Check out Independence Hall, the US Mint, Betsy Ross' house, Ben Franklin post office.

Rodin Museum and the Barnes are gorgeous for art besides the Philly art museum.

Franklin Fountain is a wonderful old fashioned ice cream parlor.

Amish places at Reading Terminal Market are lovely: Miller's Twist for softt pretzels, Dutch Eating Place for hot turkey sandwiches/breakfast/apple dumplings, Beiler's Doughnuts, Dienner's for chicken.

If your kids like to imagine what life was like for some people a couple of centuries back, look into these:

https://phillyhistoricsites.com/

Also, the doctor who collected these cars died recently, but his exceptional car is open to the public:

https://simeonemuseum.org/

Anonymous wrote:Also a PSA for people who might assume, "oh philly is 3 hours north of DC, it must be cooler." No. Nope. Not at all. Philly in the summer is a total swamp. Maybe it's even worse than DC? Thank fully people in Philly believe in air-conditioning, but it can definitely get steamy walking around in summer.

Lived in DC for 15 years, on my 4th year in Philly…it can be hot here but is nowhere near the swamp that DC is during the summer.

Smith memorial playground is great. I’d skip the liberty bell personally.

Agree with the museum recommendations above. Make sure to also see the Liberty Bell as well as Liberty Hall right across the street. Both have free entrances and the tour at Liberty Hall is free as well.

For restaurants, my kids loved the Moshulu. It’s a big ship that has been converted to a restaurant. It’s also docked right by the river walk and you can have a nice afternoon walk there ( it reminded me a bit of the waterfront in Alexandria)

Another one of my absolute favorites in Philly is the restaurant at the Four Seasons hotel. It’s in the hotel lobby on the 60th floor and has breathtaking views of the city. Yes it’s pricey but we’ve usually gone either for breakfast or for an afternoon coffee/ hot chocolate with the kids and it’s quite an experience. Your kids will love the ride to the top in the panoramic elevator.

If you love Middle Eastern food , Suraya in Fishtown has the best food and ambiance.

I did this with my 11yo. We were trying to keep costs down so we stayed in an Airbnb walkable to everything and a Trader Joe’s and did cheap easy meals from there 2x/day. We walked everywhere—Franklin Institute, Magic Gardens, Liberty Bell, Reading Mkt, etc. Took the bus once. But definitely Uber to Please Touch which the 6yo will absolutely love and 9 too.

Also a PSA for people who might assume, "oh philly is 3 hours north of DC, it must be cooler." No. Nope. Not at all. Philly in the summer is a total swamp. Maybe it's even worse than DC? Thank fully people in Philly believe in air-conditioning, but it can definitely get steamy walking around in summer.

Love Philly! Go for it

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I’d recommend this trip with kids that age. The train is very easy and there is lots to do for young kids in Philly. Franklin institute, please touch museum, liberty bell etc. you can also rent bike surreys along the river. Plenty of family-friendly restaurants, ice cream and water ice places. Have fun!

These are good suggestions.

In terms of walkability, Philly is very walkable and public transit friendly. William Gray III 30th Street Station is really beautiful.

The Please Touch Museum is quite isolated in its location in the park, so plan to take a cab to/from.

Franklin Institute is good for those ages. Getting a little shabby but it's very hands-on and interactive.

If you have kids who love dinosaurs, the Academy of Natural Sciences is right next door to Franklin Institute. It's kind of old-fashioned diorama-heavy museum, but they do have dinosaurs and a little nature center on the top floor. They have a pay-what-you-want event called Dinos After Dark on one Friday night a month, from 4-8 pm, with a beer garden and tacos.

Philly Art Museum is free on the first Sunday (and first Sat for Bank of America card holders) and has kids' programming:
https://philamuseum.org/calendar/event-series/art-kids

Penn Museum has sarcophagi, Roman stuff, mesmerizing crystal ball, etc.

There's also an interesting elevated park called Cira Green. NYC has the High Line, Philly has a public park on top of a parking garage, lol.

They might like going to the top of City Hall, which is free, I think. There are a bunch of other museums, like the Independence Seaport Museum and American Revolution museum.

You will all enjoy the hustle and bustle of eating at Reading Terminal Market. There are also some breweries with playgrounds in old city.

Downsides of philly:

1. all the museums are EXPENSIVE. There is a discount card, and some places have reciprocal admission with other places, but you might need to budget like 500 dollars for admissions, no joke.

2. Philly is definitely gritty, even in the downtown (center city and old city). Be aware of your surroundings. The subway can have a lot of unsavory activity (drugs, violence) compared the relatively placid DC metro, but the core of the city is so walkable and bussable and regional rail-able and cab-able that as a tourist you shouldn't have to use it.

Great ages for a trip to Philly.

We have done it and loved it! Philly is a great walkable city - go for it.

The Philly Zoo and Camden Aquarium are great additions to the things already mentioned.

You should go to South Philly. There is great food and great neighborhoods.

Yes, I’d recommend this trip with kids that age. The train is very easy and there is lots to do for young kids in Philly. Franklin institute, please touch museum, liberty bell etc. you can also rent bike surreys along the river. Plenty of family-friendly restaurants, ice cream and water ice places. Have fun!

I am looking into "mini trips" for this coming summer vs. a really big trip and I saw that there are actually very affordable train trips from dc-Philadelphia (as low as $10 an adult).

My kids love trains so this would be really fun for them but we've never take the train in the US and I've only ridden Amtrak a handful of times. Has anyone done this? We've never been to Philly....what would be recommended for a first visit with kids? They are 6&9.

Thanks!