A Big Guide to Museums & Attractions in Greater Philadelphia

The centerpiece of Independence National Historical Park is world-famous Independence Hall, where America’s Founding Fathers gathered to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Eleven years later, representatives from the new states returned to lay the framework for the U.S. Constitution. Among the site’s rooms open to the public are the Assembly Room (where both documents were adopted), the Supreme Court Chamber, the Long Gallery and the Governor’s Council Chamber. Free guided tours are available year-round, but visitors must reserve timed tickets (with a $1 service charge) online or by phone in advance for entrance.

The iconic Liberty Bell — first cast in England in 1752 and recast in Philadelphia a year later — originally hung atop the Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall). It was quickly adopted by abolitionists, suffragists and justice-seekers across the globe as an enduring symbol of freedom. The bell was moved to a pavilion across the street in 1976 and then to the current Liberty Bell Center three decades later. Visitors can view the bell (and its famous crack) and tour the center (with a number of related exhibits) for free year-round.

America’s original Executive Mansion, Presidents George Washington and John Adams each lived at The President’s House during their time in office. While the original building was demolished in 1832, the foundation was unearthed in 2000 during the construction of the Liberty Bell Center and now serves as a free outdoor exhibit titled Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a New Nation. The open-air site offers viewable structural fragments, as well as looped videos focusing on the lives of the nine enslaved African men and women who lived here during Washington’s tenure.

Constructed in 1744, vaunted Christ Church operated as a house of worship and gathering place for prominent early Americans including George Washington, Betsy Ross and Benjamin Franklin, and where Absalom Jones was ordained as the nation’s first African American Episcopalian priest. Take the 20-minute guided tour then walk a few blocks to Christ Church Burial Ground, the final resting place of many of the nation’s first history makers, including Franklin himself. Toss a penny onto his grave for good luck.

While the iconic landmarks above were pivotal venues in the founding of the nation, they’re far from the only historic buildings in the Philadelphia’s Historic District’s 54-acre Independence National Historical Park. Don’t miss these other important Revolutionary-era sites:

• Carpenters’ Hall: The site where the First Continental Congress gathered in 1774 to impose a trade embargo against England (a precursor to the Declaration of Independence), and a significant work of Georgian architecture.

• Congress Hall: The nation’s first Capitol Building and home of the U.S. Congress from 1790 to 1800, and where Presidents Washington (second term) and Adams (first term) were inaugurated.

• Franklin Court and Benjamin Franklin Museum: A comprehensive look at Franklin’s extraordinary life and impact on American history, which includes an array of interactive displays, the “ghost structure” remains of Franklin’s home and the early B. Free Franklin Post Office.

• Free Quaker Meeting House: Built in 1783 as a place of worship and community gatherings for Quakers who supported the Revolution who chose to separate from the traditional Quaker community.

• Second Bank of the United States: Chartered in 1816, the bank played a crucial role in the early American economy until it was shuttered by President Andrew Jackson in 1836. Today the building houses a Portrait Gallery featuring over 150 portraits — many by Charles Willson Peale — of key 18th- and 19th-century figures.

• Old City Hall: The first permanent home to the U.S. Supreme Court from 1791 to 1800, the building played a key role in the nation’s judicial history then served as Philadelphia’s City Hall until 1854.

• Bicentennial Bell Garden: For America’s 200th birthday in 1976, Queen Elizabeth II gifted America with the Bicentennial Bell — forged in the same foundry as the Liberty Bell — which is on public display for the first time in a decade, at the former Benjamin Rush Garden.

• Washington Square: Located across the street from Independence Hall, the public green space — one of William Penn’s five original squares — features the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier and plenty of spots to sit and enjoy the beauty of the historic park.

Dedicated to the four most critical pages in America’s history, the National Constitution Center takes a deep dive into what “We the People” truly means. Museum-goers can explore exhibits and artifacts, view an original copy of the Bill of Rights, walk among 42 life-size bronze statues of the delegates who attended the Constitutional Convention in 1787, and learn more about the Constitutional amendments that ended slavery (13th Amendment) and granted the right to vote to Black men (15th Amendment) and some women (19th Amendment).

Telling the story of the Revolutionary War through personal accounts, the Museum of the American Revolution delves into the world-changing conflict through an unmatched collection of relics, including weapons, documents, personal items, works of art and the institution’s signature artifact: George Washington’s war tent which served as his shelter, battlefield home, strategic meeting place and office headquarters throughout the War of Independence. With powerful films, digital touchscreens and historical vignettes, the museum recreates the drama and the details of the country’s climactic birth.

Founded in 1976, the groundbreaking African American Museum in Philadelphia was the first institution built by a major U.S. city to preserve, interpret and exhibit the heritage and culture of people of African descent in America. The museum takes a bold look at early African Americans and their oft-unheralded impact in the founding of the nation, particularly through the permanent Audacious Freedom: African Americans in Philadelphia 1776-1876 exhibit. Visiting and rotating programs examine contemporary racial, societal, economic and cultural issues surrounding diasporic Africans via art and historic artifacts.

Take a journey through 360 years of Jewish history in the U.S. at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, which is filled with more than 1,200 artifacts and documents, 2,500 images, 30 original films and 13 interactive media displays — all free to visit (with suggested donation). The experience delivers a rich tale that traces the path of the nation’s Jewish diaspora from struggling immigrants to integral citizens. While you’re there, snap a selfie with Deborah Kass’ cheeky OY/YO sculpture installed outside of the museum entrance.

One of the oldest continuously inhabited residential streets in America, Elfreth’s Alley is a charming 400-foot cobblestone walk lined with 32 quaint private households — once inhabited by figures like Dolly Madison, Betsy Ross and Stephen Girard and still occupied by everyday Philadelphians — built between 1720 and 1830. While closely surrounded by a modern city, the alleyway preserves three centuries of evolution through old-fashioned flower boxes, shutters, Flemish bond brickwork and other architectural details. Don’t miss the pair of adjacent circa-1755 homes now operating as the Elfreth’s Alley Museum.

Another of William Penn’s original squares, Franklin Square park offers a bevy of modern outdoor fun. Take a mini-tour of Philadelphia as you putt-putt through scale models of iconic landmarks at Philly Mini Golf or enjoy a nostalgic ride on Parx Liberty Carousel — a tribute to Philadelphia’s carousel-making heritage. There’s also a large fountain (featuring seasonal shows and nighttime light displays), a burger stand and lots of open space. Summer visitors shouldn’t miss the annual Chinese Lantern Festival, while winter wanderers should earmark a visit to explore the Winter in Franklin Square programming.

America’s most famous flag maker greets guests at her 18th-century upholstery shop, part of the diminutive dwelling which today is the Betsy Ross House museum, where visitors can enjoy programs, storytelling and activities to learn about Ross’ life and legend. Visit the seamstress’ bedroom, kitchen, courtyard, fabrication studio and basement (filled with displays about her house and history). Tours are available — self-guided or on-your-own with personal audio — with a paid general admission ticket.

A fixture in Old City since 2000, the National Liberty Museum is dedicated to teaching visitors about the diversity of Americans and respect for all people through stories of heroes from all walks of life across the globe. Highlighting the knowledge that the struggle for liberty is not just an American ideal, the museum’s eight galleries showcase nearly 80 imaginative and interactive exhibits and 200 works of contemporary art (including an expansive collection of glass art), surrounded by stories of 2,000 difference-makers like Jackie Robinson, Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai.

One of the nation’s largest and most recognizable art institutions, the Philadelphia Museum of Art rises majestically from the head of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Inside are vast collections, including Renaissance, American and impressionist galleries featuring works from van Gogh, Manet, Cassatt, Duchamp, Dalí and Picasso, plus rotating exhibitions and tons of special programming. Meanwhile, outside are views of the museum’s stunning Greek Revival architecture, the one-acre Sculpture Garden and, of course, its staircase made famous by Rocky Balboa (see below).

Alongside a visit to the Liberty Bell (see above) and Pat’s King of Steaks (see below), one of the most iconic Philadelphia experiences is taking a run up the legendary Rocky Steps fronting the East Terrace entrance to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Race up the 72 stairs just as Sylvester Stallone famously did in the 1976 film and celebrate by spinning around with your fists in the air to take in the spectacular view down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Then snag a selfie with the eight-foot bronze Rocky Statue at the staircase’s base.

At home in the first American city to exhibit his creations, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway’s Rodin Museum houses the largest public collection of Auguste Rodin’s works outside of Paris, including 20 of the French master’s sculptures, plus exhibits highlighting drawings, paintings and academic studies. In the open air, the gallery’s Outdoor Gardens sculpture collection includes more masterpieces, like a bronze cast of The Thinker, the only original cast of The Gates of Hell in North America and The Age of Bronze (as well as the seasonal Rodin Garden Bar).

The gallery at the Barnes Foundation (dating back to 1961, and on the Parkway since 2012) is home to one of the world’s most important collections of impressionist, post-impressionist and early modernist paintings by renowned artists like Renoir, Cézanne, Picasso, van Gogh, Matisse, Rousseau, Degas, Rubens, Gauguin, Goya, Manet and Monet. The museum also showcases American paintings and decorative arts, metalwork, African sculpture and Indigenous textiles, jewelry and ceramics — all presented in philanthropist and lifelong Philadelphian Albert C. Barnes’ distinctive and specific arrangements.

One of the leading science museums in the nation — and one of the oldest, dating back to 1824 — The Franklin Institute specializes in how science affects every aspect of daily life. In addition to beloved hands-on permanent exhibits like Your Brain, Sir Isaac’s Loft, Amazing Machine, Franklin Air Show, Wondrous Space, the Baldwin 60000 steam locomotive, the iconic Giant Heart and mesmerizing four-story Foucault’s Pendulum, regular rotating special exhibitions add to the museum’s appeal. Filling a city block, the institute also houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial and the Fels Planetarium.

The oldest natural history museum in the Americas, the Parkway’s Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University was founded way back in 1812. Visitors can meet live animals and see three continents of wildlife in their natural habitats, as well as enjoy a myriad of exciting rotating visiting exhibitions. But the institution’s centerpiece is Dinosaur Hall, complete with 30 dinosaur and prehistoric reptile fossils, a fossil preparation lab, a dig site and a fully reconstructed 42-foot Tyrannosaurus rex.

Once the most famous and expensive prison in the world, the massive Eastern State Penitentiary operated from 1829 to 1970 and introduced Americans to the concept of prison as a reform (penitentiary for “penance”) tool. Today, the site — which once housed notorious criminals like Al Capone and Willie Sutton — offers self-guided tours that explore the attraction’s history, along with modern social justice issues that surround incarceration. If your visit brings you in the fall, be sure to experience the site’s popular Halloween Nights immersive haunted house experience.

Philadelphia’s City Hall — which, at one point, was the tallest building in the world — has served as city headquarters since 1901. The elaborate 14.5-acre site remains the world’s largest municipal building and masonry structure, and features over 250 exterior sculptures — including the statue of William Penn (the tallest atop any building on earth) above the clock tower, which also houses the Tower Tour observation deck. On the western-facing apron, Dilworth Park is the hall’s “front yard” with tree groves, benches, cafes, a spray fountain, and a skating rink for ice skating in winter and rollerskating in summer.

Diagonal from City Hall, John F. Kennedy Plaza gets its nickname — LOVE Park — from Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE statue that sits within the space (one of Philly’s most Instagrammable spots, particularly for couples). Serving as the grand entrance to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the park features a Visitor Center, a lighted fountain, gardens, a great lawn, and plenty of spots to sit or enjoy an alfresco lunch. Come winter, LOVE Park transforms into the beloved Bavarian-style Christmas Village.

Across Penn Square from City Hall, the massive Norman cathedral-style Masonic Temple has stood tall since 1873. The imposing structure is no church, but the Grand Lodge headquarters of the Freemasons of Pennsylvania, with 14th-century roots and a membership that included Benjamin Franklin and George Washington — whose statues stand outside its entrance. Hour-long guided tours highlight the ornate interior’s wondrous Renaissance, Egyptian, Moorish and Corinthian-influenced architecture, impressive artwork collection (including painted wood sculptures by William Rush) and a museum displaying Masonic artifacts dating back to the American Revolution.

For 130 years, Reading Terminal Market — one of the nation’s oldest and largest public markets — has offered a smorgasbord of dining choices from restaurants, bakeries, ice creameries and delis, for dine-in or take out. The bustling food hall offers over 80 vendors serving up tastes from scores of cuisines including hoagies, cheesesteaks, Cajun fare, Italian dishes, Middle Eastern favorites, Filipino classics, sushi, fresh produce and plenty of traditional Pennsylvania Dutch (Amish) specialties. With all those choices, it can be tough to decide what to order — so let us help with that.

One of the city’s most infamous science institutions is the Mütter Museum in Center City (part of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia), established to help the public understand the mysteries of the human body and appreciate the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Among the museum’s 20,000 piece “disturbingly informative” collection (many not for the faint of heart) are a tumor removed from President Grover Cleveland, the death cast of conjoined twins Chang & Eng, tissue samples from John Wilkes Booth, and slices of Albert Einstein’s brain.

The nation’s first art museum and first art school, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts features elaborate Victorian Gothic architecture as compelling as the American art on display within. A 1796 copy of Gilbert Stuart’s famous “Lansdowne portrait” of George Washington is a highlight, as are well-known paintings by artists like Winslow Homer, Kehinde Wiley, John Singer Sargent, Jacob Lawrence, Thomas Eakins, Mary Cassatt, Edward Hopper and Cecilia Beaux, part of PAFA’s diverse gallery of American art and impressive American sculpture collection from the 18th century through today. Note that the museum’s Historic Landmark Building is closed through fall 2025 for renovations.

To many, no stroll is more Philly than a rove through gorgeous Rittenhouse Square, the centerpiece of the chic same-name neighborhood and another of William Penn’s five original squares. The Beaux-Arts style French garden’s diagonal wheel-and-spoke walkways and central oval are filled with ample benches, manicured lawns, shady trees, historic sculptures and plenty of views under the shadows of upscale high-rises. The one-block commons is popular with more sunbathers, readers, families, artists, craft and produce vendors, people-watchers and even dogs than the city founder could have ever imagined.

The Schuylkill River Trail — a 30-mile recreational path running along the Schuylkill River from Center City to Chester County, past famous sites like Boathouse Row and the Philadelphia Museum of Art — is a favorite for bicyclists, runners, hikers and amblers, with the two-plus mile portion from Girard Avenue Bridge to Schuylkill Banks its central hub. One of the most beautiful spots along the trail is Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk, a 15-foot-wide, 2,000-foot-long ADA-compliant concrete path that juts out over the river, providing a connection between Locust Street and the South Street Bridge.

Warm weather outdoor oasis Spruce Street Harbor Park is a popular spring-to-fall destination on the Delaware River. The buzzy park features a boardwalk with concessions, food trucks, giant board games, a beer garden, a cocktail bar, a performance stage, weekend craft markets and more. But the highlight is the numerous spaces to just chill — in Adirondack chairs overlooking the waterfront, in flat-bottomed net lounges above the river or in the woodsy meadow featuring a hundred cozy tree-slung hammocks under thousands of LED lights.

Whether summer or wintertime, lace up at Independence Blue Cross RiverRink, a seasonal park along the Delaware River offering beachy vibes during warm months and holiday festivities during winter season — with rollerskating at Summerfest and ice skating at Winterfest. (Note: Skating not available for summer 2024 due to construction.) Along with seasonal activities, the riverside scpace features a double-decker carousel, a 60-foot Ferris wheel (with soaring views of the river and the Ben Franklin Bridge), mini-golf, a bustling midway with boardwalk games, and plenty of fair treats like fried Tastykakes, cheesesteaks and crabfries, plus a cocktail bar.

Anchored along Penn’s Landing are two incongruous vessels guests are encouraged to climb aboard and explore: the 130-year-old Navy Cruiser USS Olympia (the nation’s oldest steel warship) and World War II-era USS Becuna (a 300-foot Balao submarine). But those museum ships are just the start of what the Independence Seaport Museum has to offer. The maritime history museum maintains one of North America’s largest maritime collections, featuring over 25,000 artifacts across a half-dozen hands-on exhibits including a working boat shop and a collection of large-scale model ships.

Serene 600-foot-long parklike Race Street Pier on the Delaware River waterfront features two levels of recreation including a 12 foot-high multi-tiered seating area for picnics, yoga classes or just watching the tide roll in. Next door is Cherry Street Pier, a bustling indoor-outdoor mixed-use public space, home to artist studios, a marketplace and alfresco refreshments at the pier end’s patio café. Both former industrial docks, sitting 150 feet apart, offer absolutely transcendent views of the Philly skyline, the majestic river and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge from under the massive structure.

Two million gallons of water and 15,000 aquatic animals — including the largest collection of sharks in the Northeast — lie just across the Delaware River at Adventure Aquarium, one of the top aquariums in the U.S. Highlights include hippos, penguins, horseshoe crabs, starfish and those famous sharks you can actually touch (plus the crossable Shark Bridge). The biggest wow: Ocean Realm, a 760,000-gallon tank of sea turtles, stingrays, schooling fish and a seven-foot Great Hammerhead, making the aquarium one of just two in the nation to feature the apex predator.

Docked across the river from Center City Philly in Camden, the renovated Battleship New Jersey is a floating museum ship open to all who wish to explore America’s naval heritage aboard Admiral “Bull” Halsey’s flagship, the country’s most decorated combat vessel. The eight-decade-old 887-foot, 45,000-ton gunboat offers a guided tour and interactive exhibits displaying artifacts of the ship’s active past (from World War II to Korea to Vietnam to the Gulf War) and the impressive 16-inch turret, where 2,700-pound shells were fired at targets up to 23 miles away.

Mosaiced from floor to ceiling in handmade tiles, international folk art, reclaimed bicycle tires and more by prolific artist Isaiah Zagar, Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens Museum and its sister site, the Magic Gardens Studio, glisten with limitless creativity.

One of Philly’s most popular urban public art installations, the museum spans half a city block along famous South Street and features two indoor galleries and an unforgettable sculpture garden. One mile away, Zagar’s former workspace represents his largest masterpiece, three times the size of the flagship museum.

Bonus: Zagar has created hundreds of mosaics around the city, including many around South Street.

Down (and around) South 9th Street is South Philadelphia’s Italian Market, the internationally renowned curb market made famous when Sylvester Stallone galloped through in Rocky. Decades-old family-owned groceries, butcheries, fishmongers, fromageries and confectionaries line blocks of awning-covered sidewalks between Fitzwater and Wharton streets. Italian immigrants established this open-air spot in the early 1900s, but the historic strip — America’s oldest street market — now reflects the neighborhood’s modern multicultural makeup, offering Mexican, Vietnamese, African and Korean eats alongside Italian restaurants, bakeries and cafés. Don’t miss Casa Mexico from James Beard Award winner Cristina Martínez, among many other can’t-miss eats.

One does not simply visit Philadelphia without eating a cheesesteak. Or how about two? Across the street from each other in East Passyunk, find famous friendly cheesesteak rivals Pat’s King of Steaks and Geno’s Steaks. Pat’s is still owned by the legendary Olivieri family, whose eponymous founder invented the steak sandwich in 1933. Geno’s opened up across the pointed intersection in 1966 — slinging thinly sliced rib-eye under a cacophony of neon lights — and a historic rivalry was born. Try one of each from the open-24/7 shops and choose your cheesesteak champion.

America’s first zoological garden and a foremost conservation organization, the Philadelphia Zoo is home to nearly 1,900 animals, from African lions and Western gorillas to golden tamarins and the famous red pandas, including many rare and endangered species. Among over a dozen exciting exhibits are Big Cat Falls, Lemur Island, Outback Outpost and Penguin Point, plus several dining areas. Don’t miss Zoo360, the world’s first and only animal travel and exploration trail system, mesh-enclosed pathways enabling primates and big cats to move above and across visitor concourses throughout the zoo.

The nearly 140-year-old Penn Museum at the University of Pennsylvania exhibits over 1 million relics and works of art from around the globe, including art and artifacts from ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Greco-Roman World, Asia, Africa and the Americas. Items on display include Sumerian cuneiform clay tablets (some of the world’s oldest writing), 4,500-year-old jewelry from a Mesopotamian queen and the massive 3,000-year-old Sphinx of Ramses II.

Also located on the University of Pennsylvania’s West Philadelphia campus, the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) is a free-admission art museum founded in 1963 that’s been instrumental in showcasing the work of underrepresented, emerging and under-recognized artists. Luminaries on display here over the years include Robert Mapplethorpe and Cy Twombly, museum debuts by Laurie Anderson and Robert Indiana, and Andy Warhol’s first ever solo exhibit (which nearly caused a small riot). Presented in kunsthalle style, ICA houses no permanent collection, which means every visit brings a fresh experience.

Housed inside Fairmount Park’s Memorial Hall (constructed for the 1876 Centennial), the Please Touch Museum (opened for the 1976 Bicentennial) offers kids two floors of interactive zones (like Fairytale Garden and River Adventures) among two dozen permanent and rotating exhibitions. Also at the site — voted one of the best children’s museums in the U.S. — are a restored 115-year-old carousel and a 20-by-40-foot scale model of the 1876 World’s Fair. Looking for a great place to celebrate holidays? The museum has events for everything from Earth Day to Pride to Halloween.

An unexpected gem deep in Fairmount Park, the Shofuso Japanese Cultural Center — a post-World War II gift from the Emperor of Japan — is a recreation of a traditional early-17th century Japanese temple. Visitors can tour the main house, guesthouse, teahouse and bathhouse while enjoying its symbolic art and architecture and learning about temple life. Outside, the stunning grounds are filled with exquisite gardens, a Zen-finding koi pond (feed the fish!) and spectacular century-old cherry trees which play host to spring’s annual Cherry Blossom Festival.

North America’s oldest surviving botanical garden, Bartram’s Garden (dating back to 1728) first belonged to Quaker John Bartram, Sr. (self-taught botanist to King George III), who cultivated and sold plant specimens from North America to European aristocrats. Originally seasonal fishing grounds for the indigenous Lenape, the free-to-access site in Southwest Philly’s Kingsessing neighborhood includes the 18th-century Bartram family house, a 17-acre meadow, a greenhouse, a dock with a boathouse, and an array of naturalistic, woodland and formal gardens. Runners, cyclists and hikers also love the garden’s scenic mile-long Bartram’s Mile Trail.

Neurosurgeon, philanthropist and speed enthusiast Dr. Fred Simeone’s impressive collection of racing cars — from sports cars including Ferraris, Alfa Romeos, Bugattis and Aston Martins to muscle cars like Corvettes, Firebirds and Mustangs — led to the creation of the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Southwest Philadelphia. The automobile assemblage features over 75 historic rides along with rotating exhibits showcasing the history of sports cars and racing machines. Staff regularly take cars from its collection outside for a spin on demonstration days so you can experience their beauty and power in motion.

One of the nation’s largest urban parks, 2,052-acre Fairmount Park spans the Schuylkill River from Boathouse Row to East Falls, West Philadelphia to Strawberry Mansion. The park features nearly every activity imaginable, including historic sites (Park Charms and Laurel Hill Cemetery), museums (Please Touch Museum and Underground Railroad Museum), educational opportunities (Horticulture Center and Discovery Center), entertainment (Dell and Mann Music centers) and outdoor recreation (athletic fields, Treetop Quest and the Equestrian Center) plus Belmont Plateau, Shofuso Japanese Cultural Center, the Philadelphia Zoo, Smith Memorial Playground, and miles and miles of trails.

With more than 50 miles of rugged trails, Wissahickon Valley Park’s thousands of acres are great for hiking, cycling and exploring. Wissahickon schist bedrock, sliced through centuries ago, has created steep hills punctuated by a creek, with paths for both climbers and horseback riders. Of particular note is Forbidden Drive, a five-mile packed gravel trail deep inside the park offering stunning views. Along this route, don’t miss the Thomas Mill Bridge, the last remaining covered bridge in any major American city.

Aligning the Schuylkill River’s east bank are the 15 19th-century private social and rowing clubhouses that make up iconic Boathouse Row. Gorgeous any time of day, the National Historic Landmark comes alive at night covered in 6,400 glittering LED lights that frame the buildings and reflect off the river’s surface. Boathouse Row is located along scenic Kelly Drive, a prime spot for rock climbing, cycling and outdoor recreation — named for sculler (and royal brother-in-law) John B. Kelly Jr. — that runs beside the river from the Philadelphia Museum of Art to Lincoln Drive.

On a then-quiet boulevard in Germantown in the 1850s, five siblings and their spouses from a Quaker abolitionist family risked their lives to offer up their homestead as shelter for escaped enslaved Africans, a crucial stop on the Underground Railroad. The well-preserved 16th-century Johnson House Historic Site, now a National Historic Landmark, offers tours that highlight the injustices of slavery and displays artifacts among the spaces where freedom fighters like William Still once stayed while shuttling fugitive slaves to safety.

Designated Pennsylvania’s Official State Arboretum in 1988, Morris Arboretum & Gardens is a stunning 92-acre horticulture haven in beautiful Chestnut Hill. Its endless multicolored flowering meadows feature more than 13,000 labeled plants and trees of over 2,500 types, including some of the oldest and rarest in the region. Highlights include the 135-year-old Rose Garden, the eight-sided Victorian glass fernery and the Dawn Redwoods forest, along with the whimsical quarter-mile miniature Garden Railway and the 450-foot-long and 50-foot-high Tree Adventure canopy walk with its larger-than-life Bird’s Nest and hammock-like Squirrel Scramble play area.

The difficult 1777-1778 winter the Continental Army spent in Valley Forge went down as one of the Revolutionary War’s most trying periods. Today, Valley Forge National Historical Park honors those who encamped here with monuments and statues dotting the grounds along with landmarks like reconstructed soldiers’ huts, General Washington’s original headquarters, the National Memorial Arch and a Visitor Center which features artifacts from the future first President. The 3,500-acre park also includes scenic overlooks, picnic areas and miles of recreational trails where runners and cyclists can cruise the park.

Named the nation’s best botanical garden by Fodor’s, Pierre du Pont’s tranquil horticultural oasis showcases nearly 10,000 varieties among its indoor and outdoor grounds. In addition to its picturesque meadows, charming woodlands, whimsical scale model Garden Railway and special exhibits, the gardens offer spectacular Illuminated Fountain Performances and elaborate seasonal installations like Orchid Extravaganza, the Chrysanthemum Festival and A Longwood Christmas. Coming soon is Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience, a sweeping transformation of 17 acres of the facility’s core conservatory.

One of Delaware County’s last working farms, Linvilla Orchards is a 300-acre year-round family farmstead where visitors can roam the fields for pick-your-own seasonal fruits and vegetables; meet the barnyard animals; cast a line into Orchard Lake; play a round of mini-golf; enjoy a hay, pony or train ride; and even buy fresh baked pies. Stop by the daily farmers market, or enjoy seasonal events like fall’s Pumpkinland and Christmas Around the Farm with its holiday gift market. And don’t miss the onsite Ship Bottom Beer Garden.

The grounds are as breathtaking as the art at bucolic Brandywine Museum of Art, housed in a renovated 1864 gristmill surrounded by wildflower gardens and the meandering Brandywine River. Inside, works by lifelong Delco resident Andrew Wyeth sit beside other beautifully detailed illustrations, paintings and installations. Cross the road to visit the N.C. Wyeth House & Studio, the 1922 family home and workspace of Andrew’s father, a National Historic Landmark displaying Colonial Revival architecture, country furnishings, illustration tools, and Wyeth relics including a birch-bark canoe and firearm collection.

Charming Bucks County play-shop-and-dine destination Peddler’s Village welcomes more than 1.6 million yearly visitors to enjoy the 60-plus independent boutiques, specialty shops and wineries and half-dozen restaurants ringing its 42 turn-of-the-century landscaped acres connected by winding brick pathways. Browse vintage apparel and local art, gaze across flowing fountains and Zen gardens, take the kids to carnival-style indoor playscape Giggleberry Fair (with its century-old working carousel), stay the night at Golden Plough Inn, or enjoy seasonal festivals celebrating everything from scarecrows and gingerbread houses to peaches, strawberries and barbecue.

Recently celebrating its 100th anniversary, Elmwood Park Zoo is a 16-acre Montgomery County attraction housing over 100 animal species. Guests can check out bison, zebras, jaguars, red pandas and otters, plus zoo stars Liana the two-toed sloth, Penny the American alligator and Noah the bald eagle, who is also the mascot of the Philadelphia Eagles. Families can pet goats, sheep, and donkeys in the barn, feed giant giraffes, ride the zoo-themed carousel or zip line 50 feet above the grounds at Treetop Adventures. Grownups can grab a craft beer at the Zoo Brew Bar & Beer Garden.

Former home to renowned archeologist and ceramist Henry Chapman Mercer, Fonthill Castle is an elegant 115-year-old residence-turned-museum displaying Mercer’s massive collection of prints, books and hand-crafted ceramic tiles produced at his historic The TileWorks (just across the property). The collection — including a 2,000-year-old whale oil lamp, Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets dating back four millennia and bookcases carrying over 6,000 titles — is spread out among the mansion’s 44 rooms. The building itself is as impressive as the relics, featuring over 200 windows, 32 stairwells, 23 chimneys and 11 bathrooms.

Doylestown’s towering Mercer Museum is full of themed rooms dedicated to the pre-industrial tools and manual technologies of American life before mechanization. Archaeologist and anthropologist Henry Chapman Mercer founded the museum in 1916 to display his 40,000-piece collection, which includes a whaling boat, Conestoga wagon and the Lenape Stone relic. Across the street, Pennsylvania impressionist paintings highlight James A. Michener Art Museum — named for the Pulitzer Prize-winning Bucks County native — built from a 19th-century prison and housing historical and contemporary works, photography, furniture from woodcrafter George Nakashima and an outdoor sculpture garden.

We’ll tell you how to get, how to get to Sesame Place — the only Sesame Street-themed amusement park in the nation east of California. Come meet the popular television show’s stars like Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Elmo and Abby as you enjoy sunny day fun and kid-level thrills at the 14-acre small-child-friendly park. On offer:35 rides and attractions, interactive and educational games, daily (and nightly) parades, fireworks, character shows, a water park, and special celebrations like character birthdays, seasonal events and the popular seven-week-long A Very Furry Christmas.

Explore your inner LEGOmaniac at the 33,000-square foot LEGOLAND Discovery Center at Montgomery County’s Plymouth Meeting Mall. Designed for kids 3 to 10, the indoor playground offers a dozen LEGO-themed rides and attractions (including Imagination Express and Great LEGO Race VR Experience), a 4D cinema, build stations, workshops with master builders and the LEGO Ninjago Training Camp — plus toddler-friendly DUPLO Park, a themed café and LEGO store. Don’t miss Miniland, with huge miniature recreations of Philly’s most iconic buildings and landmarks created from over 1 million LEGO bricks.

With over 450 stores and nearly 3 million square feet of retail space, King of Prussia, a Simon Mall is the third-largest mall in America and the East Coast’s premier shopping destination, located just a 30-minute drive from Center City. The retail hotspot welcomes over 22 million visitors each year to a mix of luxury, budget-friendly, national and international brands including anchor stores like Nordstrom and Primark, shops like Tiffany & Co. and Versace, and 50 dining options, plus retailers not found elsewhere in the region.

Looking for more museums and attractions? Of course you are. Across the five-county region, there are dozens more fascinating sites to explore. How about the Antique Ice Tool Museum? The Herr’s Snack Factory Tour? Or the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site? Check out our article on the best off-the-beaten-path museums and attractions in Greater Philadelphia for more than 40 additions spots to explore.