A Day in Philly

The highlights of Philadelphia are the architecture, the ease of navigation, and the plethora of museums and attractions. The city is neatly organized and maps are readily available at the visitors center to help guide you along the way.

Quick Tips:

We only live 2 hours away from Philadelphia and didn't take into account that a toddler would drag us down so much so we bought a Philadelphia Pass for the Day to the tune of Adult, Child (total of ). Our child is 2 years old. Let me just say that this was TOTALLY not worth the investment for us. For one thing, a 2-year-old maximizes the time you spend at every attraction by about four. We originally thought we would be able to see at least three attractions during our day and therefore the pass would pay for itself but, in the end, we made it through two attractions (that the card paid for). If we'd just paid for the attractions outright, we'd have saved about . So, if you're without kids (or you're spending more than a day in Philly), maybe the pass would be the way to go but in our case it was just a total waste of money. Also, it might be worth mentioning that the Pass only pays for a PORTION of the Bus tour—so if that's your bag, be prepared to fork out another per person in addition to what you already spent for the Philly pass. Also, we went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art which was running a special Wyeth Exhibit but the pass didn't include admission to special exhibits (an additional fee—more than regular museum admission per person). My only advice is to seriously consider ALL of the museums you would like to attend, calculate the costs and figure out if the Philly Pass is really a deal for you because for us it wasn't.

Best Way To Get Around:

It's easy to get around by car but parking is impossible!!! We learned the hard way that you have to pay meters everywhere unless you have a residential permit—so even if every meter is expired in front and behind you, it probably means they live there and have a permit to park. BRING QUARTERS!

Two local Philadelphians recommended Pat's or Jim's as having the best Cheesesteaks in Philadelphia. Each had a line wrapped around the building so we chose Pat's because it was the only one of the two where we could find a place to park. The cheesesteak wasn't what I'd dreamed of but it was good (or maybe I was just starving to death). Anyway, it's a Philly tradition that I'm glad I'd taken part in.

The Please Touch Museum was the perfect treat for our 2-year-old. I think any child under the age of 5 or 6 would thoroughly enjoy it. There's a chance to play with boats in the water, push your own shopping cart around the grocery store (and select items for your basket), a tree house slide, a rocking boat, a reading room, Alice and Wonderland scene complete with characters, a construction site, housekeeping activities and a farm for 3 and unders. Everything is touchable (which is a nice change for them) so keep that in mind when you're leaving--you may want to wipe your child's hands etc upon leaving.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has a vast collection (one of the largest in the US). We lingered in the Impressionist Era and were in awe of their Monet’s, Manet’s, Degas’ and The Sunflower painting by Vincent Van Gogh.

Here’s the clincher about the museum - we bought the City Pass (for one day only) and as I mentioned before, it just wasn’t worth it for one day. The City Pass includes admission into the Museum yet when I presented it to the cashier, they acted as if they’d never heard of such a thing before, let alone held one in their hand. They let us in the Museum, but for general admission only. Special exhibits are an additional charge.

We found ample parking (no charge) in the "back" of the museum (hard to say where the back is because it's perched high on a hill and has entrances on two sides) or the side not facing the city.