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Philadelphia

Philadelphia (affectionately known as "Philly") combines the best of all worlds.  The city is compact and it is easy to walk to nearly everywhere you want to go.  Furthermore, the public transportation system in the city (particularly to school and to some of the closer suburbs) is reliable and inexpensive.  The city has a strong history, an arts community, a lively culture, excellent restaurants, as well as a healthy nightlife.  Regardless of which neighborhood you choose to visit, all that Philadelphia has to offer will be easily accessible to you.  The city is a delightful mixture of large and small – a metropolis with everything a big city can offer, but also neighborhoods filled with eclectic character.  Whatever you are looking for, you’ll always find it in Philly.

CITY ATTRACTIONS

Of course, Philadelphia has history.  Lots of it. Suffice it to say that one of the greatest experiments in democracy started here, so the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and other treasures and landmarks are where you can see them, in the middle of Old City. You’ll find Elfreth’s Alley here, the oldest residential street in the country in continuous use.  Walk through the Old City area and you’ll cover the same sidewalks, tread the same cobblestones and cross the same streets as did the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Things to Do
Tours | Historic Sites | Museums | The Arts | Local Neighborhoods and Hangouts | The Zoo | Excursions | Specials

Tours

Historic Philadelphia Walking Tour
Price Range: Free (admission to sites extra)
Address: Constitutional Foundation, 226 West Rittenhouse Square, Suite 1006
Tel: (215) 525-1776 
The self-guided, three-mile tour, the Constitutional, features more than 30 historical sites, including churches, museums, former taverns and old hospitals. Besides traditional tourist stops like Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, the itinerary introduces other significant locations from the Colonial and Revolutionary period near Independence Mall.  An example is the First Bank of the United States, on Third Street between Chestnut and Walnut Streets. Chartered by Congress in 1791, the bank moved into this classical building, the oldest bank building in the country, in 1797.

Audio Walk and Tour
Price Range: $10 for one person, $14 for two people, $16 for three people and $20 for four people
Address: Independence Visitor Center (Sixth and Market Street)
Tel: (215) 965-7676 or (800) 537-7676.
Hear the spirit of history come alive with a 74-minute narration, self guided and leisurely walking tour of historic Philadelphia.  This easily navigated audio tour is available for rent here at the Independence Visitor Center.  The tour includes a lightweight CD player and a detailed map that includes 20 important historic sites and 64 narrated segments.

Big Bus
Price Range: $25, $15 children under 12
Address: 437 Chestnut Street
Tel: (215) 965-7676 or (800) 537-7676
Hours: First bus leaves at 9:00 am; last bus leaves at 6:00 pm. Buses leave every 1/2 hour 
The world's largest operator of Open Top Double Decker Sightseeing Tours.  The tours of Philadelphia are 90 minutes long with 20 stops throughout the city including Old City, Society Hill, Penn's Landing, Center City, Independence Mall, The Art Museum, Fairmount Park, The Zoo, University City and 30th Street Station. Buses run throughout the year.

Freedom Ferry
Price Range: $6, $4 for children (Available at the terminal)
Address: Penn’s Landing Ferry Terminal (Philadelphia) or Wiggins Park Ferry Terminal (Camden)
Tel: (215) 926-LINK
Hours: 9 am to 5:40 pm daily, departures every 40 minutes.  
Riding the Freedom Ferry on the Delaware River offers a 12-minute picturesque view of the Philadelphia skyline and colorful attractions in Camden. Express Service is available up to two hours before all outdoor Tweeter Center concerts and Camden Riversharks baseball games after the last regular ferry run at 5:40 p.m.

Philadelphia Trolley Works
Price Range: $20, $5 for children
Tel: (215) 925-TOUR
Hours: 9 am – 4 pm daily
Step aboard the beautifully restored Victorian Trolleys to experience Philadelphia's past, present and future.  The 90-minute City Tour includes 20 convenient stops located throughout Center City.  Informative tour guides will entertain you with historical facts and tales that helped create our nation.

Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation Neighborhood Tours Network
Price Range: $32, $22 for children under 12
Tel: (800) 537-7676 or (215) 599-2295
Location: Departs from Independence Visitor Center, 6th and Market Streets
Hours: Saturdays at 10 am and return at 1 pm 
Enjoy the rich history and diverse culture of Philadelphia through Philadelphia's Neighborhood Tours featuring an authentic experience with ethnic food samples, interactive demonstrations by local artists, social history lessons by neighborhood guides and shopping.

Ride the Ducks
Price Range: $20, $11 children under12
Tel: 1-215-227-DUCK
Location: 437 Chestnut St., Suite 910
Hours: 9 AM – 7 PM daily
The tour provided by Ride The Ducks will be an entertaining and interactive adventure through real world Philadelphia.  The unique land-to-water tour will take passengers on a scenic journey through Old City, the Historic district and South Street, before plunging into the water for a floating tour of the Delaware River along Penn's Landing.  The closed loop tour (without stops, exiting or boarding en route) lasts about 80 minutes, including a 20-minute cruise along the Delaware River.  The landside portion of the tour will include Old City Philadelphia, the Historic District including Independence Mall, Society Hill, and of course, vibrant South Street.  After plunging into the Delaware River just North of the Ben Franklin Bridge, the water tour along Penn's Landing will include a spectacular view of the Bridge and the city skyline.

Spirit of Philadelphia Cruise
Price Range:  $40-60
Tel: 1-866-211-3808
Location: Columbus Blvd at Lombard Circle
Hours: Saturday brunch 11 AM – 1 PM; Sunday brunch 12 noon – 2 PM; Dinner daily 7 pm – 10 pm
Cruise, Dine, Dance.  Sightseeing cruises sail the Delaware River with buffet meals, cocktails, live entertainment and dancing.

Historic Sites 

National Constitution Center, Independence Mall
Price Range: $6, $5 for ages 4 to 12
Address: 525 Arch Street
Tel:  (866) 917-1787
Hours: 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM daily
On July 4, 2003, the elegant, two-story National Constitution Center opened its doors to an estimated one million visitors a year.  Located on the third block of Independence Mall and serving as the northernmost anchor of the Mall complex, the Center tells the story of the U.S. Constitution through more than 100 interactive and multimedia exhibits, photographs, sculpture, text, film and artifacts.

Independence Visitor Center
Price Range: Free. Tickets for Independence Hall are free but there is a fee for advance reservations of $1.50 (800-967-2283 or Online)
Address: Sixth and Market Streets
Tel: (800) 537-7676
Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
The center is the place for information about all of Independence National Historical Park and other Philadelphia attractions, as well as for the free timed tickets necessary to enter Independence Hall.

Graff House
Price Range: Free
Address: Seventh and Market Streets
Hours: noon to 2 PM daily
Graff (or Declaration) House is a plain brick row house at Seventh and Market Streets where Thomas Jefferson lived when he wrote the Declaration of Independence.

Carpenters' Hall
Price Range: Free
Address: Chestnut Street between Third and Fourth Streets
Tel: (215) 925-0167
Hours: 10 AM to 4 PM, except on Monday
Carpenters' Hall is one of the great treasures of historic Philadelphia.  The Hall has been owned and operated by the Carpenters' Company of Philadelphia, the oldest trade guild in America, since 1770.  The Hall has been home to a host of firsts including the First Continental Congress.

The Liberty Bell
Price Range: Free
Address: Market Street between 5th and 6th Streets
Tel: (800) 537-7676
Hours: 9 AM to 5 PM daily
The new Liberty Bell Center offers a video presentation and exhibits about the Liberty Bell, focusing on its origins and its modern day role as an international icon of freedom.  Taped presentations about the history of the Liberty Bell are offered in a dozen languages for the convenience of foreign visitors.  The Liberty Bell itself is displayed in a magnificent glass chamber with Independence Hall in the background.

Christ Church
Price Range: Free
Location: Second Street between Market and Arch Streets
Tel: (215) 922-1695
Hours: 9 AM to 5 PM and after 12 noon on Sunday
Christ Church was established on 15 November 1695, and for 66 years was the only Church of England parish in the city of Philadelphia.  The present building was started in 1727 and completed in 1744.  The tower and steeple, financed in part by lotteries managed by Benjamin Franklin was completed in 1754.  The building is an outstanding example of colonial architecture in the Georgian spirit.

The Christ Church Burial Ground
Suggested donation: $2-adult, $1-student. 35-minute tours at 10:15, 11:15, 12:15, 1:15, 2:15, $3-adult, $2-student.
Location: Fifth and Arch Streets
Tel: (215) 922-1695
Hours: Monday-Saturday 10 AM – 4 PM, Sunday 12 noon - 4 PM, weather permitting 
Interred at Christ Church Burial Ground are hundreds of Colonial, Revolutionary and Post-Revolutionary notables.  The most famous of whom is Benjamin Franklin.

Valley Forge National Historical Park
Price Range: Free
Location: Valley Forge, PA
Tel: (610) 783-1099
Hours: 9 AM - 5 PM daily
Of all the places associated with the American War for Independence, perhaps none has come to symbolize perseverance and sacrifice more than Valley Forge.  The hardships of the encampment claimed the lives of one in ten, nearly all from disease.  Despite the privations suffered by the army at Valley Forge, Washington and his generals built a unified professional military organization that ultimately enabled the Continental Army to triumph over the British. 

Eastern State Penitentiary
Price Range: $9, $4 for ages 7 to 12. Children under 7 not admitted.
Location: 2124 Fairmount Avenue
Tel: (215) 236-3300
Hours: Opens at 10 AM. Wednesday through Sunday, with last entry at 4 PM
Opened in 1829 as part of a controversial movement to change the behavior of inmates through "confinement in solitude with labor," Eastern State Penitentiary quickly became the most expensive and most copied building in the young United States.  It is estimated that more than 300 prisons worldwide are based on the Penitentiary's wagon-wheel, or "radial" floor plan.  Some of America's most notorious criminals were held in the Penitentiary's vaulted, sky-lit cells, including bank robber Willie Sutton and Al Capone.  After 142 years of consecutive use, Eastern State Penitentiary was completely abandoned in 1971, and now stands, a lost world of crumbling cell blocks and empty guard towers.

Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia
Price Range: $8, $5 ages 6 to 18
Location: 19 South 22nd Street
Tel: (215) 563-3737
Hours: 10 AM - 5 PM daily
The Museum's collections include over 20,000 objects, including fluid-preserved anatomical and pathological specimens, medical instruments, anatomical and pathological models, items of memorabilia of famous scientists and physicians, and medical illustrations.

Museums

Academy of Natural Sciences
Price Range: $9, children under 12, $8.
Location: 1900 Ben Franklin Parkway
Tel: (215) 965-7676 or (800) 537-7676
Hours: Monday – Friday, 10 AM – 4:30 PM; Saturday & Sunday, 10 AM – 5 PM
The Academy of Natural Sciences has four floors of exhibitions and activities centering on the environment and its diverse species.  Stroll among live butterflies, pet a live snake or hissing cockroach, learn about the importance of water, and much more.  The Academy also houses 17 million specimens of plants, animals and other organisms, including rare library holdings that document scientific discovery from the 1500's to today.

African American Museum in Philadelphia
Price Range: $8, children under 12, $6.
Location: 701 Arch Street
Tel: (215) 574-0380
Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 10 AM to 5 PM; Sunday 12 noon – 5 PM
Found in 1976 as the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum in celebration of the nation’s Bicentennial, the Museum was the first institution funded and built by a major municipality to preserve, interpret and exhibit the heritage of African Americans.  Throughout its evolution, the Museum has objectively interpreted and presented the achievements and aspirations of African Americans from pre-colonial times to current day.

Philadelphia Museum of Art
Price Range: $10, $7 children 18 and under
Location: Benjamin Franklin Parkway and 26th Street
Tel: (215) 763-8100
Hours: Tuesday, Thursdays, Saturdays & Sundays, 10 AM – 5 PM; Wednesday & Fridays, 10 AM – 8:45 PM 
Known as the Parthenon on the Parkway, this temple of art houses over 300,000 objects in a half-million square feet of space.  The collection has depth in Asian and Near East art, works from a millennium of European history, and a significant collection of Impressionist and Post-impressionist paintings.  Most of the masters of the 20th Century are represented, including rooms devoted to Duchamp and Brancusi.

Rodin Museum
Price Range: $3
Location: Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 22nd Street
Tel: (215) 763-8100
Hours: Tuesday through Sunday: 10 AM - 5 PM
The museum, which opened to the public in 1929, houses 124 sculptures, including bronze casts of the artist's greatest works: The Thinker, perhaps the most famous sculpture in the world; The Burghers of Calais, his most heroic and moving historical tribute; Eternal Springtime, one of the most powerful works dealing with human love; powerful monuments to leading French intellectuals such as Apotheosis of Victor Hugo; and the culminating creation of his career, The Gates of Hell, on which the artist worked from 1880 until his death in 1917.

Franklin Institute
Price Range: $12.75
Location: 222 North 20th Street
Tel: (215) 448-1200
Hours: 9:30 AM – 5 PM daily
The Franklin Institute is one of the most highly regarded museums in the United States.  Founded as a tribute to the life work of Benjamin Franklin, the Institute shines through a dizzying array of hands-on exhibits, which encourages visitors to participate rather than merely stare at the exhibits.  Please bear in mind that the museum is absolutely gigantic, so it is advisable to have some sort of plan before you arrive.  Set aside plenty of time to explore the institute’s many, many displays; you can definitely spend a whole day here.

Barnes Foundation
Price Range: $5
Location: 300 North Latch's Lane, Merion, PA 19066
Tel: (610) 667-0290 (reservations), then press option 5
Hours: Please call.  Reservation must be made in advance for all visits. 
The Barnes Foundation collection is unsurpassed in breadth, quality and depth in Impressionism and Post-Impressionism.  It is enhanced by Greek, Roman and Egyptian antiquities, Chinese painting, African sculpture, retablos from New Mexico, Native American works and American decorative arts.  Juxtapositions of objects from different cultures, periods and media are intentional and provide exciting resources for teaching and viewing the world from a diverse perspective.

Please Touch Museum
Price Range: $9
Location: 210 North 21st Street
Tel: (215) 963-0667
Hours: 9 AM – 5 PM daily
All of the interactive exhibits here create education opportunities through play for children ages one to seven.  Learn about transportation with "Move It" by "driving" a bus and "sailing" a boat.  Film your favorite made-up stories at "Me On TV".  Get a look at farm life with "Barnyard Babies".  And enter "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" through a life-sized version of the story.

The Arts

In the arts, Philadelphia is undergoing a renaissance that's transformed and rejuvenated a considerable stretch of South Broad Street into The Avenue of the Arts.  The Pennsylvania Ballet, Philadelphia Opera Company and Penn. Academy of Fine Arts are here, and so are plenty of theaters, galleries, jazz clubs, poetry readings and more.  Plus rarities like the Rosenbach Museum and its collection of rare manuscripts (James Joyce’s Ulysses, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and others) are equally astonishing.

Kimmel Center
Location: 260 South Broad Street on the Avenue of the Arts
Tel: (215) 790-5800
The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts includes Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater, Innovation Studio and the Merck Arts Education Center.  Kimmel Center, Inc. also manages the Academy of Music, owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra Association.  The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and the Academy of Music serve as home to eight Resident Company performing arts organizations, including The Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, American Theater Arts for Youth, PHILADANCO, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and Peter Nero and the Philly Pops®.  Kimmel Center, Inc.’s mission also includes arts in education, community outreach and a rich diversity of programming through its Kimmel Center Presents and Citizens Bank Broadway at the Academy series of performances.

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Price Range: $5, $3 for ages 5 to 18
Location: Broad and Cherry Streets
Tel: (215) 972-7600
Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 10 AM – 5 PM; Sunday, 11 AM – 5 PM
Throughout the year, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts presents special exhibitions, an outstanding permanent collection, and work by some of the region's most talented contemporary artists-all in the historic landmark building designed by Frank Furness and George W. Hewitt.

Rosenbach Museum and Library
Price Range: $8, $5 students
Location: 2008-2010 Delancey Place
Tel: (215) 732-1600
Hours: 10 AM – 5 PM daily, except Wednesday (10 AM- 8 PM) 
The brothers Rosenbach, Dr. A.S.W., a rare books dealer, and Philip, an art and antiques dealer, lived in this Victorian townhouse between 1926 and the mid-1950s.  They filled the place with significant French, English, and American furnishings – and a world-renowned collection of rare books and manuscripts.  The original manuscripts of Ulysses, The Pickwick Papers, and Lord Jim are just three of the highlights

Jazz in Philadelphia
You might be surprised by the list of all of the great jazz musicians who have come from Philadelphia or have come of age here.  Philadelphia has always represented quality in American jazz music, beginning in the 1930s, when Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti emerged from South Philadelphia, to the ascendancy of greats such as Philly Joe Jones, Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane, in the 1940s, '50s and '60s, to the '70s, when Stanley Clarke, Shirley Scott and Grover Washington Jr. fused soul and rock with jazz, to the age of present-day young turks such as Orrin Evans, Farid Barron, and Jaleel Shaw.  Some of the world's best established jazz musicians come from, and remain, in the Philadelphia region.  And there are strong venues in this city, such as Zanzibar Blue, North by Northwest, ThePainted Bride Art Center, and the venerable old Clef Club, now in the new millennium transformed into an Avenue of the Arts attraction

Local Neighborhoods & Hangouts

Chestnut Hill
This is a must-see suburb within the city limits boasting cobblestone streets, quaint shops and wonderful restaurants. Stroll along Germantown Avenue past historic homes, colorful gardens and galleries to experience another side of Philly.  

Chinatown
Let the gates at 10th and Arch welcome you to the city's center of Asian culture.  Whether you need a midnight study break or crave a taste of another world, here's the spot.  

Fairmont Park
Philadelphia encompasses Fairmount Park, the largest landscaped park in the country at 4,180 acres, all of it in the city. It’s the granddaddy of all municipal parks.  A river runs through it – the Schuylkill (pronounced SKOO-kill by most locals), the banks of which include some of the flattest and prettiest jogging and biking paths anywhere, an 8.6-mile loop that starts and ends at the art museum.  The park, largely unchanged over the past century; is also the home of the college rowing crews and regattas, and under one of the river’s bridges you can see where Thomas Eakins painted his sculling studies.  The crew boathouses, quaint Victorians outlined with decorative lights, show their reflections in the river, a treat for commuters driving the Schuylkill Expressway.

Italian Market
Take South Philadelphia’s Italian Market – block after block of stalls and pushcarts and small shops that, started by immigrants, haven’t changed much since the beginning of the 20th century.  The prices and selection are often incredible, drawing shoppers and gourmet cooks from all around the city.  On a good day you might get 12 ears of corn or three pounds of grapes for a buck. 

The Main Line
On Philadelphia’s Main Line, old money maintains historic mansions and sprawling estates.  The setting for the classic Hepburn/Grant/Stewart film “The Philadelphia Story,” the Main Line smacks of Boodles Martinis and freshly pressed schoolboy blazers.

Manayunk
Nestled along the banks of the river, this is where young Philadelphians live, shop and dine.  This 19th century mill town has been dubbed "Fun along the Schuykill."  You can also rent bikes here and ride along the canal into the city or as far out as Valley Forge National Historic Site. 

Old City
On the first Friday of the month, Old City – Philadelphia’s more low-key version of SoHo – hosts First Friday.  Crowds throng the stress and the neighborhood’s art galleries are open late. 

Penn’s Landing
Penn’s Landing offers many tourist attractions and celebrations, often in context with national holidays and fireworks as well as restaurants, museums, chili cook-offs, outdoor dancing, light shows and the chance to say hello to passengers and crew from faraway places whose ships dock right here. 

Rittenhouse Square
Surrounded by some of the city's most stately manors, this area doubles as a big off-campus residence and student hangout.  Drop into La Colombe (19th & Walnut) for a cappuccino and strike up a conversation with a student to get the scoop on Philly.  The square's many great restaurants, cafes and bookstores are also reasons students flock here.

South Street
South Street, “the hippest street in town”, block after block of boutiques, bookstores, record stores, restaurants, clubs and hangouts.

University City
With over 40,000 students from the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, and The University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, students definitely rule.  This neighborhood mixes urban life with tree-lined streets and historic Victorian homes, and it's quickly becoming the Harvard Square of the Mid-Atlantic.  Located just across the Schuylkill River from downtown,  University City is home to the Institute of Contemporary Art, Annenberg Performance Center, and Penn's Archaeology Museum.  U City also boasts top restaurants, like Pod, Rx, and The White Dog Café, as well as a dizzying array of ethnic eateries offering up the true flavors India, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Valley Forge
Not all student shopping is done on the net.  Many drive to King of Prussia (home of the East Coast's largest mall - don't forget there's no sales tax on clothing in PA!).  Others grab their mountain bikes and head for Valley Forge State Park or pack their charcoals

 
The Zoo

The Philadelphia Zoo
Price Range: $16, $13 for children under 12
Location: 34th Street and Girard Avenue
Tel: (215) 243-5233
Hours: 9:30 AM – 5:00 PM daily 
The Philadelphia Zoo, oldest in the country, itself big enough to get lost in.  Its state-of-the-art animal exhibits and health-care facilities, award-winning education and conservation programs, recreational opportunities, guest services, scientific accomplishments and historically significant venue make the Philadelphia Zoo one of the world's most renowned zoological societies and gardens.  The Zoo is also the Philadelphia region's leading family attraction, welcoming more than a million visitors a year.

Excursions 
Philadelphia’s terrific, but suppose you want to get off, really far off, campus?  Fortunately we’re centrally located.  Never seen an ocean?  The Atlantic’s shore resorts are an hour or so away.  Want to go skiing?  Hit the Pocono Mountains.  Do day trips to New York, Baltimore and the nation’s Capitol, or to Pennsylvania Dutch Country and the flea markets around Adamstown.  And if you want to see Europe, just stand in the surf on the Jersey shore on a clear day and squint slightly.

Specials

City Pass
Price Range: $36, $22 for children under 11
Tel: (215) 965-7676 or (800) 537-7676 
The popular Philadelphia CityPass features entry to six City attractions all for one price!  The attractions are: The National Constitution Center, The Academy of Natural Sciences,
Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia Zoo, the Franklin Institute and Philadelphia Trolley Tours.