Boston Swan Boats | Back in the Paddle

For generations of Bostonians, spring begins when the Swan Boats first set out across the Public Garden lagoon.

Dating back to 1837, Boston’s Public Garden is rooted on land once submerged in tidal marshes. Victorian cast-iron fencing skirts the 24-acre enclave that sits alongside Boston Common in the heart of downtown, surrounded by the historic neighborhoods of Back Bay and Beacon Hill and not far from the Financial District and the waterfront. Within the Public Garden is a six-acre pond, and it is here that the city’s famous Swan Boats make their nest. Ornamented with replicas of their graceful namesake, these 30-foot-long pontoon boats have endured the Depression, two world wars, East Coast weather, and the Internet age.