Why A Fenway Park Tour Is One Of The Best Things To Do In Boston

If our a Dodgers fan, Orioles fan, Padres fan or even a New York Yankees fan, when in Boston do not pass up the opportunity to see a Red Sox game if you can score tickets. However, as most travelers to Boston will undoubtedly not be able to score tickets to a Red Sox game for various reasons, there is always the Fenway Park Tour. Chances are, for the most part, if you are visiting the Boston area, you will arrive in Boston either on a day when the Red Sox are away, its off-season, or you just don’t feel like paying high-priced Stub Hub ticket prices for a game. Every Red Sox home game is sold out, so prices are high for game tickets. Fenway Park is a small stadium that has one of the smallest seating capacities for a home game in the Major Leagues. It is also Major League Baseball’s oldest ballpark as it first opened in 1912.

The small size of the ballpark is what makes taking in a Red Sox game so inviting. No matter where you sit in the stadium, you will feel incredibly close to the action. Nonetheless, chances are you’re not going to get tickets. So, the next best thing is to take a Fenway Park tour. No matter what team you root for, taking a Fenway Park Tour is worth every second of your vacation time.

The official MLB Fenway Park Tour is open every day of the year rain or shine. Yes, you heard right, every day! On non-game days, the tours begin at 9:00 am and end at 5:00 pm. On game days, the tours end three hours before game time. It is strongly recommended to purchase tickets online because many of the time slots sell out. We saw firsthand how crowded these tours get, and we strongly agree with the recommendations by MLB to buy your tickets ahead of time for the tours. We don’t want to quote prices because prices always change, but when we purchased our tickets, we paid twenty dollars for an adult ticket and fourteen dollars for a child’s ticket. The tour last about an hour to an hour and a half.

When you arrive for the tour in Boston you are instructed to meet inside the Boston Red Sox merchandise store located directly across from Fenway Park. Meeting in this location gets fans out of the sun and of course places them directly in the middle of thousands of Red Sox t-shirts, hats, posters and assorted memorabilia. If you’re a Red Sox fan, you are in apparel heaven. Once inside and checked in, you simply just wait for your tour guide to round you up and take you across the street into Fenway Park. There is usually a small wait outside Fenway Park as there is a security check before you go into the ballpark. However, while waiting outside in line in front of the stadium, the guides are introducing themselves and starting some great engaging conversations with the people in the tour group.

Inside the Fenway Park Tour Boston Red Sox Store.

View of Fenway Park from inside the Red Sox Store.

Fenway Park

Once everyone is inside the park, the tour guide will give everyone a few minutes to use the bathroom before the tour begins. There is a small concession stand open that sells hot dogs and pretzels while you are waiting for everyone. We were surprised to find that they were not selling Boston clam chowder, but that’s probably sold at other concessions when the ballpark is open for a Red Sox game.

The tour began with a walk out onto to the lower level stands towards the backstop behind home plate. When we got to the point where we were directly in line with a beautiful view of the ballpark, we were of course then placed in front of a camera with an offer to buy the photograph at the end of the tour. (Yes, we went for it)

Once the photos were done and the initial oohs and aahs of experiencing life in the box seats was over, we were led back inside to take a look at one of the locker rooms.

A tour of any significant historical setting is always better enjoyed when you are led by a spirited, friendly, and knowledgeable tour guide. Our tour guide was all the above. He was a true Bostonian who seemed to enjoy sharing his hatred of the New York Yankees throughout the tour. I can’t tell you how much this guy hated the New York Yankees. Now, I was born in the Bronx and grew up only a few train stops away from Yankee Stadium on the D Train. Nonetheless, it was fun to listen to him cry about the Yankees knowing all too well for the past hundred years that the Yankees, for the most part, have had the Red Sox’s number. With much love and respect, I do hope he reads this.

Our Fenway Park Tour Guide

Fenway Park

Interior of Fenway Park Stands

Fenway Park

Looking at all the brickwork inside the stadium is a constant reminder as to how old Fenway Park is. In this modern world, it’s wonderful to still have buildings like Fenway Park not only still standing, but still functioning just like it did over a hundred years ago.

The halls of Fenway Park are lined with framed covers of magazines featuring some of the most loved Boston Red Sox players of all time.

For many, the highlight of the tour was visiting the legendary Green Monster. Fenway Park’s Green Monster section is one of the most sought-after sections in Fenway Park to sit in during a Red Sox game. For most fans, the only chance they will ever get to sitting in the Green Monster is during a Fenway Park Tour. Even though it’s just a tour, it’s still so worth seeing it because the view from the Green Monster is breathtaking.

View From The Green Monster Seats At Fenway Park

Fenway Park

After we visited the Green Monster we were led around the upper deck and brought into the large press box. We took a much-needed rest in the press box while our tour guide told some great stories regarding Red Sox history. Some of the great scenes from the movie Money Ball were filmed in the legendary Boston Red Sox Press Box. In a tour with many highlights, the Boston Red Sox Press Box stands as one of them.

The Fenway Park tour also took us out on the outdoor patio in right field. Along the way to the patio, we saw Fenway Park’s gardens in which they grow some of their own vegetables. They call the gardens of vegetables Fenway Farms. It was a fascinating site to see crops being grown along the exterior of Fenway Park’s upper deck.

The downward descent to the patio bleacher section. If you are afraid of heights, well umm close don’t look down. There are so moments when you are climbing or descending on the outer wall of Fenway Park that are not that friendly towards those with a fear of heights.

Fenway Park Tour

If you are visiting Boston, taking a Fenway Park Tour should land at the top of your list. It only takes about two hours out of your day counting the initial lineup. You don’t have to be a baseball fan to appreciate the architecture and history of Fenway Park. The views are breathtaking and the tours guides are fabulous. It is a tour worth every penny.

Fenway Park Tour