150 years ago, the Back Bay neighborhood was still a boggy, stinking tidal basin of a Bay. Today, it joins Beacon Hill as the wealthiest neighborhood in Boston. Come see how Bostonians made themselves a new neck of the woods at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.
Home to Boston Public Library, Trinity Church, Copley Square, Newbury Street, and the Boston Public Garden, the Back Bay was built at a moment when modern technology and architecture crashed into historic New England.
Highlights
Copley Square
Copley Hotel
Boston Public Library (exterior only)
Boston Marathon Finish Line
Trinity Church (exterior only)
Former Museum of Natural History
Newbury Street
Church of the Covenant (exterior only)
Commonwealth Avenue Mall and Sculpture Garden
Boston Public Garden
Cheers Bar
Details
Private tours begin at $300 (+tax), which covers up to 10 guests for up to two hours.
For tours longer than two hours, groups under 10 guests are $150 (+tax) per hour per guide.
For customized tours in groups larger than 10, please contact us for pricing.
This tour can be offered in Business Casual dress, Victorian or Colonial costume.
Add-ons
We can give a 45-60 minute tour of JUST Boston Public Garden, if desired. Highlights include statues of Washington, Charles Sumner, Thaddeus Kosciusko, Make Way For Ducklings Statue, Discovery of Ether as Anesthetic Memorial, and, of course, the Swan Boats.
Subject to the churches being open (usually 11-3 Mon-Sat), we can arrange to enter the Church of the Covenant and/or the Arlington Street Church to admire the Tiffany stained glass windows, designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Small additional fees may apply. Contact us for more information.
Trinity Church offers self guided and guided tours inside. Additional admission fees apply.
Boston Public Library offers tours through their docent program. We are happy to arrange a tour with them, subject to their availability. Additional fees for their services would apply.
Shopping on Newbury Street is the thing to do downtown if you’re a fan of outdoor malls. We are happy to take a shopping break with you or your group!
We are happy to drop you at Cheers Bar or the Swan Boats upon finishing the tour.
We Can't...
We cannot give tours inside the Boston Public Library. Only their docents may deliver information once inside the building. We are happy to arrange that for our groups. We can, otherwise, lead the group to the library, and invite the in for a quick self-guided tour, subject to library visiting hours, so long as our staff are not asked to divulge any information once inside to building.
We cannot take group tours larger than 10 into any of these interiors without prior contact with the institutions themselves. Please let us know long in advance if you would like to try to tour the interior of any of these sites. Or come back to them later and tour them for yourselves!