Cambridge Innovation Trail: Exploring Historical Inventions
5.0
12 Ratings
Cambridge
Discover the Cambridge Innovation Trail and explore the historical inventions that have shaped the future. From anti-aging technology to gene-editing, uncover the cutting-edge discoveries happening in Kendall Square today.
Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Entrepreneur Walk of Fame - Walk along the Entrepreneur Walk of Fame with us and get familiar with some of the names and stories that we’ll explore along the Innovation Trail

  • CIC Cambridge @ 245 Main - Check out the Start-Up Hub (CIC), formerly the Cambridge Incubator, founded by MIT Business School graduate Tim Rowe.

  • MIT Museum - Reopened in OCtober of 2022 the MIT Museum showcases the Institutes place on the cutting edge of tech advancement.

  • 355 Main St - The Cambrige office of Google, learn about the city’s relationship with tech giants, and the creativity to come out of these doors, like Android

  • Stata Center - Inside the Stata Center at MIT are labs focused on computer science, artificial intelligence, and robotics (they gave birth to iRobot Corp., maker of the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner), and a small, ground-floor exhibit about student “hacks,” or pranks, through the years.

  • Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard - The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard seeks to better understand the roots of disease and narrow the gap between new biological insights and creating impact for patients.

  • Cambridge - The Human Genome Project at the Whitehead Institute. The Whitehead Institute was created in 1982 by philanthropist Jack Whitehead and David Baltimore, an MIT professor and Nobel Prize winner. A key part of the vision was assembling a supergroup of the world’s top biomedical researchers in one building, and eliminating “virtually any impediment to their pursuit of scientific discovery,” supplying ample funding and the most sophisticated lab equipment, but limited bureaucracy. (It’s an independent nonprofit affiliated with MIT.)

  • 225 Binney St - Biogen, the Biotech Trailblazer, Hear about its founding, by two Nobel Prize winners, and its history of Innovation.

  • 145 Broadway - Meet the Internet Accelerator, Akamai. The start-up’s original idea was to set up a network of servers around the world to cache, or store, content closer to where people wanted to access it—making everything show up faster on web browsers. Some of the company’s first successful large-scale demonstrations, in 1999, involved the delivery of a movie trailer for “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” and ESPN’s March Madness college basketball coverage.

  • Draper - Walk down Broadway and take a left at Technology Square. At 555 is Draper Labs, where you’ll see a giant moon hanging in the lobby. Among its greatest achievements are the guidance computers that enabled Apollo spacecraft to successfully travel to and land on the moon. One of the software developers who wrote the code that ran these guidance computers was Margaret Hamilton, who later founded two companies and is credited as one of the people who defined the field of “software engineering.”

  • Moderna - Founded in 2010 to explore the potential of modified RNA molecules (hence the name “mod-RNA”) to treat diseases or serve as a vaccine.

  • LabCentral - At one time home to Davenport Car Works, Walworth Manufacturing Company, Polaroid and today, LabCentral, Few buildings have housed so many inovators over the course of their lifetime.

  • 810 Main St - here were also at one point 66 different candy companies in Cambridge, making everything from candy hearts for Valentine’s day to Squirrel Nut Zippers to lemon drops. (The Fig Newton cookie was also invented in Cambridge, in 1891—even though they were named for the nearby city of Newton.) This building is the last operating candy factory in Cambridge, owned by Tootsie Brands. The company unfortunately doesn’t offer tours, in part because candy companies are notoriously secretive about the equipment and processes they use to make candy—“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” wasn’t too far off base. Inside, they make 26 million pieces of candy a day. Why is that number so high? The factory is the only place in the world that Sugar Babies and Junior Mints are made—both of which are small little morsels.

  • The Innovation Trail - The Innovation Trail is a way to experience, learn about, and be inspired by four centuries of world-changing breakthroughs from Boston. It focuses on the history of science, medicine, entrepreneurship, and technology in Boston and Cambridge.

What's Included
  • Interactive in-person guide for an engaging experience.
What's Not Included
  • Private transportation
  • Access inside buildings. Most of these spaces are active labs, so we do not enter these spaces.
Additional Information

Demonstrating that history isn’t merely confined to the past! Ranging from advances in anti-aging technology to the breakthroughs in gene-editing, the latest innovations from Cambridge are evolving from the historical inventions as varied as the braided fire hoses and the microwave oven. Tour guides from the top-rated attraction on TripAdvisor in Cambridge will strive to astound you as we welcome you to discover the history-creators presently active in Kendall Square. See which of the contemporary pioneering discoveries will make it to the future’s history books.

Location
50 Broadway
Broadway
Look for your guide at the Kendal Square Marriott, if you have a hard time finding them, give us a call.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(12 Ratings)
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Nocachyname
Mar 17, 2024
Great way to learn about local history - I would highly recommend this tour for anyone interested in tech, biotech and/or local history. The tour is a good length and covers a lot of ground, both literally and metaphorically. Our guide Rick was very knowledgeable and engaging. Even though I live nearby I learned a lot!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
G1531twellenm
Feb 21, 2024
What develops where brains thrive. - We know Cambridge is a brainy place, but after taking this Innovation Trail Tour we know a lot more about what brains in Cambridge have actually achieved, in which places, when, and with who's money. Rick toured us around the technology institutes and corporate headquarters, animating them with the back stories of famous medical advances and tech moguldom, as well as some fantastic ambitions yet to be realized. Many of these places, like the Broad Institute and MIT's Media Lab, have exhibits that are open to the public; we hope to visit them at some future date. Very worthwhile. Fit it into your college visit plans and inspire your kid not to major in philosophy.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Andreamk7994nc
Feb 19, 2024
informative and fun - Our guide Rick was very enthusiastic and told great stories. Also appreciated that he took opportunities to bring us indoors, as it was quite cold out.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
209dinaw
Dec 5, 2023
Something of beaten track - I studied MIT innovation cluster for my PhD in Science and Innovation Management. Seeing the place in real was simply awesome. Great guide.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Figboot
Nov 28, 2023
Information-packed tour of Kendall Square, Cambridge - My husband and I took the Public Innovation Trail Tour on 10/28/2023. It was superlative. From candymaking to a squad car on top of the MIT dome, this tour has it all. It is amazing how much innovation and history occurred within a short walk to the Kendall T stop. I highly recommend this tour: interesting and informative. Whether you are a tourist or a local, you'll learn something.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Qi_t
Nov 5, 2023
Love the tour - Great tour with a lot of interesting stories. I actually learned a few things myself. We had the largest group ever for this tour but everyone was able to hear the stories fine.
Review provided by Viator
Tami
Aug 29, 2023
Saturday in Cambridge - Tour guide was informative and kind. We enjoyed the experience and was overwhelmed by the the amount of innovation in a small area.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Arthistory878
Jul 23, 2023
Incredible innovation and technology history within a city block - Rick was our guide and did a great job. The tour route was pretty easy and the various buildings and sites were coincidentally in close proximity to each other Rick's info and patter was concise, interesting, and with a touch of New Englander dry humor.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Y621xocarold
Jul 23, 2023
Recommend! - Fascinating information about the innovations coming out of this area. Very entertaining and inspiring!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
T4059xudianed
Jul 1, 2023
Excellent and inspiring tour. - We really enjoyed this tour. It had something for all of our group - made up of Cambridge residents, out of town visitors and new MIT student. We all left feeling inspired by all the innovative things that have and are happening in the Kendall Square area in Cambridge . Our guide, Rick, was knowledgeable and entertaining ( and careful to stop in the shade!) - an excellent combination! We finished right in time for lunch, after our 90 minute tour. There are lots of good food options in this neighborhood. There is a beautiful urban roof garden next to the Marriott where this tour meets that was nice to check out too. We will be highly recommending this innovation trail tour to friends and family who visit Cambridge.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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