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Category: back bay (5)

Tortoise and hare sculpture in Boston Public Garden

Finding Aesop’s Fables in Copley Square

Private Tours : Additional Tours by Request
60 minutes
0.25 mile
mostly flat surfaces and little to no inclines
There are clues all around Copley Square that are connected to Aesop's Fables. Do we know why these clues are here? What do they refer to? Join us on this short, family-friendly tour around Copley Square to find these clues and learn the fables and stories they represent. find out more
victorian buildings in boston's back bay

Back Bay’s Victorian Architecture

Delight in the elegant homes and architectural marvels of Victorian Back Bay

Walking Tours : Monthly & Quarterly
90 minutes
0.65 mile
mostly flat surfaces and little to no inclines
On this guided tour, explore how Boston’s back bay was filled in to become one of the United States’ richest collections of art and architecture. The treasures of this Back Bay tour include Trinity Church, the Boston Public Library, Old South Church and grand Back Bay townhouses. Walk back in time to uncover splendid examples of Victorian architecture. find out more

Commonwealth Ave.

Urban Development Series

Walking Tours : Monthly & Quarterly
90 minutes
1.5 miles
mostly flat surfaces and little to no inclines
Take a walk through the heart of Victorian Boston on this tour of Commonwealth Avenue! Boston's grand boulevard, Commonwealth Avenue, provides an enduringly popular stroll. The tour parallels the 19 th century filling and development of the Back Bay from its origin at Arlington Street down the seven blocks along the tree-lined, grassy Mall. See how careful effort over 150 years has preserved the "grandness" of the Avenue. find out more
Gilded Age photo

Boston's Gilded Age

Walking Tours : Monthly & Quarterly
90 minutes
1.1 miles
mostly flat surfaces and little to no inclines
During the Gilded Age of the late nineteenth century, Boston's Back Bay was alive with social clubs and thriving cultural institutions. On this tour we will explore the favorite haunts of Boston's upper-class, often known as "Boston Brahmins." Though "Brahmins" had a reputation for being exclusive and elitist, many of these men and women were active in making our city—and the whole nation—a better place to live. They fought to abolish slavery and to recognize women’s rights, and they built libraries, colleges, museums and orchestras. Though this elite generation of wealthy activists was often philanthropic, on this tour we’ll also discuss their limitations and shortcomings. find out more
Boston Public Library

Becoming Back Bay

Travel through Boston's Back Bay, a marvel of 19th Century civil engineering

Walking Tours : New for 2023
90 minutes
0.9 mile
mostly flat surfaces and little to no inclines
Take a trip through the Back Bay neighborhood and learn where Back Bay started, how it evolved, and where it is today. Discover why and how the Bay was filled, and peek into the homes of the Victorian residents and their servants. Learn what made Back Bay such an engineering marvel in its time. On this tour, explore why the filling of the bay was considered the most ambitious civil engineering achievement in nineteenth-century America, and uncover how it was a landmark event of urban planning in every sense of the term. find out more