Boston Tours
Experience the city where the American founding moved from argument to action, dating back to 1630. Find yourself walking the Freedom Trail, exploring the Museum of the American Revolution, and standing in the rooms where the Declaration was debated and the revolution was won.
52+ years of custom educational travel · Trusted by school groups in all 50 states · SYTA, IATAN, ARC, and NTA accredited
Boston puts an extraordinary amount within a few square miles. The Freedom Trail traces the founding of the country through downtown, and the harbor sits at the edge of it all with the New England Aquarium alongside. Across the city, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Science anchor opposite ends, while Harvard, MIT, and dozens of other institutions line the Charles River. Whatever your students are studying, Boston offers a place to see it firsthand.
Explore Our Popular Boston Tours
East Coast Heritage Tour
Follow American history from the Capitol to Gettysburg, Philadelphia, New York, and beyond.
History & Civics Senior Groups Specialty & Cruises
7–10 Days
How It Works
Custom sounds like more work. With us, it’s less.
1
Discovery Call
Tell us your subject, grade level, rough dates, and group size. A short conversation, not a long form.
2
Custom proposal
We send a full proposal with itinerary, venues, and transparent pricing.
3
Revisions
Change anything. Swap a site, adjust a day, shift the budget. We revise until it fits.
4
Enrollment
We handle student signups, payments, and parent communication so you don’t have to.
5
Support on the trip
Your planner and a 24/7 emergency line are with your group the entire trip.
CUSTOM ITINERARY
What a real Boston tour looks like:
The trip that makes an impact
The Experience
Your group stands at the Old State House one morning and walks the Freedom Trail the next, covering two miles of ground where the argument for independence was actually made. They read the words on the plaques and then stand in the rooms where the words were written, and the sequence that felt abstract in a textbook starts to feel like something that happened to real people making hard decisions under pressure. The USS Constitution, Faneuil Hall, and the Paul Revere House fill in the rest, so by the end of the week they have a sense of the scale of the founding era that a classroom map never gives them.
For groups studying American history or civics, Boston asks more of a student than a textbook does. Most come back with sharper questions than they left with, and teachers tell us it shows in class discussion and writing for the rest of the semester.
Custom tours since 1974
Why Do a Boston Tour With ET Tours?
No two of our trips look quite the same, because we start with you. Tell us what you’re hoping your group takes away from Boston, and we’ll shape the trip around that, right down to the dates that work for your calendar.
When you work with Educational Tours, you have access to our entire team. Every member of our staff is familiar with the groups we serve, so whether your question concerns your itinerary, your transportation, or a payment, you’ll reach someone equipped to assist you directly. Your trip is never confined to a single agent, it’s managed by the full team behind it.
For families, that means a trip run by people who have done this for decades. We’ve been planning group travel for over 50 years, we’re accredited by SYTA, IATAN, ARC, and NTA, and every detail from transportation to accommodations is vetted before your group ever leaves. Our custom pricing is transparent, with no upsells and no surprises, and payment plans are available so cost never has to be the reason anyone stays home.
The Difference a Custom Trip Makes
Each itinerary is built around the group traveling on it. A group studying the Revolution might build their days around the Freedom Trail, the harbor, and Lexington and Concord, while a science group might center theirs on the Museum of Science, MIT, and a day out on the water. Custom does not mean starting from a blank page. We bring the venues, timing, and routing we have worked out over decades of Boston trips, and you tell us what to keep, what to cut, and what to add until the itinerary fits your group.
A few of our favorite trips
History & Civics
Walk the Freedom Trail through downtown, board the USS Constitution and climb Bunker Hill in the harbor, and ride out to Lexington and Concord to stand on the ground where the Revolution began.
Science & Technology
Spend a morning in the Museum of Science, tour the labs and campus at MIT, and head down to the harbor for the New England Aquarium and a whale watch out into Massachusetts Bay.
Arts & Literature
Take in the Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, then drive out to Concord for Orchard House, Walden Pond, and the homes of the writers who shaped American literature.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
FAQs
How many days do we need in Boston?
Most groups spend three to four days, which covers the Freedom Trail and downtown, the harbor, and a day out to Cambridge or Concord without rushing. Shorter trips are possible, and longer ones open up Salem, Plymouth, or Newport.
When is the best time of year to visit?
Spring and fall are the most popular, with mild weather for the walking this trip involves and campuses in session. Winter trips are possible and often less expensive, though the itinerary leans more toward indoor sites.
Is Boston a walking trip?
A good part of it is. The Freedom Trail and much of downtown are covered on foot, so comfortable shoes matter more here than on most itineraries. Longer distances, day trips, and evening transfers are all by chartered coach.
How does the group get around the city?
That depends on where you’re starting. We arrange flights for groups traveling from a distance and chartered motorcoach for groups close enough to drive. Once you’re in Boston, a chartered coach handles transportation between sites on the itinerary you approved.
What's included in the price?
Transportation, hotels, meals, admissions, guided tours, and gratuities are all included, so the number you see is the cost of the trip rather than a starting point you build on.
How many chaperones travel with the group?
That’s up to you. Chaperone spots are built into the per student price, and most of our groups travel with one chaperone for every seven to ten participants. Schools are never asked to fund chaperone travel separately.
How do families pay?
Families register and pay Educational Tours directly, either online or by mail, so group leaders never collect or hold trip funds. Payments follow a deposit schedule set well ahead of departure, and we track every account and keep group leaders current on who has paid.
What happens if a student has to cancel?
Cancellation requests are handled in writing, and the refund depends on how far out the cancellation falls and what has already been paid to hotels, venues, and transportation on that traveler’s behalf. The full policy is printed in every trip brochure and available on our terms and conditions page.
How far ahead should we start planning?
Most Boston trips come together six to nine months out, which gives families room to spread payments across a deposit schedule and gives us the best hotel and transportation availability for your dates.
Safety & Support
Every group travels on vetted transportation and stays in accommodations selected for location, security, and proximity to the itinerary. While your group is on the road, emergency support is available around the clock, staffed by our own people rather than an outside answering service, and group leaders carry direct numbers for the staff who planned the trip. From enrollment onward we keep travelers informed directly, so everyone always knows the schedule and who to call. We are accredited by SYTA, IATAN, ARC, and NTA. Full details, insurance information, and our incident protocol are on our Safety page.
Request a custom proposal
Tell us what you teach and where you want to go, we’ll handle everything else.