With kids · Boston · United States
Boston with kids
Family-tested sights, a calm base and the practical details that make travelling with children easier.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: Nina R from Africa, CC BY 2.0
Quick answer
Boston suits families well: the history is hands-on, with tea crates to throw and a warship to board, the aquarium and Museum of Science fill rainy days, and the Public Garden's Swan Boats and ducklings are a classic for small children. Distances are short, and the T is easy with older children. Top picks: New England Aquarium, Museum of Science and Boston Common and Public Garden. Families usually base themselves in Downtown and the Waterfront.
Key facts
- Family picks
- 8
- Best area for families
- Downtown and the Waterfront
- Rainy-day options
- 3
- Busiest months
- June–July and October
Best things to do with kids
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Aquarium · Downtown and the Waterfront
1.New England Aquarium
On Central Wharf, the aquarium's four-storey Giant Ocean Tank holds sea turtles, sharks and a Caribbean coral reef, with a ramp spiralling around it and a penguin colony at its base. Harbour seals and sea lions live in an outdoor marine mammal centre, and whale-watching trips leave from the wharf in the warmer months.
Whale-watching trips to Stellwagen Bank take about three to four hours; take seasickness precautions if you need them.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Rainy day
- Nature
Museum · Charles River
2.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.
Book planetarium and Omni shows when you buy entry; the lightning show is included with admission.
- Time needed
- 3–4 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Rainy day
Garden · Beacon Hill
3.Boston Common and Public Garden
Boston Common, set aside in 1634, is the oldest public park in the US. Next to it, the Public Garden of 1837 is a Victorian botanical garden with a lagoon, weeping willows and the Swan Boats, pedal-powered boats that have carried passengers since 1877. Children climb on the bronze ducklings from Robert McCloskey's book Make Way for Ducklings near the Beacon and Charles streets corner.
The Swan Boats run from spring to late summer; in winter, the Frog Pond on the Common becomes an ice rink.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Kids
- Couples
- Outdoors
- Iconic
Historic site · Charlestown
4.USS Constitution
Launched in 1797 and nicknamed 'Old Ironsides' after cannonballs seemed to bounce off her oak hull in the War of 1812, USS Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. US Navy sailors lead free tours of her decks, and the USS Constitution Museum stands next to her in the Charlestown Navy Yard.
Adults need photo ID for the security check at the ship; the MBTA ferry from Long Wharf to the Navy Yard doubles as a short, cheap harbour cruise.
- Time needed
- 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- History
- Kids
Museum · Fort Point
5.Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum
A floating museum at the Congress Street Bridge, with replica 18th-century ships and costumed actors who re-create the night of 16 December 1773, when colonists dumped British tea into the harbour. Visitors join a town meeting, throw tea crates overboard and see one of the original surviving tea chests.
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
Landmark · Fenway–Kenmore
6.Fenway Park
Opened in 1912, Fenway Park is the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball and home of the Red Sox, with the 11-metre left-field wall known as the Green Monster, a hand-operated scoreboard and narrow wooden-era seats. Guided tours run year-round, including on many game days.
Arrive early to walk Jersey Street and Lansdowne Street, which fill with food stands and bars before the first pitch.
- Time needed
- 3 hours for a game; 1 hour for a tour
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Book ahead
- Popular games sell out; buy through the Red Sox's official ticketing rather than street resellers.
- Iconic
- History
- Kids
- After dark
Island · Boston Harbor
7.Boston Harbor Islands
From late spring to early autumn, ferries from Long Wharf run to the Boston Harbor Islands, a national and state park. Georges Island has Fort Warren, a granite Civil War-era fort with dark passages to explore, and Spectacle Island has hiking trails, a lifeguarded beach in summer and views back to the skyline.
Pack a picnic and note the return ferry times; services are infrequent and missing the last boat back is not an option.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- Outdoors
- Views
- Nature
Experience · Back Bay
8.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. Its curved walls bounce sound so that a whisper at one end is heard clearly at the other.
Combine it with a walk around the long reflecting pool of Christian Science Plaza outside.
- Time needed
- 45 minutes
- Cost
- Low cost
- Off the beaten path
- Rainy day
- Kids
- Architecture
Rainy-day ideas
- New England Aquarium — Whale-watching trips to Stellwagen Bank take about three to four hours; take seasickness precautions if you need them.
- Museum of Science — Book planetarium and Omni shows when you buy entry; the lightning show is included with admission.
- Mapparium — Combine it with a walk around the long reflecting pool of Christian Science Plaza outside.
Where families should stay
$$$$ · Best for first-timers, families and luxury
Downtown and the Waterfront
Between Boston Common and the harbour, the downtown core holds Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market, the Old State House, the New England Aquarium and the Long Wharf docks for harbour cruises and island ferries. The Rose Kennedy Greenway, a ribbon of parks built over the buried highway, links it with the North End and Chinatown. It is the most convenient base for first-timers and families.
- Good
- Walk to the Freedom Trail, aquarium and harbour; Excellent T connections; Harbour-view hotels
- Watch out
- Expensive; Financial District is quiet in the evenings
- Nearby
- Faneuil Hall, New England Aquarium, Long Wharf, Rose Kennedy Greenway
Family travel tips
- Children aged 11 and under ride the T free with a paying adult.
- The Boston Children's Museum in Fort Point is aimed at toddlers to about age 10.
- Read Make Way for Ducklings before the trip, then find the duckling statues in the Public Garden.
- Book the Tea Party Ships and the Museum of Science's planetarium shows ahead at weekends and in school holidays.
- Summer harbour-island ferries make an easy beach and fort day; pack food, as island options are limited.
Day trips for families
- Salem (About 30 minutes by train) — Known for the witch trials of 1692, Salem has the Witch Trials Memorial, the House of the Seven Gables that inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne, a historic maritime waterfront and the Peabody Essex Museum, one of the oldest continuously operating museums in the US.
- Lexington and Concord (About 40 minutes by car) — The first battles of the American Revolution were fought here on 19 April 1775.
- Plymouth (About 1 hour by car) — Where the Mayflower Pilgrims settled in 1620.
When to go with children
The best months overall are May–June and September–October. June–July and October are the busiest, so book the big sights early. Weather by month.
Questions travellers ask
+Is Boston good for kids?
Boston suits families well: the history is hands-on, with tea crates to throw and a warship to board, the aquarium and Museum of Science fill rainy days, and the Public Garden's Swan Boats and ducklings are a classic for small children. Distances are short, and the T is easy with older children.
+What can kids do in Boston?
New England Aquarium, Museum of Science, Boston Common and Public Garden, USS Constitution and Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum.
+Where should families stay in Boston?
Downtown and the Waterfront: Faneuil Hall, the aquarium, harbour cruises and the Rose Kennedy Greenway.