Harvard Square

Harvard Square is a sightseeing stop in Cambridge, MA, part of the Boston guide. Cost: free.

Massachusetts Ave at Brattle St and John F. Kennedy St · Cambridge, MA

Why you should go…

Harvard Square is a triangular plaza where Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street meet, and the name covers the busy district around it. Next door is Harvard Yard, the historic heart of Harvard University, and the Harvard Art Museums are a short walk away. You will find restaurants, vintage shops, bookstores, theatres and music venues, plus Cambridge Common with its Revolutionary War monuments.

#harvard university
#shopping district
#bookstores
#historic square
#street performers

What's around here?

The closest stops to Harvard Square, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

Sightseeing
Iconic
Harvard Yard
Free
Stroll the oldest part of Harvard's campus, past the John Harvard statue, Widener Library and Memorial Church.
Steps awayMore like this
Tours
Local Gem
Trademark Tours
$25–$50
Student-led walking tours of Harvard and MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Steps awaySwitch it up: Tours
Museums
Rainy-Day Pick
Harvard Art Museums
Free
Harvard's art museum near Harvard Square, with more than 50 galleries across three floors around a skylit courtyard.
0.2 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
Museums
Local Gem
Harvard Museum of Natural History
Under $25
Home of the famous Glass Flowers, plus whale skeletons, a 42-foot Kronosaurus, and Harvard's great hall of mammals, steps from Harvard Yard.
0.4 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
Sightseeing
Date Night
Charles River Boat Company
$25–$50
Narrated sightseeing cruises along the Charles River past Beacon Hill, the Back Bay, MIT, and Harvard.
0.9 mi awayMore like this
Sightseeing
History Buff
Boston
Free
The City of Boston's citywide 250th-anniversary program of historic tours, markers and events.
1.8 mi awayMore like this