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Downtown Boston's main sights sit within walking distance of each other along the central stretch of the Freedom Trail: Boston Common, the Granary and King's Chapel burying grounds, the Old South Meeting House, the Old State House at the Boston Massacre site, and Faneuil Hall. Add lunch at Quincy Market or the Boston Public Market, a browse through the Brattle Book Shop in Downtown Crossing, and a cocktail on Temple Place, and you have a full day without a single T ride.
Park Street (Red and Green lines) is the stop for the Common end, Downtown Crossing (Red and Orange) for the shopping streets, and State (Blue and Orange) for the Old State House and Faneuil Hall. This guide follows that order, from the Common toward the waterfront.
Downtown Boston sights at a glance
| Place | What it is | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Boston Common | America's oldest park, start of the Freedom Trail | Free |
| Granary Burying Ground | 1660 cemetery with the graves of Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Paul Revere | Free; open daily about 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| King's Chapel Burying Ground | Boston's oldest burying place, 1630 | Free; open daily about 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Old South Meeting House | Where the Boston Tea Party began | Joint ticket with the Old State House: adults $18 |
| Old State House | Boston's oldest surviving public building, 1713 | Joint ticket: adults $18, youths 6 to 17 $10 |
| Faneuil Hall | National Park Service visitor center and Great Hall | Free |
| Quincy Market | Food hall with more than 25 counters | Pay as you go |
| Boston Public Market | Year-round New England food market above Haymarket station | Pay as you go |
Downtown's Freedom Trail stretch, stop by stop
The Freedom Trail is a 2.5-mile red line through 16 historic sites, and most of its downtown stops lie between the Common and Faneuil Hall. Begin at the Boston Common Visitor Information Center at 139 Tremont Street. The gold-domed Massachusetts State House faces the Common across Beacon Street; its free tours run on weekdays only.
Walk down Tremont Street to the Granary Burying Ground, set aside in 1660. The city lists three signers of the Declaration of Independence among its graves, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Robert Treat Paine, along with Paul Revere and the five victims of the Boston Massacre, including Crispus Attucks. Further along Tremont Street, King's Chapel Burying Ground is Boston's oldest burying place, the resting place of the colony's first governor, John Winthrop. Both are free and open daily from about 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Turn onto Washington Street for the two sites run by Revolutionary Spaces, which share one ticket. The Old South Meeting House, at 310 Washington Street, is where the debates that led to the Boston Tea Party began. The Old State House, at 206 Washington Street, was built in 1713 and is the oldest surviving public building in Boston; the Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770, happened outside it. In October both are open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in November and December.
Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market
Faneuil Hall itself is free: the National Park Service runs a visitor center on the ground floor, and rangers give talks in the Great Hall upstairs. Behind it, Faneuil Hall Marketplace is the cluster of Quincy Market, opened in 1826, and the North and South Market buildings. Quincy Market's central hall holds more than 25 food counters, and street performers work the cobblestone promenades daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more around the market, see things to do near Faneuil Hall.
Where to eat in downtown Boston
For a sit-down meal with history, Union Oyster House at 41 Union Street has served food since 1826 and calls itself the oldest restaurant in continuous service in the United States. For something more local, the Boston Public Market at 100 Hanover Street has more than 30 New England farmers, fishers and food makers under one roof, directly above Haymarket station. Quincy Market is the quickest option. More history-minded choices are in the oldest restaurants in Boston.
Downtown Crossing: books, shops and a late bite
In Downtown Crossing, the Brattle Book Shop on West Street, off Tremont Street opposite the Common's visitor center, traces its roots to 1825 and fills three floors with more than 250,000 books, maps and prints, plus an outdoor sale lot beside the building. On Temple Place, jm Curley serves American comfort food with its kitchen open until 1:30 a.m. every night, and The Wig Shop is a cocktail lounge whose bartender Oscar Simoza was a 2025 James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service. Around the corner on Winter Place, Yvonne's is a supper club in the rooms of Locke-Ober, the restaurant that opened there in 1862.
Downtown at night
For a show, the Boch Center runs the Wang Theatre at 270 Tremont Street and the Shubert Theatre. For dessert first, the Omni Parker House on School Street, on the Freedom Trail, credits its kitchen with inventing Boston cream pie and still serves it at Parker's Restaurant.
Free things to do in downtown Boston
Following the Freedom Trail line, both burying grounds, Faneuil Hall's visitor center and Great Hall, Boston Common, the Public Garden next to it, and the State House tours on weekdays all cost nothing. The harbor seal exhibit on the plaza of the New England Aquarium is free to watch. See also a Boston tavern tour and the Boston Harbor guide.
Sources: Freedom Trail Foundation; Old State House; Old South Meeting House; Revolutionary Spaces admission; Revolutionary Spaces hours; Granary Burying Ground; King's Chapel Burying Ground; Faneuil Hall Marketplace; Union Oyster House; Boston Public Market; Brattle Book Shop; Boch Center. Checked October 1, 2026.