Viewing Boston Landmarks from the Water
Architectural boat tour offers stunning views, fun trivia
Learn about Boston’s diverse architectural landmarks in the Charles Riverboat Company’s Architecture Cruise, which travels the harbor and river every weekend through early October. Photo courtesy of the Charles Riverboat Company
Boston Harbor and the Charles River offer stunning views of many of the city’s most famous architectural landmarks, from the stark white steeple of Boston’s Old North Church, built in 1722, to the gleaming glass panels of the Institute of Contemporary Art, completed in 2006. No matter how many times you’ve passed these buildings on foot, seeing them from the vantage point of the water changes your perspective. It’s no wonder then that the Charles Riverboat Company’s Architecture Cruises have become one of its most popular tour offerings. In collaboration with the Boston Society of Architects (BSA) Foundation and Boston By Foot (BBF), the nonprofit that provides guided walking tours of the city, the 90-minute cruises showcase some of the most notable architecture along the Boston Harbor, the Charles River Locks, and the Charles River Basin.
The cruises, narrated by knowledgeable BBF guides, depart from the docks behind the CambridgeSide Galleria Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. from late May through October 12. While the Galleria’s food court is just steps from the dock, guests can purchase light snacks and beverages (nonalcoholic and alcoholic for 21+) on board.
The tour is designed to appeal to local residents and tourists alike, providing lots of obscure facts about some of Boston’s most recognizable buildings and their architects and sweeping views of the waterfront and skyline. Among the many landmarks highlighted are the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge, completed as part of the city’s Big Dig construction project; the John Joseph Moakley US Courthouse, designed by architect Henry Cobb and named for a longtime Boston congressman who died in 2001; and one of the city’s most iconic landmarks, the John Hancock Tower, at 62 stories New England’s tallest building. Over a dozen other sights are featured and the tour also touches on historical events that affected the city’s architecture, like the Great Molasses Flood of 1919, which unleashed a wall of molasses 25 feet high, killing 21 and destroying numerous buildings in the city’s North End.
By tour’s end, you’ll be ready to ace the Boston architecture category the next time it pops up on Jeopardy!
Architecture Cruises depart from the CambridgeSide Galleria, 100 CambridgeSide Place, Cambridge, at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, from late May through October 12. Tickets are $27.50 for adults and $22.50 for children under 12, seniors, students, and BSA and BBF members. Purchase tickets at the ticket booth by the pier or online, up to two weeks before a cruise. Advance reservations are recommended. Private Architecture Cruises can also be arranged by calling 617-621-3001. Take a Green Line E trolley to Lechmere, walk through the tunnel at right, cross Cambridge Street, and take First Street to Thorndike Street. The pier is to the right of Lechmere Canal, outside the Galleria food court.
Mara Sassoon can be reached at msassoon@bu.edu.
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