Rich history, fine museums and a lively nightlife scene means there’s plenty to keep you entertained of an evening in Beantown. We’re talking buzzy cocktail bars, gallery lates, top-flight sporting events, heritage trails, ghost tours, beautifully illuminated landmarks and more. Dive in for our guide to some of the best things to do in Boston at night time.
The Freedom Trail by Night
If you only do one thing when you’re in Boston, it has to be a tour of the Freedom Trail, a collection of 16 historic Boston sites that, between them, contain the entire history of this great city. Guided tours are readily available and reveal the dark secrets of landmarks including Boston Common (the oldest public park in the United States, fact fans), the golden dome of the Massachusetts State House, the 17th-century King’s Chapel Cemetery, Paul Revere’s House, and the site of the Boston Massacre.
Night tours ramp up the more macabre aspects of Beantown’s torrid history, with tales of brutal murders, deadly sword duels, grave robbings and hanged witches, as well as providing quite stunning views of major historic landmarks illuminated against the night sky. And, if you like your city tours extra spooky, there’s a tour for you too. Take the Old Town Trolley tour, a ghostly spook-tacular that calls at some of Boston’s oldest burial grounds.
Museum Lates
Boston has a quite excellent roster of museums, meaning you’re never far from an Old Master or historical artifact. Better yet, many have regular late opening hours that allow you to dodge the daytime crowds and ogle the exhibits in relative solitude. Hit up the Museum of Fine Arts for your fix of Renoir, Frida Kahlo and Ancient Egyptian mummies. It’s open until 10PM Wednesday through Friday. Friday night also sees the Museum of Science stay open until 9PM, meaning you can check out the planetarium and meet the resident triceratops without fear of trampling a tot. The beautiful Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum stays open until 9PM on Thursdays, showcasing an eye-popping collection that includes pieces by Rembrandt, Botticelli and John Singer Sargent.
Italian Dining in North End
Ride the T (Boston’s speedy subway system) to the city’s cute North End neighborhood, a vibrant Italian-American enclave with some of the prettiest houses, most atmospheric cobbled lanes and hands-down finest Italian cuisine in town. Giacomo’s is a local institution, serving up great mountains of lobster ravioli and spaghetti aglio e olio to a devoted local crowd. Or try the landmark Union Oyster House (Boston’s oldest restaurant) for fresh seafood and hearty bowls of clam chowder. Pizza lover? The North End has you covered. The queue outside century-old Regina should tell you everything you need to know about the deliciously crispy, brick-oven treats that await within. Order a 16” capricciosa or puttanesca for the win (with extra anchovies, natch). Then sweeten the deal with a bagful of crunchy cannoli from Mike’s Pastry, where the vast selection of flavors runs the gamut from limoncello to peanut butter. Yum.
A Night at the Boston Opera
There’s nearly a century of entertainment history between the walls of the Boston Opera House (aka the Citizens Bank Opera House). A movie theater for over 50 years, it has been an opera house on and off since the 1980s, bringing high art and culture to the good people of Beantown. It’s now the permanent home of the Boston Ballet, meaning you can catch the likes of Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, as well as annual performances of The Nutcracker during the festive season. Touring Broadway productions are also a popular option here: the opera house has hosted shows including Hamilton, Wicked, Les Miserables, Cats and Miss Saigon over the years, to name just a few.
Sunset Cruise of Boston Harbor
Night time activities in Boston don’t come much more romantic than a harbor cruise. Sip a glass of bubbly as the sky turns dusky pink and Boston’s buildings light up like Christmas trees all along the waterfront. As well as those stunning city lights, you can also take in views of top Boston attractions including Castle Island, the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, and the epic feat of engineering that is the soaring Zakim Bridge.
View Boston
From river deep to skyscraper high, View Boston is way up in the clouds at the top of the Prudential Center. Take the elevator 750 feet up for one of Boston's great night time experiences. As the twinkling lights of the city skyline roll out beneath your feet, see if you can spot Beantown highlights like the glittering dome of the Massachusetts State House, Fenway Park Stadium (home of the Boston Red Sox), and boats the size of ants bobbing along the Charles River. Afraid of heights? Fear not: the 51st Cloud Terrace has a bar, where a whisky-fueled Ward Eight cocktail should provide all the Dutch courage you need to step out onto the al fresco wraparound walkway Cheers!
Boston Common
With its long and storied past that takes in the American Revolution, Martin Luther King and Pope John Paul II, it’s no wonder Boston Common – the oldest public garden in the US, no less – remains one of the city’s most sought-after attractions. Take a romantic evening stroll along its lamplit walkways, and admire its illuminated statuary in relative peace and quiet. Winter visitors can even strap on their skates and take to the ice on the frozen Frog Pond. Boston? Frost-on, more like!
Catch the Big Game
Beantown’s sporting legacy is the stuff of legend, and catching a big game should be on everyone’s bucket list. Anyone can get a kick from the electric atmosphere generated by night time crowds of fans as the excitement starts to rise beneath those dazzling stadium lights. Pick your flavor from American football (the Patriots), baseball (the Red Sox), basketball (the Celtics), and ice hockey (the Bruins). And, while we can’t always guarantee a win for the home side, what we can guarantee is a great, great time.
Save on activities and attractions in Boston
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Stu caught the travel bug at an early age, thanks to childhood road trips to the south of France squeezed into the back of a Ford Cortina with two brothers and a Sony Walkman. Now a freelance writer living on the Norfolk coast, Stu has produced content for travel giants including Frommer’s, British Airways, Expedia, Mr & Mrs Smith, and now Go City. His most memorable travel experiences include drinking kava with the locals in Fiji and pranging a taxi driver’s car in the Honduran capital.
