Freedom Trail, Boston

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Follow the red brick line!

The Freedom Trail is the most helpful tourist guide I've experienced in any city anywhere in the world. More cities need to copy this idea. Basically you can see pretty much all of Boston's historic sights by following a red brick line built into the pavement. In fact it's so easy you can forget to even navigate for yourself. I joked that if some clown had painted a red line that diverted off into the harbour, I'd probably follow it into the drink.

It's a fairly comprehensive tour of the city, although you'll want to do a bit of research to see more. I ended up missing a few sights I'd like to have seen because I thought I'd covered everything. Personally I'd recommend doing something like this for a day in Boston:

*Go to Charles Street on Beacon Hill for breakfast.
*Explore the Public Garden.
*Go back up to Beacon Hill to explore the narrow streets and the square.
*Wander back down to Boston Common.
*Meander to the start of the trail at the visitor information centre near Park Street Station.
*Start following the Freedom Trail
*Pause for an Italian lunch in North End.
*Finish the trail at the USS Constitution
*Take the water shuttle back to Boston and enjoy the city harbour view.
*Walk down New Atlantic Avenue towards South Station.
*Turn onto Congress Street Bridge to see the Boston Tea Party museum.
*Finish your journey at South Station
*Take the metro back to your hotel.

You'll see a lot of people in costume guiding tour groups around the city. My favourite, and I wished I'd taken a picture of this, was seeing a British Red Coat drinking alone in an Irish Bar. I don't think you can get more lonely than that in Boston.

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The Freedom Trail is an excellent way to introduce yourself to Colonial Revolutionary Boston. In about 2 to 3 hours the Trail will take you along 16 historical sites. It covers well over two and a half centuries of what is considered "America's most significant past".

The sites are followed along a brick or painted line which serves as the guide connecting the sites along the route. Along the Trail you will encounter many other interesting and significant sites.

Following is a list of the sites along the Freedom Trail:

Freedom Trail
Boston Common
Massachusettes State House
Park Sreet Church & Granary Burying Ground
Kigns Chapel & Chapel Burying Ground
First Public School Site & Ben Franklin Statue
Former Site of the Old Corner Bookstore
Old South Meeting House
Old State House
Boston Massacre Site
Faneuil Hall
Paul Revere House
Old North Church
Copp Hill Burying Ground
USS Constitution & Charleston Navy Yard
Bunker Hill Monument

You can meander yourself around the Freedom Trail at your own pace or sign up for a Guided Tour. For more information check out their website where you'll find locations and times of where you can start your guided tour.

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You can take as long or be as quick as you like along the FREEDOM TRAIL; it is 2-1/2 miles of brick lined route, which meanders through the downtown of Boston, so you can always stop for food, browse other places, see the historical places in depth, or just pass by. Come back another day and do some more!!

Signs along the Trail identify each of the 16 stops, which include Bunker Hill and Boston Common.

Your hotel can provide information or, there are a number of good websites, in addition to the one below, there is: http://gonewengland.about.com/cs/bostonattractions/a/aafreedomtrail.htm
which has a lot of information too.

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If you had just one day in Boston and asked me what you should do, I would say definitely take the Freedom Trail. This 2.5 mile trail leads you through 16 of the top historical highlights of Boston on an easy to follow red path. It’s pretty neat – you can start anywhere on the trail and take part of it or all of it. Technically, it begins in the Boston Common, where there is a Visitor Center and you can pick up a map. If you follow it to the end, you wind up on the other side of the river at the USS Constitution and can either walk back or take a trolley. Either way is easy to do.

The trail is marked by red bricks or red paint, depending on where you are on the trail. Each location on the trail is marked with a bronze plaque and everything is well signed and described.

We started the trail at Faneuil Hall and headed over the bridge, up the Bunker Hill Monument and around the USS Constitution, before walking back to the other side. From there we picked up the trail again which led us to the Old State House and Old Burying Grounds before finishing at the Boston Commons. So we didn’t actually follow the trail in the exact order – but that is okay, because you can do that and not miss anything!

The Freedom Trail website gives you background information on each stop along the way – I recommend you read up before you go, unless you are pretty familiar with your early American history. The 16 official stops on the trail include:

The Boston Common
The State House
Park Street Church
Granary Burying Ground
King’s Chapel
King’s Chapel Burying Ground
Benjamin Franklin Statue/Boston Latin School
Old Corner Book Store
Old South Meeting House
Old State House
Site of the Boston Massacre
Faneuil Hall
Paul Revere House
The Old North Church
Copp's Hill Burying Ground
Bunker Hill Monument
USS Constitution

Of course, you will find many more things to see along the way. So you need a minimum of a day to do the trail. You can take a couple hours and do a quick overview, or spend a couple days taking in-depth tours of each location. Either way, it works in Boston.

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If you have any interest at all in history, Boston has a great activity in the Freedom Trail. Follow the red brick road to see a number of important sites in the development of this nation.

I started off at the north end, parking near the USS Constitution. Due to the high security measures, I decided to forgo that, and went instead up to the Bunker Hill Monument. This was a site of an early battle between the colonial forces and the British, and is today marked by a large stone tower.

From here, you walk south on the Charlestown Bridge to North End. Next stops include Copp's Hill Burying Ground and Old North Church (one if by land...two if by sea). There were a few Burial grounds along the tour. I found some of the intricate tombstones to be fascinating to look at. You can tour the Old North Church in depth, but the lines can get very long, so I had to take a pass on that.

The Paul Revere House is privately owned, and can be toured for a small admission fee.

After a little bit longer of a hike, you hit Faneuil Hall. The hall has served as a marketplace ever since its inception in the 1700's.

Then it is on to the site of the Boston Massacre and the Old State House - a nifty building that really sticks out as a historical site in the midst of the towering 20th century buildings.

Later in the tour, you hit the Granary Burying Ground, which is the final resting place to a number of figures - Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and John Hancock to name a few.

While there are some modest hills to climb on the rolling streets, this is a pretty nice and easy walk, and start to finish will take a minimum of two hours (I didn't stop for Revere's Home or Old North Church, which would also add to the time.) There are plenty of people around during the day (including numerous tour groups.) With two visitor centers and several restroom stops available, this is the number one attraction that I'm glad I saw in Boston.

Th freedom trail is this wonderful 2.5 mile walk through most of the major historical sites in Boston that have to do with the American revolution. You start out in Boston Common (A park) and end up at the USS Constitution. It can take you 3 hours or 3 days depending on how much time you spend at each site. If you stop at each location and tour it is at a minimum an all day event. I stopped at most and climbed the Bunker Hill monument as well as visiting the USS Constitution.

I am a history buff so for me this was a good day out. If you have school aged kids this is better than most educational type forays because you are outside most of the time, walking along the red brick guideway seeing all the places you learned about in school (If you are American that is). You can't get lost if you follow the red bricks!

Th freedom trail is this wonderful 2.5 mile walk through most of the major historical sites in Boston that have to do with the American revolution. You start out in Boston Common (A park) and end up at the USS Constitution. It can take you 3 hours or 3 days depending on how much time you spend at each site. If you stop at each location and tour it is at a minimum an all day event. I stopped at most and climbed the Bunker Hill monument as well as visiting the USS Constitution.

I am a history buff so for me this was a good day out. If you have school aged kids this is better than most educational type forays because you are outside most of the time, walking along the red brick guideway seeing all the places you learned about in school (If you are American that is). You can't get lost if you follow the red bricks!

When in Boston - you've got to. If walking isn't your thing then there is a trolley car tour. It must go to all the freedom trail stops as we kept seeing it all day long. The trail did take us all day - but we did go back on ourselves for lunch. Just follow the red line on the pavements through Boston. We walked the trail in snowy February and unfortunately the bunkers hill monument was closed due to health and safety (ice on the steps).

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The Freedom Trail is a no-brainer for anyone visiting Boston. Even if you're not into history, walking the Trail is a great introduction to the city of Boston. And if you are a history buff, like I am, it doesn't get much better than this. It's everything you learned in grammer school brought to life: Paul Revere, "One if by land...", the Boston Tea Party, "...the whites of their eyes". Mixed in with the skyscrapers of modern life is a peek into the very birth of America. The Trail is easy to follow...it is either a red line or red bricks that wander the streets of Boston. I broke it into chunks, over 3 days, instead of trying to do the whole thing in one day. However you decide to do it, front ways, backwards, sideways, use that red line as just a general guideline. Be sure and branch off on a side street that catches your eye. In Boston, there's history around every corner, not just along the red line.

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This three-mile ribbon of red paint links 16 historical sites. Most visitors start the trail at the Boston Common. The National Park Service offers 90-minute guided tours starting at the Boston National Historical Park Visitor Center. Maps are also available here. Stops include the Old State House, Faneuil Hall and the Old North Church. You can also discover Paul Revere's house and the Copp's Hill Burial Ground. At the end of the trail in Charlestown, the Bunker Hill Monument and the U.S.S. Constitution await you.