Getting into Boston's Top Museums -- For Free

If money is short (or even if it isn't -- who wouldn't mind saving a few bucks?!) consider scheduling your museum visits when admission prices are reduced or waived altogether. The following is a listing of some of the museums that offer savings on the admission fee to those who time their visits just right. We recommend that you visit this page often - we update our list regularly!

Museums With Free Admission
Many museums set aside some time each week or month when special admission prices allow more people to view their treasures. Click on the name of the museum for details regarding location and a brief description of what the museum offers.

• Harvard University Art Museums, including:

  The Fogg Museum
  The Arthur Sackler Museum
  The Busch-Reisinger Museum

  Free on Saturdays until 12 noon (usually general admission is $6.50)

• Institute of Contemporary Art
  Free on Thursdays after 5 PM (usually $7)

• Massachusetts Historical Society
  Always free.

• Museum of Fine Arts
  Pay-what-you-wish on Wednesdays after 4 PM (usually $15); reduced to $13 on Thursday and Friday evenings after 4:45 PM

Museums with Reduced Prices
To open their collections to as wide an audience as possible, some museums entice certain groups, like students or seniors, with special discounts.

• Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
  Free admission for anyone with the first name "Isabella."

• The Children's Museum
  On Friday nights from 5 PM to 9 PM, admission is only $1.00 each, saving $8 per adult and $6 per child off the regular admission prices.

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