Explore history, art, and more at these Boston museums with free admission! USS Constitution photo by Michael Blanchard for the Museum

Free Museums near Boston - Always Free

Some of Boston's best museums and attractions are free whenever your family visits!

• Arnold Arboretum
• Boston Fire Museum
• Bunker Hill Museum
• Fuller Craft Museum (donations encouraged)
• Longyear Museum
• Metropolitan Waterworks Museum
• Saugus Iron Works
• Harvard Art Museums
• USS Constitution Museum (suggested donation $5-$10 for kids, $10-$15 for adults)

Free Museums near Boston - Attractions Free for Kids Under 1

These museums, zoos, and Boston attractions are free for the littlest of your little ones.

• Boston Children’s Museum
• Children's Museum of NH
• Discovery Museum (First Friday night each month is FREE for everyone)
• The Children’s Museum of Easton
• Roger Williams Park Zoo

 
Dive into some colorful fun at these Boston museums with free admission. Museum of Ice Cream photo by Maureen Wilkey

Free Museums near Boston - Places Free for Kids Under 2

At these museums, kids two and under get in for free.

• Museum of Ice Cream
• Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum
• Drumlin Farm
• Ecotarium
• Franklin Park Zoo
• Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary
• South Shore Natural Science Center
• Southwick Zoo
• Stone Zoo

Free Museums near Boston - Places Free for Kids Under 3

• Battleship Cove
• Harvard Museum of Natural History (FREE for Mass. residents on Sunday mornings & Wednesday afternoons, see website for hours)
• Museum of Science
• New England Aquarium (FREE for Boston students, Pre-K through grade 12, and two guests on 1st & 2nd Sundays each month, see website for details)
• Seacoast Science Center 
• Springfield Museums (includes The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum) (FREE for Springfield Residents)

Free Museums near Boston - Museums and Gardens Free for Kids Under 5

Visit these museums (and more) for free admission for children under five years old.

• Fruitlands Museum
• Garden in the Woods 
• MIT Museum (FREE for Cambridge residents)
• Paul Revere House (FREE for residents of the North End)
• Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History
• Museum of African American History 

Free Museums near Boston - Free for Kids Under 6

• Custom House Maritime Museum (Check website for FREE admission days)
• Concord Museum

 
Show your kids some world-class art at these FREE Boston museums. Museum of Fine Arts photo by JR P via Flickr 2.0

Free Museums near Boston - Free for Kids Under 7

• Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) (17 & under are free after 3 pm on weekdays, weekends; and public school holidays; FREE for all visitors on MLK Day, Memorial Day & Juneteenth)

Free Museums near Boston - Free for Kids Under 12

Check out the DeCordova Museum, where kids under 12 can see art for free!

• DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum

Free Museums near Boston - Free for Kids Under 13

• JFK Presidential Library and Museum (FREE for Boston students, Pre-K through grade 12, and two guests on 1st & 2nd Sundays each month, see website for details)

Free Museums near Boston - Free for Kids Under 18

 
Look at the world from the inside out as it was in 1935. Photo Courtesy the Mapparium at the Mary Baker Eddy Library

• Peabody Essex Museum (under 16 and always FREE for Salem residents)
• Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
• Mapparium
• ICA - Institute of Contemporary Art (18 & under; FREE on Thurday evenings and Saturday "playdate" mornings, see website for details)

Originally published 2015
Updated January 2024, January 2025