Boston Freedom Trail: 16 Sites & Revolutionary History Walking Tour

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/13

Duration2h 30m

GroupUp to 25

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Two and a half hours, sixteen stops, one red brick line through 400 years

You walk sixteen Freedom Trail landmarks in Boston over two and a half hours with a small group and a guide who knows the stories behind each one—from the Boston Massacre site to Bunker Hill Monument. All entry fees are included, and the pace lets you ask questions without holding up the group. You finish at Copp's Hill Terrace with a view of the USS Constitution and a sense of how much happened in one small city over four centuries.

2h 30m

Step-by-step itinerary

The Experience

The Embrace statue catches you off guard when you first see it—a bronze sculpture of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King standing near the Boston Common Visitor Information Center at 139 Tremont Street, and that's where the Freedom Trail walking tour begins. It's not what you'd expect as the starting point for a Revolutionary War story, but it sets the tone right away: Boston's history didn't stop in 1776. Your guide will walk you through the Massachusetts State House with its golden dome, then into the red brick church built in 1809 where abolitionists delivered some of the first anti-slavery speeches ever given in America. The contrast between what happened here and what happened two centuries earlier is part of what makes this Freedom Trail tour different from just reading about it in a textbook.

The walking tour hits all 16 sites in two and a half hours, which means you're moving at a steady pace but not rushing. You'll stand at the Granary Burying Ground where John Hancock, Paul Revere, and Samuel Adams are buried, and your guide will tell you who they actually were—not the sanitized versions from school. The Old South Meeting House is where the Boston Tea Party was organized, and you'll hear the moment-by-moment account of how 92,000 pounds of tea ended up in the harbor. At the Boston Massacre Site, a circle of stones marks where five colonists were shot by redcoats in 1770, and the guide walks you through that night like you're standing there watching it happen. The Old State House, built in 1713 with a Lion and Unicorn carved into it, was the center of British power in Massachusetts—and also the place where colonists came to argue back.

You'll see the Paul Revere House, the oldest building in Boston, dating to 1680, and then head to the Old North Church where the signal lanterns hung on April 18th, 1775—"one if by land, two if by sea." From Copp's Hill Burying Ground, where British cannons were positioned during the Battle of Bunker Hill, you can see the 221-foot Bunker Hill Monument across the water, and from the same spot you'll see the masts of the USS Constitution, the oldest warship still afloat. Small groups mean you can actually ask questions instead of just listening to someone shout over thirty other people, and the guide will answer them without rushing you to the next stop.

The tour includes all fees and taxes, so there's nothing to pay at each site—you just walk and listen. Faneuil Hall, known as the Cradle of Liberty, is on the route, and so is the North End neighborhood where much of the Revolutionary action actually happened. If you're not sure whether you can handle two and a half hours on your feet, the tour is wheelchair accessible, and strollers work fine too. Public transportation is nearby if you need to step off and rest.

What’s included

Your day includes the full 2.5-hour Freedom Trail walking tour covering all 16 sites, entry fees to each location, and a guide who knows the stories behind each stop. Small group format means you can ask questions as you walk from the Boston Common through the North End, past the Old South Meeting House where the Boston Tea Party was organized, through the Boston Massacre Site, and ending at Copp's Hill Terrace with a view of Bunker Hill Monument and the USS Constitution.

Good to know

Moderate physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Boston History Company

Is this one for you?Right for history buffs and first-time visitors who want the full Revolutionary story without arranging separate tickets at each site. Plan for two and a half hours of steady walking—that's what lets the guide take you through all 16 landmarks and the 400 years of history that happened along this one red brick line.