Best Boston Museums & Attractions

From art to science to history to children, Boston has got it covered on the museum front. The city’s world-class museums offer a wide variety of exhibits and themes. And if you have kids, don’t think you have to be tied down to just the one museum that caters especially to them (but don’t miss it!). Most museums in Boston offer special activity packs or materials geared toward children, so they can get as much out of a visit as you do.

Take a look at the city’s menu of museums, and pick your favorites—all are worth a visit.

Art

Institute of Contemporary Art

Founded in 1936, the cutting-edge Institute of Contemporary Art is in a building as exciting as the works it exhibits. Right on the waterfront in the Seaport District, this is the go-to spot for some of the newest and most interesting art in the country. All media is represented, from video to sculpture, painting to photography, as well as performance and literature.

Institute of Contemporary Art, 100 Northern Ave., tel. 617-478-3100. Admission: $12 for adults, $10 for students and seniors, free for children 17 and under. Hours: Tue. and Wed. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thu. and Fri. 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sat. and Sun. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. www.icaboston.org

 

• The Titian Room at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Courtesy of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

The Gardner Museum is a time capsule museum, and it remains exactly as it was when Isabella Stewart Gardner died in 1924. The quirky, extremely wealthy and discerning Mrs. Gardner had a stunning collection of art housed in her 15th century Venetian-style palace in Fenway. Before she died, she mandated that her house and property become a museum, but it had to remain exactly as she left it. There are more than 2,500 paintings, sculptures, tapestries, pieces of furniture, manuscripts, rare books and decorative arts by artists such as Titian, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Whistler and Sargent, among many others.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 280 The Fenway, tel. 617-566-1401. Admission: $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, $5 for college students, free for children 18 and under. Hours: Tue. to Sun. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. www.gardnermuseum.org

Museum of Fine Arts

The Museum of Fine Arts, or MFA, as locals call it, is a massive, grand building that houses more than 450,000 works of art, and it is getting even bigger. The new American Wing is in the works, slated to open in November 2010. It’s impossible to attempt seeing even a fraction of the Boston museum in a day, so a game plan is in order for visitors on a schedule. Take a look at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston Web site before you go and try to map out what you’d like to see most, then you should cut that in half, because no doubt you’ll get distracted as you move from gallery to gallery. The Art of the Ancient World gallery alone has more than 70,000 works of art from Greece, Egypt and the Roman Empire tracing more than 7,000 years of history. It is really a world-class museum and worth some serious time for art lovers on your Boston vacation.

Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave., tel. 617-267-9300. Admission: $17 for adults, $15 for seniors and students 18 and older, $6.50 for children 7 to 17, free for children 6 and under. Hours: Mon. and Tue. 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., Wed. to Fri. 10 a.m. to 9:45 p.m., Sat. and Sun. 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., www.mfa.org

 

• Kids can get hands-on at the Boston Children’s Museum.

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Children

Boston Children’s Museum

The Boston Children’s Museum has been around for more than 90 years and they have what kids want: plenty of exhibits that include everything from Arthur and Friends to a Construction Zone to a Science Playground. The waterfront museum was remodeled in 2007 and is now Boston’s first “green” museum, which kids can learn about, if they take a break from exploring and having fun. An amazing three-story climbing structure, called the New Balance Climb, sits in the middle of the museum, and for those in the know offers stunning views of Boston Harbor.

Boston Children’s Museum, 300 Congress St., tel. 617-426-6500. Admission: $12 for adults, $9 for seniors children ages 1 to 15, free for children up to a year old. Hours: Mon. to Sun. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fri. 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. www.bostonkids.org

Next: History, Science and Sport Museums