Where to start the Freedom Trail

Where does the Freedom Trail officially start?

At Boston Common, the first of the sixteen sites, with the Visitor Information Center at 139 Tremont Street as the practical starting point.

Boston Common was laid out in 1634 and is described by the Freedom Trail Foundation as America's oldest public park. The Visitor Information Center on its Tremont Street side sells the Foundation's map and is the departure point for its own tours. The red line leaves the Common uphill towards the Massachusetts State House, site 2, then turns down to Park Street Church and the Granary Burying Ground.

The numbering runs from the Common (1) to the Bunker Hill Monument (16), so following the numbers is following the official direction.

How do you get to the start of the Freedom Trail?

Park Street station, on the Red and Green Lines, is at the corner of the Common a few steps from the Visitor Information Center.

Park Street is one of the busiest stations in the city and the easiest arrival for the trail. From the Back Bay or Cambridge the Red Line brings you straight there; from the airport the Blue Line to Government Center and a short walk across to the Common works as well. Boylston (Green Line) is at the Common's other corner.

Driving to the start is the one thing not to plan: downtown garages exist but the trail is a walk away from the car for the rest of the day, and the end is 2.5 miles off. Park once for the day, or leave the car at the hotel.

Where do the guided tours meet?

Most meet on or beside Boston Common; two meet near Haymarket and Faneuil Hall and walk the downtown trail in reverse.

Meeting points are a tour's first fact worth checking, because they tell you where it will go. The official Foundation tour leaves from the Visitor Information Center; the all-sixteen tour meets at The Embrace memorial beside it; the French-language walk meets in the alley to the left of the Center's entrance; the four-hour full-trail tour meets across Beacon Street at the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial opposite the State House steps. The chronological Revolutionary Story walk starts at City Hall Plaza. The Beacon Hill story walk and the North End food walk both meet at 156 Blackstone Street near Haymarket and finish in the Public Garden, so they walk the downtown stretch backwards. All of them are in the best Freedom Trail tours.

Does it matter where you start the Freedom Trail?

For the sites, no: they are the same in either direction. For your day, yes: the start decides where lunch falls and where you end up at four o'clock.

Walked forwards, the dense downtown mile fills the morning, the North End's bakeries arrive at lunchtime, and you finish on Bunker Hill with the harbour view and a journey back to make. Walked backwards from Charlestown, you climb the monument and board the ship while you are fresh and the queues are short, cross into the North End for lunch, and end on the Common with the stations, shops and the Public Garden around you.

Reverse is also kinder to anyone staying in the North End or arriving by car, since Charlestown has parking the downtown blocks do not.

Is the Boston Freedom Trail a loop?

No. It is a one-way line of 2.5 miles with a different neighbourhood at each end.

The 1951 route ran from the Common to the North End, and the way back into town was simply the same streets. Since the 1972 extension over the Charlestown Bridge, the two ends are a river apart. Plan the return as part of the walk; the options are below, and the full timings are in how long the Freedom Trail takes.

How do you get back from Bunker Hill?

Three ways: the ferry from the Charlestown Navy Yard to Long Wharf, the Orange Line from Community College station, or a half-hour walk back over the bridge.

The ferry is the one most walkers remember: it leaves from the Navy Yard beside USS Constitution and lands at Long Wharf, a few minutes from Faneuil Hall and the Aquarium station. Community College station on the Orange Line is a short walk from the monument and reaches downtown in a few stops. Walking back retraces the bridge and the North End and is another half hour on tired feet, with the consolation of the bakeries on Hanover Street.

Let a guide handle the direction: four hours from the State House to the ship, with Bunker Hill on the way.

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

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Can you start in the middle, at Faneuil Hall?

Yes. Faneuil Hall is site 11, has a National Park Service visitor center, and splits the trail into a downtown half and a North End-and-Charlestown half.

Starting at Faneuil Hall suits a second day, a short afternoon or a visit based near the waterfront. Walk south-west against the numbering to take in the Old State House, the Massacre site, Old South, the Granary and the Common in an hour; or walk north-east with the numbering through the North End to the ship and the monument. The Park Service visitor center inside Faneuil Hall has maps and the ranger programme schedule.

Frequently asked questions