Boston Common and Public Garden
139 Tremont St
Boston, MA
The oldest public park in America right beside the country's first public botanical garden, with swan boats, monuments, and four centuries of history in the middle of Boston.
In the middle of one of America's oldest cities lie two of its most historic green spaces, side by side. Boston Common, founded in 1634, is the oldest public park in the entire country, a rolling stretch of lawns, paths, and monuments that Bostonians have shared for nearly four centuries. Just across Charles Street is the Public Garden, established in 1837 as the first public botanical garden in the United States, all formal flower beds, winding paths, and the famous lagoon.
Together they make a single green heart for the city, and a single walk through American history. The Common began as common land for grazing cattle and drilling militia and went on to see British redcoats camp on it, abolitionists and suffragists rally on it, and generations of Bostonians gather on it. The Garden answered it a couple of centuries later with beauty rather than utility, giving the same city a place of tulips, roses, and swan boats. Standing here, you are standing at the origin point of the whole historic city.
What Guests Love
- Walking the oldest public park in America, in continuous use since 1634
- The famous pedal-powered Swan Boats gliding on the Public Garden lagoon in warm months
- The bright seasonal flower beds and grand old shade trees of the country's first botanical garden
- Standing where the Freedom Trail begins, surrounded by monuments and centuries of Boston history
Worth Knowing
- The two parks are separated by Charles Street but connect easily, so plan to stroll both together
- The Swan Boats and the flower displays are seasonal, at their best from spring into early fall
- It is right on the subway at Park Street, so it is far easier to reach by transit than to park nearby
- These are busy, beloved city parks, so expect crowds on fine days and keep an eye on belongings
Details
Boston, MA
Learn about Boston Common and Public Garden
The oldest park in America
Boston Common dates to 1634, when the young Puritan town set aside this ground as shared common land, and it was formally designated public in 1640, purchased by the townspeople for a modest sum. From the start it was practical space: a place to graze cattle and to muster and drill the local militia, a commons in the old English sense that gives it its name.
Over the centuries the Common became the stage for Boston's public life. British troops camped here before the Revolution, and later it hosted everything from public celebrations and protests to speeches by figures at the center of the abolition and civil rights movements. Today it is a working city park, fifty acres of lawns and trees threaded with paths, monuments, and a frog pond that becomes a skating rink in winter, and it is where the redbrick Freedom Trail begins its route through historic Boston.
The Public Garden and the Swan Boats
The Public Garden, laid out beginning in 1837 on former tidal marshland, was something new: America's first public botanical garden, meant purely for beauty and public enjoyment. In place of the Common's open lawns it offers formal design, with meandering paths, a small lagoon crossed by a graceful suspension footbridge, and lavish seasonal plantings of tulips, roses, and beds of color that change through the year beneath a dense canopy of trees.
Its most beloved feature glides across the lagoon: the Swan Boats, pedal-powered pleasure boats shaped like great white swans that have carried passengers since 1877 and been run by the same family for well over a century. Nearby, a much-loved bronze sculpture of a mother duck and her ducklings delights children, a nod to a classic Boston picture book. Between the flowers, the water, and the swans, the Garden is one of the most photographed spots in the city.
Visiting the Common and the Garden
The two parks sit right at the center of Boston and are separated only by Charles Street, so the natural way to see them is to wander both together, crossing from the Common's open lawns into the Garden's flower beds and back. The Park Street subway station opens right onto the Common, which makes public transit by far the easiest way to arrive, since parking downtown is scarce and costly.
Come in the warmer months if you can, when the flower beds are in full color and the Swan Boats are running, though the parks are lovely in every season and the frog pond draws skaters in winter. These are much-loved, well-used city spaces, so expect company on a sunny day and keep an eye on your belongings in the crowds. With the Freedom Trail starting here, they make the perfect first stop for a day of exploring historic Boston on foot.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
AWOL Provincetown
Honorable Mention59 Province Lands Road, Provincetown, MA
49 miles away|Learn More ›
Things to Do Near Boston
Massachusetts State House
About 0.2 miles
The gold-domed 1798 capitol crowning Beacon Hill, at the top edge of the Common, a Freedom Trail landmark.
Beacon Hill
About 0.3 miles
The historic neighborhood of gaslit brick lanes and Federal row houses, with lovely, photogenic Acorn Street.
Freedom Trail
Begins on the Common
The redbrick walking route linking sixteen historic sites, from the Common to the Old North Church and Bunker Hill.
Newbury Street
About 0.4 miles
Back Bay's elegant shopping street of brownstones, boutiques, and cafes, just beyond the Public Garden.