The Freedom Trail is free, the line in the sidewalk is the guide, and the walk itself takes a
morning. What you pay for is a storyteller, or one of four doors. Here is how to choose both.
Which part each tour walksDowntown only, downtown and North End, or all the way to Charlestown
What is free, what is notTaken from the National Park Service and each site's own page
Free cancellationUp to 24 hours before, on every tour listed here
Secure checkoutBook on GetYourGuide, with a mobile voucher
Tours
Choose your Freedom Trail tour
In the centre, the small-group history walk from the Common to the North End. On the left, the Freedom
Trail Foundation's own 90-minute introduction to the first eleven sites. On the right, the only tour here that walks the
whole 2.5 miles to Bunker Hill and the ship.
The Freedom Trail Foundation's own introductory walk: 90 minutes and one mile from Boston Common to Faneuil Hall, covering 11 of the 16 official sites. The short, well-run version for a first morning, with the rest left to you.
What's included
Run by the Freedom Trail Foundation, the non-profit that looks after the trail
Boston Common, State House, Park Street Church, Granary, King's Chapel, Franklin statue, Old Corner Bookstore, Old South, Old State House, Massacre site, Faneuil Hall
Ends at Faneuil Hall: the North End and Charlestown are left for your own afternoon
Site admissions not included
Several departures a day from the Boston Common Visitor Information Center; free cancellation up to 24 hours before
A small-group walk of the downtown and North End stretch of the trail, from Boston Common to Copp's Hill, with a guide who tells the 1760 to 1775 story in order. Museum admissions are not included, so you choose which doors to open.
What's included
Guided walk from Boston Common to Copp's Hill Terrace in the North End
Small group, capped at 16 people per the listing
The downtown sites and the North End sites; the Charlestown sites are not walked
Museum admissions not included (Paul Revere House, Old State House and the others are optional extras)
Wheelchair and stroller accessible, per the listing; free cancellation up to 24 hours before
The one listing here that actually walks to the end: four hours from the State House across the river to Bunker Hill and the USS Constitution. The listing says you need to be able to walk three miles; it is the full trail, with the hill.
What's included
Guided walk of the entire Freedom Trail including Bunker Hill Monument and USS Constitution
Meets at the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial opposite the State House steps, 24 Beacon Street; ends at the ship
Focus on the people and events: the Tea Party, the Massacre, the Battle of Bunker Hill
Guide tip included, per the listing; not suitable for wheelchair users; about three miles of walking
The line is 2.5 miles long and most tours walk a mile or two of it. The useful questions are where a tour
starts, where it stops, whether it crosses the river to Charlestown, and whether the paid buildings are inside the price
or left to you. Lengths and group sizes are taken from each listing.
Tour
Starts and ends
Best for
Length
Group and notes
Freedom Trail History Small Group Walking Tour
Boston Common to Copp's Hill, North End
A first visit that wants the story, not just the buildings
Every tour in this table cancels free up to 24 hours before on GetYourGuide. Only the four-hour tour
walks into Charlestown; the French and small-group walks end at Copp's Hill, the official tour at Faneuil Hall, and the Beacon
Hill and North End walks run the downtown stretch in reverse and finish in the Public Garden.
What you actually get
The trail is free. Four of its doors are not.
The Freedom Trail is a 2.5-mile line of red brick and paint laid into Boston's sidewalks in 1958, linking
sixteen places that mattered before and during the American Revolution. It was a newspaperman's idea: Bill Schofield
of the Herald-Traveler proposed it in March 1951, and Mayor John Hynes had signs up at thirty corners by June. The line
reached Charlestown in 1972, and the Freedom Trail Foundation, founded in 1964, has looked after it since.
Nobody charges you to follow it. The National Park Service runs Faneuil Hall, the Bunker Hill Monument and its museum,
and the Navy opens USS Constitution, all free. The burying grounds, the Common and the Massacre site are the street.
Four buildings are private non-profits that sell admission: Old South Meeting House and Old State House
(one ticket covers both), Paul Revere House and Old North Church. A guided tour buys a storyteller and a
pace, not entry: most listings here say so in their small print.
16
Official sites, from Boston Common to the Bunker Hill Monument. Eleven of them lie
in the first mile, which is why the official 90-minute tour stops at Faneuil Hall.
Boston CommonOld State HouseFaneuil HallOld North ChurchUSS ConstitutionBunker Hill
The line does the navigating. From the Common to Faneuil Hall it never leaves the sidewalk.
01
Not a loop
It starts on the Common and ends in Charlestown, 2.5 miles away. Plan the return: walk back, the Navy Yard ferry, or the Orange Line.
02
Few tours walk it all
The Park Service says so itself. Of the eight tours here, one crosses the river; the rest stop at Faneuil Hall or Copp's Hill.
03
Admissions are extra
Most listings exclude the paid buildings. One says entry is included; read its page before you assume which doors.
04
Who should skip a tour?
Anyone who wants to go inside everything at their own pace: the line, the markers and the free NPS audio app already do the navigating.
The walk
Sixteen sites in four chapters
The trail reads like a route through the city's history, and the terrain changes with it: a park and a
hill, then dense downtown streets, then the North End's lanes, then a bridge and a climb.
01
The Common and the hill
Boston Common, the State House dome, Park Street Church and the Granary Burying Ground, where Hancock, Revere and Samuel Adams lie.
Sites 1 to 4, about 20 minutes
02
Downtown
King's Chapel, the Franklin statue, the Old Corner Bookstore, Old South, the Old State House, the Massacre site and Faneuil Hall, all within a few blocks.
Sites 5 to 11, the busiest mile
03
The North End
Across the Greenway to Paul Revere's house, the Old North steeple where the lanterns hung, and Copp's Hill above the harbour.
Sites 12 to 14, lunch territory
04
Charlestown
Over the bridge to USS Constitution, then up to the Bunker Hill Monument: 294 steps inside if you want the view, 25 people at a time.
Getting there, the paid buildings, timing and what to bring.
Start: the Boston Common Visitor Information Center, 139 Tremont Street, beside Park Street station (Red and Green Lines). Most tours here meet on the Common.
Other meeting points: the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial opposite the State House (the four-hour tour), City Hall Plaza (the chronological tour), 156 Blackstone Street by Haymarket (the Beacon Hill and North End walks).
The far end: Bunker Hill and the ship are in Charlestown. Community College (Orange Line) is the nearest station; the Navy Yard ferry runs to Long Wharf.
Driving: downtown parking is scarce and dear; the trail is a walk, not a drive. Leave the car at the hotel or a garage for the day.
Old State House and Old South Meeting House: run by Revolutionary Spaces; one ticket covers both, and under-18s go free from July 2026.
Paul Revere House: tickets at the booth on the day; open daily mid-April to October, shorter hours in winter, closed Mondays January to March.
Old North Church: admission for the sanctuary, exhibit, audio guide and crypt; a bell-chamber tour is an add-on; services are free, and it is still a working church.
Everything else is free: Faneuil Hall, the burying grounds, USS Constitution (photo ID for anyone 18 or over), the Bunker Hill Monument and its museum.
9 am: start on the Common. Sites 1 to 11 take the morning at a reading pace, with the Granary and the Old State House as the long stops.
12:30: lunch in the North End, which the trail walks straight through. Then Paul Revere House, Old North Church and Copp's Hill.
3 pm: over the Charlestown Bridge to USS Constitution (closed Mondays), then the Bunker Hill Monument and museum.
Shortcut: a 90-minute guided walk of the first eleven sites in the morning, the North End and Charlestown on your own after lunch.
Shoes for 2.5 miles of brick, cobbles and one steep hill; the inside of the Bunker Hill Monument is 294 steps on a tight spiral.
Photo ID for everyone 18 or over if you plan to board USS Constitution; there is a security check at the Navy Yard.
Your phone with the GetYourGuide voucher and, for a self-guided walk, the free NPS app with its audio tour.
A layer in spring and autumn: the harbour side of Charlestown is windier than downtown. Water in summer.
FreeThe line and twelve sitesWalking the trail costs nothing; only four privately run buildings sell admission.
FreeUSS ConstitutionBoarding is free with photo ID for adults; the separate museum asks for a donation.
24 hFree cancellationOn every GetYourGuide tour listed here, up to 24 hours before.
294Steps up the monumentNo lift; 25 people inside at a time; may close in bad weather.
2 for 1Old State House ticketOne Revolutionary Spaces ticket covers the Old State House and Old South Meeting House.
MonShip closedUSS Constitution does not open on Mondays; Paul Revere House closes Mondays in winter.
The start
Boston Common
Boston Common Visitor Information Center
139 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02111
The trail begins at the oldest public park in the country, laid out in 1634, and so do most of the tours. The
Visitor Information Center sits on the Tremont Street edge of the Common, a few steps from Park Street station. The
Freedom Trail Foundation's own walks leave from here; the all-sixteen tour meets at The Embrace memorial next door, and
the French-language walk in the alley to the left of the entrance.
Park Street station (Red and Green Lines) is at the corner
The red line leaves the Common towards the State House steps
The four-hour full-trail tour meets across the street at the Shaw Memorial
When to go, the small things walkers wish they had known, what is next to the line and the fine print.
Morning, on a weekday: the downtown sites are quietest before the lunchtime office crowd and the midday tour groups.
Spring and autumn: the best walking weather; October adds colour in the burying grounds. Summer afternoons are hot on the brick.
Winter works for the walk itself, with shorter hours at the paid sites and Mondays closed at Paul Revere House.
Avoid Mondays if the ship matters to you: USS Constitution does not open that day.
Download the free NPS app before you set off: its Freedom Trail audio tour is in English, Spanish and French and works without a guide.
The Old Corner Bookstore, site number seven, is now a fast-food restaurant: look up at the 1718 brick, not at the sign.
Bunker Hill is first come, first served inside, 25 people at a time; go up before the afternoon crowd or skip it on a grey day, the view is the point.
The Black Heritage Trail crosses the line between the State House and Park Street Church; a second day's walk if Boston's other revolution interests you.
A tour's end point tells you more than its start: Faneuil Hall, Copp's Hill or the ship are three very different afternoons.
Beacon Hill: the brick lanes behind the State House, not on the trail but one tour here adds them.
Quincy Market: behind Faneuil Hall, the food hall where most walkers eat if they do not make it to the North End.
The North End: Italian bakeries and cafes on Hanover and Salem Streets, between sites 12 and 14.
The Rose Kennedy Greenway: the park over the old expressway that the trail crosses between downtown and the North End.
USS Constitution Museum: next to the ship in the Navy Yard, separate from it, by suggested donation.
Every tour listed cancels free up to 24 hours before on GetYourGuide.
The four-hour tour is not suitable for wheelchair users and asks that you can walk three miles; the chronological tour is not wheelchair accessible either.
The all-sixteen tour does not allow video recording and is not recommended for people with mobility impairments, per its listing.
The State House is open to visitors on weekdays only; walks that include it visit alternative sites at weekends.
2.5 miles · 16 sites · one red line
Pick how far you want to walk, then pick the storyteller.
Guided walks with free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
Small group Freedom Trail tour, was so much nicer when seeing the large groups. Mark was excellent! I think this tour was absolutely the best way to do the Freedom Trail!!
★★★★★
Our guide Eliot was amazing! She really brought the freedom trail to life. She even gave us facts we didn't learn about in school!
★★★★★
She knows so much about the city, but what really makes the tour special is the way she tells its stories. Everything feels lively, personal, and full of character. The two hours passed far too quickly.
★★★★★
An amazing tour, Mark was fantastic, very knowledgeable and made the tour very enjoyable. Lots of walking but this tour told you everything and more.
★★★★★
We had previously walked the Freedom Trail on our own, but came away from this tour with so much more information and insight into the part that Boston played in the birth of our nation.
★★★★★
Jim was an excellent guide, very knowledgeable, we learned so much about revolution and Boston history.
★★★★★
Maria is a very good guide. She was able to bring Boston's history to life for us.
★★★★★
Nothing felt rushed and we had time to enjoy our food samples in lovely locations. We had a fantastic day and would definitely recommend this tour.
★★★★★
I researched several Freedom Trail tours and decided on this one. Mark was an excellent guide! He was very knowledgeable about the Trail and history.
Hungry?
Add the North End
The trail walks straight through Boston's oldest neighbourhood between Faneuil Hall and the Charlestown
Bridge. One tour here makes the bakeries part of the history.
North End Flavors & Freedom Trail Walk
156 Blackstone St to the Public Garden · 5 hours · GetYourGuide
Half a day that treats the North End as a kitchen as well as a chapter of the Revolution: fresh Italian bread, a deli sandwich, pizza and a pastry with coffee between the trail sites, with the Old North Church entry fee included. The listing says about five miles of walking, rain or shine, and that vegetarians can be catered for with notice.
Four tastingsOld North entry includedFree cancellation
Search for "Freedom Trail guide" and you get two different things in the same list: people, and paper.
The trail was designed so that you need neither. Here is what the line is, what it does and does not include, and how
to decide whether a guided walk is worth your money and your morning.
A newspaper column and a bucket of paint
In March 1951 Bill Schofield, a columnist at the Boston Herald-Traveler, complained that visitors could not find the
city's Revolutionary sites and proposed linking them with a marked path "on a budget of just a few dollars and a bucket
of paint". Mayor John Hynes liked it, and by June there were painted signs at thirty street corners. The route was 1.2
miles then, from the Common to the North End. The red line in the sidewalk came in 1958, the Freedom Trail Foundation
in 1964, and the extension over the bridge to Charlestown in 1972, which is when the count reached sixteen sites and the
length 2.5 miles. The Foundation says more than four million people walk some of it each year.
Brick in the old streets, paint where the sidewalk is new: the line never stops.
What is free, precisely
The National Park Service, which runs Boston National Historical Park, puts it plainly: there are no fees at the
federally or municipally owned sites, which means Faneuil Hall, the Bunker Hill Monument and its museum and USS
Constitution, nor at its ranger-led tours and talks. The Common, the burying grounds, the Massacre site, the Franklin
statue and the outside of every building are simply the street. Four sites are privately run non-profits that charge
admission and do not take park passes: Old South Meeting House and Old State House, which share one Revolutionary
Spaces ticket, Paul Revere House, where you buy at the booth, and Old North Church, which sells a pass for the
sanctuary, exhibit and crypt while keeping its services free.
The honest small print: a guided tour almost never includes those four doors. The small-group,
official, French and chronological walks all say admissions are not included; the Beacon Hill walk includes the State
House on weekdays, which is free anyway; the North End food walk includes Old North Church; one listing says entry tickets
are included without naming them. Budget the doors separately and the tour price stops surprising you.
Why few tours walk the whole thing
The Park Service notes that "few public tours walk the entire trail", and the listings bear it out. Eleven of the
sixteen sites sit in the first mile between the Common and Faneuil Hall, so a 90-minute walk can honestly cover eleven
sites and stop. The North End adds three more and a mile. Charlestown adds the last two, a bridge, a hill and the better
part of an hour each way, which is why only the four-hour tour here crosses the river. If seeing the ship and climbing
the monument matter to you, either book that one or plan to finish the trail yourself after a shorter guided morning.
USS Constitution: free to board with photo ID, closed on Mondays, a mile past where most tours stop.
Guided, or the line and an app?
Self-guided is a real option here, not a consolation. The line does the navigating, every site has a marker, the
Foundation sells a paper map at the Visitor Center and the NPS app carries a free audio tour in three languages. What a
guide adds is the story told in order and in context, the detail you would walk past, and a fixed pace that gets a group
through the downtown mile in two hours without a decision at every corner. Choose by how you like to travel: readers and
photographers often prefer the line; people who want the Revolution explained once, well, by someone who does it every
day, take the walk and then explore the doors on their own.
Old North Church, site 13: the steeple of the two lanterns, and one of the four paid doors.
Straight answers to what walkers ask most about the Freedom Trail.
How long does it take to do the whole Freedom Trail?
Walking the 2.5 miles without going inside anything takes most people about two to three hours, with the stops to read and photograph. Go into the paid buildings and the ship and it fills a day. The National Park Service puts it at "a few hours" to a weekend. Our timing guide breaks it into sections.
Can I walk the Freedom Trail for free?
Yes. The line in the sidewalk is public, and the National Park Service states there are no fees at the federally or municipally owned sites, including Faneuil Hall, the Bunker Hill Monument and USS Constitution. Four privately run sites charge admission: Old South Meeting House, Old State House, Paul Revere House and Old North Church. See what the trail costs.
Do you need a guide for the Freedom Trail?
No. The red line is the guide, every site has a marker, and the NPS app has a free audio tour in English, Spanish and French. A guide adds the story behind the buildings and a pace that gets you through downtown in two hours. The honest comparison is in guided or self-guided.
Where is the best place to start the Freedom Trail?
Boston Common, at the Visitor Information Center at 139 Tremont Street, which is where the Freedom Trail Foundation tours and most listings here begin. The trail is not a loop: it ends 2.5 miles away at the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. Starting in Charlestown and walking back into town works too; see where to start.
Is the Boston Freedom Trail a loop?
No. It runs one way from Boston Common through downtown and the North End, over the Charlestown Bridge to USS Constitution and the Bunker Hill Monument. From Charlestown you can walk back, take the ferry from the Navy Yard, or ride the Orange Line from Community College.
How many stops are on the Freedom Trail?
Sixteen official sites, from Boston Common to the Bunker Hill Monument. Eleven of them sit between the Common and Faneuil Hall, which is why the 90-minute official tour covers exactly those eleven and stops there.
What is the best tour of the Freedom Trail in Boston?
It depends on how far you want to walk. The small-group history walk covers downtown and the North End in about two and a half hours; the official 90-minute tour does the first eleven sites; only one listing here, the four-hour tour, walks all the way to Bunker Hill and the ship. We compare them in the best Freedom Trail tours.
Is there a free walking tour of the Boston Freedom Trail?
The National Park Service runs free ranger-led walks and talks seasonally from its Faneuil Hall and Charlestown Navy Yard visitor centers, and its app carries a free audio tour. None of the tours on this page is free; they are paid, guided walks booked on GetYourGuide.
Can you do the Freedom Trail in one day?
Comfortably. A morning for the downtown sites, lunch in the North End, the afternoon for Old North Church, Copp's Hill and the walk over to Charlestown for the ship and the monument. The paid buildings each take about half an hour. See the one-day plan.
Is the Freedom Trail suitable for kids?
Yes, with the distance in mind: 2.5 miles plus the sites is a long day for small legs. The burying grounds, the ship and the 294-step climb inside the Bunker Hill Monument are the hits; the Beacon Hill story walk lets under-6s join free. Our family guide has a shorter route.
Is it safe to walk the Freedom Trail in Boston?
The trail runs through the busiest, most visited parts of the city on wide sidewalks, in daylight, with plenty of people around. The usual city sense applies. The National Park Service notes stairs at a few sites, so wheelchair users need short detours at the Shaw Memorial, the Granary, Old State House, Old North Church and Copp's Hill.
What are the opening hours of the Freedom Trail?
The trail itself has none: the line is in the street and the burying grounds and the Common are open in daylight. The buildings keep their own hours. Paul Revere House opens daily from mid-April to October and closes Mondays in January to March; Old North Church opens Monday to Saturday from 10 am and Sunday from 12:30 pm; the ship is closed on Mondays.
Ready to book
Find the walk that fits your day.
Guided walks with free cancellation up to 24 hours before on every tour below.
The official one
90 minutes1 mile, 11 of 16 sitesFree cancellation
