May 28, 2016: The front entrance of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum along Evans Way in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood.

©DenisTangneyJr/Getty Images

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Top choice in Kenmore Square & Fenway


Once home to Isabella Stewart Gardner, this splendid palazzo now houses her exquisite collection of art. The museum includes thousands of artistic objects, especially Italian Renaissance and Dutch Golden Age paintings. The interior courtyard, lush with seasonal plants and flowers, is an oasis of tranquility and beauty.

The three floors of the palazzo are beautifully designed and adorned with impressive artwork. In the ground floor Spanish Cloister, a Moorish arch frames John Singer Sargent's painting, El Jaleo. The second floor features the Dutch room (Rembrandt and Rubens), as well as the grand, castle-like Tapestry Room. The 3rd floor contains the museum's highlights, including the lavish Veronese Room and the renowned Titian Room. Look for Sargent's portrait of Isabella herself in the Gothic Room.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Kenmore Square & Fenway attractions

1. MassArt Bakalar & Paine Galleries

0.15 MILES

MassArt is the country’s first and only four-year independent public art college. There's always some thought-provoking or sense-stimulating exhibits to…

2. Museum of Fine Arts

0.25 MILES

Founded in 1876, the Museum of Fine Arts is Boston's foremost art museum. The museum covers all parts of the globe and all eras, from the ancient world to…

3. Fenway Park

0.55 MILES

Home of the Boston Red Sox since 1912, Fenway Park is the oldest operating baseball park in the country. As such, the park has many quirks that make for a…

4. Back Bay Fens

0.56 MILES

The Back Bay Fens, or the Fenway, follows the Muddy River, an aptly named creek that is choked with tall reeds. The Fens features well-cared-for community…

5. Symphony Hall

0.75 MILES

This majestic building has been the home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1900, when it was built by McKim, Mead & White (of Boston Public Library…

6. Citgo Sign

0.75 MILES

London has Big Ben, Paris has the Eiffel Tower and Boston has the Citgo sign. It’s an unlikely landmark in this high-minded city, but Bostonians love the…

7. Mary Baker Eddy Library & Mapparium

0.81 MILES

The Mary Baker Eddy Library houses one of Boston’s hidden treasures. The intriguing Mapparium is a room-sized, stained-glass globe that visitors walk…

8. Christian Science Church

0.82 MILES

Known to adherents as the ‘Mother Church,’ this is the international home base for the Church of Christ, Scientist (Christian Science), founded by Mary…