What You Might Not Know About Boston’s Legendary Swan Boats

The Swan Boats have entertained residents and visitors to Boston's Public Garden for generations. The first launch of the Swan Boats each spring is as welcome as the pink and white petals blossoming on the flowering dogwood and eastern redbud trees that bloom in America's first public botanical garden.

The Boston Public Garden was founded in 1873 in what is now the heart of Downtown Boston. Across the street from Boston Common, it is surrounded by the historic Back Bay and Beacon Hill neighborhoods and is a short walk to the Massachusetts State House.

Robert Paget created the Swan Boats in the Public Garden in 1877. They operated every season for 143 years until the COVID-19 pandemic forced their closure for the 2020 summer season.

The Swan Boats resumed operation in the summer of 2021 and have been in service each season ever since.

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The official Swan Boat website says, "In 1877, Robert introduced a catamaran-style boat to the lagoon. The boat was designed atop two pontoons and allowed passengers to sit on benches in front of the captain."

"The boat was foot-propelled like a bicycle attached to a paddle wheel. To cover the apparatus and wrap around the captain, Robert designed a swan," according to the site.

The boats are little changed today, except that there are six benches, not two.

The 12-minute Swan Boat ride around the Public Garden lagoon costs $4.75 for adults, $4.25 for seniors, $3.25 for kids ages 2-15, and kids under two ride for free.

Here's an amazing fact about the Boston Swan Boats: the Paget family still runs the Swan Boats after almost 150 years. The business has been passed down from generation to generation and is now in the hands of fourth-generation members of the Paget family.

In a May 2021 issue of Yankee Magazine, Bethany Bourgault wrote, "The Boston Swan Boats are one of few experiences that have changed so little over time, residents can almost totally replicate the beloved rides they took in their own childhoods."