There are so many great things to see in Philadelphia and the surrounding area that it is hard to limit our list to only 102 sights! The main tourist attractions get all the attention, so we decided to create this list of more unique and less frequently thought of sights for you to check out. The list is in no particular order, and contains something for everyone. Click on the blue title links for more information. Enjoy!
Please Note: Many of the sights are free, but the listed costs are estimates only, and also do not include any special discounts. Please contact the sights for exact costs and hours before you visit (some sights may be currently closed due to Covid).
Antique Ice Tool Museum
Location: West Center, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 37 Miles
Follow history from the harvest to the delivery of ice and learn about the rise and eventual decline of an industry that had a profound effect on the way we live. This one of a kind museum is dedicated to the preservation of the natural ice trade, and houses the largest private collection of antique ice tools, ice trucks, and memorabilia in the United States.
American Treasure Tour
Location: Oaks, PA
Estimated Cost: $10+
From Center City: 26 Miles
The American Treasure Tour was established in 2010 so visitors could travel through a large private collection that encompasses an eclectic variety of smaller collections. Included is one of the world's largest private collections of automatic music machines: nickelodeons, band organs, calliopes, photoplayers and music boxes. There are also classic cars, circus art, dolls and dollhouses, and a large assortment of popular culture miscellanea.
Pizza Brain Museum
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 4 Miles
Located in the Pizza Brain restaurant, the museum is certified by Guinness as having the largest collection of pizza-related items in the world.
Stoogeum
Location: Ambler, PA:
Estimated Cost: $10+
From Center City: 22 Miles
Containing close to 100,000 pieces of memorabilia, the museum displays a vast array of artifacts which celebrate the legacy of the legendary Three Stooges comedy team.
Magic Gardens
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: $10+
From Center City: 0 Miles
Philadelphia's Magic Gardens is an immersive mixed media art environment that is completely covered with mosaics. The creator, Isaiah Zagar, used handmade tiles, bottles, bicycle wheels, mirror, and international folk art to chronicle his life and influences. The space is made up of two indoor galleries and a bi-level outdoor sculpture garden.
Shofuso Japanese House & Garden
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: $10+
From Center City: 4 Miles
This historic site and museum includes a hill and pond garden with a tiered waterfall, island, and koi fish, a tea garden featuring a traditional tea house, and a courtyard garden leading to a bathhouse. Designed in Japan in 1953 using traditional techniques and materials, the house was shipped to New York and exhibited in the courtyard of the Museum of Modern Art in New York before moving to West Fairmount Park in 1958. In 2007, international artist Hiroshi Senju, inspired by the garden's waterfall, donated 20 contemporary murals to Shofuso, which are permanently displayed inside the house.
Insectarium & Butterfly Pavilion
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: $11+
From Center City: 11 Miles
Museum displays many types of live insects, mounted specimens, exhibits, and hands-on activities for children. There are two floors filled with an amazing assortment of arthropods, including tarantulas, scorpions, and praying mantises. The year-round Butterfly Pavilion is a striking and immersive tropical ecosphere filled with 2,000 tropical and native butterflies.
Cira Green
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 0 Miles
Situated 95 feet above street level, this 1.25-acre urban park sits atop a parking garage next to the FMC Tower. It offers incredible views of Philadelphia's skyline in multiple directions.
Graeme Park
Location: Horsham, PA
Estimated Cost: Free (Tours $6+)
From Center City: 32 Miles
Graeme Park is a 42-acre historic park, featuring the Keith House, the only surviving residence of a Colonial Pennsylvania Governor. The story of the Keith House beings in 1721 and is filled with fascinating people and their lives from our nation's earliest days through the 20th century. The house itself is a National Historic Landmark and has remained virtually intact since the late 18th century, with original woodwork and paint finishes in some of the rooms. Nature fans will find that a visit to Graeme Park offers something for them too, with its open areas, stream, pond, trails through the woods, and abundant plant and wildlife.
Rail Park
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 0 Miles
The Rail Park is a vision that's revitalizing three miles of unused rail lines into a usable, beautiful, public space for all. The park is situated on two obsolete train lines that served the Reading Terminal, bringing passengers and freight in and out of Center City. The first phase is complete, filled with pathways, greenery, and bench swings with amazing city views.
Walt Whitman House
Location: Camden, NJ
Estimated Cost: $4+
From Center City: 3 Miles
This is the only home ever owned by the famed poet, and he lived here until his death in 1892. The home was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1962, and viewing the inside is by guided tour only.
Grip The Raven
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 0 Miles
One of the most popular items in the Rare Book Department of The Free Library of Philadelphia that resonates with visitors the world over is not what you would expect. It is not a rare manuscript or a printed book, but the legendary pet raven of Charles Dickens that inspired his poem "The Raven." He adored his pet and called her Grip. After Grip's unexpected death, Dickens had her stuffed and she continued to keep Dickens company at home for years to come. Following Dickens' death, Grip was sold in an auction and was eventually bequeathed to the Free Library in 1971.
Old Baldy
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 8 Miles
Old Baldy is the taxidermy head of the horse of George Meade, the Union general who defeated Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg. It is said that Baldy was wounded anywhere from 5 to 14 times during the war, starting at the First Battle of Bull Run. Soon after, in September 1861, he was purchased from the government by Meade and named Baldy because of his white face. Meade became quite devoted to him and rode him in all of his battles through 1862 and the spring of 1863. Upon Baldy's death, his head was mounted on a plaque and displayed in a glass case at The Grand Army of the Republic Civil War Museum.
Beaver Valley Rock Shelter Site
Location: Wilmington, DE
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 30 Miles
Delaware's only known cave sits 100 feet from the Pennsylvania border and extends just 56 feet to its furthest reach. It has become one of the most researched caves in the United States relative to its size.
Cave of Kelpius
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 8 Miles
The Wissahickon Hermit Cave, also known as the Cave of Kelpius, is a small, man-made cave located on a hillside in a wooded area of Wissahickon Valley Park. It was built and utilized by the followers of Johannes Kelpius, a hermit and religious mystic of the Rosicrucian order who immigrated to the area from Germany in 1694 to meditate and await the end of the world.
Glencairn Museum
Location: Bryn Athyn, PA
Estimated Cost: $10+
From Center City: 19 Miles
A museum of religious art and history invites visitors to engage with religious beliefs and practices, past and present, by exploring art, artifacts, and other cultural expressions of faith. Collections include ancient Egyptian, ancient Greek and Roman, medieval Christian, Islamic, Asian, and American Indian.
Rosenbach Museum
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: $10+
From Center City: 0 Miles
The Rosenbach was founded in 1954 by Dr. A.S.W. Rosenbach and his brother, Philip. Renowned dealers in books, manuscripts, and fine art, the brothers played a central role in the development of private libraries that later became our nation's most important public collections of rare books, such as the Folger and Huntington Libraries. The brothers' own personal collection, now the core of the Rosenbach, features treasures the brothers were unable to part with, including the only surviving copy of Benjamin Franklin's First Poor Richard Almanac and the manuscript of James Joyce's Ulysses. The collection is continuously growing, including the addition of the papers of poet Marianne Moore, and Bram Stoker's notes for Dracula.
Weaver Historical Dental Museum
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 4 Miles
Founded in 1938, the museum collection features some of the finest dental antiquities in the country, ranging in date from the late eighteenth century to the present day. The museum exhibition features a rich array of unique dental artifacts that also present the history of dentistry in America. Displays include the recreation of a nineteenth-century Victorian dental office, outfitted with period objects and furniture, as well as a richly varied collection of photographs, dental instrument and equipment displays.
Wagner Free Institute of Science
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 3 Miles
The Wagner Institute's 19h-century exhibit hall houses an extraordinary collection of natural history specimens including mounted birds and mammals, fossils, rocks and minerals, insects, shells, dinosaur bones, and the first American saber-toothed tiger, discovered on a museum-sponsored expedition to Florida in 1886. The collections are displayed in cherry-wood and glass cabinets dating from the 1880s and maintain their original "systematic" scheme, providing a rare view of a Victorian science museum. The exhibit is one of the largest systematically arranged collections on display in the country.
Shoe Museum
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 0 Miles
The Shoe Museum includes roughly 900 pairs of shoes, 250 of which are on display located with Temple's School of Podiatric medicine. Visits must be scheduled in advance.
American Helicopter Museum
Location: West Chester, PA
Estimated Cost: $5+
From Center City: 33 Miles
The premier aviation museum in the nation devoted exclusively to helicopters. Preserves and showcases rotorcraft and related artifacts using displays that interpret the unique history of each item and its contribution to science and society.
QVC Studio Tour
Location: West Chester, PA
Estimated Cost: $10+
From Center City: 34 Miles
In QVC's state-of-the-art broadcasting facility, guests see how products are sourced, tested, brought to life on air, and delivered to millions of customers.
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 0 Miles
A museum of religious art and history invites visitors to engage with religious beliefs and practices, past and present, by exploring art, artifacts, and other cultural expressions of faith. Collections include ancient Egyptian, ancient Greek and Roman, medieval Christian, Islamic, Asian, and American Indian.
Harriet Cole's Nerves
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 7 Miles
Harriet Cole was a maid employed at what is known today as Drexel's College of Medicine. In the late 19th century, it was called Hahnemann Medical College, and it was the place of employment of Dr. Rufus Weaver, professor of anatomy. Among Harriet's duties was cleaning up the room where Weaver dissected cadavers with his medical students. Upon her death, and after leaving her body to assist Dr. Weaver in his work, he then proceeded with a medical "first" - the complete dissection and mounting of Harriet's nervous system, a process that took him over five months of full-time work. Today you can see Harriet's nervous system on display.
Tiffany Glass Mural
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 0 Miles
Located in the Curtis Center and installed in 1916, "The Dream Garden" is a mural made of 100,000 pieces of hand blown glass, and the 2nd largest glass mural in the US.
Peter The Bald Eagle
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 0 Miles
Peter Jefferson is a taxidermy bald eagle who lived at the Philadelphia Mint from around 1830 until 1836. He became well known after a while and was let out of the Mint each night to fly around the city. While perched on a coining press one day, the press suddenly started, and Peter's wing was badly injured. Despite attempts to save and heal him, he died, and his stuffed body was placed on display at the Mint. To this day, Mint artists study him when working on new eagle designs.
Wharton Esherick Museum
Location: Malvern, PA
Estimated Cost: $15+
From Center City: 26 Miles
The Wharton Esherick Museum celebrates and preserves the legacy of American artist Wharton Esherick, who worked primarily in wood to create furniture, furnishings, utensils, interiors, buildings and more. A National Historic Landmark for Architecture, his hilltop studio/residence, with more than 300 of his works on exhibition, has been preserved much as it was when the artist lived and worked there.
Fabric Workshop & Museum
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Donation
From Center City: 0 Miles
The Fabric Workshop is recognized as an internationally acclaimed contemporary art museum, uniquely distinguished as the only institution in the United States devoted to creating work in new materials and new media in collaboration with artists coming from diverse artistic backgrounds - including sculpture, installation, video, photography, painting, ceramics, and architecture. Research, construction, and fabrication occur on site in studios that are open to the public, providing visitors with the opportunity to see artwork from conception to completion.
Andalusia
Location: Andalusia, PA
Estimated Cost: $20+
From Center City: 15 Miles
Located on a wooded promontory overlooking the Delaware River, Andalusia has been a stately presence on this stretch of water, just north of Philadelphia, for more than two hundred years. The ancestral home of the Biddle family, Andalusia is also a natural paradise of native woodlands and spectacular gardens that have evolved over time. Placed on the National Register of Historic Landmarks in 1966, the Big House - one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture in the United States - provides an unparalleled look into our nation's past, while also offering a glimpse into the life of a family that helped to shape its future. Its surrounding gardens delight the senses all through the year, from the tumbling, brightly-colored leaves of fall to the floral extravaganza of spring and the abundance and scent of summer.
Center For Art In Wood
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 0 Miles
The museum nurtures and promotes the innovation of art in wood, and contains over 1,200 objects from around the world, ranging from functional, every-day objects to contemporary sculptures. The Center also maintains an inspirational collection and a research library that consists of over 25,000 images, artists' files, and books that help preserve the exciting history of wood turning and woodworking and their continuing evolution as a contemporary art form.
Institute of Contemporary Art
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 0 Miles
Institute of Contemporary Art has developed an international reputation as a preeminent venue for contemporary art and culture. As part of the University of Pennsylvania, their artist-centric program is complemented by the intellectual rigor of a premier academic institution.
Northlandz
Location: Flemington, NJ
Estimated Cost: $20+
From Center City: 52 Miles
Northlandz is a 16-acre world-class model railroad layout along with the art, music and doll displays. The railroad boasts hundreds of bridges and trains, and is known for being the largest layout by amount of track. The museum features over 200 dolls from around the world, a 94-room dollhouse and a 2,000-pipe organ. There is also an 1890's replica narrow gauge steam train available for rides.
Mercer Museum
Location: Doylestown, PA
Estimated Cost: $15+
From Center City: 33 Miles
The Mercer Museum is a six-story reinforced concrete castle designed by Henry Mercer and completed in 1916. Today, it is one of Bucks County's premier cultural attractions and a Smithsonian affiliate. The museum complex features local and national traveling exhibits, as well as a core museum collection of over 50,000 pre-Industrial tools. This permanent collection offers visitors a unique window into pre-Industrial America through sixty different crafts and trades, and is one of the world's most comprehensive portraits of pre-Industrial American material culture.
Mummers Museum
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: $5+
From Center City: 0 Miles
The Mummers Museum opened in 1976 as part of Philadelphia's celebration of America's Bicentennial. It is dedicated to celebrating the tradition of Philadelphia's Annual "Mummers Parade," including costumes, oral histories, video and audio archives and even an exhibit to teach anyone how to do the "Mummers Strut."
Mutter Museum
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: $15+
From Center City: 0 Miles
America's finest museum of medical history, the Mutter Museum displays its beautifully preserved collections of anatomical specimens, models, and medical instruments in a 19th-century "cabinet museum" setting. The museum helps the public understand the mysteries and beauty of the human body and to appreciate the history of diagnosis and treatment of disease. The Museum enjoys a steadily rising reputation with annual attendance exceeding 130,000 visitors.
Fonthill Castle
Location: Doylestown, PA
Estimated Cost: $15+
From Center City: 33 Miles
Built between 1908-1912, Fonthill was the home of Henry Chapman Mercer. Archaeologist, anthropologist, ceramist, scholar and antiquarian, Mercer built Fonthill both as his home and as a showplace for his collection of tiles and prints. The first of three Mercer buildings in Doylestown, Fonthill served as a showplace for Mercer's famed Moravian tiles that were produced during the American Arts & Crafts Movement. Designed by Mercer, the building is an eclectic mix of Medieval, Gothic, and Byzantine architectural styles, and is significant as an early example of poured reinforced concrete.
Laurel Hill Cemetery
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 7 Miles
A cemetery that was conceived as an estate garden, based in part on English ideas of planned landscapes as transitions between art and nature. This beautiful green space is further complemented by the breathtaking art, sculpture and architecture that can be found here. Numerous prominent people are buried at the Cemetery, including many of Philadelphia's leading industrial magnates. Names such as Rittenhouse, Widener, and Elkins pique local interests, but Laurel Hill also appeals to a national audience. General Meade and thirty-nine other Civil War-era generals reside here, in addition to six Titanic passengers. Laurel Hill is one of the few cemeteries in the nation to be honored with the designation of National Historic Landmark.
West Laurel Hill Cemetery
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 6 Miles
Founded in 1869, West Laurel Hill Cemetery contains nearly 200 acres of gently rolling hills, mature trees and plantings, historic architectural features, hundreds of mausoleums, sculptures, and wildlife that create a true year-round pleasure garden. Principal landmarks on the grounds include the Bell Tower and Chapel of Peace. The Bell Tower was, built in 1887, carried on the beloved tradition of ringing bells to mark the time of day and the occasion of burial services.
Mount Moriah Cemetery
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 7 Miles
Opening in 1855, Mount Moriah had an ornate Romanesque entrance and gothic mausoleums that rivaled the great cemeteries of Greenwood in Brooklyn, and the famous Pere LaChaise in Paris. Eventually expanding to nearly 400 acres, it was Pennsylvania's largest burial site. Today it is largely forgotten. The grand brick entrance lies in ruins, the headstones and monuments have toppled over, and the forest is gradually covering the grounds. Mausoleums that hold some of Philadelphia's wealthiest Victorian patriarchs are starting to resemble a sort of rambling gothic fairytale.
The Woodlands
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 3 Miles
Estate and garden of famous Philadelphia lawyer Andrew Hamilton. The Woodlands' 54-acre undulating landscape is at once a one-of-a-kind 18th-century English pleasure garden, 19th-century rural cemetery, and a modern green oasis for its neighbors in bustling University City and West Philadelphia. The Woodlands was designated a National Historic Landmark District in recognition of its unique history and rich resources. The burial ground located at the Woodlands is still active, where a popular program lets volunteers adopt a grave and plant Victorian-era plants.
The Highlands Mansion & Gardens
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free (Tour $5)
From Center City: 17 Miles
The Highlands Mansion and Gardens is a 44-acre historic site with a late 18th century Georgian mansion and two-acre formal garden. Surrounded by massive stone walls, the gardens offer a beautiful example of early 20th, century estate gardening with an unusual blend of horticulture and architecture. The site features nine outbuildings, including a bank barn, springhouse, greenhouse, smokehouse and Gothic Revival gardener's cottage.
Morris Arboretum
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: $15+
From Center City: 15 Miles
The Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania is a historic public garden and educational institution that promotes an understanding of the relationship between plants, people and places through programs that integrate science, art and the humanities. More than 13,000 labeled plants of approximately 2,600 types are growing in the Arboretum's living collection. The garden began in 1887 as Compton, the summer home of brother and sister, John and Lydia Morris, heirs to the I.P. Morris Company iron-manufacturing firm.
James G. Kaskey Memorial Park
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 3 Miles
This green space known today the James G. Kaskey Memorial Park, or BioPond, was created in 1987, opening as a research garden on The University of Pennsylvania's campus.
Eastern State Penitentiary
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: $10+
From Center City: 0 Miles
Eastern State Penitentiary was once the most famous and expensive prison in the world, but stands today in ruin, a haunting world of crumbling cellblocks and empty guard towers. Known for its grand architecture and strict discipline, this was the world's first true "penitentiary," a prison designed to inspire penitence, or true regret, in the hearts of prisoners. Its vaulted, sky-lit cells once held many of America's most notorious lawbreakers, including bank robber "Slick Willie" Sutton and Al Capone.
Fireman's Hall Museum
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 0 Miles
Housed in a renovated 1902 firehouse, and one of the premier fire museums in the nation, the museum is focused on the preservation of Philly fire history and promoting fire safety. The museum celebrates Philadelphia as the birthplace of the first volunteer fire companies, and Benjamin Franklin's first fire brigade called The Union Fire Company.
Chapel of Four Chaplains
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Donation
From Center City: 7 Miles
The chapel honors four chaplins that perished with the U.S.A.T. Dorchester, which went down in the North Atlantic under submarine attack in 1943. Of the 902 passengers on board the ship, only 230 survived. It was the largest loss of life on a troop carrier during WWII. The Four Chaplains, of varying faiths, gave away their own life jackets, and then linked arms and sang and prayed for all those aboard while the ship sank into the icy waters.
Comcast Experience
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Donation
From Center City: 7 Miles
Located in the lobby of the Comcast Center, one of the world's largest 4-millimeter LED continuous video walls delights visitors year-round with captivating programming, including the annual Holiday Spectacular show viewed by millions. In addition, stunning installations by internationally renowned artists greet visitors to the Comcast Center and Comcast Technology Center lobbies.
Joe Frazier's Gym
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 3 Miles
Joe Frazier's Gym is significant for its association with the career and life of Joe Frazier, the Olympic and Heavyweight Champion boxer who defeated Muhammad Ali in the Fight of the Century in 1971. Located in a mixed residential and industrial neighborhood, the gym served as Frazier's training center for his highest-profile fights, including his world championship bouts with Ali, George Foreman, and others. After his retirement from boxing in 1975, Frazier invested most of his time and prize money in the gym, where he trained the next generation of boxers.
Kalmar Nyckel Tall Ship
Location: Wilmington, DE
Estimated Cost: Varies
From Center City: 34 Miles
The Kalmar Nyckel is a 97-foot, 317-ton replica of a 1629 Dutch pinnace tall ship first launched from the same site where "New Sweden," the first permanent European settlement in the Delaware River Valley, was established. The Kalmar Nyckel offers a wide array of sailing opportunities, and exhibits are on display at its Maritime Center.
Fort Mifflin
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: $5+
From Center City: 11 Miles
This historic multi-war and multi-purpose fort was once seized by the British during the Revolutionary War. In one visit to Fort Mifflin, guests stand on a Revolutionary War battlefield, inside a Civil War prison and hospital, and next to a magazine storing gunpowder during World War II.
Flying Fish Brewing Company
Location: Somerdale, NJ
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 14 Miles
The installation of solar panels, solar tube lighting in the warehouse, recaptured steam in the brewing process, and rain gardens on property make Flying Fish one of the most sustainable breweries in the world. When the facility is in operation, people cannot walk through all areas of the brewery, but the brewery does its best to give you a look at what's going on. Guided tours are a bit more in-depth and are limited at each session. If you'd like to take one of these tours, sign up at the tasting room when you arrive.
Chanticleer
Location: Wayne, PA
Estimated Cost: $10+
From Center City: 19 Miles
A 48-acre botanical garden built on the estate of pharmaceutical manufacturer Adolph Rosengarten. Chanticleer consists of a collection of open lawns and large trees, and many varying sections of the botanical garden. The house and grounds were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Duffy’s Cut
Location: Malvern, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 30 Miles
Duffy's Cut is the name given to a stretch of railroad tracks that were originally built for the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad in the summer and fall of 1832. Nearby is a mass grave and possibly murder site of fifty-seven Irish immigrant workers. The site is located in Malvern, PA near the intersection of King Road and Sugartown Road, where a Pennsylvania state historical marker has been placed.
Fairmount Water Works Museum
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 0 Miles
Situated on the east bank of the Schuylkill River between historic Boat House Row and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Fairmount Water Works opened its doors in 1815 as the sole water pumping station for the City of Philadelphia and was decommissioned almost a century later, in 1909. Converted to a museum and environmental center, The Fairmount Water Works is a National Historic Landmark, a Civil Engineering Landmark, and a National Mechanical Engineering Landmark as it was designed and constructed to provide safe, clean drinking water to a city on the cusp of remarkable growth.
John Heinz Wildlife Refuge
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 11 Miles
Established in 1972, John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum is America's First Urban Refuge, and a green respite nestled within the urban setting of Philadelphia. Refuge lands are a thriving sanctuary teeming with a rich diversity of fish, wildlife, and plants native to the Delaware Estuary. Healthy and productive expanses of freshwater tidal marsh, open waters, mudflats, and woodlands support the hundreds of species that breed, rear their young, rest during migration, or call the refuge home year-round.
John James Audubon Center
Location: Audubon, PA
Estimated Cost: Free (Museum $14+)
From Center City: 23 Miles
The John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove is situated on a historic 18th-century site, the farm where John James Audubon lived when he first came to America from France. Here, he developed a technique for drawing birds "from live" that would allow him to become one of the world's best-known wildlife artists. The hundreds of life-size portraits of birds contained in his seminal work The Birds of America helped inspire the formation of the National Audubon Society. The site includes the original three-story farmhouse, built in 1762, miles of nature trails along the Perkiomen Creek, and a building, featuring indoor and outdoor exhibits focused on birds, art, and conservation.
Gloria Dei Church
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 0 Miles
Before Pennsylvania there was New Sweden. The church, known locally as "Old Swedes," sits on pastoral surroundings and contains a burial ground. The church was built between 1698 and 1700, which makes it the oldest church in all of Pennsylvania, the oldest surviving building within Philadelphia, and one of the oldest churches in the country. Revolutionary War and Civil War veterans, and sea captains are buried in the cemetery, which has been in use since the 1700s. The church was designated as a National Historical Site in 1942, six years before Independence Hall.
Hagley Museum & Garden
Location: Wilmington, DE
Estimated Cost: $15+
From Center City: 24 Miles
Located on 235 acres along the banks of the Brandywine River, Hagley is the site of the gunpowder works founded by E. I. du Pont in 1802. This example of early American industry includes restored mills, a workers' community, and the ancestral home and gardens of the du Pont family. Hagley's library furthers the study of business and technology in America. The collections include individuals' papers and companies' records ranging from eighteenth-century merchants to modern telecommunications and illustrate the impact of the business system on society.
Nemours Estate & Gardens
Location: Wilmington, DE
Estimated Cost: $15+
From Center City: 30 Miles
Owned and developed by Alfred I. du Pont, Nemours Estate comprises an exquisite, 77-room mansion, the largest formal French gardens in North America, a Chauffeur's Garage housing a collection of vintage automobiles used on the Estate, and nearly 200 acres of scenic woodlands, meadows and lawns.
Camden Children's Garden
Location: Camden, NJ
Estimated Cost: $5+
From Center City: 4 Miles
Designed for children and families, the four-acre garden provides horticultural experiences for creative and imaginative play. The garden is operated by the Camden City Garden Club, whose mission is to inspire and educate people of all ages by providing opportunities to improve their quality of life, health and community through horticulture.
Camden Shipyard & Maritime Museum
Location: Camden, NJ
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 5 Miles
The mission of the Camden Shipyard & Maritime Museum is to educate, inspire, and engage citizens about Camden's rich maritime heritage and significant contributions to global shipbuilding and seafaring exploration. Although the ships built in Camden were intended for use outside the safety of their berths, the museum gives a permanent home to memories of those ships, the shipbuilding industry from which they were born, and the maritime legacy of Camden.
Edelman Planetarium
Location: Glassboro, NJ
Estimated Cost: Varies
From Center City: 22 Miles
Look to the skies with the Edelman Planetarium. They offer live stargazing and immersive 360-degree video on their digital sky. Private shows can be scheduled for school, church and scout groups., and all are welcome to attend their public shows. Check out their special events for one-time events and special programming. You can also view the night skies through telescopes during their observatory open houses.
Michel Cluizel Chocolatrium
Location: West Berlin, NJ
Estimated Cost: Varies
From Center City: 20 Miles
Discover the chocolate history and how it evolved throughout the centuries on a privately guided chocolate tour. See the wonders of the plantation & craftsmanship of chocolate. Taste unique chocolates, French macaron, and mini pastries. Options include lunch, dinner, or pair the tasting with your very own favorite liquor or wines. All chocolate tours are educational, fun, and full of chocolates & pastries, great for school trips, social groups, and company outings.
Bridgeport Speedway
Location: Swedesboro, NJ
Estimated Cost: Varies
From Center City: 22 Miles
Billed as "The Fastest Dirt Track in the East," Bridgeport Speedway is a spacious 5/8-mile high-banked dirt oval. The Bridgeport Modifieds, the speedway's premier division, reach average speeds of well over 100 mph. The track's roomy corners can safely provide three and even, at times, four wide racing action. A two-tiered guardrail along the outside of the speedway, as well as, a concrete wall located on the inside of the corners provides drivers and fans with an ideal safety environment.
Lest We Forget Slavery Museum
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: $12+
From Center City: 9 Miles
The "Lest We Forget" Museum of Slavery is home to a private collection of slavery artifacts, bill-of-sale documents and Jim Crow memorabilia. The exhibit includes authentic slave shackles, chains, whips, branding irons and other items that were used for human bondage and punishment. This compelling collection truly brings history alive and provides a better understanding of the pain and suffering endured by kidnapped Africans brought to America and other parts of the world and held in bondage for hundreds of years.
Elmwood Park Zoo
Location: Norristown, PA
Estimated Cost: $12+
From Center City: 21 Miles
Established in 1924, the Elmwood Park Zoo currently maintains a collection of over 100 species that hail from all over the globe. Highlights of the collection include giraffes, zebras, bald and golden eagles, jaguars, and red pandas. A number of species in the collection are managed pursuant to an international Species Survival Plan, which aims to maintain and increase the size of animal populations that are under the largest threat of extinction. Other species in the collection represent significant wildlife conservation success stories, such as the American bison, peregrine falcon, bald eagle, and American alligator.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: $12+
From Center City: 2 Miles
Le Cat Cafe offers the new platform for cat adoptions. The self-serve cafe allows rescued kitties, guests, and potential adopters to hang out together in a cozy, living room-type environment.
National Shrine of St. John Neumann
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 0 Miles
St. John Neumann was a tireless preacher of the Gospel to the most abandoned, especially the poor. Upon his canonization, he was exhumed and placed on display with his body clothed in a robe and his head covered in a mask resembling his face. His shrine strives to imitate his example, welcoming all who come to visit his tomb and offering pilgrims space for prayer, worship, reconciliation, and renewal. The site and museum allows you discover the rich heritage of grace offered to the church and the world through Philadelphia's "Little Bishop" St. John Neumann.
Center for Architecture and Design
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: NA
From Center City: 0 Miles
The Center for Architecture and Design provides educational programs, exhibitions, and a public forum to explore architecture, urban planning, and design ... allowing visitors the opportunity to understand how these disciplines affect us all in our daily lives. Weekly walking tours are available to learn about Philadelphia's architectural heritage and modern masterpieces.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 0 Miles
From Steven Spielberg, DreamWorks Animation, Universal Parks and Resorts and Comcast Labs, this free, cinematic experience explores the power of ideas. The inspiring program, "The Power of I," is presented in a dome theater in the Comcast Technology Center lobby. In addition, stunning installations by internationally renowned artists greet visitors to the Comcast Center and Comcast Technology Center lobbies.
Location: Conshohocken, PA
Estimated Cost: Retail Store
From Center City: 15 Miles
Huge store sells nuts in bulk, dried fruit, chocolates, retro candy, snack mixes & gift baskets. You'll be blown away by the unique selection at this old-fashioned candy store.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Retail Store
From Center City: 15 Miles
Candy maker established in 1863 offering chocolates & other sweets in a restored historic building.
Location Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: $15+
From Center City: 3 Miles
After a decade of solitary work in their original warehouse turned lab, Philadelphia Distilling has put their process on display in a new distillery, where you can watch the spirits being made and sample the revolutionary results. Take an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look and learn about the history of Philadelphia Distilling.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 8 Miles
Tour one of the largest and oldest piano restoration factories in existence and watch as musical treasures are brought back to life. Cunningham Piano Company was started in 1891 and quickly became one of Philadelphia's most respected makers of pianos.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 0 Miles
Pennsylvania Hospital was founded 25 years before the American Revolution. A philosophy of caring inspired the founders, a group of public-spirited citizens led by Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Thomas Bond. Today that same spirit guides Pennsylvania Hospital through its third century. The Hospital has long been an innovator in patient care, treatment techniques and medical research. The Pine Building, acknowledged as a fine example of Colonial and Federal period architecture, is open to the public. Guided tours are also available that include many artistic, medical, and architectural highlights.
Location: Arden, DE
Estimated Cost: Retail Store
From Center City: 26 Miles
Do you have an eccentric frame of mind? A curiosity in the matters of the everafter? The workings of a demented mind? The Oddporium offers offer a peek behind history's dark curtain, from the early trial and error of modern medicine, to the rituals, practices, and how the living mourn the dead. In their Cabinets of Curiosities you will find all these answers and more.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Retail Store
From Center City: 0 Miles
Strange and Unusual is a parlor selling one-of-a-kind goods and unique collectible items, including ethically-sourced and cruelty-free taxidermy, skulls, and bugs.
Location: Landenberg, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 46 Miles
The 2,072-acre White Clay Creek Preserve is in southern Chester County, three miles north of Newark, Delaware. The White Clay Creek Valley, which forms the core of the preserve, varies from steep to gradually falling terrain with some flat bottomlands, all drained by the creek. White Clay Creek Preserve shares boundary with White Clay Creek State Park of Delaware. Because White Clay Creek possesses outstanding scenic, wildlife, recreational, and cultural value, it has been designated by Congress as a National Wild and Scenic River.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 7 Miles
Wissahickon Valley Park contains 2,000+ acres of parkland in Northwest Philadelphia, including the Wissahickon Creek. Visitors travel by foot, bicycle, and horse along Forbidden Drive where motor vehicles are not allowed, and there are many historic sites to be seen. Side trails off Forbidden Drive lead up into the wooded gorge above the creek along a total of 50 miles of trails. The park is the second largest part of the city's parkland areas, after the slightly larger Fairmount Park. The Wissahickon Valley was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1964.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 0 Miles
Named one of the best places to visit in Philadelphia by national press, Spruce Street Harbor Park features colorful hammocks, floating gardens, beautiful lights, refreshing craft beer, and food from popular Philly restaurants, making it a summer gathering space for locals and visitors alike.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 4 Miles
At Fairmount Park sits the impressive Smith Memorial Arch honoring Pennsylvania's Civil War military and naval heroes. The most unique aspect of this monument are the whispering benches at the base of the arch. A person sitting at one end of the very long bench can hear the person whispering at the other end.
Location: Glassboro, NJ
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 24 Miles
The Heritage Glass Museum displays exhibits of historic glass, bottles, and animal glass art figurines, as well as an extensive library on glass blowing and education. The Most important function of the museum is the retrieval, preservation and exhibition of historic Glass, bottles and related items. This serves to identify the links between the past and the present to connect glass making with Glassboro's local history.
Clivedon House & Germantown Battlefield
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free (Tours $10+)
From Center City: 10 Miles
Clivedon was owned by Benjamin Chew, who was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and also a close friend of George Washington. The historic mansion was the scene of some of the bloodiest fighting of the Battle of Germantown, fought in 1777 during the American Revolutionary War.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: $5+
From Center City: 0 Miles
The National Liberty Museum brings liberty to life through stories of people whose character and courage have expanded liberty for all. The Museum's exhibits, educational experiences and public programs inspire visitors to think about liberty as an ongoing human quest that we all share.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 0 Miles
Formed by the merger of the Chemical Heritage Foundation and the Life Sciences Foundation, the Science History Institute collects and shares the stories of innovators and of discoveries that shape our lives. The institute preserves and interprets the history of chemistry, chemical engineering, and the life sciences.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 3 Miles
Jefferson Street Grounds was a baseball field, which was also known as Jefferson Park and Athletics Park. It was home to the Philadelphia Athletics from 1871 to 1876, and other baseball teams while in use. The park held the first major league baseball game, and the last major league game played in the park was in 1890. Today, the site is currently occupied by various structures including a public school and recreation center. The field at the northwest corner of the lot approximates the location of the 1883-1890 diamond.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 5 Miles
The Belmont Plateau in West Fairmount Park provides one of the best views of the Philadelphia skyline. The Plateau, as it is affectionately known, is also home to nearby cross-country trails.
Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum
Location: Horsham, PA
Estimated Cost: $6+
From Center City: 31 Miles
Museum dedicated to preserving the aviation history of the Greater Delaware Valley including Naval Air Station Willow Grove and Harold Pitcairn, American aviation inventor and pioneer. The museum currently has nineteen historical aircraft on display both inside the museum building and in the outdoor display area.
Location: Pottstown, PA
Estimated Cost: Donation
From Center City: 42 Miles
Welkinweir is a 197-acre oasis of natural beauty featuring a 55-acre arboretum and historic estate house, as well as ecologically diverse wetland, meadow, and woodland habitats. The estate was built in 1940, onto an 18th-century farmhouse, and designed to blend into the natural beauty of the surrounding land and provide a pleasant background for relaxed country living and entertaining. The gardens surrounding the home contain mature specimens of rare and unusual trees and shrubs, flowering plants, and water gardens.
Free Library Rare Book Department
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 0 Miles
The Rare Book Department at The Free Library of Philadelphia offers access to exhibitions of historically important books, manuscripts, and works of art from 3,000 BCE to today. Among its collections are thousands of illuminated medieval manuscripts and cuttings; first editions, letters, and manuscripts of important writers, including some of the largest collections of Charles Dickens and Edgar Allan Poe; nearly 50,000 early American children's books; original artwork by Beatrix Potter and other illustrators; Mughal court paintings; and Pennsylvania German fraktur, manuscripts, and printed books. The Rare Book Department is among the largest in American public libraries.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 9 Miles
Wyck is a National Historic Landmark house, garden, and farm that served as the ancestral home to one Philadelphia family for nine generations. The site consists of a colonial house with innovative 1824 alterations by architect William Strickland, the oldest rose garden in its original plan in America, and a collection of 100,000 family papers and more than 10,000 family objects, furniture pieces, and historical curiosities. Additionally, the site features perennial gardens, a woodlot, fruit trees, extensive vegetable and herb gardens, as well as a collection of outbuildings from the late 18th century through the early 20th century (a carriage house, greenhouse, ice-house, and smoke house).
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: $8+
From Center City: 9 Miles
Grumblethorpe was built as a summer residence in 1744 by Philadelphia merchant and wine importer John Wister. In September 1777, the house was the scene of events in the Battle of Germantown. While the Wisters were staying in another home, British General James Agnew occupied the house as his headquarters during the battle. He was wounded and died in the front parlor, where his blood stains can still be seen on the floor. The home is a National Historic Landmark.
Location: Washington Crossing, PA
Estimated Cost: $7+
From Center City: 34 Miles
In the winter of 1776, General George Washington and his ragged army had experienced only defeat and despair. The War for Independence was going badly, with failure following failure. It was at this site where against all odds, Washington and his men successfully crossed the Delaware River and marched into Trenton on the morning of December 26, achieving a resounding victory over the Hessians. By moving ahead with his bold and daring plan, Washington re-ignited the cause of freedom and gave new life to the American Revolution.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 5 Miles
In 1985, after a standoff in which a Philadelphia police officer was killed, the Police Department dropped a bomb on a houseful of activists who called themselves MOVE. Eleven people were killed, and a resulting raging fire destroyed more than 50 homes. Today, half the homes on the 6200 blocks of Osage Avenue and Pine Street are vacant, with front doors padlocked and covered with plywood.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: $8
From Center City: 4 Miles
Historic Strawberry Mansion is celebrated as the largest of the Fairmount Park Historic Houses filled with an abundant collection of antiques, fine art, and collectible treasures from the 18th and 19th century. The mansion was summer home originally named Summerville by Judge William Lewis, who had it built sometime between 1783 and 1789.
Location: Malvern, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 30 Miles
The Paoli Battlefield is the site of a vicious mid-night revolutionary battle known as the "Paoli Massacre." The site is also now home to the 3rd oldest war memorial in the US.
Location: Kennett Square, PA
Estimated Cost: $30+
From Center City: 37 Miles
Longwood Gardens sits on over 1,000 acres and attracts over one million annual visitors. Varied outdoor gardens range from formal to naturalistic in design, and 20 indoor gardens are located within a group of heated greenhouses. Longwood's Conservatory contains 4,600 different types of plants and trees, as well as fountains. The Gardens also have extensive educational programs, and host hundreds of horticultural and performing arts events each year, including an extensive Christmas light display during the holiday season. Also on the grounds is the Peirce-du Pont House, the oldest structure at Longwood built in 1730. The core of the original brick house is an outstanding example of Federal-style architecture.
Location: Camden, NJ
Estimated Cost: $20+
From Center City: 4 Miles
The Battleship New Jersey served in World War II and other wars and is the most decorated battleship in the US Navy's history. At the Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial not only do you see exhibits of artifacts from the ship's past, but you are put into the exhibit as you go through the tour route. Sit in the chair from which Admiral Halsey commanded the fleet, stretch out on the bunks where the sailors slept, and climb into the 16" gun turret and learn how the projectiles were loaded.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: $5+
From Center City: 0 Miles
The Yards brewery tour gives thirsty guests a behind-the-scenes look at how Philly's Beer is made. You and your friends will learn about the brewing process and hear the Story of Yards, with plenty of comedy, beer samples, and giveaways throughout. Guided tours are available daily and last approximately 40 minutes.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: $10+
From Center City: 0 Miles
The only known museum in the United States that emphasizes the collection and preservation of black dolls as artifacts of history and culture.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: $5+
From Center City: 40 Miles
A National Historic Landmark, the Moravian Pottery & Tile Works is a "working history" museum where handmade tiles are still produced in a manner that was similar to that of founder and builder, Henry Chapman Mercer. For purchase are reissues of tiles and mosaics made in the American Arts and Crafts tradition. The Tile Works is a cast-in-place concrete structure.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Cost: Free
From Center City: 0 Miles
The largest fully functioning pipe organ in the world is located within a spacious 7-story court at Macy's department store and played at least twice a day Monday through Saturday. It was originally built for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, and then bought by John Wanamaker for his new department store. It took thirteen freight cars to move the organ to its new home, and two years for installation. The organ was first played at Wanamaker's in 1911.
