The Three Prettiest Places in Boston (and Cambridge)

Boston is a pretty city. I never appreciated that until I left.

Now, whenever I return, I find myself overwhelmed by the loveliness: the lush green, the blooming flowers or turning leaves, the wide streets and red brick buildings and horse path roads.

Listing the prettiest places is a doomed endeavor– mostly because I can’t seem to successfully make these superlative lists, but also because I can’t leave out a certain place in Cambridge, yet opening the list up to the Greater Boston Area means that it is going to be incomplete. I could have included many places.

But these three are special, each with their own twist of lovely. Want to see the pretty side of Boston? Here’s what I recommend.

The Boston Public Garden

The Boston Common can be a bit underwhelming, and many of the city’s homeless population park on the empty lawn. Just next door, though, is the Boston Public Garden, exquisitely maintained by the city of Boston. All that lush greenness lovingly cared for in the center of the city seems mirage-like after living in Istanbul, which has issues with green space. I remember riding the Swan Boats here and visiting the Make Way For Ducklings sculptures as a kid; now I can appreciate the simple beauty of the place.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

A family portrait.

There’s no museum quite like this one. Comprising the personal collection of heiress Isabella Stewart Gardner and housed in her European-style villa, the museum is most well-known for the art theft that took place here 20 years ago. Now, it’s almost easy to forget that this awful crime happened in such an exquisite museum– except that the frames that held the stolen paintings remain hanging, empty, as a testament to this still-unsolved case.

The courtyard of the museum, dripping with flowers and greenery and fountains, is gorgeous enough on its own, but combined with the wide-ranging art collection crammed into every ornate corner of this continental-style home, the place becomes transcendent. The museum stays open into the evenings on the third Thursday of every month, which is a perfect excuse to dress up and pretend to be European royalty in the middle of Boston. Also, if your name is Isabella, you get in for free.

Mount Auburn Cemetery (Cambridge)

The first landscaped cemetery in the country didn’t really land on my radar until I went hunting for the grave of Buckminster Fuller. Soon after, it became a place I frequently visited. This is the opposite of a morbid cemetery: with its lush flora, clear ponds and green winding paths, this is one of the most peaceful places in the area. The many historic figures buried at Mount Auburn add a layer of historic intrigue to a visit.

This is not a definitive list by any count– I didn’t even include Spy Pond, my favorite serene place in Boston (um ,well, technically Arlington). It’s just three places I find particularly lovely.

What would you add to the list?

To get to the Boston Public Garden: Take the green line T to Park Street (which drops you off the Common), Boylston, or Arlington.

To get to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: take the green line T to the Museum of Fine Arts stop. Admission is $15 for adults, $5 with a current student ID,  $13 if you’re wearing Red Sox paraphernalia, and free on your birthday.

To get to Mount Auburn Cemetery: take the red line T to Harvard Square and catch the 71 or 73 bus to Mt. Auburn Street at Aberdeen Ave. You can also walk up Mt. Auburn Street, which is longer but tree-lined and lovely.