of Union Park, the Holocaust Memorial is the work of Stanley Saitowitz, whose design was selected through an international competition; the finished memorial was dedicated in 1995. During the day the six 50-foot-high glass-and-steel towers seem at odds with the 18th-century streetscape of Blackstone Square behind it; at night, they glow like ghosts while manufactured steam from grates in the granite base makes for a particularly haunting scene. Recollections by Holocaust survivors are set into the glass-and-granite walls; the upper levels of the towers are etched with 6 million numbers in random sequence, symbolizing the Jewish victims of the Nazi horror.

Eight-block-long Newbury Street has been compared to New York's 5th Avenue, and certainly this is the city's poshest shopping area, with branches of Chanel, Tiffany & Co., Valentino, Max Mara, Longchamp, and other top names in fashion. But here the pricey boutiques are more intimate than grand, and people live above the trendy restaurants and ubiquitous hair salons, giving the place a neighborhood feel. Toward the Massachusetts Avenue end, cafés proliferate and the stores get funkier, ending with Newbury Comics and Urban Outfitters.

The only Mt. Vernon Street home open to the public, the Nichols House was built in 1804, and its design is attributed to Charles Bulfinch. It became the lifelong home of Rose Standish Nichols (1872–1960), Beacon Hill eccentric, philanthropist, peace advocate, and one of the first female landscape architects. Nichols inherited the Victorian furnishings, but she added a number of Colonial-style pieces to the mix, and the result is a delightful mélange of styles. To see the house, you must take a guided tour, and space is limited.

These 1,961 acres were once part of a vast estate belonging to Roland C. Nickerson, son of Samuel Nickerson, a Chatham native who founded the First National Bank of Chicago. Roland and his wife, Addie, lavishly entertained such visitors as President Grover Cleveland at their private beach and hunting lodge in English country-house style, with coachmen dressed in tails and top hats and a bugler announcing carriages entering the front gates. In 1934 Addie donated the land for the state park in memory of Roland and their son, who died during the 1918 flu epidemic.

The park consists of acres of oak, pitch-pine, hemlock, and spruce forest speckled with seven freshwater kettle ponds formed by glaciers. Some ponds are stocked with trout for fishing. You can swim, canoe, sail, and kayak in the ponds, and bicycle along 8 miles of paved trails that connect to the Cape Cod Rail Trail. Bird-watchers seek out the thrushes, wrens, warblers, woodpeckers, finches, larks, cormorants, great blue herons, hawks, owls, and ospreys. Red foxes and white-tailed deer are occasionally spotted in the woods. The over 400 campsites are extremely popular: reservations are necessary.

This imposing lighthouse has spectacular views from its base of the nearby Elizabeth Islands and of Martha's Vineyard, across Vineyard Sound. The 42-foot cast-iron tower, lined with brick, was built in 1876 with a stationary light. It shines red to indicate dangerous waters or white for safe passage. Friends of Nobska Light, a nonprofit group, has carefully restored the structure, converting the lighthouse keeper's house into a museum. The grounds are open daily from dawn to dusk for sightseeing, though parking is very limited. Best to arrive by bike along the scenic bike path.  Tower tours are offered Tuesday and Thursday from 10--12:15 in season. 

Here visitors can get a glimpse of the extraordinary scientific marine research that goes on within the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. Climb inside a replica of Alvin, the submersible that dove thousands of feet deep to explore the wreck of the Titanic. Other exhibits show footage of the rich life at vast depths of the ocean, and how climate change is impacting coral reefs. Scientists give informative lectures on Tuesdays in July and August.

Built in 1865, Old City Hall is a historic site and served as the municipal seat of government for 38 of Boston's mayors, including famous ones like John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, James Curley, and Kevin White. In its courtyard, find Richard S. Greenough's bronze statue of Benjamin Franklin and a mural marking the original site of the Boston Latin School. Today, Old City Hall is an office building. While you can't really venture too far inside the building, do go up and check out the murals around its entrance.

In the 19th century, this graceful, gambrel-roof, early-Georgian structure—built in 1718 on land once owned by religious rebel Anne Hutchinson—also housed the city's leading bookstore. We'll preface this by saying that the only way to see inside this amazingly historic Freedom Trail site is to order up some fast food. Sadly, that's the current role this literary gem plays, but anyone stopping by can also read the plaque on the wall that shares more about its history. From 1845 to 1865, literary lights including Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Charles Dickens visited here where many of their works were published by James T. "Jamie" Fields (founder of Ticknor and Fields). This is Freedom Trail stop 7.

At this bridge, the Concord minutemen turned the tables on the British on the morning of April 19, 1775. The Americans didn't fire first, but when two of their own fell dead from a Redcoat volley, Major John Buttrick of Concord roared, "Fire, fellow soldiers, for God's sake, fire." The minutemen released volley after volley, and the Redcoats fled. Daniel Chester French's famous statue The Minute Man (1875) honors the country's first freedom fighters. The lovely wooded surroundings give a sense of what the landscape was like in more rural times. Guests who take the Liberty Ride trolley tour from Lexington Center will be treated to a quick stop at the bridge.

This long, beautiful crescent of soft white sand is anchored by the Sea Crest Beach Resort at one end. It's especially good for small children because a sandbar keeps it shallow at the southern end and creates tidal pools full of crabs. Very popular, this beach has its share of crowds on nice, sunny days. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (fee); showers; toilets. Best for: swimming; walking.

Members of Old South Meeting House, of Tea Party fame, decamped to this new site in 1873, a move not without controversy. In an Italian Gothic style inspired by the art critic John Ruskin and with an interior decorated with Venetian mosaics and stained-glass windows, the "new" structure could hardly be more different from the plain meetinghouse they vacated. The sanctuary is free and open to the public seven days a week.