Season guide · Boston · United States
Boston in autumn
September–November: weather, crowds, prices and the best things to do this time of year.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: Seasider53, CC BY 4.0
.jpg){kind=link}
Quick answer
Students return, the leaves turn in October and the weather is crisp and sunny; hotels are at their most expensive until early November. Expect highs up to 23°C (73°F) and lows around 3°C (37°F), with about 29 rainy days across September–November. September–October are among the best months of the year to visit.
Key facts
- Months
- September–November
- Temperatures
- 3°C (37°F) to 23°C (73°F)
- Rainy days in the season
- About 29
- Sea
- 10°C (50°F) to 18°C (64°F)
- Crowds
- Busy
- Hotel prices
- High
Weather in autumn
| Month | High | Low | Rainy days | Daylight | Crowds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 23°C (73°F) | 14°C (57°F) | 9 | 12.4 h | 4/5 |
| October | 17°C (63°F) | 8°C (46°F) | 10 | 11 h | 5/5 |
| November | 11°C (52°F) | 3°C (37°F) | 10 | 9.7 h | 2/5 |
Compared with the rest of the year: average highs of 17°C (63°F) against a yearly 15°C (59°F), and 29 of the year's roughly 123 rainy days fall in these 3 months. Crowds rate 4/5 and hotel prices 4/5 on average.
What's on in autumn
Recurring events; dates move from year to year, so confirm with the organiser.
- September: Student move-in weekend around 1 September, when streets fill with moving vans
- October: Head of the Charles Regatta (usually the second-to-last weekend of October)
- October: Halloween month in Salem (throughout October)
- November: Thanksgiving celebrations in Plymouth (usually the weekend before Thanksgiving)
Good choices for autumn
Museum · Charles River
Museum of Science
Built on a dam across the Charles River, the Museum of Science has hands-on galleries ranging from dinosaurs to engineering, the Theater of Electricity, where a giant Van de Graaff generator makes indoor lightning, the Charles Hayden Planetarium and the domed Mugar Omni Theater.
- Time needed
- 3–4 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Rainy day
Museum · Fort Point
Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum
Tours leave at set times and fill up in summer; book a slot and arrive about 15 minutes early.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- History
Gallery · Seaport District
Institute of Contemporary Art
The ICA's glass building by Diller Scofidio + Renfro cantilevers out over Boston Harbor, and its top-floor galleries end in a full-width window onto the water.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Art
- Views
- Rainy day
- Architecture
Museum · Dorchester
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
Take the Red Line to JFK/UMass and use the free shuttle bus to the museum.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- History
- Views
- Rainy day
Experience · Back Bay
Mapparium
Inside the Mary Baker Eddy Library, the Mapparium is a three-storey stained-glass globe from 1935 that you walk through on a glass bridge, showing the world's political borders as they were then.
- Time needed
- 45 minutes
- Cost
- Low cost
- Off the beaten path
- Rainy day
- Kids
- Architecture
Day trips in autumn
- Provincetown, Cape Cod (About 1 hour 30 minutes by fast ferry (seasonal)) — At the tip of Cape Cod, Provincetown has a lively main street of galleries and seafood restaurants, the Pilgrim Monument, long dune beaches in the Cape Cod National Seashore and whale-watching trips.
- Plymouth (About 1 hour by car) — Where the Mayflower Pilgrims settled in 1620.
What to pack
- Light layers for the day and a light jacket for the evening
- A packable rain jacket for showers
- Comfortable walking shoes
Other times of year
Questions travellers ask
+Is autumn a good time to visit Boston?
Yes: September–October are among the best months. Students return, the leaves turn in October and the weather is crisp and sunny; hotels are at their most expensive until early November.
+What is the weather like in Boston in autumn?
Highs of up to 23°C (73°F) and lows around 3°C (37°F), with about 29 rainy days over the season.