Going into this venture, I had no idea that Gardner was such close friends with John Singer…read moreSargent. He is one of my favorite artists so walking into this and being surprised by his work was a real thrill. She displayed his work in such a way that you really could see she appreciated him as a friend and also an artist. I will say...Gardner was really a collector...some of her pieces that she decided to hang are maybe a little questionable of their quality, but balanced by some truly brilliant pieces, it all works out in the end. This museum, like The Frick in Manhattan, is really quite special being that the setting is the home of the person who put all of these pieces on the walls themselves. To be able to walk through the grounds and see the rooms as the previous owner saw them is just surreal. I would say out of everything to see in this beautiful city, this is a must-do. Go see a game at Fenway, go get a lobster roll...sure, those are obvious spots to hit as a tourist, but this needs to be on your list of probably top 5 things to do while visiting Boston.

A friend recommended this art collection in this beautiful space so I reserved tickets online for…read moretoday at 11 when it opened. You can buy your tickets in person as well. It's a separate entrance line than the preordered tickets. They do check your bags and tell you to leave your water bottles at the coatcheck on the 1st floor or downstairs at the lockers. We started upstairs on the 3rd floor, and worked our way down. Every room is specifically designed to highlight some theme by Isabella, from the brocade on the walls to the ceiling to the doors to the artwork/furniture everywhere. Because it's a three story mansion, it's decorated as such and has less of the feel of a gallery as a luxuriously decorated estate. Most of the artwork is not identified as it would be in a museum, but it can still be appreciated. There were a few signs along the way that explained the theme of the room according to Isabella. From the third floor especially, the live music in the central garden could be heard so well because of the magnificent acoustics. (There was music in honor of Juneteenth today). If it's your first time there, pay attention to the plaque by the elevator on the 1st floor that states it was the entrance that Isabella herself had used. Apparently that was the original entrance to the museum for a long time and the glass encased current entrance used to be greenhouses. We spent 1.5 hrs there and enjoyed exploring and appreciating the unique museum experience together. Highly recommend!!

This is a cute concept, and since this is the reason I dropped by, I'll review this highlight…read moreinstead of the Dorchester Brewery. It is more like a collection of art around the brewery, but the signs are funny and it's interesting to note paintings that were donated vs. found in a thrift store vs. found in the garbage. It ranges from funny proportions to some truly bizarre. It's a great activity to giggle at with friends or make up fun commentary on a date. It's a fun little concept, free, and open late, so it's a funs stop in. The brewery features a full bar, arcade and board games and BBQ food as well. The owner even showed us an old cigarette dispensing machine now filled with chocolate packs. There's a lot going on and it is apparent a lot of thought and creativity went into the space. It's certainly not like a traditional "museum" but sometimes you need to see some bad art to really appreciate some good art elsewhere. You'll end up laughing at something.

Okay, so museum may not be the exact right word. This is kind of like a gallery in a brewery. I had…read moreseen an ad for this place on Instagram, and filed it away in my brain. I pulled it out of the file and went to see bad art. We walked in and the guy at the bar was very nice and pointed out the "route" of the paintings. The art was so fun--some worse than others. I really did understand what some of what the artists were thinking, and in other cases I just laughed and scratched my head It's small and we weren't there more than 20 minutes, but it was fun. Btw--it's free!!!

Excellent site to visit! Beautiful views! We had a great docent lead tour. Our guide shared lots…read moreof details and did a great job trying to answer our group's many questions! Learning about the different architectural phases of this property was very interesting. The Secret Staircase is special! Gift Shop was a fun stop! Friendly staff. They have their own parking lot with ample and FREE parking while you visit. Now that's a plus. Everywhere else in Salem is paid parking, including the Peabody Essex Museum (park and hike!) Highly recommend visiting The House of Seven Gables if you are in the area.

What a great experience!…read more We had the tour to ourselves. The snow turned everyone away. The house is super interesting and our guide was great! If you are in the area, highly recommend a tour. Side note: we used our library card and received 50% off of admission.

What a treat it was to be able to see this in my lifetime and to spend some time on the grounds of…read moreHarvard University. So much in this museum I don't think you could possible see the whole place in one day. We spent 4-5 hours here and may have seen 50%. I so wish I lived closer so I could take it all in over several visits. The mineral and rocks area especially drew lots of my attention and I spent way too much time there and slowed us down a good bit. It's was so freaking cool though! Giant wads of gold and precious metals everywhere. Things I have never seen. Wonderful things! Also.... They have dinosaurs and so many cool things. Glass flowers, ancient artifacts, rare finds from around the world all housed in the historic University of Harvard campus. Check out my pics. I even have one where I am the last link in the evolutionary chain, LOL. Totally worth a trip here if you can. So many wonderful things to see!! '26 - 29

This museum is a must if you are visiting Harvard campus especially if you are a tourist. The…read moremuseum is huge with collections of fossils, taxidermies, plants, and it also has detailed explanation of each items that you see there. They also have rocks and gems on display here. It took 3-4 hours to see everything here. Admission is about $15 and free for students.

I had a great time here at the Boston Museum of science. It was very big and there was so much…read morehands-on stuff to do with kids of all ages. They have a little food court inside of this museum and there is a parking garage that connects right to the museum as well. There is definitely a wide variety of things to learn and see here. I feel like just one day at the museum was not even enough. They do offer memberships and I can see why lol. This museum is definitely a place kids will want to go back to. One of my favorite parts of the museum was the brain area where they have a human brain and someone that explains all about it. I just thought it was pretty cool that they had a human brain on display. They even had exhibits that I did not get to see, simply because there was just not enough time in one day like I said. Highly recommend for a rainy day activity or a fun play date!

Free IMAX movie every first Sunday of the month?? At the Omni theater at the museum of science??…read moreSign me up!! And that's what we did! We watch Super Dogs - it wasn't our first choice but the Space one was already all booked out so we chose this and it was awesome! Some of the cinematography was absolutely breathtaking- they filmed this in different parts of the world and got incredible footage - likely by drone filming. They showed different dogs and their stories. Overall it was a great movie. We could sit where we wanted - no assigned seats for this show. Initially we sat high up and these seats are at a steep incline so we decided to move further down. Staff was friendly and helpful. The museum interior is nice and has these color coded wings. There is a cafe too although we've never tried it. Parking - this time we parked in the museum garage itself to save time and it was $18 for up to 2 hours which was sufficient for us as the movie was only about 90 minutes. We have in the past managed to find some street meter parking nearby and walk a bit was great too. There are restrooms on the upper floor too which was convenient. Overall a good experience! Great place to go for everyone in the family.

Came here by myself when I helped my daughter move into her college dorm 5 years ago, now today…read morebrought my husband, brother and sister-in-law, because a cool unique historical glass give of the world as known in 1935. When I came by myself, I spent over an hour reading all the exhibits and information about the history of Christian Science. Pretty interesting. Today we just did the 20 minute tour of the mapparium and appreciated the artistry, engineering, acoustics, and historicity of the globe as well as the two timepieces hanging in the main atrium. All the staff were very welcoming. Brad and Steve did a great job giving us the tour. They have gorgeous tile work even in the restrooms, and speak with pride about the every aspect of the design of the building. They offer a coat room so that you can safely store your bags and water bottles to avoid any chance of dropping anything inside the mapparium. Glad to come back again with family. Very memorable.

As other reviewers have said, this is an interesting place to check out in Boston, but there's not…read moremuch to it. The building itself is historical and there are plenty of other religious artifacts and things to learn before you even get inside of the globe room. We didn't book tickets ahead of time so we only had to wait around 30 minutes for the next tour to be available to go inside the globe room. If you are big on history, then this is a must see, as this painstakingly-crafted globe represents the world in the 1930s. It was interesting to see the countries and borders that no longer exist and compare them with what we know today. The acoustics were amazing as well, as the smallest whisper could sound like a yell. Overall it was worth the $6 admission and it's something I would recommend to those who haven't done it, but I wouldn't feel the need to go back.

Fun little free museum and you can learn a little bit about the history of Bostons water supply!…read more The educational videos and demos about the engines powering the aqueducts were really interesting. The engines themselves are also very cool and quite a bit larger than i expected. I was surprised as well that there was a little section on the second floor which allows you to see the top view of the engines as well as the steeple. Fair warning that the museum isn't air conditioned except the top levels. You can also join a tour which I believe costs money, but this allows you to go into the engines and explore.

" Hours Wednesday- Sunday 11:am -4pm it's FREE"…read more "Waterworks Museum". Wow I live right near here and I didn't know this place existed . The y have a small parking lot . If this doesn't work out , they have street metered parking . It's very interesting. My husband and I had a great time . We learned something new , it was free . We even found non metered parking . So the parking was free .

I think it's really bizarre how lowly ranked this place is on here but also how there are so many…read moresalty adults bashing it? In full transparency we came here with our niece. Did she have fun? Heck yeah she did. Would we have had fun as adults if we went? You bet we would have! This is fun for all ages. You get so many samples throughout, there's a game section for kids, adult ice cream drinks at a bar for adults, lots of fun info you learn, and some really cool photo op place for the people that are looking to be insta famous. This place was so fun, very filling (samples!), informative and very clean (people kept cleaning throughout). Everyone that worked here was lovely and attentive. All in all 10/10 all around. Highly recommend. We walked here so can't comment on the parking.

Sorry if this seems harsh, but we felt a bit scammed on the website about this being for…read more"all-ages". It's not, strictly designed for young children. *Please read this review if you are an adult with no kids looking to attend this museum* Online this looked super fun and showed young adults in the sprinkle pool and walking around the facility. When we went, it was 100% adults with young kids. Not 14 or 10 year olds, but YOUNG kids. We really felt out of placed and a bit embarrassed that we spent money on these tickets as 30 year olds and this was not designed for us. Regardless, we tried to make the best of it. It's a really cool place. Lots of history of ice cream, fun all you can eat ice cream. Again, was disappointed at the false advertising because online it showed a bunch of different ice cream styles you could get (hot dogs in ice cream format, hamburgers, etc) and none of that was available. Let alone the flavors were limited. The games were cool, we played them all and stepped aside when a child came up to let them have their turn. Cleanliness seemed to be lacking too. It's an ice cream place so it can get messy, but everything we touched seemed sticky, which was concerning. If there's an adults-only time frame, we missed the memo. But when we filled out the survey for a certain amount of $$$ back, we were NOT granted any refund. Again with false advertising or not following through with a promise.