Harvard University is possibly the most famous educational institution in the world, with no shortage of traditions. For the uninitiated, here is a list of stops you shouldn’t miss, along with fun facts even many alumni and “townies” don’t know.

1. You cannot pahk your cah in Hahvahd Yahd, or anywhere near it, for that matter.
Photo: Lisa E. Paige
Harvard is a highly misunderstood place. Take movies about the place, for example: "Love Story," "Good Will Hunting," and "Legally Blonde"—all about as realistic as expecting to find an on-street parking space within a 10-mile radius of the campus.
Flickr / Freddy Montiero
To explore Harvard and "The Square," leave your car in the suburbs and "take the T," or expect to part with more than $30 for a few hours in a crammed garage.
2. The John Harvard Statue looks nothing like John Harvard.
Flickr / Mr. Littlehand
In 1883, General Samuel James Bridge, an "adopted" alum of the College, donated the bronze statue, sculpted in the 17th Century by Daniel Chester French. It looks nothing like John Harvard; no one knows what the donor of the original Harvard library-slash-namesake of the school looked like. French chose a good-looking undergraduate and modeled it after him.
Flickr / Tim Sackton
Sure, expand that selfie stick and record yourself standing in front of Non-John, but please, no rubbing his one shiny toe. Only tourists do that, thinking Harvard students do it for luck. Preposterous! Harvard students don’t need luck—they go to Harvard. Furthermore, Yalies whizz on that toe every chance they get.
3. A special tip for in-the-dark alums and their families: Widener’s drowning was not the basis for Harvard’s undergraduate lame swim test requirement.
Photo: Lisa E. Paige
Eleanor Elkins Widener, the mother of Harry Elkins Widener, Class of 1907 and a passenger on the ill-fated Titanic, donated the funds for this impressive Classical structure housing more than 3.5 million books on more than 5 miles of shelves on 10 floors (most of them underground dungeons).

Legends say Mrs. Widener stipulated that in return for her donation, the College institute a swimming test requirement. Seriously? Swimming a couple of laps in an indoor pool would hardly have saved a Titanic passenger (even Leonardo di Caprio). Students believe that somewhere along the line, administrators just got the idea that it would be amusing to watch nerds flail about in a few feet of water.
Flickr / Shutter Runner
While at Widener, don’t miss the John Singer Sargent murals or the oak-paneled reading rooms.
4. You can’t find Tercentenary Theatre. It’s not one.
Wikimedia / Daderot
Harvard doesn’t hold "graduation," it holds "Commencement," which seems counterintuitive as it’s the celebration of students who have just finished their studies. Actually, "Commencement" refers to the beginning of alumni being hounded for donations until entering witness protection. The annual Alumni Association meeting takes place the afternoon of "Commencement," in the Tercentenary Theatre, the open space between Memorial Church and Widener Library. So much for "Veritas."
Exit through a gate to explore some equally incongruous attractions.
Photo: Lisa E. Paige
Photo: Lisa E. Paige

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5. You'll find the coolest collection of scientific stuff anywhere.
Wikimedia / Daderot
The modernist Science Center just west of the Yard (and south of the faux-Gothic Memorial Hall) houses a collection of more than 20,000 historical scientific instruments dating all the way back to 1400. There’s also an observatory and a "wicked cool" early computer board about the size of the Vietnam War Memorial.
6. There are more museums than you could ever see in just one trip.
Flickr / Tim Sackton
It would take you days to wander through all the exhibits Harvard has to offer. The Museum of Natural History is best known for its glass flowers exhibit, but has so much more.
Wikimedia / Daderot
The three art museums—The Fogg, the Busch-Reisinger, and the Arthur M. Sackler Museums—all with extensive collections of their own, recently became roommates on the corner of Quincy Street and Broadway, across from Memorial Hall. The building, designed by world-famous architect Renzo Piano, is itself art.
7. You must check out The Coop.
Photo: Lisa E. Paige
Yes, it’s pronounced like the chicken kind. This ginormous store houses a Barnes and Noble complete with café, departments with clothing and assorted glassware, pens, stickers, and other bric-a-brac emblazoned with the school’s name and/or Veritas seal, and a Clinique counter. Go figure.
8. Grab a bite to eat at one of the old Harvard favorites.
Yelp / Mary C.
The Square was once crowded with independently owned bookstores, boutiques, and coffee shops. Some of those remain, including venerable if not exactly high-end culinary institutions like Mr. Bartley’s Burger Cottage, Grendel’s Den, and Pinnochio’s Pizza (where every self-respecting Harvard student has had a slice in the wee hours of a Sunday morning).
9. Try a sweet treat from one the newer Square residents.
Yelp / scott g.
Sadly, these are now dwarfed by the ubiquitous Paneras and Starbucks of the world. On the other hand, some new traditions have arisen over the last 10 years—a blink considering that Harvard was founded in 1636. If you have a sweet tooth, you’re in luck: check out Insomnia Cookie, J.P. Licks, and BerryLine (froyo made on site with milk from local organic dairies).
10. Take in the sights – and history – of Radcliffe Yard.
Flickr / Wally Gobetz
Hoof it up Mass. Ave and Garden Street to Radcliffe Yard and, a few more blocks west, Radcliffe Quad, both oases of lingering if fading old-timey femininity. Both gesture weakly toward the long history of women at Harvard (Radcliffe was founded in 1867, "non-merge-merged" in 1979, and basically dissolved by the Harvard Corporation—yes, corporation—in 1999). In the Radcliffe Yard, visit the Schlesinger Library of the History of American Women, with its testimony to separate and maybe someday truly equal educational opportunities for all. Holdings include the papers of early feminists like Jeannette Rankin, the first female member of Congress, who voted against both world wars.
11. Are you a sports fan? Head over the Anderson Bridge.
Photo: Lisa E. Paige
If you’re more inclined toward football than Women’s History, trek east down JFK Boulevard past the Kennedy School of Government until you run smack into Memorial Drive and the Charles River.
Photo: Lisa E. Paige
There you can cross over the Anderson Bridge and gape at the Roman ruin-like Harvard Stadium or wander through the Disney-perfect groomed lawns of the Business School.
Photo: Lisa E. Paige
Or, hike downstream on the footpath, past the boathouse, and toward Weeks Bridge. Climb to the center and pause to watch the flow of the Charles, so narrow at this point, and yet so deep with the reflections of so many seekers who have trod this path before you.

Lastly, be grateful you don’t have to write a paper on your adventure. At Harvard, despite notorious grade inflation, A’s are very hard to come by!

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