During my recent 24 hour Philly layover, I had the chance to explore the City of Brotherly Love. On any trip to Philly, you can expect a crash course in US History. My short, rapid fire tour of Philly was filled with lessons about the birth place of America while enjoying good food and admiring the architecture. In this city that is known for its “brotherly love”, people are friendly and quick to give you advice. Since we had less than 24 hours in the city, we decided to go for the highlights.
Reading Terminal
Since our Philadelphia layover was so short, we only had one shot to get a good meal. Naturally, we went to Reading Terminal. There are so many food vendors inside this historic market type building. Luckily, we had talked to some locals on the SEPTA train who pointed out which vendors are good. Beiler’s (literally, the best glazed doughnuts ever; help yourselves and buy a dozen) and Carmen’s (their signature Franklin Cheesesteak is a certain president’s favorite and mine too) were their top picks.
Independence Hall
The building itself is beautifully preserved. It is a red brick tall building with a clock tower on top. The building has witnessed steaming discussions between American forefathers, an end to a war, and the birth of a nation. This is where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted. If you want to see more of the building, check out the back of $100 bill.
Pro tip: If you don’t want to line up to view Liberty Bell from front, you can view it from the side of the Liberty Bell building with practically no line. We found it accidentally as we were taking pictures of the Independence Hall.
Elfreth’s Alley
A very quaint little street lined with 32 houses that were built between 1728-1836.
The alley is America’s oldest continually inhabited street. While the facade of the house remains unchanged, some of the houses’ insides are very modern. Most of the houses here are built 3 stories high to represent the Federal Trinity house style of “Father, Son and the Holy ghost”. The price tag for owning a piece of history? Recently sold houses range from $700K- $850K.
One Liberty Observation Deck
Having a 360 degree view of Philadelphia from 57 stories up was so amazing. While up here, you get to admire how orderly the city grid system looks. You can visit the One Liberty Observation Deck twice in a day with the same ticket. So it’s great to be able to see Philadelphia during the day and at night. The guide said that the night time view is breathtaking. Sadly, we didn’t have time to confirm this.
Barnes Foundation
If I had known that being a chemist could lead someone to have an impressive collection of post impressionist art, I may have stuck to my old day job. 🙂 Mr. Barnes, a chemist turned collector built this center for art studies. The foundation has a great collection of art by Van Gogh, Cézanne, Seurat, Picasso, and many more. The building and garden are also pretty impressive. We saw a few pre-wedding shots being done here.
Pro Tip: Make online reservation in advance. They limit the number of people in the galleries. It can get really crowded especially on weekends.
Rocky Statue and Steps (in front of Philadelphia Museum of Art)
It seems like a trip to Philadelphia is not complete if you don’t have a Rocky moment. Better yet, watch the movie before coming to Philly. Play the song in your head while going up and down the steps – Rocky style.
South Street
Locals told me this is the place to go to get good food in a great atmosphere. I didn’t make it here due to a lack of time but thought it is worth mentioning. If you go, try water ice (Philly’s version of Italian ice).
Smart to Know
- Buy SEPTA (train) ticket inside the train (from conductor) for round trip Airport to city center journey on same day to save money rather than buying 2 one ways.
- Philadelphia is a walking city. If you take SEPTA to city center, you can pretty much walk to almost all the major sights.
- We used Reading Terminal as our starting point
- Philadelphia Pass can save you money if you want to get into a lot of sights in Philadelphia and surrounding areas.
- The Classic Philly cheesesteak is topped with cheese wiz.
Lady Atlas Fox visited Philadelphia with support from Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB). All opinions, recommendations and photos are my own!