Located along the Charles River, this Massachusetts city has shaped American education through Harvard University and MIT, while its active neighborhoods like Harvard Square draw academics and innovators.
Cambridge, Massachusetts sits across the Charles River from Boston. Walk through Harvard University's 300-year-old Massachusetts Hall, watch MIT researchers test robots at the Ray and Maria Stata Center, or listen to live folk music at Club Passim. In Kendall Square, you'll see scientists and entrepreneurs heading to work in glass-walled labs, while in Central Square, musicians load equipment into The Middle East's basement venue. Harvard Square's brick plaza fills with chess players and street musicians, surrounded by bookstores and coffee shops that have been local favorites for decades.
Getting Around Cambridge
Take the MBTA subway system (the "T") Red Line to reach Harvard Square, Central Square, and Kendall Square from Boston. The city's streets don't follow a grid system and many are one-way, making navigation tricky by car. Bike lanes connect all major areas - more people commute by bicycle in Cambridge than in any other major U.S. city.
Cambridge Squares
Each major intersection in Cambridge creates its own distinct center. In Harvard Square, chess players compete on outdoor tables while students fill the coffee shops and bookstores along Massachusetts Avenue. Central Square's sidewalks lead past Ethiopian restaurants, Korean barbecue spots, and basement music venues. In Kendall Square, researchers and tech workers fill the cafes between MIT's research buildings and biotech startups.
Exploring Harvard and MIT
Walk through Harvard Yard's iron gates to see Massachusetts Hall, built in 1720. The campus extends into surrounding streets, where red-brick dormitories line the paths. At MIT, follow the Infinite Corridor - the school's main hallway - to reach the Great Dome overlooking the Charles River. Frank Gehry's Ray and Maria Stata Center twists upward in unexpected angles. Visit the Harvard Art Museums to see works from ancient Greek vessels to modern paintings, or head to the MIT Museum to examine robots and holograms.
Cultural Sites
Walk through Mount Auburn Cemetery's 175 acres of paths, established in 1831 as America's first garden cemetery. The Longfellow House on Brattle Street still contains the original furniture and books from when poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow lived there after George Washington used it as his headquarters in 1775.
Music and Entertainment Scene
The Middle East in Central Square has four separate performance spaces where local bands play most nights. Club Passim hosts folk musicians in its basement room, continuing a tradition that began in the 1960s. Watch experimental plays at the American Repertory Theater, or stop by The Plough and Stars to hear traditional Irish music.
Food in Cambridge
Find quick meals at the food trucks near MIT or sit down for dinner at one of Central Square's Ethiopian restaurants. Harvard Square has several long-running cafes where students and professors gather over coffee. Try unusual ice cream flavors at Toscanini's - their burnt caramel flavor has been a local favorite since the 1980s. Kendall Square's newer restaurants cater to the tech workforce with farm-to-table menus and craft cocktails.
