Freedom Trail

The Freedom Trail is a red brick line painted through the streets of old Boston, linking sixteen historic sites of the American Revolution over four kilometres: meeting houses, burying grounds, Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church and the ship USS Constitution. Following it is the classic way to walk through the birthplace of American independence.

Background

The trail runs 2.5 miles from Boston Common through downtown to the Old North Church in the North End and the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown, passing 16 sites. Most stops are free or ask for a donation, while the Old South Meeting House, the Old State House and the Paul Revere House charge admission. The journalist William Schofield proposed the walking route in 1951, and by 1953 some 40,000 people a year were following it. The National Park Service runs a visitor centre on the first floor of Faneuil Hall with tours and free maps, and an augmented reality tour, Relive 1776, was added in 2026.

Source: Wikipedia, "Freedom Trail"

What's there

• The Old State House and Faneuil Hall - the sites of revolutionary meetings and the Boston Massacre.
• Paul Revere's House and the Old North Church - the sites of the midnight ride.
• The burying grounds - the graves of the founders and revolutionaries.
• USS Constitution - Old Ironsides, the historic warship at the trail's end.

When to go

The warm months from late spring to autumn for comfortable walking, with October adding New England colour. Winter is cold and some sites keep shorter hours.

Good to know

It is a self-guided walk, so how much you get from it depends on doing a little reading or a guided tour. It winds through busy modern streets, so it is history amid a working city, not a preserved district. The full trail is a fair walk with some hills.

Nearby

Boston Common, the harbour and Beacon Hill are around; Cambridge and Harvard lie across the river.