Sites & Attractions
EXPLORE THE OUTDOORS
Visit these beautiful, accessible, public spaces available by public transportation www.mbta.com
Mary O’Malley State Park
In Chelsea’s backyard
Located on Admirals Hill along the Mystic River, this park is within easy walking distance of Chelsea center. Along with a playground and tennis courts, there is a large open field for picnics, playing frisbee, or kite flying.
From Chelsea City Hall: 1 mile 5 mins.
Middlesex Fells Reservation
Our beloved “People’s Forest”
With more than 100 miles of trails, the “Fells” in Stoneham offers a welcome retreat for city dwellers and a suitable terrain for hikers, rock climbers, and cross-country skiers. Let your dog run free in Sheepfold Meadow. Rent a canoe or kayak to explore or fish in Spot Pond.
From Chelsea: 7 miles 18 mins.
Arnold Arboretum
America's oldest public arboretum (1872)
This space is home to 281 beautiful acres of meadows, forests, and ponds that create a natural setting for plants collected from around the globe. Come smell the flowers, bird watch, hike, learn about different plants, bike around, or go for a run!
From Chelsea: 11 miles 28 mins.
Paul Revere Park
A hidden gem
Located where the Charles River meets the Inner Harbor, the five-acre park features a large, grassy oval, a great place for ball throwing, with a stage for performances and a large, fenced-in playground.
From Chelsea: 3 miles 8 mins.
Boston Harborwalk
Take a walk on the waterfront
Winds through Boston's waterfront neighborhoods, stretching from Chelsea Creek to the Neponset River, through East Boston, Charlestown, North End, Downtown, Fort Point, South Boston, and Dorchester. The 43-mile walkway connects over forty parks, a dozen museums, and seven beaches.
From Chelsea: 3 miles 10 mins.
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway
A true city treasure
Along with the 17-acres, this park includes features like the Greenway Carousel, Rings Fountain, Harbor Fog, North End Swinging Benches, and rotating art exhibits. Bring the whole family to discover many more hidden gems!!
From Chelsea: 3.5 miles 10 mins.
Boston Public Garden
First public botanical garden in the USA (1837)
The 24-acre garden contains the famous “Make Way for Ducklings” statues, a 4-acre pond with swans and a variety of birds, and several memorable statues throughout. Come for a picnic or take your dog for a walk.
From Chelsea: 5 miles 12 mins. 
BEACHES
Revere Beach, Revere
America’s first public beach has welcomed families, swimmers, and sand sculptors to its waterfront area since 1896. Every summer, Revere hosts the National Sand Sculpting Festival. Local train-/bus-accessible, Family-friendly, Good for surfing & water sports, Food (nearby), Wheelchair accessible.
Nahant Beach Reservation, Nahant
On the edge of Nahant Bay is a promenade used for biking, walking, and jogging that opens up to more than four miles of seascape view. During low tide, this flat beach expands to hard-packed sandbars. Family-friendly, Good for surfing, Good for water sports, Food, and Wheelchair accessible.
Winthrop Beach, Winthrop
The smaller and lesser-known cousin of Revere Beach, Winthrop Beach has its own unique charm and is usually populated by locals while Revere is left for the tourists. It’s rockier, but with a better view. Good for surfing & water sports, Good for scavenging, and Wheelchair accessible.
Constitution Beach, East Boston
Easy to access and a solid option for families, this beach is a popular spot for kids with lifeguard-supervised swimming, a playground, and athletic courts.
Carson Beach, South Boston
With a nice view of the city’s skyline, it is an ideal place to take advantage of Boston’s geography. The Harbor Walk is near to enjoy nice views of Dorchester Bay on a peaceful walk, run, or bike. Public, Local train-/bus-accessible, Family-friendly, Dog-friendly (only allowed on leash on walkways), Food, Wheelchair accessible.
M Street Beach, South Boston
A hotspot for the area’s young adults. The locals have nicknamed it “Southie Beach.” Public, Local train-/bus-accessible, Family-friendly, Food, Wheelchair accessible.
SWIMMING POOLS Open in late June!
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Swimming and Wading Pool
184 Carter, Street, Chelsea. 617-373-0402
Veterans Memorial
Swimming Pool
719 Memorial Dr., Cambridge. 617-661-0564
Latta Brothers Memorial
Swimming and Wading Pool
49 Fellsway, West Somerville. 617-666-9236
Mirabella Pool
475 Commercial Street, Boston. 617-635-1276
LAKES & PONDS
Walden Pond
Concord, MA. Walden Pond State Reservation surrounds the pond. Popular activities include fishing and walking around the pond on the pleasant footpaths. If you want to go boating on the pond, Paddle Boston rents and delivers canoes, kayaks, and stand-up paddleboards.
Lake Cochituate
Natick, MA. The lake is part of Cochituate State Park, which has swimming areas, picnic tables and grills, a boat ramp, and a scenic hiking path called the Snake Brook Trail. Natick Boathouse rents sailboats, canoes, kayaks, pedal boats, and stand-up paddleboards.
Spy Pond
Arlington, MA. Spy Pond Park on the north shore has a playground, a picnic area, and a boat ramp for canoes and kayaks. Fish for species such as largemouth bass, yellow perch, and bluegill. Adjacent to the pond is the Minuteman Bikeway, a ten-mile scenic, and historic cycling trail. The Bike Stop in Arlington rents bicycles for use on the trail.
EXPLORE UNUSUAL PLACES & THINGS
The Mapparium
Explore an Amazing World
A three-story, stained-glass globe inside the Mary Baker Eddy Library gives you a three-dimensional view of how the world looked in 1935. Today, it illustrates how countries and borders have changed over the past century.
200 Massachusetts Ave, Boston. Green Line / Symphony
Scarlett O’Hara House
An Elaborate Sculpture
This place doesn't really exist. Instead, it’s an optical illusion. From afar, it’s hard to tell the home isn’t real. The “house” was painted in the 1980s to resemble a Greek Revival-style home, one that you might see in the South, to cover up an unattractive brick wall.
Beacon Hill - Revere Street at Rollins Place, Boston. Red Line / Charles Street - MGH
All Saints Way
A Labor of Love
In an alleyway between Hanover Street and Battery Street in Boston’s North End, this shrine pays tribute to hundreds of images, figurines and tokens of saints. It is private property, but when the door to the alley is open, do venture in and look up to the heavens.
4 Battery Street, Boston’s North End. Orange Line & Green Line / Haymarket
Vilna Shul
A Historic Synagogue
Did you know that Beacon Hill houses the city’s last immigrant-era synagogue building? Once slated for destruction, this century-old architectural time capsule now serves as art and cultural center. And they’ve moved their programming online, which currently includes the game and trivia nights.
18 Phillips St, Boston. Red Line / Charles Street - MGH
Skinny House
Narrowest House in Boston
Located in the North End, is the passion project of Joseph Euestus after he learned his brother had built a mansion on more than half of the land they had jointly inherited from their father. Euestus' revenge stands four stories tall and 10 feet wide, just large enough to block the adjacent mansion's sightlines of Boston Harbor.
44 Hull Street in the North End of Boston. Orange Line & Green Line / Haymarket
The Museum
World's Smallest Museum
What has to be the tiniest museum on the planet can be found in Somerville. It features local art, and one of its goals is to make art accessible for all.
72½ Union Square. Somerville, MA. Orange Line / Union Square
INTO THE GREAT OUTDOORS 
Franklin Park
Olmsted’s “Jewel” of the Emerald Necklace
A 2.3-mile loop trail located near Dorchester that features a lake. The trail is rated as moderate and is used for hiking, walking, trail running, and road biking. Dogs are welcome!
From Chelsea: 10 miles 20 mins.
Blue Hills Reservation
A hiker’s paradise
Stretches 9 square miles through Milton, Quincy, Boston, and Canton. Encompasses 7000 acres, 51 great hiking trails, and 22 hills, the most notable being Great Blue Hill (635 ft.) Hiking and trail running during the warm weather months; skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing in the winter months.
From Chelsea: 20 miles 35 mins.