Boston Freedom Trail Self-Guided Audio Walk: Boston Common to Old North Church and Paul Revere House
2 hours
About this experience
Boston's Freedom Trail began in 1951 as a newspaper columnist's idea: a few dollars and a bucket of paint to link the city's historic sites. Almost every building on it is still standing because Bostonians fought to keep it. Start on Boston Common and climb to the gold dome of the State House. Follow the red line past Park Street Church, the Granary and King's Chapel to the Old South Meeting House, once sold for its bricks, and the Old State House balcony above the Boston Massacre site. Then cross Faneuil Hall's square and the Blackstone Block's colonial lanes, walk over the park that replaced an elevated highway, and enter the North End for Paul Revere's house, the Prado and the Old North Church, ending at Copp's Hill. Fourteen stops, about 2.5 km (1.5 miles) and two hours, in English and at your own pace. Start whenever you like; entry to the ticketed museums is not included.
- Experience type
- Day tour or activity
- Duration
- 2 hours
- Audio guide
- English
- Guide
- English
- Categories
- Walking tour · Cultural and theme tours · City tours
What's included
Self-guided audio tour in English: 14 stops, 2.5 km, 2 hours Stops at State House dome, Old South Meeting House, Old State House GPS map and walking directions in your phone browser, no app needed Lifetime access: start any day, at any hour, and replay it
What's not included
A live guide: you set the pace and the pauses A fixed start time: begin whenever you arrive Museum and monument tickets, all optional extras Tip or gratuity Food and drinks Entry or admission fee
Please note
To start the tour, enter the ticket code from your confirmation on the Roamer redemption page linked there. Do this before you set off, while you still have signal. The tour then opens in your phone browser, with no app to download. Bring a charged phone and earphones. Mobile data helps; if you have none, open the tour on wifi before you set off. Best time: A weekday morning from about 10:00, when the ticketed sites open and the downtown sidewalks are quieter; Wednesday to Sunday if you want the free ranger talk in Faneuil Hall's Great Hall. Walk in daylight: the three burying grounds are open only from about 9:00 to 16:00. Fridays and Saturdays bring the Haymarket stalls to Blackstone Street, lively but crowded. Five sites on this walk are ticketed: King's Chapel, the Old South Meeting House, the Old State House, the Paul Revere House and the Old North Church. The Boston 250 Pass ($33) covers all five; it only pays off if you will visit at least four. Checked 4 October 2026. The Old South Meeting House and the Old State House share one ticket ($18 adult), so buy it only if you will visit both on the same day. Checked 4 October 2026. Faneuil Hall's Great Hall is free, with 15-minute National Park Service ranger talks Wednesday to Sunday at 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 13:30, 14:30 and 15:30, unless the hall is closed for a city event. From 13 October 2026 the park's visitor center there closes on Mondays and Tuesdays. Checked 4 October 2026. The Massachusetts State House is free to tour on weekdays, with a security check at the door; the Secretary of the Commonwealth takes tour reservations by phone at 617-727-3676. Checked 4 October 2026. At Old North, the Bell Chamber add-on ($5 more, 25 minutes) climbs two sets of steep stairs; Revere joined the church's bell ringers at fifteen. Checked 4 October 2026. Charlestown: the official Freedom Trail continues from the North End over the Charlestown Bridge, now the Bill Russell Bridge, to USS Constitution and the Bunker Hill Monument, adding about two hours. The ship is free, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00, with a security check; adults may be asked for photo ID. The 221-foot granite monument is free to climb (294 steps in a tight spiral, and it can close for weather); check the National Park Service site for climbing hours. Checked 4 October 2026. If you want a guide for part of the day, the Freedom Trail Foundation's own walking tours start at the Boston Common Visitor Information Center, stop 1 ($17 adult). Checked 4 October 2026. Boston's brick sidewalks and old lanes are uneven; wear flat shoes with grip. Marshall Street, at stop 10, is a narrow paved lane with no sidewalks. Stop 2 is reached by a short flight of steps from the Common up to Beacon Street; for a step-free way, use the Park Street Mall path along the Common's edge instead. At stop 8 the Massacre ring sits in a pedestrian plaza between busy streets: stay on the plaza and cross State and Congress Streets only at the crossings. Crossing Hanover Street at Fleet and North Bennet Streets, on the way to Paul Revere Mall, there is a marked crossing but no lights; take care. The Granary, King's Chapel and Copp's Hill burying grounds are open only from about 9:00 to 16:00; outside those hours, see them through the fence. Inside, stay on the paths, because the old stones are fragile. On Fridays and Saturdays the Haymarket crowds Blackstone Street near stop 10; step around the carts and watch for produce underfoot. The path along Old North's side runs through the church grounds and may be closed outside visiting hours. If it is, go round by Unity Street, Tileston Street and Salem Street to Hull Street. The brick Pierce/Hichborn House next to the Paul Revere House is closed until further notice (checked 4 October 2026). Public transportation nearby
Itinerary
- 1Day 0
Boston Common: Where the Red Line Starts
Boston Common Visitor Information Center, 139 Tremont Street, Boston
The Freedom Trail's red line starts on this common. The 1634 town common is the oldest public land on the walk, and the trail itself began as a 1951 newspaper column.
- 2Day 0
Massachusetts State House: A Dome in Three Skins
Beacon Street, across from the Massachusetts State House, Boston
Bulfinch's State House rises across Beacon Street from the Common. Its dome went from bare wood to Revere's copper to gold leaf.
- 3Day 0
Park Street Church: Brick, White Wood and a Pulpit
Park Street Church, 1 Park Street, Boston
A white wooden steeple rises 217 feet over this corner. Garrison gave his first antislavery speech here in 1829, on the site of the old town granary.
- 4Day 0
Granary Burying Ground: Stones in Tidy Rows
Granary Burying Ground, Tremont Street, Boston
Three signers of the Declaration are buried in this ground. So do Paul Revere and the five Massacre dead, though many stones were moved into rows and no longer mark their graves.
- 5Day 0
King's Chapel: A Granite Church Built Around a Wooden One
73 Tremont Street, Boston
Boston's oldest surviving stone building was raised around a wooden chapel. Services carried on inside during construction, and Revere's firm recast its bell.
- 6Day 0
School Street: Old City Hall and Franklin
44 School Street, Boston
America's oldest public school once stood on this street. A bronze Franklin stands before the French-roofed Old City Hall of 1865.
- 7Day 0
Old South Meeting House: Sold for Its Bricks
3 School Street, Boston
Old South Meeting House was once sold for its building materials. Twenty women helped save it in 1877, and across School Street stands the 1718 Old Corner Bookstore.
- 8Day 0
Old State House: The Balcony and the Massacre Ring
Old State House, 206 Washington Street, Boston
The Declaration was read to Boston from this balcony in 1776. The ring of cobblestones in the paving marks a spot close to where five men were shot.
- 9Day 0
Faneuil Hall: Market Below, Meeting Hall Above
Faneuil Hall, 1 Faneuil Hall Square, Boston
Faneuil Hall was built as a market with a meeting hall upstairs. Bulfinch doubled it, a gilded grasshopper tops it, and the Park Service says plainly how its donor made his money.
- 10Day 0
Blackstone Block and the Greenway: Where the Highway Stood
7 Marshall Street, Boston
Boston's oldest surviving street pattern meets the park where a highway stood. The Blackstone Block's crooked lanes face the Rose Kennedy Greenway, built where the elevated Central Artery ran.
- 11Day 0
Paul Revere House: Timber Beside Brick
Paul Revere House, 19 North Square, Boston
Downtown Boston's oldest building stands beside a brick house of 1711. Revere owned it for thirty years, and it was a tenement for a century before it became a museum.
- 12Day 0
Paul Revere Mall: A Street Cleared for a View
Paul Revere Mall, Hanover Street, Boston
Tenements were cleared here in 1933 to frame a view. Revere rides in bronze toward the Old North steeple, and across Hanover Street stands Boston's only surviving Bulfinch church.
- 13Day 0
Old North Church: Two Lanterns and a Third Steeple
Old North Church, 193 Salem Street, Boston
Two signal lights shone from this steeple in April 1775. They warned Charlestown, not Revere, and the steeple you see is a 1955 rebuild.
- 14Day 0
Copp's Hill Burying Ground: Where the Lantern Men Rest
Copp's Hill Burying Ground, Hull Street, Boston
British guns on this hilltop burying ground shelled Bunker Hill and Charlestown in 1775. The lantern men and Prince Hall are buried here, and the walk ends at the gate.
Meeting point
Boston Common, Boston Boston Common Visitor Information Center, 139 Tremont Street, Boston, Massachusetts, US
Pick up
Pickup is not provided.
Cancellation policy · Boston Freedom Trail Self-Guided Audio Walk: Boston Common to Old North Church and Paul Revere House
Standard Viator policy
- Cancellation 0–24 hours before departure: 100% cancellation fee.
- Cancellation 24–24000 hours before departure: 0% cancellation fee.
Good to know
Operated by Roamer and sold by AGORA. Your voucher and booking reference arrive by email straight after payment.