Parks, gardens and cemeteries
Arnold Arboretum
Anyone who comes here will see the oldest public arboretum in North America. It is also one of the world’s leading centers for botany. Let yourself go and lean back in a wonderful landscape with countless species from all over the world.
Boston Common
Founded in 1634, Boston Common is one of the oldest public parks in the United States according to getzipcodes. Numerous gatherings have been held here in the years since its inception, including anti-war protests in the 1960s. Boston Common is made for relaxing hours. Observing people, seeing and being seen, walking around and just enjoying – you will hardly find a better place to do this. The Frog Pond, which is used for ice skating in winter, spreads out in the center.
Boston Harbor Islands State Park
Visitors can take a ferry from Long Wharf to Georges Island and Fort Warren. They quickly realize why Boston has been the most secure city in the new world. Shuttles also run to other islands around Boston Harbor. Guided tours, stories, events, leisure activities, swimming, picnics or fishing? Anything is possible in this hidden gem of New England’s largest city.
Boston National Historical Park
If you go to the National Historial Park, you will find many sights of historical importance lined up. They all document Boston’s great importance in the US Revolution. You can see the Bunker Hill Monument, the Charlestown Navy Yard including the USS Constitution, the Faneuil Hall, the Old North Church, the Old South Meeting House, the Old State House, the Paul Revere House and the Dorchester Hights Monument.
Boston Public Garden
Large and located in the heart of Boston, the imposing city park, established in 1837, extends majestically over 97,000 square meters. The park served as the setting in one of the most famous American children’s books. We are talking about “Make Way for Ducklings”, which tells of the dangerous journey of a family of ducks in the park.
Granary Burying Ground
On Tremont Street, many famous figures from the American Revolution are buried. These include Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Crispus Attucks.
Animal parks and aquariums
Franklin Park Zoo
Located in historic Franklin Park, the zoo was established in 1912. Interested visitors can find it on One Franklin Park Road.
New England Aquarium
Fittingly located right by the sea, the New England Aquarium is home to everything that can somehow swim in the sea – from penguins and jellyfish to sea lions. An artificial reef in a gigantic, cylindrical salt water tank can be seen from all sides and is home to all kinds of different fish species and turtles. The daily trips to observe humpback whales, dolphins and other animals are particularly interesting.
New England Zoo
The privately operated, non-financial New England Zoo is committed to protecting endangered species.
Stone Zoo
Formerly known as Middlesex Fells Zoo, the zoo is located near the Spot Pond Reservoir in Stoneham. It was founded in 1905 and named in 1969 after the former zoo director, Walter D. Stone. The zoological garden can be found on Pond Street.
Sports facilities
Boston is a sports city and as such has many beloved teams like the Red Sox for baseball, the Celtics for basketball, the Bruins for hockey, the New England Patriots for football, and the New England Revolution for soccer. One of the most famous women’s teams is the Boston Breakers for women’s football. Good teams need good stadiums, so they can kick, throw, hit and run in the following sports arenas, among others:
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is the home base of the aforementioned Boston Red Sox and at the same time the oldest stadium that is still in use. The sporty brick and stone construction is named after the Fenway district. If you want to go to a game, you should do without the car because parking spaces are rare and expensive. Tickets are difficult to get because of the enormous fan base. It’s best to buy some on the street, but this always comes with the risk of buying unauthorized fakes. Most of them are real tickets.
Gillette Stadium
The home base of the New England Patriots Footballers and New England Revolution Soccer players is in the city of Foxborough, about 30 km from Boston. The Revolution plays from spring to autumn and the Patriots the rest of the year, always ensuring that tickets are sold out. Since 2012, the Gillette Stadium has also been the home of the UMass Minutemen footballers.
TD Garden
As the home of the Boston Celtics basketball players and the Boston Bruins hockey players, The Garden beats hard in the heart of every sports fan, because no matter where you sit, The Garden is a fantastic venue for local games with a great atmosphere.
Harvard Stadium
Allston is home to the Harvard Crimson, a football team that has been shaking stadium walls since 1903. The Sortarena also serves as the home base for the Boston Breakers, i.e. the women’s soccer team. The Harvard University sports stadium has a distinctive horseshoe shape and spreads out on North Harvard Street on the grounds of the elite university.
Rivers
Charles River
The 80 miles long Charles River separates Boston city center from Cambridge and Charlestown. It is fed by about 80 streams and has its origin in Echo Lake in Hopkinton. Before it flows into Boston Harbor, it flows through almost 60 cities and villages in eastern Massachusetts.
Muddy River
The Muddy River runs from the Fens out onto the Charles River. When the weather is good, every visitor should consider taking a walk along the harbor or taking one of the reasonably priced harbor tours – including whale watching.
Mystic River
The “Big River” is a fairly short body of water that runs parallel to the Charles River and ends in Boston Harbor, the city’s natural harbor. Not least as the namesake of the novel by Dennis Lehane and the film by Clint Eastwood based on it, he is also known outside of Boston – but even more so through the year 1775, when British troops crossed the Mystic River to the Charlestown Peninsula in order to to begin the infamous Battle of Bunker Hill.
Neponset River
In the Neponset Reservoir in Foxborough, the river of the same name has its source near Gillette Stadium, from where it flows for 47 km to its confluence at Dorchester Bay. The river, which also forms the southern border of Boston, comes through the districts of Readville, Hyde Park, Mattapan and Dorchester.
