Things to Do in Philadelphia

St Peter's Episcopal Church is a still-functioning historic church in the Society Hill area of downtown Philadelphia. First built around 1760, the building itself is on the National Register of Historic Places, and its unique design has the altar on the one end and an elevated pulpit on the other, so there's is no front or back to the church. The church was built as an expansion to the nearby Christ Church, and many founding fathers worshipped in both locations, including George and Martha Washington.

In American history, the Delaware River is best known for the brave crossing made by George Washington around Trenton, NJ, when he directed a surprise attack during the Revolutionary War. However, today the Delaware River is home to a vibrant modern waterfront as it winds past Philadelphia, where locals and visitors alike can find great food, music, shopping and summer festivals. Among the many attractions along the riverfront, you can explore Olympia, the country’s oldest floating steel warship, at the Independence Seaport Museum, head to Morgan’s Pier to enjoy craft beer and live music overlooking the river, and climb aboard the RiverLink Ferry to explore the city from the water.

Founded by Benjamin Franklin, the University of Pennsylvania was the first American school to focus on education for students outside the clergy. Originally established between 1740 and 1750, this Ivy League school was one of the original Colonial Colleges and the first formal university -- offering courses of study at both the undergraduate and graduate level -- established in the United States.

Penn, as it’s colloquially known, is famous for a series of educational firsts: creation of the country’s first medical school (1765); the first university teaching hospital (1874); the Wharton School, the world’s first school dedicated to the study of business (1881); and Houston Hall, America’s first student-union building (1896); and the conception and design of ENIAC, the world’s first digital computer (1946).

Its graceful 279-acre campus, where the university moved in the 1870s, is the country’s first example of the Collegiate Gothic style, based on a design blend of the university campuses at Oxford and Cambridge. Landmarks here include the beautifully landscaped, 24-acre Penn Park, completed in 2011; the ornate Victorian-era Fisher Fine Arts Library, designed by architect Frank Furness in 1888; and the 1887 University Museum, which focuses on rare antiquities from around the world and is surrounded by the elegant Warden Garden.

The University of Pennsylvania today is home to 165 different research centers and institutes, and has an enrollment count of almost 25,000 students.

Philadelphia was once home to some of the Mid-Atlantic's most wealthy and influential elite. Travelers who make their way to the Powel House will venture back in time as they wander the elegant and ornate halls where Elizabeth and Samuel Powel once lived.

Close friends of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, the Powels were one of the original power couples in the City of Brotherly Love. Visitors can check out the historic home that's furnished with all of their personal effects, including Powel portraits, handmade clocks and other family heirlooms. There's even a letter sent by George Washington himself.

Travelers can see the Powel House on its own, or include it as a stop in a historic walking tour of Philadelphia. Whether it's a once-off exploration or part of a history-themed trip, the Powel House is worth a stop for history lovers and families.

One of the most popular spots for visitors to Philadelphia is bohemian South Street on the southern edge of downtown Philly. The stretch of South Street from Front to Seventh Streets is known for its eclectic scene and lively nightlife, where the crowds comprise a diverse mix of people, from punk rockers to local business people. South Street is loaded with great bars and restaurants, but most first timers make a beeline to Jim’s Steaks South Street for an award-winning Philly cheesesteak sandwich. During the day, you can visit the nearby Mummers Museum to learn about Philadelphia’s history of Mummers—costumed citizens who dress up to parade around the city on New Year’s Day. And after the sun goes down, hit local spots like Legendary Dobbs or Bob and Barbara’s for drinks and live music.

When people think of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, they usually think of the WWI monument in Arlington National Cemetery. However, Philadelphia's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier honors the many fallen heroes from the American Revolutionary War. It was established in Washington Square Park in 1957, and the monument includes an eternal flame and a bronze statue of George Washington. Inside the tomb are the remains of a soldier found in the park, which was formerly used as a cemetery. Also found in the park is a clone of the original Moon Tree, a sycamore grown from a seed that was taken to space by astronaut Stuart Roosa on Apollo XIV.

Philadelphia’s only automotive museum, this modern building contains 60 rare automobiles collected over five decades by local neurosurgeon Dr. Frederick Simeone.  The models displayed here date from 1909 to 1982, and include some of the most historically significant racecars ever made.

On the fourth Saturday of each month, a three-acre lot behind the museum becomes a racetrack; during these “Demo Days,” cars from the collection are introduced by Dr. Simeone himself and are then taken for a spin by professional drivers. The museum also routinely hosts special events, such as a traveling exhibition of classic motorcycles.

One of the most exciting and bizarre museums in America, this sprawling building houses one of the world's largest collections of medical oddities. Affiliated with The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, it's named for Thomas Dent Mütter, a 17th-century pioneer of reconstructive surgery and medical education who was fascinated by human anomalies and collected representations of them in a wide variety of forms. 

Designed to look like a huge cabinet of curiosities, the 1908 museum (its original incarnation was opened nearby in 1868) contains over 20,000 medical specimens. Popular attractions include the tallest skeleton on display in North America; slides of Albert Einstein's brain; the shared liver of Siamese twins Chang and Eng; and the preserved body parts and corpses of some of America's most historically famous circus freakshow performers. 

Each human abnormality featured in the museum is displayed alongside a drawing, photograph or wax model of its corresponding normality "“ which makes a visit here both educational and startling.

Home to the largest collection of original 18th- and 19th-century houses in the United States, this was one of Philadelphia’s most affluent neighborhoods until the early 1900s, when the city’s cultural and historical focus began to shift westward – along with City Hall. It was revamped throughout the 1960s and ‘70s, and is once again considered a tasteful, popular address.

There are several addresses here on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Society Hill Synagogue, built in 1829 by one of the architects who designed the U.S. Capitol; and the Merchant’s Exchange Building, a Greek Revival masterpiece designed in the early 1830s by William Strickland, architect of the Second Bank/Portrait Gallery building. Seek out Washington Square and Head House Square – two of the original five squares laid out by city founder William Penn -- and Bouvier’s Row (3rd & Spruce Streets), where ancestors of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis owned three Victorian brownstones. 

Set just to the west of the Delaware River and a couple of blocks south of Independence Mall, it’s easy to make a stroll around Society Hill part of a concentrated day of sightseeing.

Washington Square in Philadelphia provides a green escape from the city, with a historic element to boot.

The 6.4-acre Washington Square Park is one of the city's original park spaces, planned in the late 1600s. It was originally called Southeast Square, renamed after the first president in 1825, but its first uses did not involve leisure. The park served as a pastureland and a burial ground before local officials started to make improvements to the grounds in the early 1800s.

Today, Washington Square Park is a peaceful and relaxing place, with tree-lined walkways and sculptural monuments. There are monuments to those who died in the Civil War, as well as a Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier.