Some cities run on money, while others run on politics, but Boston runs on learning. Ever since Harvard College was founded in 1636, a cool 140 years before the US became a nation, Boston’s higher education institutions have been the preeminent driving force in the city’s development. Nowadays, the Greater Boston area is home to dozens of colleges and universities, an ever-renewable source of creativity, energy and innovation, fuelling everything from arts and culture to science and technology to sports and recreation. Travellers can experience this dynamism first-hand by taking this tour of Boston’s universities – visiting university museums, exploring the campuses or attending performances or sporting events to get a glimpse of college life.
Nobody understands this more than Daniel Bodt, founder of the university tour company Trademark Tours. When Bodt was a student at Harvard, he volunteered as a campus guide. But as the tour was geared towards would-be students, he recognised there was no way for tourists to experience the university’s culture. “Harvard is a tourist attraction. It’s the number-three-visited place in Boston, after Fenway Park and Faneuil Hall,” Bodt said. So one summer, he decided to create a tour for non-student travellers, and the response was fantastic. This summer gig turned into a thriving company. Nowadays, Trademark offers student-guided tours of his alma mater as well as the nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Here, Bodt suggests the six best ways to explore the colleges and universities in Boston. Tour Boston’s universities at BBC Travel…
