Boston With Kids Highlights

Though our arrival to Boston was a bit crazy, our two day stay in the city was absolutely wonderful! On the first day we joined The Freedom Trail tour (Walk into History) which highlighted 11 of the 16 historic Freedom Trail sites within the city. It was a fascinating experience— I’m so inspired to learn more now!

The tour began in Boston Common, the country’s first public park! Our guide, Elizabeth, dressed in 18th century attire, brought the time period to life with her enthusiastic and fact-filled stories.

From there we viewed the Boston State House. It was built in 1798, and well-known for its gold dome.

After that we passed Park Street Church. Built in 1809, it became a valuable sanctuary for runaway slaves.

Next we passed by the Granary Burial Grounds. Created in 1660, it is the final resting place for Paul Revere, John Hancock, and Sam Adams!

My belief that children should explore and get dirty was battling with my inner germaphobe as Isla dug around between stones in the city to find these little treasures. Her little bits of Boston sure looked pretty all together though!

We continued on through the city and saw Kings Chapel. This Anglican Church was built in 1686 and was a poorly-funded building project because it was so unpopular with all the Puritans of the area. Paul Revere placed the bell in the tower!

Cole was a happy camper for the whole tour thanks to plenty of snacks and lots of city noise and action as entertainment.

Next to the church sits the old City Hall, a beautiful structure built in 1865.

We then moved on to an area near the Old South Meeting House to hear details about the Boston Tea Party. There on the corner sits a former book store, built in 1718 and now housing a Chipotle!

Next we passed by the old State House, which was used from 1713 until 1798. Adjacent to the old State House is the intersection where the Boston Massacre took place in 1770. Isla volunteered to go up in front of our tour group to help act out the massacre and she beamed with pride the entire time!

Above you can see the intersection where the Boston Massacre took place.

Our final stop was the current State House, and its claim to fame was that it had been voted as one of the ugliest buildings in America! Across the street sits Faneuil Hall, a famous meeting area nicknamed the Cradle of Liberty.
We are so pleased we booked this Freedom Trail Tour and highly recommend it. The amount of information and number of historic sites you visit in just 90 minutes is truly amazing! A special thanks to our dynamic guide, Elizabeth, for educating and inspiring our family to learn more about our nation’s foundational years. We’re hoping to make it back one of these days for the Historic Pub Crawl Tour.

Our Freedom Trail Tour ended across the street from Quincy Market, so we decided to stroll over and check it out.

While walking through the city we discovered so many talented musicians and performers on the street! As soon as we were out of earshot of one we would start to hear another. We came across this wonderful musician, Joe, and Isla danced so enthusiastically to his music that HE applauded HER when the song ended! Good guy.

After our time outside Quincy Market we strolled down to Boston’s Historic North End (just a few minute walk) to view the Boston Harbor and let the kiddos run around Christopher Columbus Park.

I told Cole there was a cookie in my camera to get him to look at me. He was like, “Seriously, Mom?”

We rounded out the night with Italian food in the North End. YUM! We wish we had a few more days in Boston just to eat our way through all the pasta in Little Italy!

A few kiddo travel tips:

Before setting off on a long day of adventuring, we lay the kids’ pajamas out on the bed at the hotel so they are out and ready as soon as we return. No more frantic digging through suitcases while tired, cranky kids fuss in the background! If we know the commute back to the hotel is long enough for them to fall asleep en route, we bring the pajamas with us and have the kids change before we head back. Both strategies are bedtime game changers!
If you find yourself in a room without a mini fridge, filling a garbage can with ice is a great hack for keeping milk cold. We put a towel under the can in case it leaks and cover the top of the can (with books, a bag, whatever we have) to help keep the temperature regulated as much as possible.

During our second day in Boston we reunited with our sweet friend, Lindsey! She treated us to a fabulous day at the New England Aquarium AND surprised us by bringing us into the seal enclosure to give them some treats! Talk about an AMAZING experience we will cherish forever!!! (I may have relished this encounter even more than the kids did… who am I kidding, of course I did!) Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lindsey!

A fine example of Cole’s key obsession. Haha! Here we are hanging out with real live seals and Cole is more interested in Lindsey’s keys!

Other favorite aquarium highlights included:
1. The ray touch tank! The rays are so inquisitive and seemingly affectionate, and the kids were absolutely delighted to pet them. The aquarium staff did a fantastic job educating visitors on the proper handling techniques to ensure the animals (and people) were safe.

2. The most colorful display of tropical fish we’ve ever seen!

3. The mesmerizing 4-story ocean tank, surrounded by penguins!

4. The aquarium’s incredible wharf location on the Boston Harbor. It is surrounded by food carts, hotels, restaurants, and all sorts of beautiful outdoor areas that overlook the water.

The aquarium is just a short walk from Quincy Market, so we found ourselves there once more, this time for a bite of lunch and some ice cream!

Our first day in the city taught us that parking is tight and expensive, so we decided to test out the Boston Subway our second day. It was super easy to use! We had the train almost to ourselves on our way into town. Heading back out of town during rush hour was a different story, however! We’ll know to avoid public transportation during that time of day in the future, but it got us where we needed to go and provided the kiddos with a new life experience!

We absolutely LOVED our time in Boston and cannot wait to make our way back to this delightful city. In addition to experiencing more revolutionary history and more Italian food in the North End, we’d love to go on a harbor cruise. Are there any other Boston experiences we MUST do? Please share them in the comments!