When?
May 31 to June 20: Daily, weather permitting, 10 am to 4 pm
June 21 to September 6: Daily, weather permitting, from 10 am to 5 pm
Where?
How much?
Tickets: $4.50 for adults, $4 for seniors, $3 for children 2 to 15 years old, and free for children under 2 years old. Tickets can be purchased at the dock before boarding the boat.
Why should I go?
One of Boston’s most popular tourist attractions, the pedal-powered boats take riders on a leisurely 15-minute tour of the Boston Public Garden lagoon, offering a unique glimpse of its 24 acres of flower beds, specimen trees, and lawns.
The boats have been a Boston summer fixture since 1877. Lore has it that the boats’ founder, Irish immigrant and shipbuilder Robert Paget, was inspired by the Richard Wagner opera
Six swan figures wait on the grass to be mounted onto their respective pontoons being assembled in the Public Garden. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
The first public botanical garden in America is a park of many charms. And one of its most charming features is, by acclaim, the swan boats.
The iconic boats have delighted passengers and sightseers in Boston every spring and summer since 1877 with the exception of 2020, when the season was canceled because of the pandemic.
The drought ends Saturday, when the pedal-powered fleet returns to the lagoon.
Lyn Paget, president of Swan Boats Inc., connects the swan boat s rudder to the steering system. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Swan boats return to Boston Public Garden lagoon for first time since COVID pandemic began
Updated 1:21 PM;
For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, iconic swan boats are returning to the Boston Public Garden lagoon Saturday.
This is the 144th season for the swan boats. Last year, for the first time in history, the boats did not return to the lagoon because of the pandemic.
From May 8 to June 20, the boats are open for rides from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, according to the swan boat website. Then from June 21 to Labor Day, the boats will be running from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, weather permitting.