The Best 8 Museums in Boston You Need to Visit

The Charlestown Navy Yard was established in 1800, and it was one of the earliest and original yards to be established to support the United States Navy. The navy yard was a very dynamic organization that employed skilled workers who were constantly upgrading themselves against the rapidly changing technology. Its employees were sailors, naval officers, and US Marines. Ships were maintained and worked on, and new ships were being built here as per the new technologies and researches conducted here. The Charleston Navy Yard served its purpose for 174 years, and its essence is still preserved as a historical site and is now a museum. It thus features in our recommended list of Museums in Boston that you must visit while in Boston. On a visit to this museum, you will see two historic warships; the USS Constitution and the USS Cassin Young. The USS Constitution is an undefeated warship, and the USS Cassin Young is a 20^th Century destroyer. It is amazing to note that the yard built, repaired, and maintained these ships for over 200 years! These two ships were also landmarking to show the transition that the US Navy had from timber and sail ships to steel and steamships, an example indeed of present modernization.

The USS Constitution Museum and the Charlestown Navy Yard Visitor Center mainly constitute what will interest you at this museum. Admission to this museum is free, and there are no entrance fees. Please note that at the USS Constitution, you will be subjected to physical screening as part of the security measures. If you are above 18 years, you will need to produce a relevant photo ID proof, so do be prepared.

Visiting hours:

Charlestown Navy Yard Visitor Center:10.00 – 5.00

USS Constitution: 10.00 – 5.00

USS Constitution Museum: 9.00 – 6.00

USS Cassin Young: 10.00 -4:30

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is featured among the list of Museums in Boston and a must-visit destination. This museum is named after its patron and founder, Mrs. Isabella Stewart Gardner. Isabella’s husband, Jack Gardner, used to travel abroad on business, and Isabella would accompany him often. During her travels to northern Europe, Russia, Egypt, Africa, and Asia, Isabella collected a lot of artifacts, literature, and souvenirs. She soon became inspired in the field of art and architecture, which became the foundation for her to open the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on January 1, 1903.

Isabella continued to live on the fourth floor of the museum and spent her time in personally arranging the artwork. You will see her collections, which included furniture, tapestries, paintings, manuscripts, textbooks, decorative arts and rare books on the three floors of the museum. She used to constantly lookout for new works to be added to the collection at the Museum. Isabella developed her museum by encouraging performing artists, lectures, exhibitions and organizing concerts for the next 20 years. When she died in 1924, she left the museum for the “education and enjoyment of the pubic forever,” and it has remained ever since. Hence your visit to this museum will be one that will be insightful, informative and inspirational.

Visiting hours:

Mondays: 11.00 – 5.00

Wednesdays – Sundays: 11.00 – 5.00

Tuesdays: Closed

Location:

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

25 Evans Way

Boston, MA 02115

617 566 1401

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and museum of the 35^th President of the United States of America, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. You can locate this museum in Boston amidst several other iconic buildings such as the University of Boston, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute of the United States Senate, the Massachusetts Archives, etc. This museum owes its design and architectural features to its architect M. Pei. You can view original papers, correspondences of the Kennedy Administration, as well as published and unpublished books on and about Ernest Hemingway, the renowned journalist, and writer who are all housed in this building. Your visit to this museum will acquaint you with the Kennedy family, where you will see a mixture of a museum and a library. Your visit begins with a short film, after which you can explore the museum on your own. You will find a series of many exhibits, the debate by Kennedy and Nixon, the space program, the 1960s campaign materials, the Cuban-Missile Crisis, rare displays about Jacqueline Kennedy and other members of the Kennedy family, to name a few. This beautiful iconic building faces the water and the Boston skyline.

You will be enthralled by the different exhibits you would see here during your 2-3-hour visit, definitely, a must-do in the list of Museums in Boston.

Visiting Hours: It is open from Sunday – Saturdays from 9.00 – 5.00.

Location: Columbia Point, Boston, MA 02125

The USS Constitution Museum is part of the Charlestown Navy Yard along with the USS Cassin Young, both of which are landmark warships of the United States Navy. You will be surprised to know that the USS Constitution was an undefeated warship. A visit to this museum, which features in the list of Museums in Boston, will indeed be a very interesting one. You can meet the sailors who are part of the USS Constitution’s present-day legacy. As you go along inside the ship, you will see its history at the USS Constitution Museum, or the Old Ironsides as called locally. There are hands-on programs, very interactive exhibits, and many interesting collections of artifacts that would interest all ages. Your journey starts at the visitor’s center, where you get to know more about the ship, as well as what goes into making a ship. It is so exciting to walk through the ship and explore the different parts of the ship. You can listen to present-day sailors and shipmates talk about what life on the ship is like and what it would have been in the past. You then walk through the Freedom Trail without any long waiting lines or crowds, passing other ships and coming to the museum at the end of this line. This is indeed a must-visit museum for people of all ages, and it is so much fun to interact, see the exhibits with all its information. It will be a day well spent.

Visiting Hours:

1.Museum Hours:

Spring-Summer: Open all days from 9.00 – 6.00

Fall-Winter: Open all days from 9.00 – 6.00

2.Ship Hours:

Spring – Summer

Tuesday – Sunday: 10.00-6.00

3.Fall-Winter:

Wednesdays - Sunday: 10.00-4.00

The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum is in commemoration of the important event which led to the historic American Revolution. This historic event was in 1773, where there were protests by the “Sons of Liberty” against the Tea Act. The Tea Act enabled tea that was manufactured in China to be brought into America by the East India Company. The tea brought in was not taxable. This was considered a violation of the rights of the local inhabitants of Boston and its traders. Many of the protestors dressed as Native Americans boarded the ship that brought in the tea and threw the chests of tea into the Boston Harbour. This later escalated and culminated in the American Revolution. This is the commemoration and the main highlight at the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, and it is certainly a place you must visit among the Museums in Boston. The experience here is very different indeed and very lively. You will get to listen to Historical interpreters, climb aboard 18^th -century sailing vessels that are restored and functional, take part in interactive exhibits, and watch the award-winning documentary that is titled “Let it Begin Here.”

You can tickle your taste buds by savoring the delicacies, freshly baked items, enjoying fresh lunch, and sample the five teas that are symbolically thrown overboard at the Abigail’s Tea Room. You will have a very pleasant experience, and it will certainly be worth the one hour that you spend at the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum.

Visiting Hours:

Off-Season Hours (November 1, 2019, to March 31, 2019):

First Tour is 10 a.m., and Last Tour is 4 p.m.

In-Season Hours: April 1, 2020-October 31, 2020):

First Tour is 10 a.m., and Last Tour is 5 p.m.

The Boston Children’s Museum is the second oldest Children’s Museum in the United States. This museum in Boston is exclusively for children, and it is both an educative and an entertaining museum. You, your children, or children in the family will be amazed to see that this museum has about 50,000 objects that have come in from different parts of the world. These are on display in the Native American and Japanese Study Storages. The displays are also placed along with the windows throughout the museum. This museum has been around for over 100 years and is a must-visit among the Museums in Boston. The children will be happy to interact in the “Science Playground,” that features tools that make soap bubbles, and also the “New Balance Climb,” which educates the children to negotiate their way through a two-story-high maze, thereby educating them on the laws of Physics. Children with the age groups from 0 to 5 will certainly find this museum fascinating and interesting. On each floor for the young toddlers, there are pop-up play areas. On the first floor, you can see the bubbles room and the golf ball area. Here the kids get to build tracks and also study how golf balls travel through gravitational force. The water play area is fascinating too, with trucks and construction, workshops where playdoughs are made, dinosaur exploration and crafts.

Visiting hours:

Fridays: 10.00 – 9.00

Saturdays –Thursdays:10.00 – 5.00

Location:

308 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210-1016

The Museum of Science is a science museum and an indoor zoo located in Boston. It is scenically located in Science Park, which is along the Charles River. You will certainly find this museum interesting and a not to miss among the Museums in Boston. You will see about 700 interactive exhibits, live presentations, shows at the Charles Hayden Planetarium, and the Mugar Omni Theater, and the MAX screen. The zoo is home to over 100 animals that have been brought in from very difficult situations. Won’t you be thrilled to see a 65-million –year-old Triceratops fossil, witnessing an indoor lightning storm in the iconic Theatre of Electricity. You will certainly not want to miss the butterflies or take a journey inside the human body. The Hall of Human Life is very interesting, where you would see the presenter gives a demonstration table with bones displayed on it and a very detailed explanation of this. This museum has a large collection of scientific instruments from Europe and the Islamic world. These also include sundials and astrolabes of exceptional beauty. You can spend an entire day enjoying and spending time at the different sights of this informative museum. You also have a cafeteria to satisfy your hunger cravings, and there is also a good gift shop.

Visiting hours:

Fridays: 09.00 – 9.00

Saturdays – Thursdays: 09.00 – 5.00

Location:

1 Science Park, MBTA Green Line E train to SCIENCE PARK stop, Boston, MA 02114-1099

The Museum of Fine Arts Boston is the fifth largest museum in the United States. It has so many collections of artworks amounting to more than 4, 50,000 pieces. You will be amazed to see the paintings, which are around 8161 in number. Every year, it attracts more than 1.2 million visitors and is voted the 52nd most visited museums in the world and finds itself on our list of Museums in Boston, that we must visit. It is interesting to see a never seen before Japanese art collection. There are treasures from Egypt and the ancient world, American art from colonial to modern times that is showcased. There are also some spectacular artworks of the Americas Wing. There are paintings, works on paper, sculpture, furniture, textiles, and decorative arts. These are the different aspects that narrate the story about the art belonging to the Americas from the prehistoric times to the present day. There are more than 5000 glorious examples of art produced in North, Central, and South America. There are materials collected here from a wide variety of art movements and cultures. A large online database is also maintained with information on over 346,000 items from its collection, and also has digitized images.

Visiting hours:

Wednesdays-Friday: 10.00 –09.45

Saturdays-Tuesdays 10.00-04.45

Location:

465 Huntington Ave, Avenue of the Arts, Boston, MA 02115-5597

These are truly unmissable attractions and certainly a must-do on the list of Museums in Boston. You can be sure that you will return with a lot of pleasant memories and a variety of sights. These are some of the best locations for Museums that have amazing artwork collections. With the variety that these locations offer, you can have the best of sights, soak in the sights, and enjoy your time off from your hectic schedule. The Information, exhibits, displays that are part of the collections of these museums are priceless and are a must-see. So, when you get the opportunity, do not miss the chance of visiting Boston and not missing to visit the Museums in Boston. So why wait, come on, and pick up your bag for your next visit to see the next museum. Boston is a city that is full of places that will interest you. Be it the historic architecture or the world-famous art museums; the city has all the attractions which you can visit during your vacation here. So, pack your bags and come to Boston for an amazing vacation.