Day in Philly - lunch, shopping, museum ideas?

[Anonymous]

I'm meeting an old friend in Philly for the day. I'll be taking Amtrak from DC, and she is taking the train from NYC. I don't know Philly at all. I would love recommendations for a great lunch spot and a fun neighborhood for shopping and/or museums. I prefer smaller boutique-type shopping to big mall/retail. Is there a cool neighborhood you love in Philly?

[Anonymous]

Go to South Street. Visit the Magic Gardens. Tons of lunch and shopping spots. Maybe eat at Tattooed Mom or Bridget Foy's or Woodrow's, depending on preference.

[Anonymous]

Olde City adjacent to South Street is also excellent to stroll and shop. A few options for a great lunch are Amada, Parc, Dandelion, El Vez and Reading Terminal Market.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Olde City adjacent to South Street is also excellent to stroll and shop. A few options for a great lunch are Amada, Parc, Dandelion, El Vez and Reading Terminal Market.

+1 Center city has excellent choices all within walkable distances- Rittenhouse Row, Di Bruno Brothers, reading market, etc.

[Anonymous]

You could check out reading terminal market for lunch. Though you could walk to the shops at rittenhouse depending on your walking capacity. I used to south street too but it’s farther from the train.
I have never been to the Barnes museum but I’ve been interested to check it out.

[Anonymous]

Be a little more specific about the kind of museums you are into: art, history? Also, weekday or weekend? I like Amada for brunch on weekends but they don't do weekday lunch service.

Lunch at Talulah's Garden or Amada plus shopping in Old City and around Headhouse Square. You could pop into the Science History Institute on Chestnut (small, free, and interesting) or go to the Museum of the American Revolution or the Weitzman Museum of Jewish History, which is one of my favorites. You could also walk over to the river for the RiverRink/Winterfest to watch the skaters and have a beer.

The area around Rittenhouse is also nice for lunch and shopping--you could go to Boyd's, a Philadelphia mainstay for expensive clothes.

Other shopping ideas: the Christmas village by City Hall, the great kitchenware store Fante's near the Italian market. If you go down there, Passayunk Square is a good neighborhood to hit. It's a real Philly neighborhood and has some good restaurants.

[Anonymous]

I would make a reservation for lunch at Parc

[Anonymous]

Olde City is good for boutiques.

For museums, the art museum or Barnes are wonderful.

For lunch, Parc is great for people watching. I also love Talula's Garden and a.kitchen. Amada is good for tapas. If you want to try so many Philly foods like soft pretzels and cheesesteaks and roast pork and baked goods, Reading Terminal Market.

[Anonymous]

Be careful is my only advice.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the Old City recommendations. Christmas Village is going on right now around City Hall and it is quite nice. A lot of local crafts although there is also quite a lot of crap. Great atmosphere though, as close to a Euro market as we can get in the US imo.

I like Manayunk, it is sort of what georgetown used to be back in the Commander Salamander days, but it is VERY hilly.

[Anonymous]

Love the Museum of Art
https://www.philamuseum.org/?gad_source=1

Liberty Bell bc
https://www.visitphilly.com/things-to-do/attractions/the-liberty-bell-center/?gad_source=1

[Anonymous]

The Barnes

[Anonymous]

The Barnes mostly if you enjoy 20th C painting. Good Mickalene Thomas (contemporary) exhibit up there now. Interesting history and building.

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts has a fun Frank Furness building right near city hall but it’s closed for renovations. Go back again.

Macy’s across from City Hall, used to be locally owned Wannamakers. They have the largest working pipe organ in the world and regular music performances, especially in the holiday season. The store itself no longer has the vintage charm it once did, but catching a mini concert is fun.

Third Street Gallery is an artists cooperative and has some good shows.

Shane Candies at first and market streets is 19th C style redone.

The Liberty Bell a block north of I dependence Hall if you’re interested. Indépendance Hall too. The cluster of buildings that include what used to be Franklin’s printing shop is I retesting and rarely crowded. Sadly I see they are now only open Friday -Sunday. https://www.nps.gov/inde/planyourvisit/printingoffice.htm

I think there’s a colonial post office in the court from where you can have your letters and post cards ( c’mon snail mail is the best) hand cancelled.

[Anonymous]

I’d plan to eat and shop around Rittenhouse, then make your way up to Fairmount for the Art Museum or the Barnes Foundation. You could walk up the Schuylkill River path from the Chestnut Street Bridge to the Art Museum if that’s the one you end up picking.

For lunch, Parc is a Philly classic and a great place for a girls’ lunch, but you’ll need to make a reservation. I also love Trattoria Carina a few blocks away, but I think they might only serve dinner. If you want to do something different, Reading Terminal Market (lots of food stalls) is a ton of fun, but seating can be an issue and it’s very noisy so not the best place to catch up with a friend.

I also second East Passyunk if you want a really local-feeling neighborhood. It’s really cute and there are a lot of restaurants to choose from. But it’s not super close to Center City and the museums - you will almost certainly have to Uber.