Boston Sightseeing Map and Guide

Locations of top Boston attractions and events

To plan your Boston sightseeing experience, use the map and guide on this page to locate top Boston museums, attractions, tours, shopping, and events.

The best way to start planning your Boston travel itinerary, especially if you'll be here just for a short time, is to focus on neighborhoods where attractions you want to visit are located. This map of Boston Massachusetts will help you get started.

Boston neighborhood map for your sightseeing planning

Boston map showing neighborhoods with tourism attractions
You'll find most tourism attractions in neighborhoods shown in this Boston sightseeing map

Use this Boston map and the following Boston sightseeing guide to see how the city's neighborhoods related to each other, and which attractions, tours, sites, events, shopping venues, and restaurants you'll find in each one.

And remember, sometimes the best way to enjoy Boston sightseeing, made easy by the city's compact size, is to simply wander around and explore. The photo gallery at the bottom of the page will give you a taste of what you will see in different Boston areas.

Top Boston sightseeing attractions for you to explore

Here's a quick overview of what you'll find in each of Boston's central neighborhoods, districts, and areas, plus Cambridge (a separate city) across the Charles River.

Neighborhoods / Areas	Top Attractions / Tours
Boston Common / Public Garden Boston's 2 greatest parks form the core of the city. Perfect spot to begin your Boston sightseeing	Make Way for Ducklings sculpture Swan Boat rides Shakespeare on the Common Ice skating on Frog Pond Start of the Freedom Trail Central Burying Ground on Boston Common
Beacon Hill Gas lights, narrow streets, excellent restaurants, boutiques, and 19th century mansions and row houses - the most historically preserved neighborhood in the city	Black Heritage Trail Museum of African American History Massachusetts State House Charles Street antique shops and restaurants Boston Esplanade / Hatch Shell Vilna Shul Suffolk University
Historic Downtown / Faneuil Marketplace The oldest part of the city, filled with Freedom Trail sites, Faneuil Marketplace, and historic taverns, including one where the Sons of Liberty met to plot the American Revolution.	Freedom Trail sites: Old Granary Burying Ground, Park Street Church, Kings Chapel, Kings Chapel Burying Ground, Benjamin Franklin statue, Old State House, Old South Meeting House, Boston Massacre site, Old Corner Bookstore, Faneuil Hall Haymarket Boston Holocaust Memorial Faneuil Hall / Quincy Market shopping complex Irish pubs and historic taverns
Theatre District Over a dozen thriving theaters, restaurants, and Emerson College make this one of Boston's most vibrant neighborhoods.	Boston Opera House, Citi Wang Theatre, Colonial Theatre, Wilbur Theatre, many more theaters Comedy clubs Emerson College Theatre District restaurants
Bay Village / Park Square A tranquil mostly-residential area with Federal and Art Deco architecture - one of Boston's "hidden secrets."	Gas-lit streets lined with Federal-era homes and Art Deco buildings Hotels and restaurants Boston Center for Adult Education
Chinatown / Leather District Restaurants, markets, and boutiques, bordered by trendy condos carved from former tanneries.	Numerous Chinese and other Asian restaurants Chinese gate Chinese and other Asian markets and boutiques Theaters (overlaps with the Theatre District) South Station Tufts Medical Center
Downtown Crossing / Financial District Primarily a commercial area, with pedestrian-only shopping along Washington Street and financial firms filling the skyscrapers	Orpheum Theatre Pedestrian-only shopping in Downtown Crossing Post Office Square / Norman Levanthal Park U.S. Custom House More Irish pubs Brattle Bookstore - one of the city's best!
Downtown Waterfront Luxury hotels and nice restaurants share space with wharfs and departure points for Boston Harbor cruises	Departure points for Boston cruises and ferries New England Aquarium Harborwalk Rose Kennedy Greenway Christopher Columbus Park
Back Bay Designer boutiques, art galleries, skyscrapers, but also home to Romanesque Revival Trinity Church and Boston Public Library in Copley Square, andbreath-taking Victorian mansions and brownstones.	Prudential Skywalk Observatory - highest sightseeing point in Boston Boston Marathon Finish Line Trinity Church Boston Public Library Newbury Street boutiques and art galleries Hynes Convention Center Copley Place and Prudential Center shopping
Fenway Sports, culture, colleges and universities, nightlife, and medical centers compete for space in Fenway. Includes commercially-oriented Kenmore Square and Longwood Medical Area.	Fenway Park and Fenway Park Tours Lansdowne Street nightlife near Fenway Museum of Fine Arts Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum House of Blues Boston Symphony Hall and Jordan Hall Boston University and Northeastern University, Colleges of the Fenway Numerous medical research centers / hospitals
North End Enjoy delicious fare in the many outstanding restaurants and bakeries in this traditional Italian neighborhood. Explore famous Freedom Trail sites.	Freedom Trail sites: Paul Revere's House, Old North Church, Copp's Hill Burial Ground Numerous fabulous Italian restaurants, bakeries, and shops along Hanover and Salem Streets Columbus Day Parade Saints Feasts and Festivals
West End Site of massive urban renewal during the 1960s, the mostly new West End includes Government Center, world-famous medical institutions, and plenty of entertainment / cultural options.	TD Garden and Sports Museum Museum of Science Massachusetts General Hospital, other world-famous medical research centers / hospitals Mid-century "brutalist" style government buildings North Station
South End Mostly residential, so not a lot of Boston sightseeing goes on here - but with the largest area of Victorian brick row houses in the US, art galleries and trendy shops in SoWa, and some of the best restaurants in the city, the South End provides plenty to see, do, and eat.	SoWa Market (seasonal outdoor market) Numerous trendy clothing and home furnishings boutiques Boston's highest concentration of chef / owner restaurants and bistros Boston Medical Center Boston Center for the Arts First Friday Open Studios
South Boston Waterfront Home to Boston's CruisePort, museums, artist studios in the Fort Point area, and a new convention center, this waterfront area just across from Downtown is Boston's most rapidly developing neighborhood	Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) Boston Children's Museum Black Falcon Cruise Terminal Boston Exposition and Convention Center Bank of America Pavilion Boston Design Center Artist studios and galleries in Fort Point
Charlestown One of the oldest Boston neighborhoods, with famous Freedom Trail sites, antique shops, lots to see and do in the historic Navy Yard, and one of Boston's oldest taverns	Freedom Trail sites: USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides"), Bunker Hill Charlestown Navy Yard USS Cassin Young Constitution Museum Warren Tavern
Boston Harbor Once your boat pulls away from the wharf, you're in another world, full of history, fascinating sights, and marine life.	Boston Harbor Islands Boston Harbor cruises Whale watching cruises to Stellwagen Conservation Ground Fabulous Boston skyline views
Cambridge A separate city directly across the Charles River from Boston - home to Harvard University and MIT, boutiques and bookstores in Harvard Square, lots of ethnic restaurants, and top-notch live music in the many student-oriented bars.	Harvard University Harvard Museum of Natural History (glass flowers) Harvard Square Massachusetts Institute of Technology Mount Auburn Cemetery Longfellow House American Repertory Theatre

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Top Boston attractions photo gallery

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Blurred boundaries

Boston is a city of neighborhoods, and that's part of what makes it special - but boundaries between neighborhoods shift over time ("official" boundaries don't exist), some overlap, and even the names change and evolve.

For example, there's a lack of consensus about where Back Bay ends and the South End begins - is it Huntington Ave, Columbus Ave, or the Southwest Corridor, a garden-lined park where a 12-lane highway almost got built 50 years ago? Likewise, is the Longwood Medical Area part of Fenway or Mission Hill? Where does the boundary between the South End and Roxbury lie?

"Downtown Boston" includes many smaller neighborhoods, districts, and areas - Downtown Crossing, the Financial District, Park Square, the Theatre District, the historic area near Faneuil Marketplace, Chinatown, the Leather District, the Downtown Waterfront. If you hear locals say "Downtown," they may mean all of these areas - or just some of them.

Development trends also help confuse the picture. Currently, our mayor has started calling the South Boston Waterfront the "Innovation District" as part of his successful campaign to lure biotech firms to Boston; of course, it used to be called the "Seaport District."

And then there's "Boston Proper" - technically the area first occupied by the Puritans, including Beacon Hill, Boston Common, the West End, the North End, and Downtown - but today, it sometimes stretches to include Back Bay and other parts of central Boston.

But back to boundaries and names. The Boston sightseeing map on this page as well as neighborhood descriptions on other pages use the boundaries and names most commonly used in Boston right now - in other words, the ones that you're likely to hear when you're visiting. The sightseeing map also uses boundaries shown in City of Boston neighborhood maps for large areas such as Fenway, the South End, and Downtown Boston.

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Fun Tours for Getting to Know Boston


Boston Movie Tours	Whale Watching Tours	Ghosts Tours	More Boston Tours

Other Boston neighborhoods with key attractions and events

Although most Boston sightseeing attractions cluster the central neighborhoods listed above, a few are located in the mostly-residential neighborhoods to the south, west, and even east.

Here are the neighborhoods and areas where you'll find other key Boston sightseeing attractions, historic sites, cultural venues, entertainment, and tourism-related attractions and events.

Neighborhoods / Areas	Top Attractions / Places
East Boston Just across Boston Harbor - 10 minutes from Downtown by water taxi	Boston Logan Airport
South Boston South of the South Boston Waterfront area - if that makes sense	St Patrick's Day Parade Castle Island
Dorchester	John F. Kennedy Library and Museum University of Massachusetts, Boston campus Dorchester Heights Monument Franklin Park Zoo
Jamaica Plain	Arnold Arboretum
Brookline	John F. Kennedy birthplace (National Historic Site)
Chestnut Hill	Boston College
Allston Lots of student-oriented spots	Boston University (straddles the Boston/Allston line) Harvard Business School Paradise Rock Club Many inexpensive restaurants, Irish bars, student-oriented nightlife
Mission Hill / Roxbury	Museum of the National Center for Afro-American Artists
Somerville Like Cambridge, a separate city.	Irish bars, clubs, student pubs around Davis Square Artist studios in former factories