The Boston CityPASS® Tourist Card

If you're a traveller who doesn't want to miss out on a city's top attractions and you're looking to save time and money, the Boston CityPASS® may be just the thing for you. For prices starting at 64 euros, this tourist pass will give you entry to four of Boston's best attractions, two fixed and two that you can choose from several options.

With a single purchase you'll get the best value for money, with savings of up to fifty percent on tickets. All without wasting time and energy in long lines to secure your ticket, especially if your stay in the city is short.

The price of the CityPASS® starts at 64 euros for adults and 59 euros for children aged three to 12. This rate includes admission to the New England Aquarium and the Museum of Science as well as a choice of two options between the Franklin Park Zoo, the Harvard Museum of Natural History or a cruise with Boston Harbor City Cruises.

The Boston CityPASS® also includes discounts on the attractions you leave out of your pass selection and the ability to claim refunds up to 365 days after purchase in accordance with their refund policy.

The prices of the attractions included in the pass are calculated as a flat rate, which generates savings of up to fifty percent on the cost of tickets. This makes the Boston CityPASS® card a compelling proposition for touring the city's best museums at the most cost-effective price.

• Price... The tourist pass starts at 64 euros for adults and 59 euros for children from three to eleven years old. Most attractions are free for children under two, but I recommend you check the details in advance on each attraction's website.
• Please note... Some attractions require advance reservations. The New England Aquarium requires reservations up to one hour in advance. Boston Harbor City Cruises must be booked at the company's ticket office up to half an hour before the start of the tour.

Like other sightseeing passes, the Boston CityPASS® can be purchased in advance. Once purchased, you'll receive a virtual card in the email address you provided, which you can present at the tour ticket booths from your mobile phone.

You don't need to have any printed information or receive any authorisation by post and once you buy it you will have one year to use it.

Activation is very simple: once you scan the card you will receive on your mobile phone to access the first excursion, the pass will be activated and you will have nine days to visit the other three attractions.

While I recommend that you organise your itinerary in advance, you don't need to know in advance which attractions you want to visit, so you can decide during your stay in the city or even on the day of your visit.

Just be aware that attractions such as the New England Aquarium New England Aquarium require a reservation.

This sightseeing pass has two parts. The first includes the fixed attractions, which are the Museum of Science and the New England Aquarium, and the second includes optional attractions including the Franklin Park Zoo, the Harvard Museum of Natural History and a cruise with Boston Harbor City Cruises.

From these you will have to choose two. Here's more about each of the options available on the Boston CityPASS®.

New England Aquarium

The New England Aquarium is one of the city's top attractions and is included as one of two fixed options on the Boston CityPASS®. The Aquarium will offer you the chance to see a large colony of penguins, seals, sea lions and Caribbean coral reefs with an ecosystem of more than 1,000 animals.

There are also interactive activities with rays and sharks that will turn your walk through the Aquarium into an unforgettable adventure. It is one of the favourite attractions for children when visiting Boston.

Please note that advance reservations are required for this tour and can be made up to one hour before the tour begins.

• Price... Regular admission to the New England Aquarium costs 34 euros for adults and 25 euros for children between the ages of three and eleven. Free admission for children under the age of two.
• Opening hours... During Spring and Summer the Aquarium is open Saturdays to Thursdays from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm and Fridays from 10.00 am to 8.00 pm. During Autumn and Winter the opening hours are Monday to Thursday from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm, Fridays from 10.00 am to 8.00 pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm.
• Duration of the visit... The total duration of the visit is estimated at around four hours.
• Location... The Aquarium is located at 1 Central Wharf, Boston.

Museum of Science

This museum is the second fixed option on the Boston CityPASS® and is also one of the most visited spaces in the city. Among the exhibits are dinosaur fossils, a room dedicated to recreating a thunderstorm that offers an interactive and sensory experience, and a display dedicated to the human body.

Boston is the birthplace of great universities and scientific advances, making this museum a global reference. I recommend that you don't miss the exhibition dedicated to computing, where you can see the floppy disk that spread the first virus in the history of the Internet in 1988 in a cube.

• Price... Regular admission to the Science Museum costs 29 euros for adults, while children between the ages of three and eleven start at 24 euros. Admission for children under the age of two is free.
• Opening hours... From Saturdays to Thursdays it is open from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm while on Fridays the opening hours are from 9.00 am to 9.00 pm. There are no changes during autumn and winter.
• Duration of the visit... It takes about four hours to complete the entire tour.
• Location... The museum is located at 1 Museum of Science Driveway, Boston.

Franklin Park Zoo

Located in the northern part of Franklin Park, this zoo is one of the largest in the state of Massachusetts and home to a wide variety of animal species from around the world including lions, tigers and camels.

It's one of the options you can choose from to complement the other two activities available on the Boston CityPASS®.

Among the permanent exhibits, one of the highlights is the Tropical Forest, which recreates a natural habitat for gorillas, bats, crocodiles and ocelots.

The zoo also has an aviary, a themed area with African animals and an exhibit that includes a community of kangaroos. The film Zooloco was filmed there and since then the place has regained notoriety. Don't miss the savannah area, inhabited by giraffes from Africa.

• Price... Regular admission to Franklin Park Zoo costs 23 euros for adults and 16 euros for children between the ages of two and twelve. Admission for children under the age of one is free. Prices are subject to change in the winter.
• Opening hours... Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.
• Duration of the visit... It takes about four hours to complete the whole tour.
• Location... The zoo is located at 1 Franklin Park Road, Boston.

Harvard Museum of Natural History

This is another optional activity offered on the Boston CityPASS®. At Harvard University's most visited attraction, located in Harvard Yard, you can visit the sixteen galleries that include the Blaschka Collection of glass flowers, minerals from around the world, dinosaur and whale bones, and an extensive collection of wildlife from around the world.

The museum is also connected internally to the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, so many of the exhibits from both museums can be visited alternately in the two buildings.

Admission to the Harvard Museum of Natural History with the Boston CityPASS® gives you admission to the Peabody as well - are you ready to be amazed by the enormous right whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling of the main hall?

• Price... Regular admission to the Harvard Museum of Natural History costs 15 euros for adults and 10 euros for children between the ages of three and eighteen. Admission for children under the age of two is free.
• Opening hours... Open daily from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm.
• Duration of the visit... It takes about three hours to complete the whole tour.
• Location... The museum is located at 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge.

Tour on a Boston Harbor City Cruises cruise ship

This is another optional attraction offered on the Boston CityPASS®, but the only truly different one. This tour consists of a ride on one of the Boston Harbor City Cruises' Boston Harbor City Cruises.

During this tour, the boat cruises the Fort Point Channel and Boston Harbor and has an expert local guide who will take you on a tour of the history of the city, the Tea Party Mutiny and the American Revolution.

This tour must be booked at least half an hour in advance at the company's ticket office, but it's a good opportunity if you're interested in seeing the city from across the bay while learning more about the colonists and their exploits on a historical tour of Boston.

• Price... The regular price of the tour starts at 43 euros for adults and 38 euros for children aged three to twelve. Children under the age of two are free when accompanied by an adult.
• Timetable... The cruises have permanent departures from 8.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m., you just need to report in advance at the company's ticket office in Boston harbour.
• Duration of tour... The total tour lasts one hour.
• Location... The pier used by the company is located at 1 Long Wharf, Boston.

Attractions not included in the Boston CityPASS® Tour Pass

While the City Pass includes several of Boston's top attractions, not included is the Tea Party Museum, which is considered the most important patriotic museum in the United States and one of the most prominent in the city.

The Tea Party Museum reconstructs through interactive exhibits and guides dressed as colonists Boston's rebellious era, which ended with the Tea Party Mutiny and began the American Revolution.

The Boston CityPASS® also does not include any Boston sightseeing bus tours among the optional offerings. The hop on-hop off transfer is often requested by tourists as it saves them time and money that would otherwise be spent on public transport.

Beyond these two attractions not included, the Boston CityPASS® is a very cost -effective option if you plan to visit several of the Boston CityPASS® sightseeing tours in your travel itinerary.

The Boston CityPASS® won't work for you if you're not really interested in visiting some or all of the attractions on offer, as the options are somewhat limited.

The Boston CityPASS® is designed for those tourists who want a general overview of the city, as except for the Tea Party Museum, it includes the main tours of the city.

It will also not suit you if you do not plan to exhaust all the visits in a short period of time, as from the activation you will have nine days to do the remaining tours.

If you feel that the Boston CityPASS® is insufficient or doesn't meet your expectations there is another option that is a little more comprehensive. The Go Boston Pass offers unlimited sightseeing at over forty attractions and discounts at shops and restaurants.

The Go Boston Pass works differently from the Boston CityPASS®, as the Go Boston Pass does not require you to book a fixed number of attractions, but rather to purchase a pass for one, two, three, five or seven days. During the validity of the tourist pass, which is counted from the activation at the first attraction, you can enjoy as many options as you want.

Unfortunately the Go Boston Pass also does not include the Tea Party Museum, although it does include several tour buses and the Museum of Fine Arts among its options.

• Go Boston Pass All Inclusive 1 Day Price... From 56 euros
• Go Boston Pass All Inclusive 2 Day Price... From 77 euros
• Go Boston Pass All Inclusive 3 Day Price... From 86 Euros
• Go Boston Pass All Inclusive 5 Day Price... From 115 euros
• Go Boston Pass All Inclusive 7 days price... From 136 euros

While you have nine days from activation to visit the remaining three attractions, it's best to plan a tour itinerary. The Boston CityPASS® includes a guidebook with tour information, which will help you get organised.

Some places I recommend you to visit, such as the Tea Party Museum or a historical tour of the city, are not included in this tourist pass, so if you plan to do those activities you can organise them interspersed with the Boston CityPASS® tourist pass options.

Also remember that the New England Aquarium and the Fort Point Channel and Boston Harbor walking cruise require you to book in advance, so you'll want to keep that in mind as well so you don't miss out on any activities.