SoWa Art + Design District
SoWa Art + Design District
4
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Monday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Tuesday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Wednesday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Thursday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Friday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Saturday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Sunday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
About
If Boston was a person, SoWa would be its creative side. Its independent streak. Its curiosity. Because here imagination has created a corner of the city filled with the eclectic and the unexpected. Where one-of-a-kind restaurants, galleries, and small business are run by one-of-a-kind people. Where food is sold by farmers, beer sold from barns, and art is sold where art is made. People don’t just visit SoWa. They live it. They taste it. They experience it. Explore your creative side. Explore SoWa. Originally derived from a shortening of "South of Washington," SoWa spans the area from East Brookline Street to East Berkeley Street and from Shawmut Ave to Albany Street.
Duration: More than 3 hours
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.

Top ways to experience SoWa Art + Design District and nearby attractions

The area
Address
Neighbourhood: South End
Stroll down the beautiful brownstone lined streets while capturing views of Boston’s tallest buildings from a distance. Some of Boston’s best restaurants are scattered around this neighborhood. There are many gems to be found, from jazz clubs to classy bars and restaurants. It is also home to art galleries, interesting boutiques, artsy stores and SOWA open market during the summer months. The South End is a true find in the city, with a more residential feeling than Back Bay.
How to get there
  • Union Park St • 6 min walk
  • Herald St • 6 min walk
Reach out directly

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.0
4.0 of 5 bubbles36 reviews
Excellent
13
Very good
18
Average
3
Poor
2
Terrible
0

Adventure Diva
Manchester, CT2,167 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2023 • Solo
Housed in reclaimed industrial warehouse buildings, I like to visit this artsy area whenever I am in the city. Home to boutiques, art galleries and more, there is a wide selection of hand made, high-quality goodies that await you. An extra plus during this time of the year - the bright little white lights are now on the trees for the holiday season.
Written 1 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Adventure Diva
Manchester, CT2,167 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2022 • Solo
This major artist community was a great find while exploring Boston. Home to artist studios and galleries, give it a try. Check out their website for up to the minute events. If you are in town for their First Friday's activity, the next one is scheduled for August 5th, 2022. Doors open to the public for this activity from 5-9 pm.
Written 14 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Tim R
Fort Worth1,015 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
We fell in love with the area - the repurposed brick buildings that now house countless artist's studios, galleries and design shops make for hours of browsing. Unfortunately we were not there during one of the evening events when many of the artist galleries are open to browse and perhaps buy
Written 2 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Smb1600
Palm Beach Gardens, FL928 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2019 • Friends
Great shopping in farmers market and outdoors rented area lots of crafts etc, very original. Surrounding buildings have lots of galerues and shops to walk thru.
Fun shopping in a sunday
Written 25 August 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

TikkiTalk
London, UK201 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2019 • Family
Like many others, I struggle to find meaningful activities for our tween/teen kids while visiting cities as they’re not into museums or tours. We all enjoy art and a good hunt for fun items so we looked up SoWa.
We truly enjoyed the well organized and diverse Open Market, art studios and vintage market - leaving the food market for next time. Budget-wise there’s everything from silly cheap to astronomical, second hand and the finest original art. I personally enjoyed the fine art end of things and chats with the artists the most while the kids were tickled by their fun finds from the craft booths (pottery, handmade paper goods and clothing). The atmosphere is relaxed, no pushy sales tactics nor loud bands or such to dampen the spirit.
Warmly recommended when in town!
Written 14 July 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

love2travelKelly
Boston54 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2018
Especially love the food trucks and open studios on weekends. Parking can be hard so consider walking or an Uber/Lyft/taxi ride.
Written 12 February 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Debrajoye
Oxford, MA13 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2018
Enjoyed exploring the different artists venues all located in one fabulous spot. We also like the antiques and vintage area.
Written 11 December 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

aubredhead
Huntsville, AL70 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2018 • Couples
Spent a leisurely Saturday afternoon strolling through the open studios. Most of the artists were in residence. There is a very diverse population of artists. They offer anything from traditional, to modern and eclectic. The prices were a bit high as most explained they were also on display in galleries and that prevents them from discounting their art.
Written 17 September 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Footprintz1996
Bremen, Germany7 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2018 • Solo
During the week the streets are mostly deserted. The open market is open on the weekends. Prices looked steep for galleries that were open. Not really touristic during the week. No restaurants were open during the day in that area.
Written 15 August 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Helia d
Holliston, MA87 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2017 • Friends
100+artists with 60 galleries and much more. They have a lot of events on the first Friday of each month. We went on a Sat. Enjoyed seeing Debby Krim Arts. She does
Art, Jewelry and Photography, very diverse but so many are. Cool place and cool people to be around and just enjoy life through the eyes of these artists. Also explore their art in various ways they haven't seen it themselves.
Written 26 August 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Showing results 1-10 of 29
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing

SOWA ART + DESIGN DISTRICT: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

Frequently Asked Questions about SoWa Art + Design District


Restaurants near SoWa Art + Design District: View all restaurants near SoWa Art + Design District on Tripadvisor