Visiting Boston for the First Time? Here's What to See and Do

Get to know Boston at your own pace and see many of the city’s main attractions and landmarks with a hop-on hop-off trolley tour. The city’s easy-to-spot orange-and-green trolleys make 19 stops near popular sights, including Faneuil Hall Marketplace, the famous Cheers bar, MIT and Harvard, and Trinity Church.

Boston is chock-full of museums, large and small. Hit the major players, like the Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, then dive into the region’s unique cultural history at spots like the Harvard Museum of Natural History, the Salem Witch Museum, and the Paul Revere House. For a bargain on a day or two of museum trips, pick up a sightseeing pass, such as CityPass.

This walking path winds past many of Boston’s historic landmarks from the colonial and revolutionary eras. Visit Faneuil Hall, explore the city’s Old State House, and see the site of the Boston Massacre before ending up in modern-day Boston at Copley Square.

Cruise around the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay, spotting whales and other marine life with the help of a naturalist guide. The area serves as a feeding ground for humpback, fin, minke, and pilot whales, as well as for dolphins, sea birds, and more.

Home of the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park is an impressive site, even if it’s not baseball season. On a guided tour of the historic ballpark, you can visit the roof deck that overlooks right field and see the infamous 37-foot-tall (11-meter-tall) “Green Monster” as well as “Pesky’s Pole,” and learn why these highlights are significant to Red Sox history.

Raise a few pints of local beer in the city’s historic taverns, and hear stories about Boston's past. You can also swing by a brewery, such as Samuel Adams, to learn about the brewing process and enjoy a tasting.