Harvard Yard

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

Off Massachusetts Ave at Harvard Square, Visitor Center at 1350 Massachusetts Ave · Cambridge, MA

Why you should go…

Harvard Yard is the oldest part of the Harvard campus, a 22.4-acre green ringed by 27 gates, with its first parcel bought in 1637. You can walk past Massachusetts Hall, built in 1720 and the oldest building at Harvard, the John Harvard statue in front of University Hall, Widener Library and Memorial Church. Free student-led historical tours of 45 to 60 minutes leave from the Visitor Center in the Smith Campus Center and require advance registration.

#university campus
#walking tour
#historic district
#john harvard statue

What's around here?

The closest stops to Harvard Yard, 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 Square
Free
Explore bookstores, cafes, street life and historic Harvard Yard around the busy plaza at the center of Cambridge.
Steps awayMore like this
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.
Steps awaySwitch it up: Museums
Tours
Local Gem
Trademark Tours
$25–$50
Student-led walking tours of Harvard and MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Steps awaySwitch it up: Tours
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.
0.3 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