Philadelphia is full of attractions and activities for tourists.
Below is a guide to Philadelphia area's most popular historical sites and museums.
Philadelphia's Historical Sites
- Independence Hall: Independence Hall (Chestnut Street between 5th & 6th) is where both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were written. Free guided tours are available daily, but tickets must be obtained at the Visitor Center at 6th & Market Streets.
- Liberty Bell: The Liberty Bell Center (6th & Market Streets) houses Philadelphia's famous bell. Admission to the Liberty Bell Center is free, but tickets must be obtained across the street at the Visitor Center.
- Betsy Ross House: The Betsy Ross House (239 Arch Street) is where the famous seamstress sewed the first U.S. flag. Here, visitors can take a self-guided tour through the house or purchase an audio tour guide.
- Valley Forge National Historical Park: Just west of Philadelphia (I-76 west to Gulph Road) is Valley Forge National Historical Park, the site of the famous winter encampment by George Washington's Continental Army. Here, visitors can peer inside the small log huts that served as the soldiers' quarters, and tour the house that served as Washington's headquarters. Inside the Welcome Center, you can view artifacts from the Revolutionary War era and films about the encampment.
Philadelphia's Museums
- National Constitution Center: At the National Constitution Center (6th & Arch Streets), visitors can learn about the U.S. Constitution via a wide variety of interactive and multimedia displays.
- Philadelphia Museum of Art: The Philadelphia Museum of Art (26th & Benjamin Franklin Parkway) houses some of the world's most famous works of art, including Picasso's "Three Musicians" and Poussin's "The Birth of Venus". The museum also features extensive exhibits of East Asian art, costumes and textiles, and Native American art. Leading up to the museum are the famous steps from the "Rocky" movie, where visitors often mimic the movie boxer's run up the stairs and pose for photos, armed raised in victory, at the top.
- Rodin Museum: The Rodin Museum (22nd & Benjamin Franklin Parkway) houses the largest collection of Auguste Rodin's art outside of Paris. Here you can see Rodin's famous sculptures "The Thinker" and "The Gates of Hell," along with a sizeable collection of Rodin's drawings, prints, letters, and books.
- Franklin Institute: The Franklin Institute (20th & Benjamin Franklin Parkway) is an educational tribute to Benjamin Franklin's love of science. Here, visitors can view historical artifacts from Franklin, the Wright Brothers, and other great American innovators, walk through a giant mechanical heart, or catch a planetarium show in the Fels Planetarium.
- Academy of Natural Sciences: The Academy of Natural Sciences (19th & Benjamin Franklin Parkway) is known for its extensive collection of dinosaur skeletons, including a fully constructed Gigantosaurus (the largest carnivore ever to walk the earth). The Academy also hosts a variety of traveling science exhibits. In addition, visitors can stroll the museum's corridors and watch the Academy's scientists at work.
- Mutter Museum: The Mutter Museum (19 S. 22nd Street) is not for the squeamish. Known for its unusual collection of medical oddities, this museum features such novelties as a wall of skulls indexed by origin, plaster models of famous conjoined twins, the largest human skeleton, and numerous organs, tumors, and other specimens in jars.
- Mummers Museum: On a more whimsical note, the Mummers Museum (1100 S. 2nd Street) offers a history of Philadelphia's famous New Year's Day tradition - the Mummers Parade. Here, visitors can view the Mummers's elaborate costumes and other memorabilia that have been collected through the years.
So step out, and enjoy Philadelphia's rich historical and cultural resources. There is something for everyone in the City of Brotherly Love.
