Timeline
09:00
Walk the 1634 grounds of Boston Common. It is free to enter and open from 07:00 to 21:00. Start near Park Street station and take in the scale of the park, from its revolutionary past to its modern role as a gathering place.
09:45
Grab a dirt-cheap bánh mì from New Saigon Sandwich. It is an eight-minute walk SSE from the Common. There are no tables inside, so take your boxed lunch or sandwich and find a bench on the Common to eat while you watch the city go by.
10:30
Robert Gould Shaw and Fifty-fourth Regiment Memorial
Walk five minutes NNE to the Robert Gould Shaw and Fifty-Fourth Regiment Memorial. This bronze relief by Augustus Saint-Gaudens sits at the edge of the Common opposite Beacon Street. It is a powerful tribute to the first African American regiment in the Civil War.
Local tip
The Common is open daily from 07:00 to 21:00. New Saigon Sandwich has no seating, so plan to eat on the Common benches. The Robert Gould Shaw Memorial is a short walk from the main park area.
Check before you go
- Boston Common is open 07:00-21:00 daily.
- New Saigon Sandwich is a takeaway spot with no tables.
Built from places in the Wikivoyage guide to Boston (CC BY-SA 4.0), with open map data from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).