Freedom Trail
Walk the streets where colonial Bostonians argued, marched, and died — a 2.5-mile path linking 16 sites from Boston Common to Charlestown.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Boston offline.
Journalist William Schofield conceived this route in 1951; 40,000 people were walking it annually by 1953. The path covers graveyards, colonial churches, the Boston Massacre site, and a historic naval frigate — most at no cost. Worth knowing: the trail's narrative skips the Boston Tea Party site and the Liberty Tree location entirely.
What to look for
- USS Constitution, a historic naval frigate moored at the Charlestown end of the trail
- The Boston Massacre Site, one of the 16 official stops along the trail
- Bunker Hill Monument, the trail's northern terminus, in Charlestown
Pick up a free map and join a National Park Service tour at the Faneuil Hall visitor center; budget separate admission for the Old South Meeting House, Old State House, and Paul Revere House.
Freedom Trail is one of 31 sights worth the detour in Boston, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Boston pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Boston
- Museum of Fine Arts BostonFour hundred and fifty thousand works of art under one roof — one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas.
- TD GardenThe subway stops underneath it — TD Garden is built directly above MBTA's North Station, so you step off the train and you are already at the door.
- Harvard College ObservatoryOn the night of July 16-17, 1850, astronomers here made the first daguerreotype of a star — Vega — through a telescope that was the largest in North America.
- Fenway ParkThe oldest active ballpark in MLB, where a cramped city block accidentally invented some of baseball's most famous features.
- Isabella Stewart Gardner MuseumIn 1990, thieves walked out with thirteen works worth $500 million — none have ever come back, and the case is still open.
- Boston Public LibraryJohn Adams' personal 3,800-volume library lives here — and any Massachusetts adult can walk in and access it.