CityPass Boston: A Review

I visited Boston on a Monday and Tuesday. My girlfriend and I wanted to visit the Museum of Science and the Aquarium. As we looked up tickets, CityPass Boston appeared. This pass gives you tickets for the Museum of Science, Aquarium, and two other locations from this list: Boston Harbor Cruise, Observation Deck, Franklin Park Zoo, and Harvard Museum of Natural History. We picked the Observation Deck and the Zoo.

I’d recommend this pass because it’ll cut your ticket costs in half. You could pay almost 50% less than if you bought each ticket separately. With the app, it’s also convenient to access your ticket when you need to scan them. The Aquarium requires reservations, but the other options we picked did not. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to visit the Museum of Science, but that’s on us. Otherwise, it was a solid visit!

Observation Deck

This is located in the Prudential Tower complex. Look for the blue “View Boston” sign. There will be a set of kiosks where you can redeem your CityPass for a paper copy. Simply turn around after and have your paper tickets scanned. You’ll fly up 52 floors and feel your ears pop. The staff here are incredibly kind and practically itching to talk about the city. We spoke with two guys about different areas and landmarks.

Aquarium

The CityPass ticket is all you need to get in, but don’t forget to make a reservation. The Aquarium closes at 5pm and you can easily spend a few hours here. We watched sea lions swim, penguins be fed, and became friends with a cute pufferfish.

Franklin Park Zoo

I always feel guilty going to the zoo, but it was still a nice visit. We went around midday and it was very quiet. It turns out we missed the busloads of schoolkids. Phew! Your CityPass ticket qualifies as entry when you visit. We enjoyed being outside on this perfect day. It wasn’t too hot or too cold. Just right!

I particularly enjoyed seeing the gorillas. It would be cool to interact with one. There was a butterfly exhibit that was a bit underwhelming, as I expected to be swarmed by various types of the winged insects. But I think we timed it wrong. The staff had just introduced some adults and were two weeks away from planting chrysalises. It was still nice to walk around. I think our favorite part was the Condor exhibit. We watched them follow park staff in anticipation of being fed. One worker tossed in a dead rabbit. That seemed to please one of the birds.

Other Stops

If you’re in the North End, you gotta grab a pastry from somewhere. We had thought about eating there, but we had pizza elsewhere. Still, Mike’s Pastry is a great spot for your dessert needs…or wants, rather. We also had breakfast at North Street Grille. This is a small spot, but they offer delicious food. I had the Sweet and Salty Sandwich – scrambled eggs and bacon between some french toast. YUM! Oh, and their corn beef hash is DELICIOUS!

We did miss out on the Museum of Science. Our timing was off. But with the CityPass, you have seven days to visit each location once you begin your adventure. It’s unlikely we’ll be back in time for that, but maybe next time we’ll do a Harbor cruise or visit Harvard’s Natural History Museum.

On my next trip to Boston, I’d like to explore the Freedom Trail and maybe a brewery or two.