Over 30 Boston Museums!

How can you choose which ones to visit?

Over 30 Boston museums form a vital part of the cultural landscape of our exciting city, providing enjoyment, education, and entertainment to children as well as adults.  Lots of Boston visitors explore at least one museum.

If you're thinking that museums tend to be stuffy and boring, think again!

Boston museums feature everything from antique cars to electric cars . . . from fossils to biotech . . . from 17th century houses to 21st century design . . . from the Boston Tea Party to the Boston Red Sox . . . from Egyptian relics to contemporary artists.

Check out the museums in Boston described below to find those that you'll enjoy the most.

Boston Museums - Science and Technology

Boston Fire Museum

344 Congress Street, Fort Point area of South Boston Waterfront; website

Located in an architecturally significant granite, brick, and red tile building, this small museum exhibits a hand-operated pumper dating from 1793, a steam pumper from 1882, and a ladder truck from 1860.

Charles Hayden Planetarium

Museum of Science, 1 Science Park, West End, Boston; www.mos.org  (click on Planetarium link)

Located in the Boston Museum of Science, the Planetarium offers several shows featuring stars, planets, constellations, and the cosmos, plus free Friday night stargazing at the Gilliland Observatory.

Harvard Museum of Natural History

26 Oxford Street, Cambridge; www.hmnh.harvard.edu

One of the best Boston museums for kids, who love this vast collection containing everything from a 42 foot long Kronosaurus skeleton, the famed life-like Blaschka Glass flower collection, and incredible gems and minerals, each more beautiful than the next.

Lars Anderson Auto Museum

15 Newton Street, Brookline, MA; 617-522-6547; www.larzanderson.org

Located in the original carriage house, this Boston museum features America's oldest car collection, gorgeous grounds, spectacular Boston skyline views, and a public ice skating rink open in the winter.

MIT Museum

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 265 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA; 617-253-5927; www.mit.edu/museum/

Interactive technology and science exhibits feature holograms, robotics, innovative engineering, oceanographic research, scientific instruments, and more. Great place for kids as well as adults.

Museum of Science

Museum of Science, 1 Science Park, West End, Boston; www.mos.org

On-going exhibits and special presentations cover a wide range of biological, physical, and space science and technology. Lots of interactive displays engage children and adults in an exploration of the world.

New England Aquarium

1 Central Wharf, Downtown Waterfront, Boston; 617-973-5200

This extremely popular Boston museum is home to an incredible array of marine life.  The  aquarium features seals, penguins, a giant aquarium, ocean reefs, and of course, fish of all shapes, colors, and sizes.  More about New England Aquarium

Boston Museums - Art

Boston Public Library

700 Boylston Street, Copley Square, Back Bay, Boston; 617-536-5400

Although not a museum, the 1895 Renaissance Revival Boston Public Library is crammed with spectacular paintings, tapestries, and sculpture - plus the fabulous 3rd floor John Singer Sargent Gallery.   More about the Boston Public Library

Busch-Reisinger Museum

Closed for renovations until 2013; select pieces displayed at the Sackler Museum, 485 Broadway, Cambridge, MA; 617-495-9400; www.artmuseums.harvard.edu/busch/

This Harvard museum features German expressionism, Bauhaus, and contemporary works.

Fogg Art Museum

Closed for renovations until 2013; select pieces displayed at the Sackler Museum, 485 Broadway, Cambridge, MA; 617-495-9400; www.artmuseums.harvard.edu/fogg/

The Fogg Art Museum specializes in British pre-Raphaelite, Italian Renaissance, and French art.

Institute of Contemporary Art

100 Northern Avenue, South Boston Waterfront

The new ICA's spectacular design and waterfront location provide a stunning backdrop for revolving exhibitions of contemporary art, video, and mixed media, plus performances and films.  More about ICA Boston

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

280 The Fenway, Boston; 617-566-1401; website

Three treasure-filled floors surround an inner courtyard in this 19th century mansion build like a 15th century Venetian palace. Concerts and flowering plants enhance the ambiance of this popular Boston museum.

McMullen Museum of Art

Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Ave, Devlin Hall 108, Chestnut Hill, MA; 617-552-8587; www.bc.edu - click on museum link

Global collections include Gothic and Baroque tapestries, 16th and 17th century Italian paintings, and American paintings. Terrific special exhibits.

Museum of Fine Arts

465 Huntington Ave, Fenway, Boston; 617-267-9300; www.mfa.org

With everything from mummies to textiles to musical instruments - plus paintings, sculpture, jewelry, and everything else you might imagine - the MFA is one of the world's most comprehensive art museums.

Museum of the National Center for Afro-American Artists

300 Walnut Ave, Roxbury, Boston; 617-442-8614; www.ncaaa.org

The museum's collections of African, Afro-Latin, Afro-Caribbean, and Afro-American visual arts include a wide range of historical and contemporary paintings, sculpture, prints, photography, and decorative arts.

Rose Art Museum

415 South Street, Waltham; 781-736-3434; www.brandeis.edu/rose/

This small museum's outstanding collection of modern and contemporary art is the best in New England, with particular strength in American artists of the 1960s and 1970s.  The Rose Museum's stellar collection of abstract expressionists, conceptual artists, and pop art provides a unique cultural resource in the New England area.  If you're interested in modernism, surrealism, social realism, photorealism, color field painting, minimalism - this is where you need to come if you're anywhere near the Boston area.  The Rose Art Museum belongs to Brandeis University.  If you're planning a visit, be sure to check the website for hours, as the museum closes during school holidays.

Sackler Museum

485 Broadway, Cambridge, MA; 617-495-9400; www.artmuseums.harvard.edu/sackler/

The Sackler's superb collections of ancient, Islamic, Asian, and Indian art include outstanding Chinese jades, Japanese surimono, and Buddhist cave-temple sculpture as well as art from Iran, India, and Turkey.

Boston Museums - Sports

New England Sports Museum

Causeway Street next to North Station, West End, Boston, MA; 617-624-1235; www.sportsmuseum.org

Housed on the 5th and 6th floors of TD Garden, this museum pays tribute to Boston's love of sports, featuring exhibits sure to appeal to Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, Bruins, and Revolution fans.

Boston Museums - History, Culture, Archaeology, and Historical Houses

Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum

Congress Street Bridge over Fort Point Channel, Boston; www.bostonteapartyship.com

Closed since 2001 for renovations after a major fire, the Boston Tea Party Museum will reopen in Summer 2009 - bigger and better, with 3 tall ship replicas and interactive living history exhibits.

Commonwealth Museum

Located in the State Archives Building next to the UMass Boston campus, 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Dorchester, Boston; 617-727-9268

Will reopen (after being closed for renovations) on Patriots Day, April 21, 2009.  In the new "Our Common Wealth: The Massachusetts Experiment in Democracy" exhibit, you'll can see one of the 14 original copies of the Declaration of Independance and the U.S. Bill of Rights, the state’s constitution, the 1629 charter of the Company of the Massachusetts Bay, and more.

Gibson House Museum

137 Beacon Street, Back Bay; 617-267-6338

This remarkably well-preserved 1860 Italian Renaissance house, home to 3 generations of the Gibson family, became a Boston museum in 1957 and in 1983 served as the site for the Merchant-Ivory film, The Bostonians.

Harvard Semitic Museum

6 Divinity Ave, Cambridge; 617-495-4631; www.fas.harvard.edu/~semitic/

Exhibits from Harvard's collection of pottery, sculpture, coins, cuneiform tablets, and other cultural artifacts from archaeological expeditions to Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Cyprus, and Tunisia.

Boston Holocaust Memorial

Congress Street between Hanover and North Street, Downtown Boston

Begun by Nazi Holocaust survivors in the Boston area, the memorial's 6 glass towers symbolize the major death camps. Six million names are etched in the towers, designed to also resemble a menorah.  More about Boston Holocaust Memorial

John F. Kennedy Library and Museum

Columbia Point, Dorchester, Boston; 617-514-1600; www.jfklibrary.org

Dedicated to the memory of the 35th American president, this I.M. Pei museum overlooking the Boston waterfront presents multi-media "you are there" exhibits about Kennedy's life and times.

Museum of Afro-American History

46 Joy Street at Smith Court intersection, Beacon Hill, Boston; www.afroammuseum.org

Housed in historic Abiel Smith School, a Black Heritage Trail stop, the Museum of Afro-American History features rotating exhibits highlighting the history of Colonial period African-American Bostonians.

Nichols House Museum

55 Mount Vernon Street, Beacon Hill, Boston; www.nicholshousemuseum.org

This 1804 townhouse, home of landscape gardener and peace activist Rose Standish Nichols from 1885-1960, was designed by Charles Bulfinch and is filled with treasures of an upper-class, well-traveled life.

Old South Meeting House Museum

310 Washington Street, Downtown Boston

Interactive exhibits give life to history in this former Puritan place of worship, a museum since 1878, where many of the speeches and events leading up to the American Revolution took place.  More about Old South Meeting House Museum

Old State House Museum

Corner of Washington and State Streets, Downtown Boston

Explore two floors of interactive, hands-on exhibitions about the role played by the Old State House in the Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre - events leading up to the American Revolution.  More about Old State House Museum

Otis House Museum

141 Cambridge Street, West End (across from Beacon Hill), Boston; 617-227-3957; website

Designed by State House architect Charles Bulfinch and built in 1796, this elegant Federal-style house provides a glimpse into the decor and furnishings of an upper-class home after the American Revolution.

Paul Revere House

19 North Square, North End, Boston

Crafted from carved timbers, this is the only 17th century wood dwelling in its original Boston site. The museum, part of Boston's Freedom Trail, displays Revere's metal work plus late 17th century maps, furniture, and furnishings. More about Paul Revere House

Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology

11 Divinity Ave, Cambridge, MA; website

Founded in 1866 and one of the oldest museums in the world devoted to anthropology and human cultural history, many of the Peabody's exhibits and lectures focus on Native American communities and customs.

USS Constitution Museum

Charlestown Navy Yard, Charlestown, MA; website

The wooden USS Constitution built in 1793 is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. Nicknamed "Old Ironsides" after repelling British cannonballs in the War of 1812, this ship-museum is wildly popular with kids.

Boston Museums - Children's Museums

Boston Children's Museum

300 Congress Street; South Boston Waterfront.

Lots of hands-on fun exhibits and activities makes this the museum of choice for the younger (perhaps 9 and under) crowd.  Exhibits focus on the environment, science, culture, fitness, and the arts.  More about Boston Children's Museum

Boston Area Museums

Although they're outside of Boston, the following Boston area museums have such special collections that they are well worth a visit.

DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park

51 Sandy Pond Road, Lincoln, MA; 781-259-8355; website

The DeCordova Museum focuses on regional modern and contemporary artists. The centerpiece attraction is the wooded rolling 35-acre sculpture park, featuring about 75 large-to-massive fascinating pieces.

Hall at Patriot Place

Patriot Place (go in the north entrance), Route 1, Foxborough, MA; 508-698-4800; www.patriot-place.com

This shrine to football, specifically the New England Patriots team, is set up as a multi-media museum within the Patriot Place statium/entertainment complex in Foxborough, 22 miles south of Boston. 

Peabody Essex Museum

161 Essex Street, East India Square, Salem, MA; 978-422-3390; website

Founded in 1799 to preserve treasures brought back from around the world by New England sea captains, the PEM continues this global focus today, recently acquiring a Chinese Qing Dynasty house.

Plimouth Plantation

137 Warren Ave, Plymouth, MA; 508-746-1622; website

This "living" recreation of early 17th century Pilgrim and Wampanoag settlements features costumed actors who stay in role as they answer questions and explain their characters' lives and culture.

Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History

235 Wellesley Street at Regis College, Wellesley, MA; 781-768-8367; website

One of the most unusual Boston museums, the Spellman Museum uses its stamp collections to promote knowledge and understanding of world history and diverse cultures.

Wenham Museum

132 Main Street, Wenham, MA; more about Wenham Museum

Outstanding collections of model railways, dolls, dollhouses, clothing and textiles, and lead soldiers, plus a house to tour dating from 1690.  Interesting to children as well as adults.