Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas. Current exhbitions include Hallyu! The Korean Wave, Ancestors and Place: Indigenous North American Prints, and Hyman Bloom: Landscapes of the Mind

Annual Boston Harborfest Celebration

With hundreds of activities over Independence Day weekend at Boston’s most iconic historic landmarks, this family-friendly event is one of the country’s largest Fourth of July festivals. Activities include the annual opening ceremony in Downtown Crossing, historical reenactments, arts market, Chowderfest, live musical entertainment, fireworks, and much more (see photo above).

Freedom Trail

This is a 2.5-mile red line leading to 16 nationally significant historic sites. Tours include a Walk into History, Rainbow Revolutionaries, and the Historic Pub Crawl Private Tour. Special events to ring in the Fourth of July is also available during this time.

Boston Duck Tour

The Boston Duck Tour covers it all—from the State House in the Beacon Hill neighborhood to Bunker Hill and the TD Garden, home to the newly crowned 2024 NBA Champions Boston Celtics. There’s Boston Common, a public park in downtown Boston and the oldest city park in the United States; Copley Square, a sort of public square in the Back Bay neighborhood; the Big Dig central artery/tunnel project; plus Government Center to Newbury Street, Quincy Market to the Prudential Tower and more.

North End

As the oldest residental neighborhood in the city, the North End of Boston is rich with history. Unofficially known as Boston’s “Little Italy,” it is only a one-square-mile area jutting into Boston Harbor. Along with a growing and changing demographic, the neighborhood is also home to 100 restaurants, cafés, and bakeries, and the rustic Italian scenery.