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Beyond Boston

City Cruises Boston Historic Sightseeing Harbor Cruise

Badge of Excellence
Boston, USA
Very popular!
5+ bookings in the past 6 hours.
  • 1 hour (approx.)
  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: English

Why travelers loved this

4.5
·
· Gail_S ·
Sept 2026
Well organized, seating is comfortable, great views, skilled boat crew and entertaining, knowledgable host/narrator. She was entertaining and covered a remarkable amount of fascinating facts and stories. Well worth the 60 minutes and the price of admission!
· Tessa_P ·
Sept 2026
Such a beautiful boat ride and wonderful to learn more about the history of Boston. Our guide was fantastic. The 6:30PM tour time is perfect to catch sunset on the water and see one of the historic ships “fire” into the water.

Overview

See some of the top attractions in Boston from the waterfront on this narrated sightseeing cruise. Explore the world-famous Boston Harbor and see the city’s historic sites while listening to live commentary on board, from tales of the Revolutionary War to local legends. While you cruise, enjoy views of the city skyline as well as the Boston Harbor Islands, USS Constitution (“Old Ironsides”), and the Bunker Hill Monument.
  • Historic sightseeing cruise of Boston Harbor
  • Narrated tour with tales of the Revolutionary War, Legends of the Sea, and Boston's Historical Figures
  • Learn how the harbor was transformed into one of the cleanest waterways
  • Choose from multiple departure times to fit your schedule

What's Included

  • 60-minute Historic Sightseeing Cruise of Boston Harbor
  • Narrated tour.
  • See stunning panoramic views of Boston's skyline and waterfront areas.
  • Skip the ticket booth and head straight to the boat for faster boarding
  • Food & Beverages (available for purchase)

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

  • 1 Long Wharf, Boston, MA 02110, USA

    Please arrive at the Boston Harbor Cruises meeting point early – boarding begins 15 minutes before departure.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Itinerary

Discover some of the important historic attractions along Boston’s inner and outer harbors during this entertaining and educational sightseeing cruise.

On this narrated tour, see the USS Constitution, the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat and America’s Ship of State.

Check out Old North Church, where the famous “one if by land, and two if by sea” signal is said to have been sent by Paul Revere back in 1775. There’s also Boston Light, a lighthouse located on Little Brewster Island in outer Boston Harbor and the first light station established on the North American continent.

Boston Harbor City Cruises (Pass By)

Castle Island (Pass By)

Logan International Airport (Pass By)

USS Constitution (Pass By)

Bunker Hill Monument (Pass By)

Boston Harbor City Cruises (Pass By)

Old North Church & Historic Site (Pass By)

Additional Info

  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • Wheelchair accessible
  • Stroller accessible
  • Service animals allowed
  • Near public transportation
  • Transportation is wheelchair accessible
  • Most travelers can participate
  • The boat is wheelchair accessible, however the restrooms are not wheelchair accessible
  • Boarding begins 15 minutes before departure. Guests must arrive early, as late arrivals will likely miss the boat.
  • Infants are free, however, they are REQUIRED to have a ticket.
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 250 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

Karen_C
Liz provided a great narration while the ship was sailing, and the crew was so welcoming as we boarded.. The two young men who took photos, which were available for purchase after the cruise, were friendly and helpful. Sitting on the deck of the ship in the sunshine, surrounded by fresh air and a gentle breeze, was incredibly relaxing. My family and I enjoyed this tour very much, and we highly recommend it.

Reviews

4,5
based on 1 536 reviews
Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor
Sort by: Most recent

Discount Offered is Kind of a Scam

Sheyanna_W, Oct 2026
The Boston Harbor cruise was great. However, using the Viator app was a bit of a scam if you only have two people. They send you a discount code that you can’t really use since most tours total just under the $100 minimum. The app also won’t let you book two different tours which would give a person enough $$ wise for the discount code. Seems like a pretty effective hook to get you to try out the app thinking you are getting a 20% off when iin reality you don’t undercut at all. Don’t offer a discount if you are going to make it realistically unusable.

Great view

Brooke_S, Oct 2026
You get to see a bunch of sites from a different view it was nice to see things you can’t see from land.

Sights worth seeing

Terry_S, Oct 2026
Amazing experience. Narrator was exceptional. Great tour of Boston harbor. Enjoyed the boat and views.

Good time

Colleen_J, Oct 2026
It was enjoyable- the tour guide was humorous and knew what she was talking about. We learned a lot and she gave us good tips on where to go next

A Nice Hour Tour

Cassandra_C, Sept 2026
It’s informative and fun. We sat downstairs and even though it was a bit choppy, felt no discomfort. Like seeing the U.S.S. Constitution. And having a plane fly over us into Logan International Airport was cool.

Great boat ride!

Debra_G, Sept 2026
Wonderful tour, highly recommend. But if you sit at the back, outside, you can't hear much of what the tour guide is saying. We live locally, so that wasn't a problem for us, but if you want to hear, don't sit out back.

Must do in Boston!

Mary_H, Sept 2026
It was a great trip around the harbor. Learned interesting history about Boston. I would recommend this 1 hour tour.

Great view of Boston from the water

Barb_H, Sept 2026
We had a lovely cruise! It was wonderful to see Boston from the water. Our guide/narrator was very informative and enthusiastic. I would definitely recommend this activity.

A great young historian brought it all alive.

virginia_p, Sept 2026
A fast moving tour. Very interesting. We are older and managed due to being reasonably fit but it was tiring.

Great experience! Emily,...

Andrew_D, Sept 2026
Great experience! Emily, the tour guide was witty, knowledgeable, and made the experience worth every penny. I highly recommend!

The fascinating evolution of Boston Harbor, on a comfortable boat ride

Gail_S, Sept 2026
Well organized, seating is comfortable, great views, skilled boat crew and entertaining, knowledgable host/narrator. She was entertaining and covered a remarkable amount of fascinating facts and stories. Well worth the 60 minutes and the price of admission!

History of harbor

Richard_L, Sept 2026
The boat ride around the harbor itself is fairly unremarkable. What makes the trip worthwhile is the guide’s history of Boston and the harbor.

Good tour and great narration

Jeffrey_N, Sept 2026
My friends and I really enjoyed the hour tour on the Boston harbor. The guide provided good information and was entertaining. The speaker system was very good and his narration could be heard on all levels. The Ciry Tour company also thought about positioning of the chairs so that the guide was always talking about things directly forward.

Good for the harbor cruises- but eh, it is the Boston Harbor LOL

Sarah_K, Sept 2026
The tour is fun bc it is a harbor tour. We do a Harper tour everywhere we go and to be fair. Boston Harbor is pretty boring and pretty industrial. Look Airport. Look we had the dirtest harbor. Look cargo ships. Whatever it is good to see and you get to learn a lot of history. Our guide was super sweet. 4 out of 5 only due to no snacks and beer/wine to purchase.

Awesome way to see the city!

Jeannine_M, Sept 2026
From the water is such a great way to see different parts of the city. The guide was very knowledgeable and very funny! Even with a little rain, it was well worth it. Love, the fact that there are snacks and booze available to purchase!

Do this quick tour

Angel_L, Sept 2026
The boat ride was relaxing and learned some things about Boston with the talking tour guide person and got good pictures

Beautiful Cruise!

Tessa_P, Sept 2026
Such a beautiful boat ride and wonderful to learn more about the history of Boston. Our guide was fantastic. The 6:30PM tour time is perfect to catch sunset on the water and see one of the historic ships “fire” into the water.

Great excursion

Lesandra_S, Sept 2026
It is very informative, but can get very breezy up on the top of the third deck of the ship so definitely take some warm clothes if you get cold easily. Emily gave a lot of the history and had lots of jokes.

Bad customer service

David_L, Aug 2026
Showed up 2 minutes before the departure time and they wouldn’t allow me in. Nothing in ticket about showing up earlier

Boston water tour

Grace_J, Aug 2026
Emily was very entertaining and very informative about the sights and history of Boston ! Great tour !

Boston harbour cruise

Yvonne_N, Aug 2026
The guy who was narrating was extremely informative and without him the trip would have been worthless

Quick and fun tour

Gerald_C, Aug 2026
Great way to see Boston Harbor in an hour.Emily was a fun and interesting tour guide. The boat was clean and comfortable .

Could be a little longer but good overall.

Robert_G, Aug 2026
Fairly good viewing experience. Tour guide was very good and could answer almost any question regarding Boston area. Whole thing only takes an hour (+/- a couple minutes). Because of schedule conflicts, we were unable to join the sunset cruise which is about 1/2 hour longer and a couple of bucks more.

Poor communication

Robert_L, Aug 2026
If you are 5minutes late you are screwed. We hit road construction and got there late even after alotting an extra hour (coming from CT). We asked the girl at the ticket booth if we could do a later one but because we used viator we had to contact them. Initiated a chat with viator who said they couldn’t get ahold of the vendor and that they’d send an email. I called the vendor an hour later and spoke to a live person (after a 20 minute wait) and she said there was no email. I called viator and got a live person who said there was nothing we could do so I asked for a refund. An hour of my time wasted standing at the peer. Refund denied. Super poor communication between viator and the vendor. Beware using a third party (viator)! Zero communication skills.

When I viewed the tour...

Susan_F, Aug 2026
When I viewed the tour online,there was a picture of a tall ship in the harbor&the title of the tour was something like tour of historic harbor.So I thought that the tour would actually be on a tall ship.I was somewhat disappointed that the tour was actually on a small ferry.However,the tour itself was very interesting

Boston Harbor Tour

Ken_H, Aug 2026
Great for all ages. If Kevin is your guide, you're in for a treat. Great views of the city and comfortable accommodations.

Nice trip around the...

Elizabeth_G, Aug 2026
Nice trip around the harbor with a bit more emphasis on the airport than needed. Overall some new facts which as a resident of Boston was great to learn.

Best XP

Gio_J, Aug 2026
My Partner and I had an amazing experience! the whole crew were fantastic from the staff who checked our tickets to the very funny gentleman who's voice is still in our heads till this day (as he promised) would recommend this experience to all friends and family.

Tour guide was...

Benjamin_M, Aug 2026
Tour guide was informative but boat was packed and had to sit on inside where we couldn’t see much or take pictures.

Great informative tour around the harbor

Cheryl_B, Aug 2026
Never been to boston before and wanted a boat ride around the harbor while also learning a little about what we were seeing. This cruise was perfect for that. The guide gave so much good info and history about the city, architecture and what we were looking at it was great. You can get up and walk around the boat to take pictures or stay seated with the seats facing where the guide is referring. Nice tour length too at 1 hr. Not too short not too long. Perfect if you have other things to do that day. Definitely worth the price
Member Pricing
From

US$43,70

per person
Was US$46,00(-5%)

up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

Book ahead!
On average, this is booked 11 days in advance.

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