Cheap things to do in Boston
Freedom Trail, Chinatown bowls, North End pizza, and a pint that costs under ten bucks.
This is Boston for the traveller who wants the real city: historic streets you can walk for free, neighbourhood restaurants where locals actually eat, and bars where nobody's trying to impress you. Three days covers downtown, Back Bay, the North End, and a corner of Cambridge without once asking you to spend serious money on a meal or a room.
Day 1: Chinatown, Downtown, the Common
Start on the Freedom Trail with a cheap coffee and a free burying ground, then let the day dissolve into pho, a park wander, and a late-night plate at the Chinatown institution everyone actually eats at.
- 9:30 AM
Intelligentsia
Espresso in the old State Street Bank lobby on Post Office Square, a few minutes from Granary; closed Sundays.
Map - 10:15 AM
Granary Burying Ground
Free historic burying ground on the Freedom Trail, Paul Revere and Ben Franklin's mother are buried here.
Map - 12:30 PM
- 2:00 PM
Boston Common
Free classic Boston park, a wander through the Common costs nothing and puts you right in the city's living room.
Map - 7:30 PM
Taiwan Cafe
Cash-only Chinatown room on Oxford St: get the three-cup chicken and the pork chop over rice.
Map - 9:00 PM
Cheers Beacon Hill
The real Cheers bar, a proper local pub for a cheap pint to cap the night, well before midnight.
Map
Day 2: Back Bay and the Esplanade
Good pastries at Tatte, a stained-glass globe almost nobody knows about, a Greek lunch, and a long walk along the Charles before Yemeni food and a Fenway local bar close it out.
- 9:30 AM
- 10:30 AM
The Mapparium
A $6 ticket walks you across a glass bridge through a three-storey stained-glass globe from 1935.
Map - 12:30 PM
- 2:00 PM
Charles River Esplanade
Free riverside walk along the Esplanade, great afternoon stroll along the Charles.
Map - 7:30 PM
Bab Al-Yemen Boston
Halal Yemeni on Comm Ave: share the lamb haneeth with rice and a pot of foul, with fresh flatbread.
Map - 9:15 PM
Cask 'n Flagon
The sports bar across from Fenway's Green Monster: a cheap pint and the game on, loud on Sox nights.
Map
Day 3: North End, Cambridge, Allston
Free world-class art at Harvard, a Sicilian slice in Harvard Square, a riverside walk, and cheap tacos in Allston before a pint at a Cambridge pub that hasn't changed in decades.
- 10:30 AM
Harvard Art Museums
Free entry to three museums under one Renzo Piano roof; head for the Fogg's Van Goghs and Rothkos.
Map - 12:30 PM
Pinocchio's Pizza & Subs
Harvard Square's Sicilian slice shop since 1966: get a square of tomato basil and eat it on the stoop.
Map - 2:00 PM
Charles River Reservation
Free riverside walk along the Charles, a classic Boston outdoor stretch.
Map - 7:30 PM
Taqueria El Carrizal
Allston counter for tacos al pastor and Salvadoran pupusas, with plates that come in under $15.
Map - 9:00 PM
The Plough and Stars
Tiny Irish pub on Mass Ave since 1969 with live bands most nights and a proper Guinness.
Map
Where to stay
citizenM Boston Back Bay hotel
Mid-range price, right in Back Bay, and close to nearly every stop across all three days.
The Verb Hotel
The Verb sits by Fenway with a record-shop lobby; rates swing high on game days, so book early.
Make Boston your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App StoreBefore you go
Book ahead
- Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: weeks ahead
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: weeks ahead
- Fenway Park: weeks ahead
- Institute of Contemporary Art: a few days ahead
- View Boston: a few days ahead
- New England Aquarium: a few days ahead
Skip these
- Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall for food: walk through, then eat in the North End instead.
- Cheers is a souvenir shop with a bar. Photograph the exterior and drink at a real pub.
- Do not pay for two viewpoints, or any viewpoint in fog or rain.
The full Boston travel guide: when to go, safety, getting around