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    North End
    Tim Sackton from Somerville, MA / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0

    United States

    North End

    City

    The North End is Boston's oldest residential neighborhood, a tightly packed wedge of streets between the harbor and the Rose Kennedy Greenway, just north of Faneuil Hall.

    by Felix Gillen

    1. Home
    3. Destinations
    5. United States
    7. Boston
    9. North End
    The North End is Boston's oldest residential neighborhood, a tightly packed wedge of streets between the harbor and the Rose Kennedy Greenway, just north of Faneuil Hall. People come for two things: the Paul Revere House and Old North Church, where the story of the 1775 midnight ride played out, and the Italian restaurants, bakeries and cafés lining Hanover and Salem streets.The whole neighborhood covers well under half a square mile, so you can walk it in an hour. Give it half a day if you want to tour a museum and the church and sit down for a meal. Between 6 and 8 p.m. and on summer weekends, restaurants and bakeries get packed, and many of the small places don't take reservations.

    Sights in North End

    Discover the most important sights and attractions

    Paul Revere House
    Museum

    1Paul Revere House

    This wooden house at 19 North Square is the oldest building still standing in downtown Boston, and Paul Revere was living here at the time of his 1775 ride. Inside you'll find colonial-era furniture and silverwork. Open daily from 10 a.m., until 5:15 p.m. from April 15 to October 31 and until 4:15 p.m. in winter; closed Mondays in January, February and March. Allow 30 to 45 minutes. School groups often line up around midday, so mornings are quieter.
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    Old North Church
    Church

    2Old North Church

    Boston's oldest surviving church (1723), at 193 Salem Street. On April 18, 1775, two lanterns hung in its steeple signaled that British troops were crossing by water. The $10 Discovery Pass covers the sanctuary, crypt and exhibits; $15 adds a 25-minute bell-tower tour (two steep staircases). Open Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 12:30 to 5 p.m., after morning services.
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    Copp's Hill Burying Ground
    Point of Interest

    3Copp's Hill Burying Ground

    This burying ground on the highest point of the North End, with its entrance on Hull Street, is a Freedom Trail stop. Puritan ministers Increase and Cotton Mather lie in the family tomb here, along with many residents of the African American community that once lived on the slope. From the edge of the hill you look across the Charles River to Charlestown and the USS Constitution. Free and open during the day; 15 minutes is enough to walk through.
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    Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park
    Park

    4Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park

    This harborfront park between Long Wharf and Commercial Wharf makes a good green break between the Freedom Trail and the North End. Grab a shady seat under the long trellis, see the rose garden in bloom in June, and watch the boats from the water's edge. Aquarium station on the Blue Line is two minutes away, and it's a good spot to eat pizza or arancini picked up in the neighborhood.
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    Restaurants in North End

    1

    Carmelina's

    A small, modern Italian spot with an open kitchen at 307 Hanover Street. Along with Neptune Oyster, it's the only North End restaurant in the 2025 Michelin Guide. Evenings are tight and loud; if you're walking in, try early or on a weeknight.
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    2

    Mamma Maria

    A classic Italian restaurant in a 19th-century townhouse at 3 North Square, with five small dining rooms on two floors. The Infatuation recommends it for special occasions, and osso buco over saffron risotto is a fixture on the changing menu. It's pricey; book through SevenRooms. In summer there are tables out on the square.
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    3

    Galleria Umberto

    A lunch-only counter at 289 Hanover Street known for Sicilian-style sheet-pan pizza (about $2 a slice, according to Time Out) and arancini. Cash only, no reservations. It often sells out by 2 p.m., so get there around 11 a.m. and expect a line.
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    Food and Drink

    Sicilian slices

    Sicilian slices

    Thick, square slices with tomato sauce and cheese, traditionally bought at the counter at lunchtime and eaten standing up.
    Arancini

    Arancini

    Fried rice balls filled with meat sauce, peas or cheese, brought over by Southern Italian immigrants. You'll find them at takeout counters and bakeries all over the neighborhood.
    Espresso and pastries

    Espresso and pastries

    Grab an espresso with a sfogliatella or biscotti at one of the old-school cafés on Hanover Street. The cannoli the neighborhood is famous for are covered on the Boston page.

    History and Culture

    In the 1600s and 1700s the North End was the heart of colonial Boston. Silversmith Paul Revere lived on North Square, and on the night of April 18, 1775, two lanterns hung in the steeple of Old North Church signaled that British troops were moving by water.Over the 19th century, Irish, then Eastern European Jewish, and from about 1880 Southern Italian immigrants crowded into the neighborhood's tenements. The Italian imprint is still strong: in summer, especially July and August, saints' processions with brass bands wind through the streets, the biggest being St. Anthony's Feast in late August.These days many residents are young professionals, but the bakeries, butcher shops and cafés with Italian names keep the old character alive.

    Nightlife

    1

    Farmacia

    A nine-seat cocktail bar at 5 North Square, done up like an old apothecary. It serves a set lineup of small drinks paired with snacks. Book seats on Tock, where there's also an online waitlist; walk-ins rarely get in.
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    2

    Caffè Vittoria

    Open since 1929 at 290–296 Hanover Street, this café calls itself Boston's first Italian café and stays open until midnight. At night people come for espresso with a shot of grappa, amaretto or sambuca, plus wine, beer and cocktails, surrounded by antique espresso machines and old neighborhood photos. It fills up after dinner, but tables turn over quickly.
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    Getting There and Around

    By THaymarket (Orange and Green lines): a five-minute walk across the Greenway to Hanover Street.North Station (Orange and Green lines, Commuter Rail, Amtrak Downeaster): about ten minutes on foot to Salem Street.Aquarium (Blue Line): handy if you're coming from Logan Airport; from there it's roughly a ten-minute walk along the water.Once you're here, walk. The streets are narrow, the sidewalks narrower, and the Freedom Trail is marked by the red line in the pavement.Driving and parkingNearly every street is resident permit parking, and the few visitor spaces have a two-hour limit. If you drive in, use a parking garage on the edge of the neighborhood, near North Station or Haymarket.By RVDon't take an RV into the North End. The streets are too tight to turn around in, garages are too low, and the tunnels under the harbor and downtown are closed to vehicles carrying propane. Leave the rig at a campground outside the city (see the Boston page) and ride the Commuter Rail to North Station.

    Accommodations in North End

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    Nearby

    Boston

    Boston

    Boston, the capital of Massachusetts, was founded by English Puritans in 1630 and is one of the oldest cities in the country. The draw is that you can follow the story of the American Revolution along a single route: the Freedom Trail runs about 2.5 miles from Boston Common through the North End to the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown.Add to that brick neighborhoods like Beacon Hill and the Italian North End, the Museum of Fine Arts, the university city of Cambridge across the Charles River, and Fenway Park, the oldest ballpark still in use in Major League Baseball.Three neighborhoods have their own pages: the North End with the Paul Revere House and Old North Church, Beacon Hill and Back Bay between the State House and Copley Square, and Cambridge with Harvard Square and MIT.Boston is compact and easy to explore on foot; for longer hops, take the T. Salem, Concord and Plymouth make easy day trips, and Amtrak gets you to New York in about four hours.
    Beacon Hill and Back Bay

    Beacon Hill and Back Bay

    Beacon Hill and Back Bay are the two classic residential neighborhoods just west of Boston Common: early 19th-century brick row houses on the hill, and the brownstones and boulevards of the Back Bay below it along the Charles River. Come for the architecture, from the gold dome of the State House to Trinity Church and the library on Copley Square, and for an afternoon split between Charles Street and Newbury Street.It's a good 20-minute walk from the State House to Copley Square, best done through the Public Garden and down the Commonwealth Avenue Mall. One day covers both neighborhoods with two or three building tours. Newbury Street gets packed at rush hour and on weekends; Beacon Hill stays quieter.
    Cambridge: Harvard Square and MIT

    Cambridge: Harvard Square and MIT

    Cambridge is the separate university city on the north bank of the Charles River, directly across from Boston and ten minutes away on the Red Line. Go for the Harvard and MIT museums, the bookstores and folk clubs around Harvard Square, and some of the best restaurants in Greater Boston between Central Square and Kendall Square.Harvard Square and MIT sit just under two miles apart, linked by Massachusetts Avenue and three Red Line stops. Two museums, a walk across campus and dinner make a full day. Hotels and restaurants get especially busy in the first weeks of September and around commencement in late May.
    Massachusetts

    Massachusetts

    Massachusetts is the Northeastern U.S. state where American history began multiple times: In 1620, the Mayflower Pilgrims landed in Plymouth, and on April 19, 1775, the first shots of the American Revolution were fired in Lexington and Concord. Travelers on the East Coast come here for Boston, the dune coast of Cape Cod, and the many historical sites packed into a small area.Distances are short: Salem, Concord, and Plymouth are easily reached from Boston as a day trip, while Cape Cod, with its long Atlantic beaches, is better suited for an overnight stay. In between lie small towns with white wooden churches, lobster shacks, and lighthouses.The 1692 Salem Witch Trials, the Pilgrim Colony, and the Revolution continue to shape the state's narrative. At the same time, Massachusetts, with Harvard and the greater Boston area, is one of the country's most important university and research centers.
    Harlem

    Harlem

    Harlem is the cultural capital of Black America. During the Great Migration, starting in the 1910s, tens of thousands of African Americans moved up from the South, and by 1930 they made up about 70 percent of the neighborhood. The Harlem Renaissance followed in the 1920s: Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston were writing, and Duke Ellington was playing the Cotton Club, which at the time admitted white audiences only.The main drag is 125th Street, home to the Apollo Theater, where Amateur Night has run since 1934, and since November 2025 to the new Studio Museum in Harlem building. Farther north are blocks of brownstones and churches, including Abyssinian Baptist Church, whose pastor Adam Clayton Powell Jr. became New York City's first Black member of Congress. In St. Nicholas Park stands Hamilton Grange, Alexander Hamilton's country house.Harlem isn't a museum district; it's a neighborhood people live in. Eat soul food, catch jazz at night and watch the neighborhood dress up for church on Sunday. If you'd like to attend a service, check the congregation's website for visitor guidelines first.It's liveliest on an Apollo Amateur Night or on a Sunday with gospel brunch. Give it at least half a day.

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    • Photos: Wikimedia Commons, Google Maps. Each photo carries its credit.
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