Boston: Freedom Trail

This is part one of several posts about the Freedom Trail in Boston. It was the activity I was most excited to do (outside of seeing my friends) and I'm glad I got to spend so much time walking the trail and doign the activites on it. I'm a huge history nerd so this trail is exactly what someone like me enjoys. It's also awesome because it's TOTALL FREE. unless you go into a museum along the way. but you can see SO much without paying to get inside any of the museums. Whoever came up with the idea to make a historical trail runing through the city past its most famous sites is my favorite person. ever.

So i took a few pictures along the way while I was walking. It's 2.5 miles through the city but can take as long or as short as you want. I really don't recommend just rushing through. There is so much to see, historically, and through the different neighborhoods that the Trail could easily fill a long afternoon or more. I was glad to have such good weather so I didn't miss anything.

This first pic is from the trail. This is what it looks like most of the time. It's easy to see that the brick is different from the rest of the ground, with the gray brick leading the way. Occassionally the trail is painted on and a little faded in spots but it's easy to find your way back, it curves with the road and picks up again after crossing a street.

This is just another example of the trail runing through the city. It doesn't stand out in an obnoxious touristy way, it really compliments the neighborhoods and doesn't look out of place. Most of the tourists walking the trail, however, do look out of place. I really try to blend in as much as possible when I travel. I probably don't succeed all the time but there are a few things you can do to help the process. Don't wear white tennis shoes, don't stand in the middle of the road or street, don't hold the map out in front of you and look at it while you walk, and don't take up the whole side walk with your big group. That's all I can think of for now. Because I traveled alone some of this was easy. I didn't have to talk to anyone I didn't want to and I could easily slip in between tourists groups and maneuver where I wanted to when I wanted to. As for the map, the freedom trail is easy to use so you won't get lost. put the map AWAY and actually look at the city you are visiting. You probably won't be there again a very long time (or ever). And there are some great resources you can use to get information that don't require a map in front of your face. There are a ton of apps about the Freedom Trail and I will talk about my favorite one in a future post.

The neighborhoods are all so different and this photo taken in Little Italy was so charming to me with the church in the background and the trail line in the foreground. I spent most of my days just wandering around the city doing whatever I wanted and I totally recommend it. You can't get lost with a map built into the ground. And if you do, there are stops along the way for museums and historical sites you can get directions at as well.

 

 

I have a ton of photos from the actual sites along the Freedom Trail that I've split into two different upcoming posts. They will be pretty long but I think give you a good idea of what you can expect when you visit Boston.