A Boston Summer Bucket List!
Summer, summer, summer!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and there’s no better way to make the most of it than with a Boston summer bucket list! The weather is perfect, the days are long, and it is time to slow down and enjoy the endless possibilities of a Boston summer! We have a list of 100+ ideas for summer fun in Greater Boston!
Click on an image below to see a list of spectacular ideas for every type of fun. Many ideas are FREE and can be done with supplies you already have at home. Other ideas will get you out into the community and supporting our local economy.
Whether your speed is catching a Sox game, going on a staycation adventure, or lounging by the pool, our summer bucket list has some great ideas to keep your family entertained this summer!
Outdoor Adventures
- Hike, bike, or walk a local trail
- Visit a Boston-area beach
- Ride the Swan Boats
- Explore the Cape Cod National Seashore
- Have a picnic in the Public Garden or at the Arboretum
- Rent kayaks
- Go on a whale watch
- Search for dinosaur footprints in Holyoke
- Zipline!
- Visit a waterfall
- Fly a kite
- Pick your own blueberries and strawberries
- Visit a sunflower festival
- Check out the cranberry bogs
- Be brave on a ropes course!
- Go on a nature scavenger hunt
- Go camping!
- Create a sidewalk mural with chalk
Historical Sites
- Visit Faneuil Hall
- Take a tour of the State House
- Visit the House of the Seven Gables
- See the ships at Battleship Cove
- Explore Castle Island
- Walk the Freedom Trail
- Visit the Boston Massacre site
- Check out Plymouth Rock
- Visit Plimoth Patuxet (formerly Plimoth Plantation)
- See the Paul Revere House
- Visit the Black Heritage Trail and Museum of African American History
- Check out the JFK Presidential Library and Museum
- Walk the Irish Heritage Trail
- Take a day trip to see the Brandt Point Lighthouse in Nantucket (it was built in 1746!)
- Visit the Tea Party Museum
- Have a picnic at the Bunker Hill Monument
- Visit the USS Constitution
Staying Home
- Have a tea party
- Set up a tent and camp in your yard
- Toast marshmallows
- Make a chalk mosaic
- Have a movie night
- Look at the stars — how many constellations can you find?
- Make an obstacle course
- Plant a garden
- Paint a self-portrait
- Have an at-home fashion show! Dress up in whatever you can find!
- Make a new recipe together
- Decorate family T-shirts — tie-dye, puffy paint, stencils, the options are endless!
- Create your own treasure hunt
- Make your own bubble solution and bubble wands, and have a big bubble contest!
- Make a fairy garden
- Have a pajama day
- Backwards day! Dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner!
Food & Beverage
- Try out a new brunch spot
- Get a fancy milkshake from Munchies and Milkshakes
- Visit the ice cream truck
- Try out a new recipe on the grill
- Go to a food truck festival
- Have a picnic
- Host a neighborhood potluck
- Take a Boston pizza tour
- Eat ice cream for dinner
- Have a watermelon-eating contest
- Make as many flavors of popcorn as you can think of!
- Make your own ice cream from scratch
- Spend the afternoon at a family-friendly brewery
- Shop at a local farmers market
- Make lemonade
- Have a neighborhood potluck BBQ
- Make a big fruit salad with some new fruits you’ve never tried — dragonfruit, papaya, etc.!
Family Fun
- Have a water balloon fight
- Go to a baseball game (the WooSox and the Brockton Rox are great family options)
- Tour Fenway Park!
- Check out the Patriots training camp!
- Go paddle boating
- Visit Old Sturbridge Village
- Tour Plimoth Patuxet (formerly Plimoth Plantation)
- Visit the animals at Animal Adventures in Bolton
- Go geocaching
- Take a trip to Canobie Lake Park
- Visit the World War I Memorial Park and Zoo
- Enjoy a Boston summer OUTDOOR MOVIE!
- Jump at a trampoline park or Cape Cod Inflatable Park
- Visit a local zoo! Franklin Park Zoo, Stone Zoo, Southwick’s Zoo, and Buttonwood Park Zoo are all right around the corner!
Date Night
- Go on a tiki cruise
- Take a trip to a casino!
- Get ice cream and walk at the beach
- Couples massage!
- Go mini-golfing
- Take a glass-blowing class
- Enjoy an Italian dinner in the North End
- Take a walking tour of Boston
- Try your luck at an escape room
- Go to an indoor rock climbing place
- Test your wits at a trivia night
- Take a dance class
- Catch a comedy show
- Take a cooking class together
- Schedule a personal picnic with one of our area’s newest lux picnic businesses
