How long does the Freedom Trail take?

How many miles is the Freedom Trail?

2.5 miles, or about 4 kilometres, one way from Boston Common to the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown.

The figure comes from the National Park Service and the Freedom Trail Foundation, which both describe a 2.5-mile red line through downtown, the North End and Charlestown. It is one way: the trail is not a loop, so the walk back, the ferry or the Orange Line adds to the day. The original 1951 route was only 1.2 miles and stopped in the North End; the extension over the river in 1972 added the last two sites and the last mile.

The distance is not evenly spent. Eleven of the sixteen sites fall in the first mile between the Common and Faneuil Hall; the North End adds three sites in the next half mile; Charlestown adds two sites and most of the final mile, including the Charlestown Bridge.

How long does it take to walk the whole Freedom Trail without going in?

About two to three hours at a reading pace, with stops at each marker and a few photographs.

Walking 2.5 miles on its own is under an hour for most people. What stretches it is the stopping: sixteen markers, two burying grounds you will want to wander, a steeple to look up at and a bridge with a view. Two hours is brisk; three is relaxed; the Freedom Trail Foundation's own self-guided app tour is timed at 120 minutes for the full 2.5 miles.

If you are only walking, the one real climb is the slope up to the Bunker Hill Monument at the very end. Everything before it is flat city sidewalk with a few steps at individual sites.

How long does each section take?

Roughly: the Common to Faneuil Hall an hour to ninety minutes; the North End forty-five minutes to an hour; Charlestown an hour and a half including the bridge, the ship and the climb.

These are walking-and-looking times without the paid interiors. The first section is the densest and the slowest, because sites 1 to 11 come one after another and the Granary and the Old State House both hold people. The North End section is short in distance but runs through the busiest streets of the neighbourhood. Charlestown feels longer than it is because of the bridge and the hill.

How much time do the paid sites add?

Allow about thirty minutes each for Paul Revere House, the Old State House, Old South Meeting House and Old North Church; an hour for the ship; thirty to forty-five minutes for the Bunker Hill Monument and museum.

The four buildings that charge admission are small by museum standards. Paul Revere House is a two-storey timber house; the Old State House and Old South Meeting House, covered by one Revolutionary Spaces ticket, are each a floor or two of exhibits; Old North Church's pass covers the sanctuary, an exhibit and the crypt. Half an hour each is a fair average, longer if a talk is running.

USS Constitution is free but takes time: a security check at the Navy Yard, photo ID for anyone 18 or over, and the decks themselves. The Bunker Hill Monument is 294 steps up and the same down, with 25 people inside at a time, so a queue on a busy afternoon is part of the figure. Which of these cost money is set out in what the Freedom Trail costs.

Can you do the Freedom Trail in one day?

Yes, comfortably, including the paid buildings and the ship, if you start in the morning.

A workable day: begin at the Boston Common Visitor Information Center around nine, take the first eleven sites at a reading pace and go into the Old State House, and you reach Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market for an early lunch. The North End fills the early afternoon with Paul Revere House, Old North Church and Copp's Hill. Cross the bridge by mid-afternoon for the ship (closed Mondays) and finish on Bunker Hill.

If that is more walking than you want, the honest shortcut is a guided morning for the downtown mile and your own afternoon for the rest, or the reverse: start in Charlestown, do the ship and the monument fresh, and walk back into town for lunch.

The whole trail in one go with a guide: four hours from the State House to USS Constitution, Bunker Hill included.

Freedom Trail, Bunker Hill & USS Constitution Tour · 4 hours · free cancellation

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How long is a Freedom Trail walking tour?

The guided tours listed here run from 90 minutes to four hours, and the length tells you how far they go.

The official Freedom Trail Foundation tour is 90 minutes and one mile, covering the first eleven sites and ending at Faneuil Hall. The small-group history walk, the all-sixteen tour and the French-language walk each take about two and a half hours and finish in the North End at Copp's Hill. The chronological Revolutionary Story walk is about three hours and leaves the line to tell events in order. Only the four-hour tour crosses the river to Bunker Hill and the ship.

So a tour's duration is really a map of where it stops. The best Freedom Trail tours compares them on exactly that.

What is the best time of day to walk it?

Start in the morning. The downtown sites are quietest before the lunchtime crowds, and a morning start leaves the afternoon for Charlestown.

The first mile runs through the financial district and past Faneuil Hall, which are at their busiest from noon. The burying grounds and the Common are open in daylight, so there is nothing to wait for at nine o'clock. Paul Revere House opens at ten, as does Old North Church on weekdays and Saturdays. If the ship matters, remember it does not open on Mondays.

In summer the brick holds the heat by mid-afternoon; in October the burying grounds are at their best. The Bunker Hill climb is a clear-day activity: the view is the reason to go up.

How do you get back from the end of the trail?

Walk back along the harbour, take the ferry from the Charlestown Navy Yard to Long Wharf, or ride the Orange Line from Community College station.

Because the trail ends 2.5 miles from where it began, the return is part of the timing. The ferry is the pleasant option and lands you at Long Wharf near Faneuil Hall; the Orange Line from Community College reaches downtown in a few stops; walking back over the bridge and through the North End is another half hour and brings you past the bakeries. Which end to begin at is argued out in where to start the Freedom Trail.

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