The ICA will be free Monday for Presidents Day. It is also free admission Thursday evenings during the year.

The MFA is free the first weekend every month if you have a Bank of America card. It is also free for everyone Wednesday afternoons after 4(or 5- check)

There are a number of free BOA card admission museums, but the list changes a lot- look up the current list with “Museums on Us”

The Worcester Art Museum is free the 1st Sunday each month, check on details it used to be BOA but I think it’s everyone now.

The Harvard Art Museum is free every Sunday for everyone. If you live in Cambridge it is free everyday, just show ID.

The Harvard Museum of Natural History is free every Sunday morning before noon for Massachusetts residents with ID. This includes the Peabody Museum which is the other half of the same building. The Semitic Museum across the street from the Peabody is free, probably all the time as far as I can tell.

At Harvard you can also pop your head into their rare book collection at the Houghton which in in the Yard- there’s usually 1-2 small shows; one in the room far to the left and one at the gallery up one flight of stairs. There’s also a small but interesting collection of Scientific Instruments at the Science Building near Memorial Hall- check hours on that one it’s only open certain hours

The MIT museum is also free if you live in Cambridge, you have to pre register though and then confirm residency.

At MIT itself, there was a very small gallery in the “infinite corridor” building, or you could check out the Eero Saarinen chapel on campus- but they were restricted during Covid and I don’t think you can walk around as freely anymore.

The Rose Art Museum at Brandies is free for everyone. BC, Tufts & BU all have free galleries/collections as well. I’m not as familiar going outside the city but Smith, and Amherst have free museums as well as I remember. Williams Art Museum north of North Adams is also free I believe.

The Gardner used to have a number of free programs like BOA or on your birthday, but those have ended. I believe you still get a discount for wearing Red Sox gear, and the museum is free for life if your name is Isabella (you need to register with them to confirm it though)

For the Museum of Science and the Aquarium your best bet is a pass from your local library, and you can get one for any listed above that require admission although there’s sometimes a wait list.

If youre a college student (especially in the city) many of these will be free or discounted depending on your school.