Like most airports around the world, there are a number of different ways to get from Boston Logan Airport to Downtown Boston and the surrounding areas like Cambridge, Somerville and Brookline.
What many travelers don’t realize is that you can actually get from Boston Logan Airport to Downtown for FREE!
Awesome right? I’ve flown into a lot of airports and free airport transfers are extremely rare.
How It Works
Making use of the Logan Airport free transfer is pretty simple once you know what to look for. It’s also helpful to know that you aren’t scamming the system in any way, this is an official free service provided by the the MBTA (Boston Public Transportation)
When you get to arrivals and grab your bags, look for signs directing you to the Silver Line T Stop. A bus arrives quite often (between 5:30am and 12:30am, 7 days a week) and when you hop on, they will not ask you to pay a fare. Just put down your bag and find a seat.
The bus will make a few stops (World Trade Center, Silver Line Way, Courthouse) before arriving at South Station, which is in downtown Boston.
This journey is pretty quick, taking about 20 minutes from the airport to South Station.
How Far Can You Go?
At first glance, it might appear that you can only get as far as South Station with this free transfer. Nope, you can go further. When you get to South Station, you can actually transfer to the Red Line without leaving the station. As soon as you hop off the bus, you follow the signs for the Red Line.
The Red Line will take you to other areas of downtown Boston, to some commuters lines, and popular places like Harvard and MIT.
However, at Downtown Crossing Station you can transfer to the Orange Line and at Park St. Station you can transfer to the Green Line. As long as you don’t exit the station, you don’t have to pay to transfer. As the map below shows, these lines, along with the Red Line give you access to almost the entire city
When Will You Have to Pay a Fare?
So like I said, if don’t leave the station when you transfer you don’t have to pay a fare. You will have to pay however if you exit the station and transfer to a bus or commuter train.
There is also a Blue Line Bus from the Airport that does charge you a fair. It is for service to the Green and Orange Lines, but as I outlined above, the Silver Line will allow you to get to both of these lines for free.
Also, this free transfer between Logan International Airport and Boston is only offered when you arrive, going into the city. When you are departing Boston, you must pay to take public transportation to the airport.
Alternative Ways Into the City
In addition to the Silver Line free bus into the city, there is also the Blue Line bus that I mentioned above. However not everyone is a fan of public transit so here’s a couple other ways to get into the city.
Uber: If you haven’t tried Uber before, you absolutely should. I LOVE it. Think of it as a taxi but it’s everyday people driving their own cars. You can request the car on your phone and it is usually cheaper than a normal taxi. You can also request a black car or SUV should you have a bigger group. If you are thinking ‘how is this safe?‘, everything is done through the app – requesting, payment, calling – so all information is recorded. Cool right? You can use it throughout the city and find it in many cities around the world too! If you haven’t signed up before, use this link to get a $20 Uber credit! You’re welcome!
Taxi: Just outside of arrivals, you’ll see the signs directing you to the taxi stand. You can hop in a regular car or bigger vehicle if you have multiple people.
Coach Lines: If you are heading somewhere outside of Boston and the nearby cities (New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, etc) there are number of coach buses you can take. There is more info on that here.
Round Up
And there you have it. Simply put, you can get from Boston Logan International Airport to Boston for FREE!
Just hop on the Silver Line bus and zip your way into the city. Easy peasy!
I hope this information was helpful! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to use the contact button above and I will do my best to help you out!
ENJOY BOSTON!