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About Philadelphia - Erblaw Recommends

Best Places to Visit in Philly on a 24-hour Time Limit!

Unfortunately, some visitors to our fair city have only twenty-four hours to experience as much as they can. It should go without saying that a day is not nearly enough time, but if that's all you have we're here to help. Here are our recommendations for things to see in that twenty-four hour time frame:

Chris Erb

1. Society Hill - A nice walk would start at Independence Hall (because you have to see that), through the Rose Garden to Spruce Street then wander the area between Spruce and South, Front and Fifth Streets (Delancey and Pine Streets are both particularly nice)

2. Reading Terminal - in the morning grab a coffee at Old City Coffee or in the afternoon have a cookie at Fourth Street Cookies or Bassetts Ice Cream at the ice cream stand. If you can't choose, have both. The Amish are there Wednesday through Saturday only.

3. Rittenhouse Square - walk through Rittenhouse Square on a pleasant afternoon to see the eclectic crowd on this lovely Victorian 'pocket park.' For stunning houses, wander down 18th Street to Delancey and go right past some amazing townhouses.

4. Old City - the art galleries and bars of Old City are fun to wander through, although buying is tough unless you've got some cash to spare. Take Second Street from Chestnut up to Christ Church (a must see), then left down the small street (Church?) to Third, and then up Third to Arch Street.

5. Fairmount Park - Take a walk (or, better yet, rent a bike or inline skates) and wander from the Art Museum up the Schuylkill River along Kelly (formerly East River) Drive. You can cross at the Falls Bridge and come back along West River Drive, or, if you are biking and want a longer ride, continue up into the Wissahickon Gorge for a wonderful eight-mile ride on Forbidden Drive. The truly athletic can ride along Main Street in Manayunk to the towpath and all the way to Valley Forge Park, some twenty miles west of the city.

Madeline Martin

1. Independence Hall/Liberty Bell - for history

2. Reading Terminal Market - for lunch

3. Tour of City Hall (including tower) - for the view

4. Shops at the Bellevue (Polo, Origins, Williams Sonoma, Tiffanys...) - for real sight-seeing

5. Lowes Hotel (12th and Market) - for hip atmosphere and sleep

Laurence Chevalier:

1. City hall (take the elevator up to the top)

2. Old city

3. South Street

4. Art Museum

5. Rodin Museum

Matthew Archambeault

1. ChinaTown: Lots of great asian food and shopping. Plus, there’s Reading Terminal, which is an indoor market with fresh produce and varieties of tasty meals.

2. WaWa: If you do not have a WaWa in your area, you have to go and try their coffee. Makes those fancy chain coffee houses taste like burnt dirt.

3. Chubby’s and Delassandro’s on Henry Avenue, Roxborough. The conventional wisdom is that the best cheesesteaks are in South Philly at Pat’s or Jim’s. Malarky. The best cheese steaks are in the northwest in Roxborough.

4. Any sports bar during an Eagle’s game. Wearing the oppositions jersey to the bar cannot be advised. [note from the webmaster - particularly if you are a Dallas fan]

5. City Hall. By far the coolest building in the city and they just cleaned it up to. I was amazed to find out the it’s white and not green.