Battle of Lexington and Concord Driving & Walking Audio Tour

Your tour of Lexington and Concord begins at the North Bridge Visitor Center. From here, you'll follow the course of this historic battle, stopping at key points and hearing in detail how it all played out. It's history brough to life!

Not all the landmarks in Lexington and Concord date back to the Revolutionary War. It has also been home to famous authors like Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose home still stands today.

The Wayside, built-in 1700, has been home to numerous literary giants in the past. At one time it was owned by Louisa May Alcott, who wrote Little Women, and later by Nathaniel Hawthorne, who had the property surveyed by none other than Henry David Thoreau!

This unassuming patch of land was the site of a disastrous turn of events for the British. Multiple American militias had a clear bead on this spot and opened fire as the British passed through, inflicting heavy casualties.

This is the site where Paul Revere was captured during his fateful Midnight Ride. Here, you'll revisit the full story of Revere's heroism and how his actions helped the Americans emerge victorious in Lexington and Concord.

Here in the Lexington Common is where the British fired the first shots of the battle. Little did they know they were kicking off a string of events which would lead to an embarrassing defeat here and a protracted war they would eventually lose. The tour concludes here, but there are more optional stops if you want to keep the adventure going.

Many famous authors lived in Concord, and several found their final resting place here in Authors Ridge. Thoreau, Alcott family members, Emerson, Nathaniel, and Sophie Hawthorne, and others are buried there.

This 1650 house is where Alcott wrote Little Women in 1868. At Orchard house, you can learn about Louisa May and the rest of her family, who were known for their commitments to abolition, women’s suffrage, and social reform.

This museum’s collection explores the area’s revolutionary and literary history. If you want to learn more about the town and see some unique artifacts, be sure to stop by!

The Battles of Lexington and Concord left 73 British dead and 174 wounded. 49 Americans died and 39 were wounded. But the aftershocks of the battle went far deeper than that. The American victory was all the proof the colonists needed that they could win a war against Britain.

Just ahead on the left is what remains of the home of Ephriam and Elizabeth’s son Samuel. Samuel was a sergeant in the Lincoln Minute Men on April 19 and saw action up to and down the road. His wife Mary is said to have helped bury dead British soldiers.

At the far end of the visitor’s center parking lot is a path leading to Battle Road Trail, which runs the length of Minute Man park. It follows what remains of the original Bay Road, which is the route the British took to Concord and back. It passes many historic sites.

The Wayside, built-in 1700, became home to several of these famous figures. The Alcotts bought the house in 1845, naming it Hillside. The experiences of the Alcott sisters in the home were later written into her classic Little Women.

Just a mile outside of town, off Walden Street, is another site of literary history -- Walden Pond. This is where Thoreau lived for two years beginning in 1845, in a cabin he built, collecting his thoughts for his 1854 classic on self-reliance, Walden, or Life in the Woods.