Local Guides World
Top Museums in Cambridge, United States
Top Rated Museums in Cambridge
Harvard Mineralogical Museum
Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East
MIT List Visual Arts Center
MIT Museum
Hart Nautical Gallery
MIT Museum
Hart Nautical Gallery
Cambridge Historical Society
Botany Libraries and Archives
University Museum
Top Reviewed Museums in Cambridge
MIT Museum
MIT Museum
Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
MIT List Visual Arts Center
Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East
Hart Nautical Gallery
Hart Nautical Gallery
Harvard Mineralogical Museum
Cambridge Historical Society
Botany Libraries and Archives
University Museum
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East
MIT Museum
Hart Nautical Gallery
Harvard Mineralogical Museum
MIT Museum
Cambridge Historical Society
MIT List Visual Arts Center
University Museum
Botany Libraries and Archives
Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center
Hart Nautical Gallery
Reviews
Nice spot with great tributes to Harriet Tubman on the neighboring streets and throughout downtown. The museum had hours posted until 4pm but closed early so couldn't speak to the quality of the items inside. Consider this an incomplete review.
I was pleasantly surprised! The Google photo makes the center looks small but it has three sections inside. There is a lot of great information and authentic artifacts that taught me much more than I knew before. The trek that Harriet took from Maryland to Canada is amazing, and her life story before and after the underground railroad is interesting. Did you know her real name is not Harriet?
Wonderful part of history. Week worth the stop and half of a day visit. Great knowledgeable staff
William explained so much rich history with our group. We had a special reservation for our group. I’m glad I was able to be here to experience the lesson.
This is a fascinating historic museum in Maritime Cambridge's downtown district. They are closed Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday -- although the attendant opened the door when we knocked and let us in anyway. The museum is in a converted row house. It is jam-packed full of interesting artifacts, historical signs, and artwork. The museum covers very thoroughly the life of Harriet Tubman, the legendary conductor on the underground railroad. It is a museum essentially about slavery in America. Much of the material is difficult to face, but it is important to understand. It is very well done and definitely worth a visit -- with your family or solo.
It’s a small quaint museum with tons of information. Sit and watch some videos. Ask questions. The murals in the back room are of the Bucktown store where Harriet was injured in the head, which affected the rest of her life. There are entertaining lectures with songs by the director and her husband. She also provides walking tours with loads of history and song. They also host a monthly jazz concert.
[NOTE: Some reviews of this place are for the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park, which is much better]
You'll find the basic info about Harriet Tubman and the UGRR, some art, and random artifacts. There is a video you can watch and a pretty cool back room where (I assume) events and such occur. It felt like more could be done with this space.
You'll find the basic info about Harriet Tubman and the UGRR, some art, and random artifacts. There is a video you can watch and a pretty cool back room where (I assume) events and such occur. It felt like more could be done with this space.
Great museum with dedicated volunteers. The collection of books and art on the life and times of Tubman are excellent! The murals inside and out are amazing. Get a lecture or a musical tour of the Underground Railroad.
Perfectly adequate amount of plants.
To few plants.
too many plants
Free museum inside MIT
My girlfriend and I went here after a campus tour. We are both huge needs and had an absolute blast. There are so many interesting things to see. What surprised me was the philosophical viewpoints of the science and how they integrate that into the morality of the science. It was a very thought-provoking and interesting experience.
My girlfriend didn't think she was going to enjoy it, but she wound up absolutely loving it. She said it was one of the highlights of our Boston trip. MIT is amazing.
My girlfriend didn't think she was going to enjoy it, but she wound up absolutely loving it. She said it was one of the highlights of our Boston trip. MIT is amazing.
Surprisingly amazing! We didn't expect to spend so much time here, but the displays were great! Many of them were interactive and had stools to sit while you tried the activity. One of my favorites was a display where you create a poem with AI (they can turn out quite funny). We went during the genetics exhibition, which was where we spent the most time. There were so many interesting machines and art pieces to look at, and the staff was pretty knowledgeable and very helpful. They answered my questions readily. There's also a gift shop at the end. I'd recommend this museum to anyone! The ticket is a good price, and if you enjoy robotics and/or science, you'll love the displays!
While the MIT Museum carries a higher entry fee at $18, the experience it offers is undeniably cool and unique. Despite not being as entertaining as some other science museums, its focus on academic and technological aspects provides an intellectually enriching visit. The cleanliness of the museum enhances the overall atmosphere, ensuring a pleasant environment for exploration. Although the price may be a consideration, the distinctive experience and the museum's commitment to cleanliness make it a worthwhile destination for those interested in the intersection of science and technology.
There are no permanent exhibits and those currently on display (Jan 2024) didn't appeal.
It's good that I live on the MIT Campus and visited just on a whim. Would hVe otherwise regretted it.
It's good that I live on the MIT Campus and visited just on a whim. Would hVe otherwise regretted it.
Entrance free of charge. Architecturally sublime. Kind and gentle staff, feel free to ask them about the works exhibited. (If you have the luck to meet Selby Nimrod please honor the presence). Concise yet very nurturing. Indoor exhibitions are mainly composed of 2 selections and a small library/reading lobby. Outdoor exhibition is largely composed by many traditional forms of art that are scattered around the blocks (use the map provided inside to explore these, bet it's more enjoyable during summer) . Compared with the main MIT museum I found this experience closer to the current topics of interests that the artistic researches are facing on the new media lab (this is just a personal guess and opinion).
Unique and interesting collection. Brought my 8 year old and he had a harder time appreciating the exhibits. But there was a kid workshop that he loved.
If you’re walking around the MIT campus this is definitely a place worth visiting
The museum is comprised of several floors filled with gadgets, inventions and investigations made by MIT students, covering a wide range of topics from astronomy, genetics, robotics as well as Neural Networks, computing and A.I.
The rooms are spacious. The bathrooms are accesible. There’s water fountains as well as places to recharge and sanitize your phone
The museum is comprised of several floors filled with gadgets, inventions and investigations made by MIT students, covering a wide range of topics from astronomy, genetics, robotics as well as Neural Networks, computing and A.I.
The rooms are spacious. The bathrooms are accesible. There’s water fountains as well as places to recharge and sanitize your phone
The museum is smaller than the average museum you would go to, but you will still spend 2 hours there easily. As an engineer I loved learning about the latest advances in technology as well as learning about the evolution of science and technology through history. There are many interactive things to do while learning at the same time, great for kids and adults!
The museum is small, with three floors, but it was a very useful place because it was designed to directly experience how science is applied to real life and how it changes and evolves. I realized as I was leaving that I had spent almost 4 hours in this museum. In particular, I highly recommend this museum to anyone who thinks about the connection between science and human life to have a great time.
Great museum. Lots of amazing innovations have come out of MIT and I am sure many more will also. Good variety of exhibits and just the right size to spend a few hours.
The museum contains pieces from different periods of cultures and explanations are provided sufficiently.
Small gallery in the hallway of a MIT’s main academic building. Worth a stop if you don’t have much time and want to see some cool models.
Pretty cool museum. Great exhibits on innovation, tech, AI and the incredible work and contributions MIT has had to society as a whole. Def worth a visit. Quite educational and interactive. I for instance are not good at all at detecting deep fake AI generated videos. My son did a beautiful poem assisted by chat GPT about the sun. We also learned that typing patterns can help in the early detection of Parkinson. Scratch the visual programming language was first created at the MIT Media Lab and all the amazing contributions that MIT did in developing the software that helped the Apollo mission to the moon. And lastly we simulated what will it take to reduce global warming.
Covering several distinct areas, this is a great little museum to visit.
My favourite sections are on the Columbian Exposition and the different sites set up there from around the world but the old school Harvard Freshman's Dinner section is great too (love the specified cigarette brands on the original menu too!).
This is a museum that's at its best on focused exhibitions however some sections can feel just a tad meandering.
Very good value ticket offering you access to the Natural History too (and the free Ancient Near East and Scientific Instruments museums are pretty close too!). There are restrooms and lift access to each floor as well as a small gift shop in the lobby (the lady on the counter was very friendly too!).
I would also say take a back-up method of payment too- I bought tickets at the Natural History and their card machine was really acting up (card worked fine in all other stores both before and after)- got there in the end but wouldn't want anyone to miss out!
My favourite sections are on the Columbian Exposition and the different sites set up there from around the world but the old school Harvard Freshman's Dinner section is great too (love the specified cigarette brands on the original menu too!).
This is a museum that's at its best on focused exhibitions however some sections can feel just a tad meandering.
Very good value ticket offering you access to the Natural History too (and the free Ancient Near East and Scientific Instruments museums are pretty close too!). There are restrooms and lift access to each floor as well as a small gift shop in the lobby (the lady on the counter was very friendly too!).
I would also say take a back-up method of payment too- I bought tickets at the Natural History and their card machine was really acting up (card worked fine in all other stores both before and after)- got there in the end but wouldn't want anyone to miss out!
Good museum, with a variety of cultural material. The museum achieves a unique goal, of supplementing the history of the "study of anthropology" through time, and prompts the viewer to recalibrate how one "sees the collection".
The ticketed entry allows access to the Peabody and Natural history museum.
The ticketed entry allows access to the Peabody and Natural history museum.
boats
This is a nice museum to visit, quite small and don't let the name of the museum confuse you it does indeed mean near-east. So if you're looking for any middle eastern history or history of islamic empires etc. You won't find it here. This is mostly centered around Egyptian history and is really cool with their replicas of hieroglyphs. I'd love to see them add in some middle eastern history just for fun in a small section as the middle east and near eastern history can be tightly intertwined at different points in antiquity
Free museum. Fairly small but has some cool pieces centered around the Assyrians and Egyptians
Very small museum (definitely less than 1 hour). Most of the things on display are replicas or casts of originals. Staff was friendly; can't complain. Wouldn't say this is a "must-see" if you're only in Boston for a week or weekend - the Boston MFA has a lot more. Took my daughter here and she got kind of impatient since there wasn't much to look at it. Just wish there was more on display!
I was so amazed at how fun this museum was for me! I went because my husband is a huge nerd and loves Claude Shannon, but I had a great time!! AI poetry and MIT pranks of the past were unexpectedly some of my favorites. We stayed about 3 hours - reading the stuff and using the interactive exhibits. There was a good crowd on a Saturday but the docents were great and kept people informed and moving along. I think little buddies might have a harder time (5 and under). *Great little museum store*
Small and cozy museum, free to enter. You can expect to finish all the exhibits under an hour if not less. Top floor ceiling is gorgeous.
Visited with 12-year-old grandson. He was engaged, impressed and attentive to the displays - especially the spectacular minerals and the animals/birds. It's hard to predict what will capture the imagination at this age, but the quality of information, the informed and interactive staff, and the "just right" amount of data are absolutely perfect. This is one of the best museums I've ever attended and would recommend it for a wide variety of ages. Really, how many hundred-year-old glass flowers so perfect as to look "real" have you seen! The workbench where the artist made them is the perfect touch to take you into that studio where your imagination brings them to life.
A marvelous walk through three floors and the history of the Ancient Near East. The life size home from ancient Israel made quite an impression on the Bible readers in our group. I particularly liked the display of the clay storage containers that were brought up from an ancient ship wreck and how they were explained.We spent two hours here.
The staff is very friendly and helpful.
The staff is very friendly and helpful.
The three exhibits on display were quite underwhelming… I highly recommend spending more time looking around the MIT buildings and public works of art on display that are scattered throughout the campus.
Great collection that showcases the MIT community’s scientific achievements and provides a captivating glimpse into the potential future of various fields like food science, astronomy, robotics, biology, and more. It’s always interesting to see how scientists are imagining the future and researching ways to make the world a better place. While there are several interactive exhibits, I wish there were more cutting-edge robots on display. Some of the material was a bit challenging to me as a non-science person and I had the impression that a few exhibits were collecting my data for research purposes. Overall, I spent about 2-3 hours exploring the museum. The gift shop was also fun as well.
I attended a Nucleate event and it was catered by some of the finest Mediterranean food I've ever had. One of the servers even took my colleague's empty Starbucks cup to trash, demonstrating that true MIT above and beyond spirit.
This place is really iconic actually!
Awesome museum with a lot of information on the indigenous tribes all around the world, I learned a lot and I enjoy the visit with my family.
It’s really a beautiful space (and the entry is free), but the experience is soured by curatorial elitism and pouty staff. Desk lady/docent here told me recently that I didn’t understand the work (and couldn’t) because I wasn’t a refugee or seeking asylum - I kid you not. Most installations here are accompanied by puffed up socio-political (read: grant fulfilling) essays - apparently art can’t speak for itself anymore. If you are into a dose of feel-bad self-righteous institutional art, the List is your place.
MIT campus is a wonder! Amazing outdoor spaces, architecture, public art. Staff in the Visual Arts Center was helpful and friendly. Unfortunately, we were there during exhibition changeover but loved the video installation by Allison Nguyen. ❤️ MIT!
Outstanding collection, well organized displays, and beautiful specimens. Come for the minerals, stay for the entire Natural History museum. Great for the kids, and free to MA residents if you can get up to Cambridge on a Sunday morning.
It's a fun and quick exhibit—they change the exhibit every couple of months, and the whole thing will take you about 10 to 30 minutes to get through. Good for a side stop on your day out, but as the main event.
I really enjoyed the North America exhibit, very detailed, interesting and beautifully presented. I definitely recommend seeing the glass flowers collection, they are beautifully made and the details and accuracy are stunning. The minerals collection is quite impressive. I liked that one can walk freely between this museum and the Museum of Natural History.
The entire museum and the exhibits are very educational, beautiful and high quality! Not too crowded. Def recommend!
Wasn’t sure where/who to tag for these?!? As I took these aerial photos back in 2014. Before the new football/track fields were made. And I’m sure many other structures that have been built since then.
Cambridge is known for many things over the years. One street light in the middle of town. Home of Apple Pie Al Mode. Nuns of New Skete for their famous cheesecakes. Football. Even their mascot of the Indians. And so much more!!! With it’s small town feel as it boarders the Vermont line.
Cambridge is known for many things over the years. One street light in the middle of town. Home of Apple Pie Al Mode. Nuns of New Skete for their famous cheesecakes. Football. Even their mascot of the Indians. And so much more!!! With it’s small town feel as it boarders the Vermont line.
Absolutely hands down the best museum of natural history I’ve ever seen. I’ve been to all the Smithsonian museums in DC. This one beats them all. Super friendly staff too!
Great museum! Takes 1-2 hours depending on how leisurely you go through the exhibits, which is the perfect amount to me (no museum fatigue). It’s also directly connected to the Harvard museum of natural history!
This is one of the great collections of ships and maritime technology that we know. As an MIT graduate, it always great to remember and share what MIT buildings have inside.
Saw two great shows. Aicja Kwade and Farah Al Qasimi.
This welcoming museum is packed to the brim with wonderful textiles, clothing, Civil War artifacts and local antiques. Dena was a warm and friendly docent and we learned so much from her! Warning: museum is only open from 1 to 3 pm on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and check on their website for their special programs and revolving exhibits. We will be back!
Amazing! They pack so much into a small museum. Loved every square inch of it. :)
TIP:
If you have a similar museum membership in another major city, they might offer free reciprocal admission. Double check the website and bring proof of membership.
TIP:
If you have a similar museum membership in another major city, they might offer free reciprocal admission. Double check the website and bring proof of membership.
Mostly plaster casts but the archeologist diaries are a real kick, and an interesting spout on the water pitcher on the second floor. Probably not good food kids but free!
Very good collection of ships made to accurate scale.
My family live to houses down from here. Love the area.
The Hart Nautical Gallery is part of the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Admisaion to the gallery is free. It can be accessed through the MIT entrance at 77 Massachusetts Avenue. There are no signs pointing the way. You are on your own when you get there. The gallery is one large room plus a hallway with displays of full-hull ship models that chronicle several centuries of ship building and design. I didn't count myself, but the website said there were 40 models. There are some ship blueprints displayed as posters on the walls. At first, I had the same reaction as a few other reviewers, ho-hum. But the intricate detail of the models brought me into the lives of the people who designed and built these ships and the lives of the people who sailed them. As a matter of fact, I would have liked to know more about the number of sailors it took to launch a voyage. It is well worth a stop. I put a slideshow of some additional photos of the models on YouTube.
It's a museum inside Harvard campus. Not a very big museum, but is good if you want to know more about semitic history etc. Three floors, each has its own focus.
Convenience location, the sign is needed.
Hey, you get to see a model of America**3, the 1992 America's Cup winner. What's not to like?
No signage outside. Only one room with about 30 ship models