National Geographic Day Tour: Boston, Hub of Innovation
-
Port
Boston, Massachusetts, US
-
Activity Level
Moderate
-
Excursion Type
All
-
Wheelchair Accessible
No
-
Starting At
$199
-
Minimum Age
Information Not Currently Available
-
Duration
Approximately 2½ Hours
-
Meals Included
Meals not included
While Boston is renowned for its Freedom Trail, it also boasts an Innovation Trail showcasing the city's history of technological and scientific advances. Both Boston and neighboring Cambridge have been at the forefront of world-changing discoveries. On this walking tour through Boston, you will visit significant sites of innovation and discover stories of famous figures such as Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone, and lesser-known pioneers who have shaped our world.
Starting in downtown Boston, you'll visit a "lost museum" that isn't ordinarily open to the public -- the Verizon Museum of Communications. As well as a re-creation of Alexander Graham Bell's lab, the museum houses a variety of antique telecommunication devices.
Next, you will stop at Massachusetts General Hospital to step inside a 19th-century operating theater – the very place where anesthesia was first used.
Crossing the Longfellow Bridge into Cambridge, visit the MIT campus and learn about its illustrious alumni.
Throughout the tour, your National Geographic-trained guide reveals the stories behind groundbreaking innovations -- Technicolor, ice shipping, Polaroid, and the smallpox vaccine, which all feature in Boston's history. Tales of science, technology, and innovation are often overshadowed by Boston's revolutionary past, but by following this trail, you are celebrating the city's continuous spirit of societal shifts and educational opportunities in a hub for groundbreaking ideas in the modern world.
Notes:
Tour requires walking 2.5 miles. Wear comfortable walking shoes. Not advisable for guests using a wheelchair or for those with mobility limitations.