MIT's Great Dome, Harvard's Three Lies, and the Red Line Between
Two campuses, one afternoon, and a subway ride the guide walks you through. MIT gets told through its hacks and its architects. Harvard gets told through Yard legends, beginning with a statue that is wrong about three separate things.
MIT and Harvard sit two Red Line stops apart in Cambridge, and most visitors only ever see one of them. This walk does both in an afternoon, and it treats the ride between them as part of the tour.
The MIT half runs on what students built and what they got away with. The group stops under the Great Dome to hear how a police car ended up on top of it. The Harvard half runs on a much older set of stories, starting with a bronze statue in the Yard that gets three separate facts wrong.
The subway fare between the two campuses is part of the ticket, and the guide takes the group through it.
The group meets in front of Ripple Cafe on Main Street in Cambridge, beside the entrance to the Kendall/MIT stop on the Red Line. The guide wears a Boston Hidden Gems shirt and a name tag. Booked through the link below, a full refund is available if you cancel at least twenty-four hours before the scheduled departure.
Illustrious Schools: Group Tour of MIT And HarvardThree and a half hours across the MIT and Harvard campuses with a local guide, with the Red Line fare between them included. Gratuities are not.www.viator.comThe MIT Half Runs on Hacks and Architects
The route begins at the MIT sign and campus map outside the cafe, then works through the buildings students actually use. The Media Lab comes first. The Green Building, by I.M. Pei, arrives with the story of a prank that used its windows. The Stata Center, which the operator describes in one breath as an architectural marvel and a design nightmare, comes later, along with the Banana Lounge and the story of how it got its name.
On weekdays the group goes inside some MIT buildings. On weekends and major holidays those buildings are closed to the public and the tour stays outdoors the whole way. The operator prices the two versions differently, so the day you pick changes what you see and what you pay.
The stop on the Harvard Bridge is for the Smoot markers. The operator's own account is that in October 1958, as part of a fraternity pledge event, Oliver R. Smoot was used as a measuring stick for the length of the bridge, and that the marks have been repainted each semester ever since. It also notes that during renovations in the 1980s the Cambridge police asked for the markings to be restored, because officers were using them to fix locations in reports. The Boston skyline lines up across the water from the same spot.
In the Yard, the Doors Stay Shut and the Stories Get Older
Two stops later the group comes up in Harvard Square and walks into the Yard through Johnston Gate. Harvard does not allow public tours inside any of its buildings, so this half stays outdoors no matter which day you book.
The set pieces are the ones the Yard is known for. The John Harvard statue, which the tour uses to explain the three lies in its name. Wadsworth House, one of the oldest buildings in the Yard, where George Washington stayed during the American Revolution. Widener Library, whose founding story the guide tells on the steps. Memorial Church in the middle of the Yard. The upperclass houses, where the guide explains the tradition of Housing Day.
The walk ends at Harvard Square, next to the subway entrance of the same name.
Come by Subway, and Start on Time
The operator's advice about driving is blunt. Parking near the start is very difficult, and the nearest garage, the Green Garage at Kendall, runs USD 52 for three hours or more. Metered street parking around the start is very limited, and the operator suggests allowing thirty minutes to look for it. The Red Line to Kendall/MIT puts you at the meeting point instead.
The tour starts exactly on time. Arrive late and you can still catch the group by following the itinerary in order, beginning with the MIT Media Lab and then the Green Building. The guide will not be taking phone calls once the walk is underway.
Tours run rain or shine, so dress for the forecast. The operator asks for at least a moderate level of physical fitness. Of that time, the operator puts about three hours on foot.
Children Are Welcome, Wheels Are a Problem
The operator welcomes children of all ages and notes that many of them enjoy the subway ride. Comfortable shoes and weather-appropriate clothing are its standing recommendation. Wheelchair and stroller access cannot be guaranteed at any of the buildings, and the operator does not recommend the tour if that access is required. Service animals are allowed.
The operator caps the group at thirty travelers, and every booking has to include at least one adult. Children are ticketed from age three, with separate rates for ages three to twelve and thirteen to seventeen.
This is not an admissions visit. The product says so plainly and points prospective applicants to the universities' admissions offices instead. What it gives you is history, architecture, and the stories the two campuses tell about themselves.
Food, drinks, gratuities, and hotel pickup all sit outside the ticket price.
Meet in front of Ripple Cafe on Main Street, next to the Kendall/MIT entrance, and look for the Boston Hidden Gems shirt. Three and a half hours later you are standing in Harvard Square with both campuses behind you, a few steps from the shops and lunch spots your guide can point you toward, and a subway entrance that will take you back across the river whenever you feel like going.