by Isabelle Esteves

Created on: April 22, 2008   Last Updated: December 26, 2011

Philadelphia is a city where you could easily spend several weeks enjoying all the history, art, parks and amusements that the city has to offer. One day in Philadelphia is only going to be enough to whet your appetite. Depending on the weather,  you may only be able to be outside for a limited amounts of time. These tips will give you some idea of things that might be of interest to you.

Let's assume that you arrived last night and spent the night in the city.Hopefully you spent it at the Hilton Garden Inn or the Courtyard by Marriott Downtown because that would fit in so nicely with this plan.

First, to maximize your one day in Philly,  you should choose a Friday. The reason to choose one of  these two hotels is that they are both very close to the Reading Terminal Market,  where you can have breakfast.  You can grab a coffee and a fresh baked pastry and walk around shopping while you eat. If you prefer a sit down breakfast there are several very good choices in the market.

City Hall has an elevator that takes you to the top of the building, right underneath William Penn's feet. The views are amazing. Try to book this ahead of time to guarantee that you will get to go. Book a tour for 1pm.

If you are up for a good brisk walk after your breakfast,  head down to the Independence Park Visitor Center. Try to get there early because if you do, you can get on one of the House tours, the Visitor Center opens at 8:30am . There are two tours daily one at 11am and one at 2pm and only 10 people are allowed per tour. What you will visit are the Todd House and the Bishop White House. The Todd house is of particular interest since Dolly Madison was Dolly Todd in her first marriage to lawyer John Todd. This is their house.

Independence Hall is also visited on a timed ticket. If you wait for the day you want to visit and get them from the Visitor Center they are free. However, if you want to guarantee your time and tickets you can pay $1.50 each and order them on-line. It is so worth it. Let assume you have 9:30am tickets to Independence Hall. Walk over and get in the line after you sign up for the House Tour.

If you are not alone, while you are waiting for your tour to begin go in and visit the Philosophical Hall. This is a very interesting building with some very unusual displays and well worth taking a few minutes to breeze through. Former members include Thomas Edison and Madam Curie.

After your tour go to the Todd House and wait for your

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>