Boston Universities and Harbor Cruise Day Tour
Description
Discover Boston's academic and waterfront highlights in a small group. Walk through Harvard University and MIT, then enjoy time at historic Quincy Market. Summer departures include a Boston Harbor cruise, while winter departures replace the cruise with an included lobster meal featuring a whole lobster, clam chowder, corn, and bottled water.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Explore Boston’s highlights: visit historic Harvard and innovative MIT, enjoy local flavors at Quincy Market, and cruise Boston Harbor for stunning views and maritime stories. A perfect blend of history, culture, and scenery! Winter Itinerary (12/16/2025-04/30/2026 & 11/01/2026-12/31/2026): Harvard University (1 hour) → Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (1 hour) → Quincy Market (2 hours, including lunch time) → Boston Lobster Meal (lunch included, 1 hour) Summer Itinerary (05/01/2026-10/31/2026): Harvard University (1 hour) → Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (1 hour) → Quincy Market (2 hours, including lunch time) → Boston Harbor Cruise (Ticket included, 1 hour) Note: The lobster meal includes a whole lobster, clam chowder, corn, and bottled water.
Walk through the historic red-brick campus and experience the atmosphere of America's oldest university.
Visit the Cambridge campus of a university known worldwide for science, engineering, and innovation.
Browse historic market halls filled with local food, shops, souvenirs, and street performances.
Cruise the historic harbor for waterfront views and stories about Boston's maritime past. Winter Route: Harvard University (60 min) -> Massachusetts Institute of Technology (60 min) -> Quincy Market (120 min, including lunch time) -> Boston Lobster Meal (60 min, included)
Boston to Harvard University: Begin your day in Boston with a smooth check-in and intro from your guide, who sets the tone for a full day of iconic sights. It’s your launchpad for a seamless, all-in-one Boston experience, no planning, no stress, just a day packed with the city’s greatest hits.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Drop-Off Location is the same as Pick-Up Location 9:00AM Departure For Hotel Pick-Up Pickup time may differ from voucher start time. Confirm with operator after booking. Check “Meeting & Pick-Up” for details. Arrive 5–10 mins early. The tour lasts approximately 6-7 hours. Return time may vary depending on the itinerary, traffic, and weather conditions. Please allow a 5–10 minute window before and after your pick-up time, as the guide may arrive slightly early or late due to multiple stops.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Travelers under 18 must be with an adult. Pregnant travelers allowed if under 24 weeks.
- Tour duration includes visit times, travel, traffic, and driving between locations.
- Please verify your name and contact details; errors may incur additional costs.
- For multiple bookings, please provide all confirmation numbers after booking to ensure you travel on the same bus.
- By selecting an option and completing your booking, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to the tour's full product description, including all details about itinerary, included and excluded fees. Your payment indicates your acceptance of these terms.
- Tickets & Admission: Third-party attraction tickets or city passes are not accepted. All admission tickets must be purchased during booking or from your guide on the day of the tour.
- Bring comfortable shoes, weather-appropriate clothing, sun hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, cash, and water for hydration. A valid reachable phone number is required for safety and trip communication.
- Children under 6 may require a booster seat by law when traveling on the minivans or vans. Please contact the operator in advance if needed; rental available on request.
- Seasonal Itinerary Disclosure: This tour offers different seasonal inclusions based on travel dates. • Summer Season (May–Oct): Includes a 1-hour Boston Harbor Cruise and approximately 2 hours of free time at Quincy Market. Lobster lunch is not included during the summer season. • Winter Season (Nov–Apr): The Boston Harbor Cruise is not available. Includes approximately 3 hours of free time at Quincy Market and a lobster lunch combo meal. Seasonal inclusions vary and are subject to availability based on the travel date.
- For individual special needs, we may not be able to guarantee it. For special reasons, please confirm with the tour operator whether your special request is feasible after your booking is confirmed.
Reviews(14)
We had a light, easygoing tour and a wonderful experience. Paco was friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable about Harvard, MIT, and Boston, sharing interesting facts throughout the day. We enjoyed lunch at Quincy Market, time exploring Faneuil Hall, and the one hour Boston Harbor Cruise, which offered beautiful views of the city’s historic buildings A highlight was visiting the Boston Public Library, where our girls had a great time. Paco was also flexible in accommodating our requests, and his excellent service made the tour even more enjoyable. We would definitely recommend this tour to anyone visiting Boston.
Thank you very much for your feedback! We are so happy to hear you enjoyed the service we've provided! We look forward to welcoming you back on your next visit!
Paco did a great job showing us around the spots at Harvard, MIT and arranging our river cruise tour. Since we were his only pickup he also accommodated us and picked up at our hotel instead of a nearby one. He loves Boston and knows the city and info about it. We had plenty of time to ask him questions and also explore a bit on our own.
Thank you very much for your feedback! We are so happy to hear you enjoyed the service we've provided! We look forward to welcoming you back on your next visit!
Paco our tour guide gave a very interesting tour of the Boston area.
Thank you very much for your feedback! We are so happy to hear you enjoyed the service we've provided! We look forward to welcoming you back on your next visit!
The experience was amazing. The dream came true. The guide Willy was very kind and dedicated to enhance the experience.
Thank you very much for your feedback! We are so happy to hear you enjoyed the service we've provided! We look forward to welcoming you back on your next visit!
Had a fantastic day with Jeffrey & Chloe. We saw so much in a short space and both guides really looked after us, giving so much local information and nothing was too much trouble. Would definitely recommend - 5 Stars!
Thank you very much for your feedback! We are so happy to hear you enjoyed the service we've provided! We look forward to welcoming you back on your next visit!
Paco is very friendly and socialble and he told us a lot of new information about our trip. Our trip today is very amazing.
Thank you very much for your feedback! We are so happy to hear you enjoyed the service we've provided! We look forward to welcoming you back on your next visit!
The tour was supposed to be for a small group of 12 with a guide. There was only me and my family, so 4 total. Not sure if that was why the tour felt off. We got to Harvard, and the tour was pretty simple with some interesting tidbits. For the MIT tour, we were dropped off and told to walk around to discover MIT on our own, so this part of the tour was pretty useless. Same thing happened for the rest of the itinerary. The boat tour was pretty cool. Basically, it was like a glorified chaffeur experience with stuff I could've looked up online about the spots. Not the usual well versed l, knowledgeable, and have interesting tidbits from a guide experience.
Thank you for taking the time to share your detailed feedback regarding your recent experience with us. Please accept our sincerest apologies that several aspects of your tour did not meet the standards you expected. We understand your disappointment, as the promise of a knowledgeable, guided experience is a core part of our service. We have taken the following actions: 1. Your feedback has been escalated to our Head of Operations for a thorough review with the guide and operator involved. 2. We are reinforcing our training protocols to ensure all guides provide the well-versed, engaging commentary that is promised in our itineraries. We truly We hope you might consider giving us another opportunity to provide you with the high-quality experience you deserve.
The description is deceiving for this tour. The guide is more of a chauffeur. When we arrive at Harvard we were placed in a group of more than 40 people. MIT we were on our own to wonder. The boat ride was enjoyable. We walk over to Quincy Market on our own and left the tour at that point.
Thank you for your feedback, and please accept our sincere apologies for the experience not meeting expectations during certain parts of the tour. We’ve looked into the situation with our guide. At Harvard, we encountered an unexpectedly large group that day. To ensure everyone could still receive a proper guided experience, our guide arranged for you to join the Harvard student-led tour group so that you wouldn’t miss the campus narration. At MIT, due to extreme parking shortages, our guide spent considerable time searching for available space but was unfortunately unable to secure one. To maximize your visit time, the guide provided directions and accompanied the group part of the way before guests continued on their own. We truly regret that these logistical challenges affected your day. Please know that our guide did provide commentary during the ride, and we appreciate your kind words about the enjoyable boat ride—it encourages us to keep improving. We hope to have another opportunity to provide you with a more seamless experience in the future.
I really enjoyed the tour! Leo was a friendly driver-guide, and the Harvard campus visit was a highlight — the student guide’s explanation was truly engaging.
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback! We are thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the tour and that Leo’s friendly service and the Harvard campus visit—especially the student guide’s engaging explanation—made your experience memorable. We look forward to welcoming you back on another tour soon!
Tour guide and driver is great but overall tour not showing much. Harward tour guide was great Ivana and driver Jeffry was nice But ther was no tour at MIT and no guide or any information just jeffry drive to near campus. That’s no tour to MIT Thx jeffery
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback about your recent tour and for your kind words about our guide Ivana and driver Jeffery. We are delighted to hear that you enjoyed the Harvard portion of the tour and their excellent service. Regarding your comments about the MIT visit, we truly appreciate you bringing this to our attention and we understand your expectation for a guided experience similar to the one at Harvard. We would like to kindly clarify that, unlike Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) does not permit external tour guides to lead groups inside its buildings. Therefore, our visit is designed as an external viewing stop, allowing guests to see the iconic buildings and take photographs from the public areas and lawns. We apologize for any lack of clarity in communicating this arrangement beforehand. Our guide did provide some commentary, but we recognize it may not have met your expectations for a full guided tour. Your feedback is invaluable, and we will take steps to ensure future descriptions of the tour are clearer about the nature of the MIT stop to manage expectations accurately. We sincerely hope you were still able to capture some great photos and enjoy the unique atmosphere of the campus. Thank you again for your valuable input, and we hope to have the opportunity to welcome you on another tour in the future.
