Boston Public Garden & Swan Boats

Boston Public Garden & Swan Boats is an outdoor activity in Boston, MA, part of the Boston guide. Cost: free. Garden open year-round; Swan Boats run spring–early fall.

Bounded by Arlington, Boylston, Charles & Beacon Streets · Boston, MA

Why you should go…

America's first public botanical garden is 24 acres of Victorian loveliness: weeping willows over a lagoon, formal flower beds, and the bronze Make Way for Ducklings statues that every child in Boston has ridden. In warm months, the pedal-powered Swan Boats have been gliding across the lagoon since 1877 for pocket change. Pure, free, postcard Boston.

#park
#gardens
#swan boats
#photo spot
#picnic

What's around here?

The closest stops to Boston Public Garden & Swan Boats, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

Eat & Drink
Iconic
Cheers Beacon Hill
$25–$50
The real Beacon Hill bar whose exterior inspired the TV sitcom Cheers, tucked beneath the historic Hampshire House.
Steps awaySwitch it up: Eat & Drink
Sightseeing
Free Entry
Boston Common Visitor Center
Free
Meet Boston's walk-in visitor center on the Tremont Street edge of Boston Common, beside Park Street station, with maps, brochures and attraction tickets.
0.3 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing
Tours
History Buff
Tour of the Freedom Trail
$25–$50
Costumed guides lead a walking tour of Boston's Freedom Trail from Boston Common past the State House, Old South and Faneuil Hall.
0.3 mi awaySwitch it up: Tours
Sport & Outdoor
Local Gem
Boston Harbor Islands National & State Park
Under $25
Ferry from Long Wharf to Civil War-era Fort Warren on Georges Island or Spectacle Island's beaches and skyline-view trails. Ferries run mid-May to October.
1.1 mi awayMore like this
Sport & Outdoor
Free
Arnold Arboretum
Free
Walk 281 acres of trees, shrubs and lilacs in Harvard's arboretum, a free link in Boston's Emerald Necklace.
4.7 mi awayMore like this
Sport & Outdoor
Iconic
Walden Pond
$25–$50
Swim, hike the shore and visit a replica of Thoreau's cabin at the pond that inspired Walden.
15 mi awayMore like this