We had a great North End tour with David today. In spite of the rain throughout the tour David kept us entertained along with providing great and interesting detail throughout the tour. David's appreciation for food made the tour that much better. We were definitely ready to eat some great North end food by the end of the tour. Along with David's entertaining stories he also shared a very moving story when telling us about the beautifully designed Holocaust memorial. Free Tours and David are highly recommended. read more

Free Tours By Foot - David, our guide - Tours Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

4.5 stars. We joined the Free tours by foot in NOLA/ Garden District back in Feb, had a great experience and was glad to find out there is one in Boston as well. Signing up for the tour was easy enough though I don't really like the idea of paying the (optional) fee via PayPal. For some reason when I did that in New Orleans, it automatically created a new PayPal account for me, based on the email address I used. (Even though it says you don't need a PayPal account...) But this time when I attempted to use the same email to pay, it just wouldn't go through despite resetting the password and what not. Ended up asking hubby to pay with his PayPal. Quite a hassle. Other than that, our guide, Brian, was hilarious and passionate about educating us and I had a great time. We took the tour on Mother's Day and half of the 25 or so customers were from Europe. I think maybe there is a little language barrier as not everyone laughed at Brian's jokes. Plus it was a super windy and cold day and some just wanna go back to bed I guess. The tour was about 1 hour 45 mins. It really didn't walk far, maybe 1-1.5 miles. But I truly enjoyed the story telling. Highly recommend. read more

My family did two tours with Free Tours By Foot- Freedom Trail and the North End Tour. We have done several Free Tours By Foot in Washington, DC and both Boston tours were phenomenal! Our first tour was on the Freedom Trail. Our guide gave us some great historical information and just the right amount of humor. Our second tour was with David and the North End tour. He had a different energy from our first guide but he still was excellent. David also gave us several excelllent food recommendations for food in the North End including the fabulous Maria's Pastry Shop! I cannot recommend the tours and these tour guides more. 5 Yelp stars! read more

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Excellent tour of the Freedom Trail in Boston. We met Brian at Boston Common after arriving in Boston that morning, and wandered down the Freedom Trail for about a mile and a half with the tour ending at Quincy Market. We had been delayed at the airport over night, so we needed something to get us moving and wake us up. Brian delivered!! His enthusiasm and energy is contagious. We learned so much about the history and city in just a few short hours and felt much more grounded and aware of our surroundings than we would've been on our own. He's got a fantastic "Southie" accent and it made the tour even more delightful. We highly recommend the tour and hope to do it again some day! read more

Free Tours By Foot - Our tour guide Brian - Tours Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

We toured Boston's Freedom Trail this summer and it was the best experience! Our guide, David P., really kept everyone engaged the entire time, even my 8 yr old! And I'm sure my 15yr old will forever remember the greatest early American architect, Charles Bullfinch! We loved the tour so much that after lunch we decided to join in on his second half of the trail tour. So much history in Boston and David explained it all so well. I definitely recommend Free Tours by Foot!!!! read more

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I did the Free Tours by Foot with David in Cambridge, starting right on time at the Harvard Square T station, moving through the Harvard Campus and then ending right back where we began, two hours later. A tremendously interesting tour with lots of tidbits, small pieces of knowledge and a great engaging style from David. From the number of times he described things with "we," his passion about Harvard and Cambridge shined through for the entire walking tour. The tour is completely free, so there's no commitment. If you don't like it, and I doubt that would happen, you just wander off. If you're still there at the end, you tip the tour guide, as I did. $20 or so per person works well. So be prepared and have the cash with you. I've done a number of free walking tours in various cities (Barcelona, Dublin, Edinburgh, etc.) and this was absolutely one of the best. Really enjoyable. Thank you, Free Tours by Foot. And thank you, David. read more

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Freedom Trail Tour of Boston: David Phillips was our guide yesterday. Instructed to: Meet at Boston Common near the Park 'T' station entrance. Wife made the booking and we 'checked in' 5 minutes prior to kick off 1030 A M. Tour ala David P. A rather large group 30 +, but he took it in stride. I'm a tad hard of hearing (too many rock concerts in my youth ?) and I asked if he didn't mind, I'd stick close to him so as not to miss any 'pearls of wisdom'. No worries there. A BIG booming voice, and he led us on a leisurely pace through the centre of BOSTON. We both loved David's analogies as he brought Boston history to life. Dry sense of humour Historical perspective. Kind and patient with the young ones on our tour. Reminded me of the BEST teachers from MY school daze. The memorable ones. The slightly irreverent ones who might have enjoyed a drink / smoke / or 'don't come home at all' lifestyle. I had fun learning about Boston and American history yesterday. Filled in a lot of the grey areas from my previous studies. (Yes, a history background.) Knew dates, names, BUT..... First time physically in Boston, and at the side of a LOCAL history buff, twas special. 2 hours flew by. A special place. An important American experience worth remembering. Made VERY special by a guide who's passionate about his region, city, country. He bid us adieu at INFO centre, FANEUIL HALL, total walk under 2 miles, slight elevation changes, an easy walk for most. Value is relative to each individual. One can get as much as one wishes to 'invest', imho. We got a LOT out of the Freedom Trail tour and would return for different subject tours in the future. Our thanks to David P. for his efforts yesterday. Recommended unreservedly. pics to follow in due course read more

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I fell in love with Free Tours on Foot when I studied abroad in Europe and I'm so glad they had a company that offered the same affordable, interesting, and fun tour by a real local. Our guide for our 2-hour Freedom Trail Tour was Brian and he was GREAT. He had such a lively personality to get the group going and was clear with how he explained the history and background and 11/17 stops on the Freedom Trail. Even though it's 2 hours it still didn't feel like enough just based on all his knowledge. Our tour group was between 15-20 people so it is a bit on the medium size group but we were able to still hear everything and didn't miss a beat. Brian had a great sense of humor as well and made sure that we were engaged the entire tour. We passed by Carrie Nation during the tour and we were fortunate to have the opportunity to see the speakeasy in the back and that had us coming back hours later. We ended up near Fanueil Hall but per Brian's recommendation we ended up going to Sam La Grassas for pastrami and Omni Parker for a Boston Cream Pie. read more

This review is WAY overdue, but better late than never. Back in October, I took a short to Boston (36hrs) for the first time and I booked the Cambridge/Harvard Square tour with David P. My tour started out on an unfortunate note as I left my phone in the Uber I took to get to the tour meeting point. I was definitely freaking out a little, since I was travelling alone, but lucky for me that David was my tour guide. Without a second thought, David lent me his phone so I could locate mine - I'm incredibly grateful for his kindheartedness. A few stops into the tour I was able to get my phone back thankfully. As a tour guide, David was super knowledgable, fun, and engaging. He had a lot of interesting personal stories to share and you could really tell he had so much passion for Boston and learning it's history. I HIGHLY recommend taking one of David's tours. If I'm back in Boston, I definitely plan to check out some of the other ones! read more

We're in the East Coast for the week and today was our chance to tour Boston. We wanted to sign up for a historical tour and we found Free Tours By Foot online! Signing up for a reservation was super easy to do and they send you an email confirmation right away. They give you very clear instructions on where to meet so it's stress free! Our tour guide was David and he gave us such a wonderful experience! We did the Freedom Trail tour and he showed us so many different historical sights. He has amazing energy and he seems to have a huge passion for history! You can tell that he loves what he does by how much he knows. Since these tours are free, PLEASE remember to tip your tour guides! They take the time out of their day to give you a super energetic and fun tour. Tipping shows your appreciation and David is definitely worth the tip! I 100% recommended doing a tour with David! read more

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Always a fun trip. Pick up something new. Learn something interesting. Even in the rain we made it work

Brian has his fans, but we honestly didn't get the same warm and fuzzy feeling about his ill-advised attempt at humor. We felt the tour was very rushed and failed to cover all of the stops. Tour abruptly ended in front of Faneul Hall, but should have taken everyone inside to lessen the confusion over the construction going on! We usually give much higher accolades to Free Tours, as we have taken them all over the world. This one didn't meet our expectations.... read more

What an amazing tour!!! one of the best!!! Brian was so entertaining and kept everyone's attention throughout the tour, despite it being fairly cold outside. I learned so much about the history of Boston and thoroughly enjoyed. HIGHLY recommend!! read more

These are excellent tours to take in New Orleans. The tours are ran by locals. So, you get a great deal of historical information from books as well as what the actual locals see, do, and think about the area. We took two tours while visiting NOLA this time. The first tour was haunted tour of the French Quarter being guided by Stacy, who was excellent! She was so knowledgeable of the buildings and the stories behind them as well as a particular cat from a newly remodeled building, whom she grew quite fond of. Aside from that, the stories were told in depth, and she answered everyone's questions with ease. The second tour was the Vodou Tour that was hosted by Robi Gilmore, who was super entertaining and hilarious. He gave a ton of Haitian history as well as got us all involved in some of the rituals. Super insights and informative. read more

David P was our tour leader today and he was excellent and obviously knows his history. We heard him loud and clear, spoke slowly enough to absorb the facts and interacted with the kids so well. We were lucky to have him as our tour guide. read more

Found this tour online and quickly did a Yelp search, 5 stars! And I can absolutely see why! My cousin, friend, and I took the Freedom Trail Tour with David P. and it was awesome! David was engaging and made learning about history fun! We had a pretty large group and although it felt like we wouldn't be able to hear, David did a really good job projecting so that whether you were in the front or the back of the group, you heard what he was saying. I would definitely recommend booking a tour with them in Boston, you won't regret it! read more

Free Tours By Foot - Our awesome tour guide David P.! - Tours Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Very knowledgeable and offered great advice on where to stop for food! Loved the tour with David P.

I did the Freedom Trail tour with Brian when I was in Boston on business. I'm so glad I did! He's a real character, with the Bostonian accent to match! Brian is full of funny stories which illustrate perfectly the history of the city. He also gave us a lot of advice on other things to do - and when we ran into him by chance later on in the day he was only to happy to give us some more advice. Can't recommend this tour highly enough! read more

Free Tours By Foot - Tour Guide Brian doing his thing! - Tours Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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What a great tour! Our guide was super funny (we've already told his joke to a bunch of friends -- The bar across the street from the Granary Cemetary is the only place you can get a cold Sam Adams next to a cold Sam Adams! We loved his Boston accent and his tour was informative and fun. He kept it lively and gave us some personal stories that made us like him even more. The only thing keeping me from giving this a 5 star rating was that sometimes occasionally he talked a bit too fast and I couldn't understand what he was saying, and I'm sure it was something good that I was missing! But we almost didn't care because he was so entertaining to listen to regardless. read more

Private tour ( or touwa since you get the real deal accent ) with Cindy on Beacon Hill and Freedom Trail was 4-5 hours of great history and details. While I could not get her to change into a cheesy Puritan outfit she was great. Beacon hill history was very interesting and informative. Calm, willing to work to our schedule and interests. 6 miles covered. Elderly folks might use walking stick for uneven areas ( 200 year old streets ). Very thorough and detailed. Great recommendation for early, quick stop at Sam L'Grassa's for incredible sandwich and ending in North end at authentic Italian espresso shop. With a sweet of course. Brian was responsive in coordination of our tour and interests and while I'm sure any of the guides are good, ASK for CINDY. She talks all day without using R..or "owa " :-). read more

What a lovely tour! Stephen was erudite, entertaining, informative and passionate about Boston - the people, place, the history. As an English teacher I loved the "extras" ( e.g. "Bostonian" origin of words and expressions (like "to read someone the riot act" and "hooker"). He's a born story-teller and teacher. The talk was fast paced, chock full of interesting details - sometimes heartbreaking details - (the graves...) - at other times wild hilarious snippets of info. He made Boston come alive and deepened my appreciation of the art and architecture. Cool clear weather, small group, drawing history through our feet. What more could we want. Bravo Stephen! read more

We took a 2-hour Freedom Trails tour with Brian during our weekend trip to Boston. It's a fun tour for history and/or architectural fanatics! The Freedom Trail does what most museums wish they could do. It's amazing to hear about history AT the original sites and imagine all the events that made Boston and the USA what they are today. If you follow the double-bricked road, you'll hit up these 16 sites but in a span of a full afternoon. Brian took us on a 2-hour tour for 11 of the 16 sites (downtown only) in addition to a few other buildings where history was made. He was very passionate and entertaining, a great actor, and a proud Bostonian. I'll admit I was intimidated by his level of enthusiasm throughout the tour but in a way, it's his passion that kept the tour lively for a Saturday morning. Brian also walked us by Carrie Nation restaurant and shared with us who she was and how she and other women attacked alcohol establishments before the Prohibition Era. Ironically, there is a speakeasy inside the restaurant (ha). I can't believe this tour is FREE but of course it's nice to TIP such a wonderful guide. Brian never pushed for money and I've seen people pay anywhere from $5-50! I also loved the fact that he sends out an email reminding us of our tour and details/photos of the meeting point. DOWNTOWN -Boston Common - public park -Massachusetts State House - state house with gold dome topped with Maine's pine cone -Park Street Church - historic church still active today -Granary Burying Ground - burial site of Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock, etc -King's Chapel - "Stone Chapel" -King's Chapel Burying Ground - first cemetery in Boston -Old Corner Bookstore - commercial building with Chipotle! -Old South Meeting House - where meetings were held, including one for Boston Tea Party -Old State House - former state house, current museum -Site of the Boston Massacre - where British soldiers killed 5 civilians in front of a crowd -Faneuil Hall - marketplace and meeting house built at the request of a rich merchant (right by Quincy Market where Brian leaves you to enjoy the rest of your day!) Other sites: NORTH END (north of downtown, by harbor) -Paul Revere House -Old North Church -Copp's Hill Burying Ground CHARLESTOWN (across Charles River) -USS Constitution -Bunker Hill Monument read more

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Brian exemplifies a perfect tour guide: funny, authentic & passionate. He kept to the schedule but delighted us on our 2 hour fun tour of Freedom Trail. He kept us out of the sun during the hot weather as much as possible. We hit the highlights, then re-visited some of the locations. (He was so convincing of these spots, that we saw many people from our groups there too. We have now done these Free Tours by Foot in: Seattle, New Orleans, Washington, D.C. & Boston. Each one was very interesting & we learned a lot. Brian even sent us a follow email with additional information that could be helpful! Do these tours/tip generously: you won't be disappointed. read more

I cannot express how amazing Brian was from A to Z. Even when we booked with him, we had a late request (because we found out last minute that we would have a day in Boston). I emailed late the night before, and he responded early the next morning that there some cancellations, so he accommodated us. I am glad that he told us early enough, because we were driving from Maine an hour and a half away (with Boston traffic), which was really appreciated. The tour itself was great! He had much historical knowledge of the area, and much current knowledge mixed in that made it really entertaining. He presented and projected his voice loud enough so everyone could hear him, and placed a lot of humor, which made it really interesting. Now the piece that I was most impressed with. Most times when people say free, we all know it really is not. There is usually an upsell, or in touristy parts, pressure to give a lot of money for the services, you see it all the time with street performers & how "this is their living", I have even seen performers make people feel bad for not giving enough...there was none of that with Brian. After we gave Brian our financial compensation and gratitude for taking us late, I saw another guy (who looked like a student) give him a hand full of quarters, while he was apologizing for how little money it was. Never at any time did Brian react negatively to this man. In fact, Brian did the opposite and said he completely understood, and was happy that the man was able to join the tour. Brian took it graciously, and never made the man feel pressured, but in fact was happy he was there. To me, this speaks to the character of Brian, and the Integrity behind his service. I say this so people do not give Brian the bare minimum, in fact, I hope that people give him oodles of money, not only because of his customer service but more importantly his character. It is rare to have 5 star overall ratings on yelp with a lot of reviews, but Brian & his company are legit, and stand above the rest. I would not hesitate to use them again for their excellent customer service, integrity & honesty! Thank you Brian! read more

We did Harward (2hrs) and Little Italy (2hrs) tours with David P. this October. We loved it! David is a great guide, speaks loud and clearly, he shared a lot of historic information and extra fun facts during both tour. He answered all the questions from the group as well. Overall the experience was great! Do not forget to tip if you liked the tour read more

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David P. was our tour guide for the freedom trail and was awesome. He was super knowledgeable, funny, and knew Boston really well. He walked us along the freedom trail and was open to answer any and all questions. I would highly recommend this tour! read more

The freedom walking tour with Brian was very good. He's a fast talker and gave us great info and interesting stories. His humor was fun also. In advance, he rsponded promptly to my request to join a sold out tour. I would have to say the tour & admin exceeded my expectations. Thx Brian! read more

Free Tours By Foot - North church stroll - Tours Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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My husband and I did 2 tours with Free Tours By Foot- Freedom Trail and Harvard/Cambridge. Both were phenomenal! Our first tour was Brian on the Freedom Trail-he was great; super thoughtful, making sure we were in the shade as much as possible and was a font of information. It was so clear he loved Boston and it's history and he really made it come alive. Our second tour of Harvard/Cambridge was with David and he was also great. He had a different vibe from Brian (a little more chill), but no less knowledgable or passionate about the tour and the sites we stopped at. I cannot recommend the tours and these tour guides more. A++ read more

After having wonderful Free Tours By Foot in New Orleans, we were happy to find them in Boston--and they did not disappoint!! Bryan's Freedom Trail tour was a great way to get acquainted with the city and it's history. Energetic, entertaining & so informative--we loved Bryan's introduction to Boston and it's compelling stories! We also took the Harvard & Cambridge tour & the Little Italy tour with David P. Both were excellent! David has such great knowledge and insights on Harvard. He also was able to give a true local's bird's eye view of Little Italy, along with wonderful recommendations for things to see and places to eat. Our only regret was that we did the Little Italy tour on our last day in town! Can't wait to make a return trip!! read more

We did the North End, Cambridge/Harvard Square and Freedom Trail tours led by David P. David was a wonderful and engaging tour guide that clearly has a lot of love for his city. He's incredibly knowledgable and quick to offer a suggested place for lunch, dinner or additional exploration after the tour. The pace of the tours were perfect. In two hours, you cover a manageable distance while getting a sampling of what the city has to offer. I took my mom and her friend - both visiting from out of town and coming to Boston for the first time - and they both thought the tours were the best part of their trip. It allowed them to become accustomed to the area by providing landmarks that made it easier to navigate Boston's difficult streets. As someone that has lived in Boston for a year, I also found the tours to be a great, history filled way of exploring the city. This is the best value tour you can take. Boston is best explored on foot, and I'd recommend these tours to anyone. 10/10 would book again. I look forward to booking next season's tours. read more

We spent a weekend in Boston. We had the opportunity to join Free Tours By Foot in 3 of their tours: Harvard and Cambridge, North End and Chinatown. For Harvard and Cambridge and North End our guide was David P. A great man that shared with us a lot about the history of both places and recommended us a lot of very nice restaurants and cafeterias. We spent such a great time with him walking around and learning about Boston. On Sunday morning we had the tour in Chinatown Our guide, I am so sorry but I don't remember his name was an amazing guy that not only speaks Chinese, but also he knows a lot of the different hosts of different stores. With him, we tried Chinese breakfast, bubble tea and learn a lot about Chinese migrants history in Boston. I highly recommend to experience Boston guided by these amazing professionals. read more

Free tours by foot Boston is awesome! David P is awesome. I've done free walking tours around the world and he is one of the best tour guides. When he speaks you just want to listen to what he is telling you. He does a good job of telling a story and I wasn't bored on any of the tours I did with him. Yes that's right I said tours cause I did 5 of them with this company and 4 were led by David P. Freedom Trail Tour is a must do. You get to relearn all the things you've forgotten in history class and see the places where such actions took place. Tons of cute buildings to see. North End Tour. If you can time it correctly you can do the freedom Trail tour and then meet David P up for the North End Tour. Since the end stop and meet up point is at Fanuil Hall. I also really liked this tour because the North End is freaking cute and David P will tell you all the good places to eat. Beacon Hills Crime tour. Hands down my favorite tour because you got to hear real life crime stories. This one isn't focused on dates but on all the astounding crazy things people in Boston have done. Some of the stories sound so insane you think there were fake but nope! Done in the Beacon Hills area which is super cute too! Harvard & Cambridge tour. Gets a good introduction to the school. Unfortunately you can't really see much as most of the buildings are closed off to visitors. Nice to have a little background as you walk through. The one tour we did that wasn't led by David P was the Bunker Hill Tour. This tour was led by another David, David M. While David M was nice and had a passion for history and Bunker Hill. It was hard to follow the tour. You could tell he had passion for the subject but the tour was all over the place and random facts were inserted where we had no context. A lot of names were dropped where we had no idea who they were. This tour is new and if David M works on it a little more I think the tour could be great but right now it needs a little more streamlining. read more

Just took the tour wirh David. Best guided tour ever. He was amazing, a truly excellent storyteller. We took the day after also with him and was amazing too. Thanks David so much. read more

David P., our tour guide, has a wealth of knowledge and he's more than generous when it comes to sharing it. Throughout the entire tour he was very informative and passionate about the history in Boston, which I very much appreciated. One can tell that he loves what he does. My friend and I did the first half of the Freedom Trail tour, which ends at Faneuil Hall. The tour itself wasn't very strenuous, and we stuck to a mostly moderately slow pace. I really wish I had more time in Boston in order to give the other tours a try, but I guess I now have another reason to go back! read more

This was an excellent tour. The guide made it interactive for the two boys we were traveling with, and it put the whole city in a different light - it was educational, but not boring at all! We really enjoyed this tour. read more

You MUST do this when touring Boston. This is a MUST. We love the "free tours by foot " concept and have done 3 in our home town of Charleston, one in NYC and now this one in Boston. They were awesome rescheduling us when our flight got in very late and missed our original reservation. We took the Freedom Trail tour with Brian our tour guide. Brian is the most energetic, entertaining, knowledgable tour guide we have ever had anywhere. A+. He walked us around to a number of sites and gave expert information on all of them. The history, the significance, etc etc. He could not have been better. He also gave us some awesome recommendations for food and drink in the area. The only disappointing thing is at the end, a number of people left without tipping! That's the way the tour guides earn a living, people! The tour is free, but c'mon- Brian was awesome and this is how he earns his living! Crack open that wallet and shake out the cobwebs - Brian deserves every penny! read more

We had a tour of downtown Boston which was approximately 2 hours. It was so much fun. One of our favorite touristy activities. Our tour guide was super energetic- bordering on hyperactive but he made it fun. Highly recommend. About 2 miles of walking. read more

History history history! With David as our tour guide their was no stone left unturned and no detail too small! He was extremely knowledgeable and answered every question we had. He showed us buildings and told stories that I never learned in history class. I loved the history and enjoyed the time spent on this tour! read more

Brian was outstanding. I was going to Boston the week of Thanksgiving and there were no tours on the calendar. I emailed him and he went ahead and created a tour. What energy, knowledge. He has a way of reenacting scenes that somehow take you way back into history. I strongly recommend his tour. You won't be dissapointed. read more

Love love love! I've done these tours in Boston, Washington, DC and several in New Orleans. They are always soooooo fantastic!