Cobblehop / Guides / Boston to Plymouth

Boston to Plymouth without a car

You can see Plymouth Rock, Mayflower II and Plimoth Patuxet on a day trip from Boston without a car. Here is the bus or train to take, where each one drops you, and the last trips back.

By Ahmad Haji, founder of Cobblehop · October 29, 2026

South Station to Plymouth Rock

Trip timeabout1hr 30min

How oftenHourly, Mon-Sat

Plymouth & Brockton
GATRA Mayflower Link

Go to the South Station bus terminal700 Atlantic Ave
Take the Plymouth & Brockton bus toward HyannisLeaves at 25 past the hour, about 55 min
Change at the Route 3 Exit 13 park-and-rideWait about 20 min
Take the GATRA Mayflower Link toward Plymouth CenterFree, leaves at 40 past, about 12 min
Get off at Old Post Office
Walk about 5 min to Plymouth Rock

Monday to Saturday, fall 2026 schedules · Last trips back

Quick answer: Take the Plymouth & Brockton bus from the South Station bus terminal to the park-and-ride at Route 3 Exit 13 in Plymouth (55 minutes). Then take the free GATRA Mayflower Link bus to the Old Post Office stop downtown (12 minutes) and walk 5 minutes to Plymouth Rock. Buses leave South Station every hour at 25 past, and the connection works Monday to Saturday. The last bus back leaves downtown at 6 pm on weekdays and 5 pm on Saturdays.

Bus or train?

Both trips start at South Station. Neither one ends downtown, so you finish the trip on a free GATRA bus.

	Bus	Train
Take	Plymouth & Brockton from the South Station bus terminal or Logan Airport	Kingston Line from South Station
It drops you at	The Route 3 Exit 13 park-and-ride in Plymouth	Kingston station, in the next town north
Ride	55 min, then 12 min on GATRA	About 1 hr, then 19 to 34 min on GATRA
How often	Every hour, every day	11 trains on weekdays, 8 on weekends
GATRA link	Every hour, Monday to Saturday	10 buses on weekdays and 6 on Saturdays stop at the station
Best for	Any day but Sunday	Saturdays, with the $10 weekend pass

By bus: Plymouth & Brockton, then GATRA

This is the easiest way for most visitors. It's the same trip as our step-by-step Boston to Plymouth route.

Board at South Station. Plymouth & Brockton buses toward Hyannis leave the South Station bus terminal, 700 Atlantic Ave, at 25 minutes past the hour from 6:25 am to 7:25 pm, then at 8:45, 9:45 and 11:45 pm. The schedule is the same every day, weekends included, except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.
Ride 55 minutes to Plymouth. Get off at the park-and-ride at Route 3 Exit 13. It's outside downtown, about 2.4 miles on foot from Plymouth Rock.
Change to the GATRA Mayflower Link. It stops in the same lot, at the stop GATRA calls Exit 5 P&B Bus (the exit's old number). Buses toward Plymouth Center leave at 40 past the hour, 8:40 am to 6:40 pm on weekdays and 9:40 am to 5:40 pm on Saturdays, so you wait about 20 minutes.
Get off at Old Post Office, 12 minutes later. Plymouth Rock is about 5 minutes on foot. The next stop, Plymouth Center at Memorial Hall, is 2 minutes from Pilgrim Hall Museum.

First and last buses that connect. From South Station, the first leaves at 7:25 am on weekdays and 8:25 am on Saturdays. The last leaves at 5:25 pm on weekdays (Old Post Office 6:52 pm) and 4:25 pm on Saturdays (Old Post Office 5:52 pm).
From Logan Airport. The same buses start at Logan. They leave at the top of the hour from 6 am to 7 pm, then at 8:30, 9:30 and 11:30 pm, and take about 70-80 minutes to the park-and-ride. See Logan Airport to Plymouth.
Tickets. GATRA buses are free through June 30, 2027. Plymouth & Brockton sets its own fares, so check the price and how to buy a ticket on p-b.com before you go.
Sundays. Plymouth & Brockton runs its usual schedule. GATRA said in July 2026 that it now runs Sunday service on its Saturday schedule, but its Plymouth schedules and schedule data still show no Sunday buses. Call GATRA at 800-483-2500 before you count on one. Without it, the walk from the park-and-ride to Plymouth Rock takes about 50 minutes.
Going on to Cape Cod? The same buses continue to Sagamore and Hyannis. See Boston to Cape Cod without a car.

A day trip that works

This plan works Monday to Saturday. You see the waterfront in the morning and Plimoth Patuxet in the afternoon, and the bus back to Boston leaves from the stop where you arrived.

8:25 am: take the Plymouth & Brockton bus from the South Station bus terminal. It reaches the park-and-ride at 9:20 am.
9:40 am: take the GATRA Mayflower Link toward Plymouth Center and get off at Old Post Office at 9:52 am.
Morning downtown: Plymouth Rock, Mayflower II and, Wednesday to Sunday, Pilgrim Hall Museum.
1:03 pm: take the Mayflower Link toward Clement's Market from Old Post Office. Get off at Plimoth Plantation at 1:30 pm. The Visitor Center is about 2 minutes away on foot.
4:21 pm: take the Mayflower Link toward Plymouth Center from the same stop. Get off at the park-and-ride at 4:40 pm.
4:55 pm: take the Plymouth & Brockton bus back. It reaches South Station at 5:50 pm.

Plimoth Patuxet closes at 5 pm. If you stay to closing, the 5:21 pm bus from the museum stop meets the 6:25 pm Plymouth & Brockton bus, which reaches South Station at 7:20 pm.

By train: the Kingston Line

There's no train to Plymouth itself. The MBTA's Kingston Line from South Station ends at Kingston, the next town north, about 4.6 miles on foot from Plymouth Rock. GATRA buses link the station with downtown Plymouth, but only some trips stop there: 10 on weekdays and 6 on Saturdays.

Trains. Kingston Line trains leave South Station 11 times on weekdays, from 8:37 am to 9:40 pm, and 8 times on Saturdays and Sundays, from 8:42 am to 9:30 pm. The ride takes about 1 hour. Times: Boston to Kingston.
Buses from the station. The GATRA stop at the station is called Kingston Train. The Liberty Link takes 19 minutes to Plymouth Center. The Freedom Link goes the long way and takes 34 minutes to Old Post Office.
Saturdays work best. Take the 10:08 am train (Kingston 11:09 am), then the 11:16 am Freedom Link to Old Post Office (11:50 am). Or take the 12:20 pm train (Kingston 1:20 pm) and the 1:38 pm Liberty Link to Plymouth Center (1:57 pm).
Weekday mornings don't line up. The first train reaches Kingston at 9:36 am, and the next bus from the station leaves at 1:16 pm. On a weekday, take the bus from South Station instead.
Cost. Kingston is in Zone 8, so the train is $12.25 each way. On Saturdays and Sundays, the MBTA's $10 weekend pass covers all your train rides, and GATRA is free. Children 11 and under ride the MBTA free. Buy tickets in the mTicket app or at South Station. See How to pay for the T.

Getting around Plymouth

Downtown Plymouth is small and easy to walk. Plimoth Patuxet is the one sight you need a bus for. Walking times are from OpenStreetMap.

Place	Where it is	Getting there
Plymouth Rock	On the waterfront, Water Street	5 min walk from Old Post Office
Mayflower II	75 Water Street, 4 min from Plymouth Rock	8 min walk from Old Post Office
Pilgrim Hall Museum	75 Court Street	2 min walk from Plymouth Center
Plimoth Grist Mill	6 Spring Lane	4 min walk from Old Post Office
Plimoth Patuxet	137 Warren Avenue, about 3 miles south of downtown	GATRA Mayflower Link to the Plimoth Plantation stop, then a 2 min walk

Plimoth Patuxet by bus. The Mayflower Link stop is still called Plimoth Plantation, the museum's old name. Buses toward Clement's Market leave Plymouth Center on the hour and Old Post Office 3 minutes later, and reach the museum at 30 past. They run 7 am to 6 pm on weekdays and 9 am to 5 pm on Saturdays, from Plymouth Center. Back toward downtown, buses leave the museum stop at 21 past the hour, 8:21 am to 6:21 pm on weekdays and 9:21 am to 5:21 pm on Saturdays.
Going straight there from Boston? Mayflower Link buses toward the museum pass the park-and-ride at 13 past the hour, about 50 minutes after the Plymouth & Brockton bus gets there. Seeing downtown first, as in the day trip above, uses that time.
Don't plan to walk it. Plimoth Patuxet says its main campus is about 3 miles from its downtown sites, and it advises against walking between them.
Opening hours. Plimoth Patuxet Museums, which also runs Mayflower II and the Grist Mill, says it's open 7 days a week, 9 am to 5 pm, through Sunday, November 29, 2026, the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Pilgrim Hall Museum is open Wednesday to Sunday, 9:30 am to 5 pm, from April to early December, with last admission at 4:30 pm. On Thanksgiving Day it's open until 1:30 pm.
GATRA holidays. GATRA runs its Saturday schedule on Veterans Day, Wednesday, November 11, and has no service on Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving in America's Hometown

Plymouth holds its big Thanksgiving celebration the weekend before the holiday, and Plimoth Patuxet says November is its busiest month.

America's Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration: Friday, November 20 to Sunday, November 22, 2026, per its official site. The parade is Saturday, November 21. It steps off at 10 am at Plymouth Rock, after opening ceremonies at 9 am, and ends at Court Street and Nelson Street. It's free to watch.
Parade day by train. The 8:42 am Kingston Line train from South Station reaches Kingston at 9:41 am. The celebration's transportation page lists shuttles from the Kingston station parking lot on Marion Drive to Lincoln Street in Plymouth, every 15 minutes from 7 am to 3 pm. The page doesn't say which year it's for, so check it close to the day. Trains back to Boston leave Kingston at 12:05, 2:05, 4:15, 6:35 and 8:25 pm.
Parade day by bus. Plymouth & Brockton buses leave South Station at 6:25, 7:25 and 8:25 am and reach the Exit 13 park-and-ride at 7:20, 8:20 and 9:20 am. On last year's parade day, November 22, 2025, GATRA's Mayflower Link skipped its downtown stops until 3 pm, so check GATRA for this year's detours.
Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26. In the MBTA's schedule data, the Kingston Line runs its weekend schedule, with the last train back from Kingston at 8:25 pm. Plymouth & Brockton runs a holiday schedule with 5 trips each way: from South Station at 7:25 am, 11:25 am, 3:25 pm, 7:25 pm and 9:25 pm, and from the Plymouth park-and-ride at 4:55 am, 8:55 am, 12:55 pm, 4:55 pm and 6:55 pm. GATRA buses don't run, so there's no bus from the station or the park-and-ride into town. Plimoth Patuxet, which serves Thanksgiving dinners that day, says public transportation and rideshare are very limited or not available in Plymouth on Thanksgiving.
The day after. On Friday, November 27, the Kingston Line runs its weekday schedule and Plymouth & Brockton its regular schedule, and the day isn't on GATRA's holiday list.
Fares and notices. The MBTA's $10 Thanksgiving pass covers unlimited Commuter Rail rides from Thursday, November 26 to Sunday, November 29. The MBTA hadn't posted its Thanksgiving service notice yet as of October 29, 2026. See our MBTA Thanksgiving 2026 schedule guide.

Getting back to Boston

Buses in Plymouth stop early, so plan your day around the last one.

When	Last trip that connects	In Boston
Weekdays, by bus	6:00 pm Mayflower Link from Plymouth Center (6:03 pm from Old Post Office), then the 6:25 pm Plymouth & Brockton bus from the park-and-ride	South Station 7:20 pm
Weekdays, by train	6:00 pm Liberty Link from Plymouth Center to Kingston station (6:36 pm), then the 7:40 pm Kingston Line train	South Station 8:40 pm
Saturdays, by bus	5:00 pm Mayflower Link from Plymouth Center (5:03 pm from Old Post Office), then the 6:25 pm Plymouth & Brockton bus	South Station 7:20 pm
Saturdays, by train	5:00 pm Liberty Link from Plymouth Center to Kingston station (5:38 pm), then the 6:35 pm Kingston Line train	South Station 7:35 pm
From Plimoth Patuxet	5:21 pm Mayflower Link from the museum stop to the park-and-ride (5:40 pm), then the 6:25 pm Plymouth & Brockton bus	South Station 7:20 pm

If you miss the last bus:

Plymouth & Brockton buses still leave the Exit 13 park-and-ride at 7:40 pm (South Station 8:40 pm) and 9:55 pm (10:50 pm) every day. But the last GATRA bus from downtown gets there at 6:13 pm on weekdays and 5:13 pm on Saturdays, and the park-and-ride is about 2.4 miles on foot from Plymouth Rock, about 50 minutes.
The last train toward Boston leaves Kingston at 10:55 pm on weekdays and 10:45 pm on weekends. It ends at Braintree, where you can change to the Red Line. Kingston station is about 4.6 miles from Plymouth Rock.
The next morning, the first GATRA buses leave Plymouth Center at 7 am on weekdays and 8 am on Saturdays. On weekdays, the 7 am Freedom Link reaches Kingston station at 7:16 am, in time for the 7:23 am train to South Station.

Before you sit down for dinner, ask Cobblehop for the last trip back to Boston. You get one route and an alert before your stop. Try it free, no sign-up. For the late trains from Kingston, see Last train from Kingston to Boston.

Boston to Plymouth without a car: common questions

Can you get from Boston to Plymouth without a car?

Yes. Take the Plymouth & Brockton bus from the South Station bus terminal to the park-and-ride at Route 3 Exit 13 (55 minutes), then the free GATRA Mayflower Link bus to downtown Plymouth (12 minutes). It runs about every hour, Monday to Saturday. On Saturdays you can also take the Kingston Line train with the $10 weekend pass, then a free GATRA bus.

Is there a train from Boston to Plymouth?

Not to Plymouth itself. The MBTA Kingston Line from South Station ends at Kingston, the next town north, and costs $12.25 each way. Some GATRA Liberty Link and Freedom Link buses go from the station to downtown Plymouth in 19 to 34 minutes. A few of them line up well with trains on Saturdays, but not on weekday mornings.

How do I get to Plimoth Patuxet by bus?

Take the GATRA Mayflower Link to the Plimoth Plantation stop, about a 2-minute walk from the Visitor Center. Buses leave Plymouth Center on the hour, 7 am to 6 pm on weekdays and 9 am to 5 pm on Saturdays, and take 30 minutes. The museum is about 3 miles from downtown, and it advises against walking between its sites.

Can I visit Plymouth on a Sunday without a car?

Plymouth & Brockton buses and Kingston Line trains run on Sundays. GATRA announced Sunday service in July 2026, but its Plymouth schedules and schedule data still show no Sunday buses, so call GATRA at 800-483-2500 first. Without a bus, Plymouth Rock is about a 50-minute walk from the Plymouth & Brockton park-and-ride.

When is the Plymouth Thanksgiving parade in 2026?

Saturday, November 21, 2026. It steps off at 10 am at Plymouth Rock. America's Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration runs from Friday, November 20 to Sunday, November 22. By train, the 8:42 am from South Station reaches Kingston at 9:41 am.

Can I get to Plymouth on Thanksgiving Day without a car?

Partly. The Kingston Line runs a weekend schedule, and Plymouth & Brockton runs 5 trips each way to the Exit 13 park-and-ride. But GATRA buses don't run on Thanksgiving Day, so there's no bus into downtown or to Plimoth Patuxet. Plimoth Patuxet says public transportation and rideshare are very limited or not available in Plymouth that day.

Official sources

Cobblehop is independent and isn't affiliated with these agencies, operators or museums. Schedules on this page come from the public schedule data of MassDOT/MBTA, GATRA and Plymouth & Brockton. Check their pages for the latest schedules and service changes:

Published October 29, 2026. Bus and train times come from the fall 2026 schedule data of the MBTA, GATRA and Plymouth & Brockton, checked on October 29, 2026. MBTA and GATRA fares, museum hours and event dates were checked on their websites the same day. Service changes, so check Cobblehop for live times before you go.

Plan your trip in Cobblehop. Say where you're going and get one clear route, a leave-in countdown and an alert before your stop.

Open Cobblehop

Step-by-step routes: