The arboretum, one of the world's leading centres for plant study, was established in 1872. In a beautiful, 265-acre park setting, this living museum is administered by Harvard...

Founded in 1807 as a literary society, the Boston Athenæum published America's first literary magazine and acquired an extensive library of books and works of art. It moved to...

This is actually two libraries. The original structure, designed by Charles McKim and completed in 1895, is now the research library, while an extension opened in 1972...

This 221ft granite obelisk commemorates the first major battle of the American Revolution. Technically speaking, it didn't go well for America: after a bloody conflict, the...

South Boston lays claim to one of the city's most appealing shoreline parks: the 22-acre Castle Island. It's also among the oldest fortified military sites in North America,...

Established in 1800 at the point where the Mystic and Charles Rivers converge, this was once the country's premier naval dockyard. Its most famous occupant is the USS...

Designed in 1761 by the country's first trained architect, Peter Harrison, Christ Church was a hotbed of rebel activity during the Revolutionary War. The walls are still...

Ahoy land-lubbers! Kids can wave at the ferries cruising to the Harbor Islands from this nautical-themed park, a short walk away from Faneuil Hall and the North End. There's a...

Set amid Back Bay's Victorian townhouses, Clarendon Street Playground provides a shady urban oasis. It's sunk slightly below street level, muffling street noise - but you'll...

The final resting place for around 10,000 early Bostonians, this cemetery was created on the northernmost hill of the Shawmut Peninsula in 1659. Once the site of the...

Built for the city by the wealthy merchant Peter Faneuil in 1742, the hall was later remodelled by ubiquitous Boston architect Charles Bulfinch. It had a dual function as a...

Completed in 1871, a year before HH Richardson began work on Copley Square's Trinity Church, the First Baptist Church is a similar mix of stone and wood surfaces. Richardson...

Literary giants EE Cummings, Eugene O'Neill and Anne Sexton are all buried here, as is the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. The mile-long Contemporary Sculpture Path,...

Kids can walk right up to the glass enclosures at Franklin Park Zoo and make faces at young gorillas or peek at stalking lions, and actually pet the sheep and goats at the...