Walking Tours

MIT Self-Guided Audio Walk: The Great Dome, Stata Center and the Smoots on Harvard Bridge

Walk MIT's riverside campus from the Harvard Bridge to the glass towers of Kendall Square.
See Aalto's Baker House, Saarinen's chapel, the Great Dome, Calder's Big Sail and Gehry's Stata Center.
Read a century of ideas about science in stone, bent brick, concrete, steel and glass.
Start on a bridge measured in smoots, a unit made from one freshman in 1958.
9 stops over 2.4 km, about 85 minutes, with English audio you start whenever you like.

Self-guided audio tour in English
9 stops, 2.4 km, 85 minutes
Harvard Bridge, Baker House, Saarinen Chapel, Great Dome
GPS map and walking directions in browser
Lifetime access, start any time

Live guide
Fixed start time
Museum and monument tickets
Food and drinks
Tips or gratuities

You can cancel these tickets up to 24 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.

MIT never settled on one look. For over a century it has built its ideas about science in public, each generation in a new material, and kept them all standing a few minutes apart along the Charles River.
Begin on the Harvard Bridge, measured by students in smoots, one freshman's height at a time. Follow the river to Alvar Aalto's wave of brick at Baker House, then Eero Saarinen's brick chapel in its moat and his concrete shell that touches the ground at three points. Face the Great Dome across Killian Court, then walk past Calder's forty-foot Big Sail, past the Media Lab's aluminum veil, to Frank Gehry's tumbling Stata Center and the glass towers of Kendall Square.
Nine stops, about 2.4 km and 85 minutes, in English, at your own pace, outdoors on public sidewalks and open courts. Start whenever you like; entry to the MIT Museum is not included.

What to bring

Ticket code and phone: Enter your ticket code on the Roamer link in your confirmation before you set off, while you have signal.

Charged phone: Bring a fully charged smartphone to run the browser-based audio tour and GPS map.

Earphones: Bring earphones so you can hear the self-guided audio clearly as you walk.

Data or Wi-Fi access: Use mobile data on the walk or open the tour on Wi-Fi before starting if you have no data.

Weather gear: Bring warm or windproof layers, as the Harvard Bridge can be very windy and cold.

What's not allowed

Building access: Never enter a building on this walk; Lobby 7 and the chapel are optional and only during their public hours.

Accessibility

Stairs on route: The leg from Kresge Oval to Massachusetts Avenue includes two short flights of steps by the Student Center.

Traffic and crossings: Expect heavy, fast traffic along Massachusetts Avenue and Memorial Drive and cross only at signalized lights.

Wind exposure: The Harvard Bridge section is exposed and can be very windy and cold off the river.

Additional information

Tour start setup: Open the Roamer redemption page from your confirmation and unlock the tour before you leave your signal area.

Tour format: The tour opens in your phone browser and does not require any app download.

Best weekday window: A weekday between about 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. lets you look into Lobby 7 and, at set hours, the MIT Chapel.

Chapel hours: The MIT Chapel is open to visitors Monday to Friday, 10 to 11 a.m. and 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., when no service is on.

Campus opening hours: Much of MIT, usually including Lobby 7, is open weekdays 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., except holidays and Institute closures.

Commencement closures: Avoid Commencement week in late May and early June, when Killian Court is fenced and closed.

Killian Court note: Killian Court is closed for Commencement in late spring and cannot be accessed on those days.

Outdoor courts access: MIT's outdoor courts are normally public; if fenced, stay on sidewalks where all buildings remain visible.

Court alternatives: If McDermott Court or the Stata Center court is closed, follow Ames Street to Main Street and view Stata from Vassar Street.

Construction alerts: In 2026, expect construction hoarding at McCormick Hall on Memorial Drive and at 200 Main Street in Kendall Square.

MIT Museum stop: The MIT Museum on Main Street at the last stop is ticketed and shares prices and hours on that stop's card.

Welcome Center: The MIT Welcome Center at 292 Main Street offers campus maps Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., excluding MIT holidays.

Route start and end: From Back Bay, you can reach the start by walking across Harvard Bridge; the walk ends beside Kendall/MIT Red Line station.

Crossing safety: Only cross Massachusetts Avenue and Memorial Drive at traffic lights; the Memorial Drive crossing at Endicott Street has two stages with push buttons.

Redemption flexibility: Lifetime access lets you start any day, at any hour, and replay the tour as often as you like.