Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Across the river, neighboring Cambridge is home to Harvard University, Radcliffe College(effectively now a part of Harvard), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Around these academic communities has developed a maze of commercial and residential neighborhoods, artists’ studios, and theaters. On the Harvard campus, sites worth visiting include Harvard Yard with its student residential buildings, Memorial Church, Harvard Museums of Cultural and Natural History, and the Botanical Museum, which houses the world-renowned collection of Blashka glass flowers. These pieces were created between 1877 and 1936, and represent more than 780 species of flowering plants—an absolute must for garden enthusiasts. To this day no one has been able to recreate the processes used in producing these magnificent examples of floral beauty.