Boston · Self-guided audio walk

North End to Bunker Hill

Espresso and cannoli, two signal lanterns, a fighting frigate, and a 294-step climb above Charlestown.

5Stops
2.2 kmDistance
35+ minTime

Photo by Jon Platek on Wikimedia Commons

This walk picks up the Freedom Trail where the story turns from words to gunfire. You begin at the 1680 home where Paul Revere stepped out on the night of April 18, 1775, then follow Salem Street to the steeple that flashed two lanterns across the Charles. Copp's Hill Burying Ground puts you where British officers watched Charlestown burn. A short walk over the bridge brings you to the USS Constitution, still a commissioned Navy ship after more than two centuries, and the route ends with a 294-step climb up the Bunker Hill Monument. Allow about two and a half hours, with time for an espresso and a cannoli on Hanover Street.

Hear it on the street

Get the turn-by-turn audio guide in the app. The narration plays itself as you reach each stop, hands-free and offline.

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Stop by stop

The route

Interactive map of the route. The full stop list below works without it.

Must see

Photo by Rob Young from United Kingdom on Wikimedia Commons

Paul Revere House

0:00

Downtown Boston's oldest surviving home, built about 1680, and the front door Paul Revere left on his famous ride.

You're standing in North Square, facing the oldest house still standing in downtown Boston. It was built around 1680, and when Paul Revere bought it in 1770 he paid 213 pounds, six shillings, and eight pence. Look at the dark timber frame and the small diamond window panes. This is how a wealthy merchant's house looked in the 1600s.

Revere moved in with his wife Sarah, five children, and his mother Deborah. He was a silversmith, the son of a French immigrant, and he ran his shop a short walk toward the waterfront. On the night of April 18, 1775, he stepped out of this house to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British soldiers were on the move. The house later became a boarding house, then a tenement with shops on the ground floor.

By 1908 a great grandson, John P. Reynolds Jr., had raised the money to restore it and open it as a museum. When you're ready, walk out to Hanover Street for an espresso and a cannoli before the next stop.

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≈5 min walk to the next stop

Must see

Photo by Julie Haider on Unsplash

Old North Church

0:00

Boston's oldest standing church, built in 1723, whose steeple flashed the two lanterns that started Revere's ride.

You're looking up at the brick tower where the American Revolution got its first signal. The church is officially Christ Church in the City of Boston, but everyone calls it Old North. Built in 1723, it is the oldest standing church building in the city, and its 191 foot steeple once made it the tallest point in town. On the night of April 18, 1775, sexton Robert Newman and a church member named John Pulling slipped in after dark, climbed the tower, and held two lanterns in the windows for about a minute.

Two lanterns meant the British were crossing the Charles River by boat, on their way toward Lexington and Concord. The steeple above you is actually the third one. The first blew down in 1804, the second fell in Hurricane Carol in 1954, and this replica went up in 1955. The golden weathervane on top was made by Shem Drowne and has survived all three steeples.

Inside, eight bells cast in 1744 are the oldest set in North America. Paul Revere rang them here as a teenager.

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≈3 min walk to the next stop

Must see

Photo by Daderot on Wikimedia Commons

Copp's Hill Burying Ground

0:00

Boston's second burying ground, opened in 1659, on the hill where British officers watched Charlestown burn in 1775.

You're standing in Boston's second burying ground, laid out in 1659 and named for William Copp, a shoemaker who lived a few streets away. More than ten thousand people are buried in this ground. The Mather tomb holds the ministers Increase, Cotton, and Samuel Mather, names tied to the Salem witch trials. Robert Newman, the sexton who hung the lanterns at Old North, is here too, and so is Edmund Hartt, the man who built the USS Constitution.

Walk toward the river side of the hill. On June 17, 1775, British officers stood roughly here and watched the Battle of Bunker Hill unfold across the water. Their cannon fired from this height, and by the end of the day Charlestown was burning. Before you leave, find the gravestone of Captain Daniel Malcolm.

Its pockmarked face is said to be the work of British soldiers using the stone for target practice. The marks are round and unmistakable, and they are the closest this ground comes to telling you what the siege of Boston felt like.

Open in Google Maps

≈9 min walk to the next stop

Free preview ends here · stops 4 to 5 continue in the app

USS Constitution

Old Ironsides, launched in 1797 and still a commissioned Navy ship, docked at the Charlestown Navy Yard.

in app

Bunker Hill Monument

A 221 foot granite obelisk on Breed's Hill, with 294 steps to a view over Charlestown and Boston Harbor.

in app

Good to know

Before you go

How much does the North End to Bunker Hill walk cost?

The Paul Revere House is $6 for adults and Old North Church's Discovery Pass is $10 for adults. USS Constitution and the Bunker Hill Monument are free, and Copp's Hill Burying Ground is free to enter.

SourceNational Park Service

Do I need tickets for USS Constitution?

No. Boarding is free and first come, first served, but visitors 18 and older must show a photo ID at the security checkpoint because the ship is still an active Navy vessel.

SourceNational Park Service

Is the Bunker Hill Monument climb difficult?

It is 294 steps up a tight spiral stairway with no elevator, so skip it if you are claustrophobic or unsteady on stairs. The museum and lodge are free either way, and you still get the view from the base of the obelisk.

SourceNational Park Service

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Provenance · last verified August 20, 2026

Built from the Wayside route itself: the stops, their order, and the walk between them.

Photo by Jon Platek on Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo by Rob Young from United Kingdom on Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0

Photo by Julie Haider on Unsplash

Photo by Daderot on Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

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