There’s a red line running through Boston that tells tales of rebellion, revolution and reverence. Its course navigates two and a half centuries along two and a half miles of history, and it can forever change how you look at the birth of the United States of America.
If you always thought history was a pretty dry subject that inspired naps, notes and daydream doodles in the margins of your seventh grade notebooks, Boston’s Freedom Trail will not only fill you in on what you may have missed, but will entertain and inspire you along the way. Its red brick and painted line path breathes life and passion into every one of its 16 historic stops. Some only require a brief glance and a moment of reflection, while others take 10-15 minutes to explore. A special few take an hour or more to garner the complete experience. All are significant in filling your heart with pride as you relive the pains and progress of the patriots on this lively, relevant tour.
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One of the great things about Boston is that it still feels like a village. That is no small feat for a city of more than 600,000 residents with more than 4 million in the greater metropolitan area. Still, the narrow brick streets lined with buildings reaching back to the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries hugging the banks of the Charles River evokes a sense of a place steeped in deep colonial roots. When you see a gentleman dressed in a waistcoat, breeches and stockings, or a lady sporting a Brunswick jacket with petticoat, tucker and sleeve lace, it doesn’t seem at all out of place in this historic city.
The actors along the Freedom Trail play their parts to perfection, requiring both a strong knowledge of history and a talent for acting. A cast of 36 actors and actresses embody a range of interesting characters from the Revolutionary era, like George Washington, Paul Revere and Abigail Adams. They also play many lesser-known, but very important citizens, like wine smuggler Capt. Daniel Malcolm, Sons of Liberty spy Thankful Rice and clever Meliscent Barrett, who engaged in pleasant social conversation with a British soldier about the advantages of using cartridges to load muskets. Upon learning of the advantages, Barrett and her teenaged girlfriends from Concord helped to make and stockpile cartridges for the home team, much to the surprise of the Redcoats.
Contemporary Boston is a very cool city with lots to see and do. If you can devote a day in your travel schedule to the Freedom Trail, you’ll fill your head and heart with wonderful stories that serve as a great base for the remainder of your trip. You can certainly complete it in a few hours, 90 minutes if you hustle. You can even speed through with the group that does regular weekend 5K training runs along the route at 8:30 a.m., but taking in some of the surrounding scenery, stopping in to interesting shops, restaurants and pubs along the way, while engaging in lively chats with the characters can easily take up six hours of daylight.
There are commercial tours that run half and full days. There is also a self-guided digital audio tour, complete with scavenger hunt that you can download to your mobile device before you go to listen along the route. Clever and informative podcasts, character bios and site descriptions on the official website offer fun pre-trip reviews to beef up your historical background before the tour.
Most of the sites on the trail are free, but there are three museums that charge admission along the route. Purchasing a Walk Into History tour ticket online is easy, with 12 tours daily to choose from April through November. December through March schedules are scaled back a bit, but are also much less crowded and can be a great time to visit, unless a blustery nor’easter blows through.
Whatever time of year you choose to visit, photo ops abound on Freedom Trail. From the Old North Church, to Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere House and the U.S.S. Constitution, the secrets of history live here, and Boston would love to share them with you. Welcome to Boston, where the past and the future live comfortably side-by-side in an engaging, three-dimensional classroom, just waiting to pass along the passion and enthusiasm of the patriots to the 21st century.
Travelocity Editors
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