Best Boston Harbor & Waterfront Spots

This is a guide to Boston's waterfront for anyone after skyline views, a sunset walk or a ferry ride, following the Harborwalk through South Boston, the Seaport, downtown, the North End and East Boston. At Castle Island, walk the loop around Pleasure Bay and watch planes cross the harbor beside an 1850s granite fort. Piers Park in East Boston looks straight across the water at downtown and is about a ten-minute walk from Maverick station. In the Seaport, Fan Pier Park has a big stone fire pit that draws a crowd at night, right next to the ICA and its glass-walled Mediatheque. Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park offers a rose garden and a long wisteria trellis between the North End and the boats.

Long Wharf is where to catch ferries to Georges and Spectacle islands, and the New England Aquarium's outdoor harbor seal exhibit is free to view.