Tours can be hit or miss I find. However, I think the more interactive the tour is the more my family likes them. Since Boston is full of history there are a lot of tours. I’ve selected 5 that are interactive, a little unusual but definitely fun.
Boston Duck Tours
Contents
$42.99 for adults, $34.99 for seniors and active military, $28.99 for children 3-11, $10.50 for children less than 3. You can start your tour starting at the Science Museum, Aquarium or Prudential Center.
You will need to practice your duck call for this tour. To get a good lay of the land around Boston book a Duck Tour. This fun and interactive tour brings you around Boston by land and by sea. We had a real character for our tour guide. His name was Danny Disco! He even had on platform shoes that lit up! So much fun. On the tour, you will see ‘Cheers’, the State House with its gold dome to Beacon Hill and the Boston Common. The tour also goes by Government Center, Faneuil Hall as well as the TD Garden. While in the Charles River, you can see Cambridge, MIT, the Science Museum, the Hancock and the Prudential buildings. Plus the famous Hall Shell and Esplanade. Once in the river, you can also try your hand at steering the Duck Boat. Total photo opt here!
There are some really fun facts you will learn about Boston on this tour. If your tour guide doesn’t show you the building with the frog face by the time you have gone into the river, ask them to show you when you get out. It’s a fun building. You can also see where Whity Bulger had a hideout.
Boston Tea Party
$29.95 for adults, $21.95 for children 5-12. If you book online you will get a slight discount. Directions -redline to South Station then use the GPS on your phone to walk there. The entrance is on the Congress St bridge. Right next to the Boston Children’s Museum and the Firehouse Museum.
H U Z Z A H!!!
You become a Colonist in this museum. Huzzah, what the colonists yelled when they wanted to make a point. You will be yelling it during your town meeting. This will be the first stop on your tour. You will understand what led up to the Boston Tea Party. Your second stop will be to go about one of the ships and you will be the rebellious colonist who throws the tea overboard. Total photo opt here! After that, you can also explore the ship on the deck as well as below quarters.
The next stop of your tour is Griffin’s Wharf the morning after you threw the tea in the harbor. Listen to the debate and the consequences of your actions. Will you side with the Patriots or the Loyalist? Next, you can see the only surviving tea chest from that fateful night as well as documents and other artifacts in the museum. Lastly, you will watch a movie about the beginning of the Revolutionary War. By the end of this tour, my kids were yelling Huzzah! We really enjoyed this tour.
Old State House & Tour
$12 for adults, $10 for seniors and students, free for anyone under 18
We have taken 2 tours at the Old State House, the Boston Massacre and the Old State House tour. If you are short on time my suggestion is the Boston Massacre Tour. Now you might think you know how the war began. However, I can tell you there is more fiction in the stories we have heard than truth. This will give you a good understating of the events that led to the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Your tour guide will be dressed in period custom which is also a lot of fun.
In the Old State House tour, you will be delighted to see and ‘play’ with artifacts from Colonial times. For instance, the girls played with an ink well and plume, a magnifying glass and spectacles. It was fun to watch all the kids on the tour ask questions about Benjamin Franklin and the others. This is also a stop on the Freedom Trail, you can download the booklet here. Don’t forget to have your kids become Junior Rangers and get the stamp here as well as at the Old North Church.
Old North Church & The Behind the Scenes Tour
$8 for adults, $6 for seniors and military, $4 child, under 6 are free. For the Behind the Scenes, tour add $2
One if by land, two if by sea
This is where it all started, the Old North Church. Therefore, I suggest the Behind the Scenes tour. You will go all the way up to the bell ringer chamber as well as into the church’s crypt. Go and find out who is buried in this famous landmark basement. Even if you don’t take the tour make sure to enjoy the church which is lovely by itself. Wander out to the gardens as well and imagine what it was like during the late 1700s. Also, do not miss a demonstration of chocolate making at Captain Jackson’s Historic Chocolate.
Fenway Park tour
$21 for 12+, $15 for 12 and under
Now first things first – I’m a Yankees Fan! Tried and true, always have been always will be. It is a bone of contention with my husband who is part of Red Sox Nation but, he married me anyway.
What I like most about Fenway Park is that it’s right in the middle of the city. You can take the ‘T’ to get there. It is where the fans are, right downtown. They have preserved a lot of what was original in this park, including the Citgo sign. People say when you see that sign you know you are in Boston. The owners have also kept the green monster as well as the Pesky Pole.
They offer 9 different tours for you to choose from. There are 2 different birthday tours, a pregame tour, and even an educational tour. However, if you want to see the signatures behind the monster wall, you need to take the “Take me to Fenway Tour”. There are a lot of signatures there now. But keep your eyes peeled for those famous ones.
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Which one of these tours are you most interested in? When is your next trip to Boston?
We love doing tours while on vacation – this sounds like a great list for Boston – thanks for sharing!
So many great tours, and all very educational! The Boston Tea Party sounds great! Thanks for sharing!
The Boston Tea Party tour is super fun for kids and adults. The town meeting where everyone hells “Hazzah!” is the best ever!
These are great suggestions! We have done Boston with kids and I wish you would’ve known about some of these awesome tours .
This looks awesome! This is definitely something I want to do when my grandkids are old enough to appreciate it.
I love Boston and have been on several of these tours. We missed the Duckboat though. I know my grandkids would have loved to drive!
Yes, I’m sure they would Lori. And driving the boat is the bee’s knees.
Didn’t know they did tours at Fenway. I would love to do that!!
The do them year-round so whenever you are in Boston you can book a tour. I’ve never been to the stadium with snow on the ground. I might have to go this year.
I love this post! I really appreciate you collecting a bunch of kid-friendly things to do in Boston. Looks like you had a blast!
We did have a blast. The kids loved driving the Duck Boast for sure.
I know these tours are great for kids but my Hubby and I would be just as excited to go without! Your girls are adorable BTW
Yes, I agree. Thanks, my girls are complete opposites -in looks and personalities. It’s so funny.
Fun! Would love to go on all these tours (with or without kids).
Honestly, these tours are just if not more fun for the adults. I don’t know about you but I kinda geek out on history so I’d go even if I didn’t have the girls with me, and have.
Yay! I love seeing posts about our city. I have done all of these at one time or another. We did a lot of these on field trips when I was a kid. The Duck Tour is probably my favorite, though we did a Ghosts and Graveyard tour last year that was really good. I plan on doing a walking ghost tour this fall.
The walking ghost tour sounds like so much fun. It’s a shame my 11-year-old would have nightmares for weeks. lol
I would like to go on all the tour. I would start with the Boston Tea Party!
Great choice Missy. The Boston Tea Party is so much fun.
Our kids loved the duck tour in Branson. I’m sure this one is great too! We can’t wait to do the Boston tea party!
So the Duck Boat is a ton of fun. Especially with the drive-by quackings – quack, quack
I had a feeling that Fenway Park would be on the list. Haha. The old church and the tea party tour look interesting and fun to me!
Yes, the Old North Church is beautiful. The first year I was living in Boston I attended Christmas Eve services there and it was magical. Such an amazing church.
I really enjoyed the duck tours in Albany, NY. So cool it’s like a transformer from road to water. Next time I’m in Boston, I’d like to try the Tea Party Tour.
I love that analogy of the transformer – so true. I’m sure you will love the Boston Tea Party.
These look like great ideas for the whole family! I’m pinning this post too!
Thanks. I hope it helps with your travel planning.