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PHILADELPHIA TOURISM GUIDE

Consider Philadelphia's sightseeing possibilities -- the most historic square mile in America; more than 90 museums; innumerable Colonial churches, row houses, and mansions; an Ivy League campus; more Impressionist art than you'll find in any place outside of Paris; and leafy, distinguished parks, including the largest one within city limits in the United States. Philadelphia has come a long way since 1876, when a guidebook recommended seeing the new Public Buildings at Broad and Market streets, the Naval Yards, the old YMCA, and the fortresslike prison (which is still a tourist site as the Eastern State Penitentiary!).

Most of what you'll want to see within the city falls inside a rectangle on a map between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers in width, and between South and Vine streets in height. It's easy to organize your days into walking tours of various parts of the city. Nothing is that far away. A stroll from City Hall to the Philadelphia Museum of Art takes about 25 minutes, although the flags and flowers along the Parkway will undoubtedly sidetrack you. A walk down Market or one of the parallel streets named for trees (Chestnut, Spruce, Pine, Locust) to Independence National Historical Park and Society Hill should take a little less time -- but it probably won't, since there's so much to entice you on the way. If you'd rather ride, the spiffy PHLASH buses loop past most major attractions every 13 minutes, and the all-day fare is $4, or pay $1 each time you ride (service runs May-Nov, and seniors ride for free except 4:30-5:30pm weekdays). SEPTA also has an all-day $5.50 fare for city buses, but the two systems do not accept each other's passes.

The city is trying to wrap some of its attractions together in various packages. The Independence Visitor Center and other locations have two "package priced" offers. The first is the combined RiverPass ticket for Independence Seaport Museum, the cruiser Olympia, and the submarine Becuna, plus Camden attractions such as the Aquarium (which is closed for renovations until May 2005), and the ferry between them; prices vary, but the deluxe version is $24 adults, $21 seniors, and $19 children 3 to 12. The second is Philadelphia Citypass, which offers admission to six major attractions, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Franklin Institute, the National Constitution Center, and the Seaport Museum; prices are $36 for adults and $23 children 3 to 11, and they may be purchased in advance on http://citypass.net/cgi-bin/citypass (click on "Philadelphia") or at any one of the attractions. Tickets are good up to 9 days from first use, and they represent about a 50% discount from full admissions to all of the attractions.

Museums

Philadelphia has an amazing assortment of small single-interest museums, built out of the passions of, or inspired by, a single individual. Maybe you and your family are ready for these!

The Mummer's Parade on New Year's Day is uniquely Philadelphian; dozens of crews spend months practicing their musical and strutting skills with spectacular costumes. Talk about multicultural -- mumming comes out of both Anglo-Saxon pagan celebrations and African dancing. The Mummers Museum, 2nd Street and Washington Avenue (tel. 215/336-3050), is devoted to the history and display of this phenomenon. It's open Tuesday through Saturday from 9:30am to 4:30pm and Sunday from noon to 4:30pm.

In the northeast district of the city (we know, it's a schlep), Steve Kanya's Insectarium, 8046 Frankford Ave. (tel. 215/338-3000), has taken off (mostly as a school-class destination) thanks to a write-up in the Wall Street Journal. Can you believe an admission of only $5 to watch more than 40,000 cockroaches, assorted bugs, and their predators (scorpions, tarantulas, and so on) scurry around? It's open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 4pm.

Also not for the squeamish is the Mutter Museum, 19 S. 22nd St. (tel. 215/587-9919), a collection of preserved human oddities assembled in the 1850s by a Philadelphia physician. Skeletons of giants and dwarves and row upon row of plaster casts of abnormalities inhabit this musty place. It's open daily from 10am to 5pm.

Cathedrals & Churches

Arch Street Meeting House
This plain brick building dates from 1804, but William Penn gave the land to his Religious Society of Friends in 1693. In this capital city of Quakers, the Meeting House opens its doors to 12,000 local Friends for worship during the last week in March each year. Quakers believe in direct, unmediated guidance by the Holy Spirit; individuals publicly search their souls during "threshing sessions" in a spartan chamber with no pulpit, only hand-hewn benches that face one another. Other areas of the Meeting House display Bibles, clothing, and implements of Quaker life past and present, along with a simple history of the growth of the religion and the life of William Penn.

Christ Church
The most beautiful Colonial building north of Market Street has to be Christ Church (1727-54). Its spire gleams white from anywhere in the neighbourhood, now that a grassy park and a subway stop have replaced the buildings to the south. The churchyard has benches, tucked under trees or beside brick walls.

Christ Church, dating from the apex of English Palladianism, follows the proud and graceful tradition of Christopher Wren's churches in London. As in many of them, the interior spans one large arch, with galleries above the sides as demanded by the Anglican church. Behind the altar, the massive Palladian window -- a central columned arch flanked by proportional rectangles of glass -- was the wonder of worshipers and probably the model for the one in Independence Hall. The main chandelier was brought over from England in 1744. As in King's Chapel in Boston, seating is by pew instead of on open benches -- Washington's seat is marked with a plaque.

With all the stones, memorials, and plaques, it's impossible to ignore history here. William Penn was baptized at the font, sent over from All Hallows' Church in London. Penn left the Anglican church at age 23 (he spent most of his 20s in English jails because of it), but his charter included a clause that an Anglican church could be founded if 20 residents requested it, which they did. Socially conscious Philadelphians of the next generations adopted Anglicanism, then switched to Episcopalianism after the Revolution.

Gloria Dei (Old Swedes' Church)
The National Park Service administers this church, the oldest in Pennsylvania (1700). Inside the enclosing walls, you'll think you're in the 18th century, with a miniature parish hall, a rectory, and a graveyard amid the greenery. The one-room museum directly across from the church has a map of the good old days. The simple church interior has plenty of wonderful details. Everybody loves the ship models suspended from the ceiling: The Key of Kalmar and Flying Griffin carried the first Swedish settlers to these shores in 1638. And note the silver crown in the vestry; any woman married here wears it during the ceremony.

Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church
This National Historic Landmark site is the oldest piece of land continuously owned by blacks in the United States. Richard Allen, born in 1760, was a slave in Germantown who bought his freedom in 1782, eventually walking out of St. George's down the street to found the African Methodist Episcopal order. The order today numbers some 2.5 million in 6,200 congregations, and this handsome, varnished-wood-and-stained-glass 1890 building is their mother church. Allen's tomb and a small museum, featuring his Bible and hand-hewn pulpit, are downstairs; open by appointment only.

Old St. Joseph's Church
When it was founded in 1733, St. Joseph's was the only place in the English-speaking world where Roman Catholics could celebrate Mass publicly. The story goes that Benjamin Franklin advised Father Greaton to protect the church, since religious bigotry wasn't unknown even in the Quaker city. That's why the building is so unassuming from the street, a fact that didn't save it from damage during the anti-Catholic riots of the 1830s. Such French allies as Lafayette worshiped here. The present interior (1838, and renovated in 1985 to its late-19th-century appearance) is Greek Revival merging into Victorian, with wooden pews and such unusual colours as mustard and pale yellow. The interior has also preserved a Colonial style unusual in a Catholic church.

St. Peter's Episcopal
St. Peter's (1761) was originally established through the bishop of London, and has remained continuously open since. Like all pre-Revolutionary Episcopal churches, St. Peter's started out as an Anglican shrine. But what was wrong with Christ Church at 2nd and Market? In a word: mud. As a local historian put it, "the long tramp from Society Hill was more and more distasteful to fine gentlemen and beautiful belles."

Robert Smith, the builder of Carpenters' Hall, continued his penchant for red brick, pediments on ends of buildings, and keystoned arches for gallery windows. The white box pews are evidence that not much has changed. Unlike most churches, the wineglass pulpit in St. Peter's is set into the west end and the chancel is at the east, so the minister had to do some walking during the service. George Washington and Mayor Samuel Powel sat in pew 41. The 1764 organ case blocks the east Palladian window. The steeple outside, constructed in 1842, was designed by William Strickland to house bells, which are still played.

Seven Native American chiefs lie in the graveyard, victims of the 1793 smallpox epidemic. Painter C. W. Peale, Stephen Decatur of naval fame, Nicholas Biddle of the Second Bank of the United States, and other notables are also interred here.

Cemeteries

Christ Church Burial Ground
This 1719 expansion of the original graveyard of Christ Church contains the graves of Benjamin Franklin and his wife, Deborah, along with those of four other signers of the Declaration of Independence and many Revolutionary War heroes. There are always pennies on Ben's grave; tossing them there is a local tradition that is supposed to bring good luck.

Laurel Hill Cemetery
How come you find Benjamin Franklin buried in a small, flat plot next to a church , while Civil War General George Meade is buried in a bucolic meadow? Basically, the view of death and contemplation of nature changed as the 19th-century Romantic movement grew, and Laurel Hill reflects that romanticism. Laurel Hill, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1998, was the second American cemetery (after Mount Auburn in Cambridge) to use funerary monuments -- some are like small Victorian palaces. Set amid the rolling, landscaped hills overlooking the Schuylkill, its 100 acres also house plenty of tomb sculpture, pre-Raphaelite stained glass, and Art Nouveau sarcophagi. People picnicked here a century ago, but only walking is allowed now.

Mikveh Israel Cemetery
Philadelphia was an early centre of American Jewish life, with the second-oldest synagogue (1740) organized by English and Sephardic Jews. While this congregation shifted location and is now adjacent to the Liberty Bell, the original cemetery -- well outside the city at the time -- was bought from the Penn family by Nathan Levy and later filled with the likes of Haym Solomon, a Polish immigrant who helped finance the revolutionary government, and Rebecca Gratz, the daughter of a fine local family, who provided the model for Sir Walter Scott's Rebecca in Ivanhoe.

Historic Buildings & Monuments

Betsy Ross House
One Colonial home everybody knows about is this one near Christ Church, restored in 1937, and distinguished by the Stars and Stripes outside. Elizabeth (Betsy) Ross was a Quaker needlewoman who, newly widowed in 1776, worked as a seamstress and upholsterer out of her home on Arch Street. Nobody is quite sure if no. 239 was hers, though. And nobody knows for sure if she did the original American flag of 13 stars set in a field of 13 red-and-white stripes, but she was commissioned to sew ships' flags for the American fleet to replace the earlier Continental banners.

The tiny house takes only a minute or two to walk through. The house is set back from the street, and the city maintains the Atwater Kent Park in front, where Ross and her last husband are buried. The upholstery shop (now a gift shop renovated in 1998) opens into the period parlor. Other rooms include the cellar kitchen (standard placement for this room), tiny bedrooms, and model working areas for upholstering, making musket balls, and the like. Note such little touches as reusable note tablets made of ivory; pine cones used to help start hearth fires; and the prominent kitchen hourglass. Flag Day celebrations are held here on June 14.

Carpenters' Hall
Carpenters' Hall (1773) was the guildhall for -- guess who? -- carpenters. At the time, the city could use plenty of carpenters, since 18th-century Philadelphia was the fastest-growing urban area in all the Colonies and perhaps in the British Empire outside of London. Robert Smith, a Scottish member of the Carpenters' Company, designed the building (like most carpenters, he did architecture and contracting as well). He also designed the steeple of Christ Church, with the same calm Georgian lines. The edifice is made of Flemish Bond brick in a checkerboard pattern, with stone windowsills, superb woodwork, and a cupola that resembles a saltshaker.

You'll be surprised at how small Carpenters' Hall is given the great events that transpired here. In 1774, the normal governmental channels to convey Colonial complaints to the Crown were felt inadequate, and a popular Committee of Correspondence debated in Carpenters' Hall. The more radical delegates, led by Patrick Henry, had already expressed treasonous wishes for independence, but most wanted to exhaust possibilities of bettering their relationship with the Crown first.

What's here now isn't much -- an exhibit of Colonial building methods; some portraits; and Windsor chairs that seated the First Continental Congress. If some details seem to be from a later period, you're right: The fanlights above the north and south doors date from the 1790s, and the gilding dates from 1857. Hours are short because the Carpenters' Company still maintains the hall.

Declaration House (Graff House)
Bricklayer Jacob Graff constructed a modest three-story home in the 1770s, intending to rent out the second floor for added income. The Second Continental Congress soon brought to the house a thin, red-haired tenant named Thomas Jefferson, in search of a quiet room away from city noise. He must have found it, because he drafted the Declaration of Independence here between June 10 and June 18, 1776.

The 1975 reconstruction used the same Flemish Bond brick checkerboard pattern (only on visible walls), windows with paneled shutters, and knickknacks that would have been around the house in 1775. Compared to Society Hill homes, it's tiny and asymmetrical, with an off-center front door. You'll enter through a small garden and see a short film about Jefferson and a copy of Jefferson's draft (which would have forbidden slavery in the United States had that clause survived debate). The upstairs rooms are furnished as they would have been in Jefferson's time.

Elfreth's Alley
The modern Benjamin Franklin Bridge shadows Elfreth's Alley, the oldest continuously inhabited street in America. Most of Colonial Philadelphia looked like this: cobblestone lanes between the major thoroughfares; small two-story homes; and pent eaves over doors and windows, a local trademark. Note the busybody mirrors that let residents see who was at their door (or someone else's) from the second-story bedroom. In 1700, most of the resident artisans and tradesmen worked in shipping, but 50 years later haberdashers, bakers, printers, and house carpenters set up shop. Families moved in and out rapidly, for noisy, dusty 2nd Street was the major north-south route in Philadelphia. Jews, blacks, Welsh, and Germans made it a miniature melting pot in the 18th and 19th centuries. The destruction of the street was prevented in 1937, thanks to the vigilant Elfreth's Alley Association and a good deal of luck. The minuscule, sober facades hide some ultramodern interiors, and there are some restful shady benches under a Kentucky Coffee Bean tree on Bladen Court, off the north side of the street.

Number 126, the 1755 Mantua Maker's House (cape maker), built by blacksmith Jeremiah Elfreth, now serves as a museum. An 18th-century garden in back has been restored, and the interior includes a dressmaker's shop and upstairs bedroom. You can also buy Colonial candy and gifts and peek into some of the open windows on the street. On the first weekend in June all the houses are open for touring -- don't miss this.

Masonic Temple
Quite apart from its Masonic lore, the temple -- among the world's largest -- is one of America's best on-site illustrations of the use of post-Civil War architecture and design -- no expense was spared in the construction, and the halls are more or less frozen in time. There are seven lodge halls, designed to capture the seven "ideal" architectures: Renaissance, Ionic, Oriental, Corinthian, Gothic, Egyptian, and Norman (notice that Renaissance was the newest style that architect James Windrim could come up with!). This is the preeminent Masonic Temple of American Freemasonry; many of the Founding Fathers, including Washington, were Masons, and the museum has preserved their letters and emblems.

Pennsylvania Hospital
The original Pennsylvania Hospital, like so much in civic Philadelphia, owes its presence to Benjamin Franklin. This was the first hospital in the Colonies, and it seemed like a strange venture into social welfare at the time. Samuel Rhoads, a fine architect in the Carpenters' Company, designed the Georgian headquarters; the east wing, nearest 8th Street, was completed in 1755, and a west wing matched it in 1797. The grand Center Building by David Evans completed the ensemble in 1804. Instead of a dome, the hospital decided on a surgical amphitheater skylight. In spring, the garden's azaleas brighten the neighbourhood. The beautifully designed herb garden (highlighting plants used as medicines in the 18th c.) is very popular.

Powel House
If Elfreth's Alley leaves you hungry for a taste of more well-to-do Colonial Philadelphia, head for the Powel House. Mayor Samuel Powel and his wife, Elizabeth, hosted every founding father and foreign dignitary around. (John Adams called these feasts "sinful dinners," which shows how far Powel had come from his Quaker background.) He spent most of his 20s gallivanting around Europe, collecting wares for this 1765 mansion.

It's hard to believe that this most Georgian of houses was slated for demolition in 1930, because it had become a decrepit slum dwelling. Period rooms were removed to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. But the Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks saved it, and has gradually refurnished the entire mansion as it was. The yellow satin Reception Room, off the entrance hall, has some gorgeous details, such as a wide-grain mahogany secretary. Upstairs, the magnificent ballroom features red damask drapes whose design is copied from a bolt of cloth found untouched in a Colonial attic. There is also a 1790 Irish crystal chandelier and a letter from Benjamin Franklin's daughter referring to the lively dances held here. An 18th-century garden lies below.

Independence National Historical Park

Is there anyone who doesn't know about the Liberty Bell in Independence Hall? The bell is now housed across the street, but you get the point: The United States was conceived on this ground in 1776, and the future of the young nation was assured by the Constitutional Convention held here in 1787. The choice of Philadelphia as a site was natural because of its centrality, wealth, and gentility. The delegates argued at Independence Hall (then known as the State House) and boarded and dined at City Tavern. Philadelphia was the nation's capital during Washington's second term, so the U.S. Congress and Supreme Court met here for 10 years while awaiting the construction of the new capital in Washington, D.C. From the first penny to the First Amendment, Philadelphia led the nation.

The Independence National Historical Park comprises 40 buildings on 45 acres of Center City real estate. Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, in its new pavilion, lie between 5th and 6th streets at Chestnut Street, and the Park has just been overhauled, with some $300 million poured into new attractions, renovations, and landscaping. The Independence Visitor Center 1 block north is well equipped to illustrate the early history of this country, and the new National Constitution Center explores the U.S.'s core document.

This neighbourhood is a superb example of successful revitalisation. Fifty years ago, this area had become glutted with warehouses, office buildings, and rooming houses. The National Park Service stepped in, soon followed by the Washington Square East urban renewal project now known as Society Hill, after the historic neighborhood it's in. To the east, gardens replaced buildings as far as the Dock Street food market, which was replaced by Society Hill Towers in 1959. Graff House, City Tavern, Pemberton House, and Library Hall were reconstructed on their original sites. Liberty Bell Pavilion and Franklin Court are contemporary structures erected for the Bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence celebrations. The most questionable project was the condemnation and destruction of 3 blocks' worth of commercial buildings to create Independence Mall, a wide swath of greenery opposite Independence Hall.

September 11, 2001, had an inevitable impact on the spontaneous excitement of stepping into the birthplace of American independence: You must pass through a security screening center on Market Street before visiting the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, but most days the process moves fairly quickly.

Between March and October, and during Thanksgiving and end-of-year holidays, everyone in your group will need a ticket to visit Independence Hall. They're free, but it's preferable to pay the $1.50 handling charge by calling tel. 800/967-2283 or visiting http://reservations.nps.gov and reserving up to 12 months ahead, than to count on same-day walkup service. If you do take the latter course, go to the Visitor Center as early as possible (it opens at 8:30am), to claim up to 6 tickets for a time slot. The line for $2 tickets to take one of the frequent interior tours of the Second Bank of the United States, Bishop White House, and the Todd House is less intense.

The place to get tickets and most everything else is the Independence Visitor Center, 6th and Market streets (tel. 800/537-7676, or 215/965-7676; www.independencevisitorcenter.com). The Visitor Center should be your first stop in the park, since it's the official visitors service for the Park, and also provides general tourism services and trip planning information. There's a cafe and a gift shop selling mementoes and park publications, and every 30 minutes the center shows a John Huston feature, Independence, free of charge.

To get here, you can take the SEPTA Market-Frankford Line to 5th and Market streets or 2nd and Market streets. By bus, take the PHLASH or any Chestnut Street bus from Center City.

If you're driving, from I-76, take I-676 east to 6th Street (last exit before the Ben Franklin Bridge), then turn south (right) along Independence Mall. From the Ben Franklin Bridge, make a left onto 6th Street and it's right there after the National Constitution Center. From I-95 southbound, take the Center City exit to 2nd Street. From I-95 northbound, use the exit marked "Historic Area." Turn left on Columbus Boulevard (formerly Delaware Ave.) and follow it to the exit for Market Street (on the right). There's metered parking along most streets, as well as parking facilities ($9.50-$15 per day) under the Visitor Center, at 2nd and Sansom streets, and at the corner of Dock and 2nd streets.

Libraries

Athenaeum of Philadelphia
A 15-minute peek into the Athenaeum will show you one of America's finest collections of Victorian-period architectural design and also give you the flavor of private 19th-century life for the proper Philadelphian. The building, beautifully restored in 1975, houses almost one million library items for the serious researcher in American architecture. Visitors are welcome to the changing exhibitions of rare books, drawings, and photographs in the recently reconstructed first-floor gallery; tours of the entire building or collections require an appointment.

Edgar Allan Poe National Historical Site
The acclaimed American author, though more associated with Baltimore, Richmond, and New York City, lived here from 1843 to 1844. "The Black Cat," "The Gold Bug," and "The Tell-Tale Heart" were published while he was a resident. Just reopened following structural work, it's a simple place -- after all, Poe was poor most of his life -- and the National Park Service keeps it unfurnished. An adjoining building contains basic information on Poe's life and work, along with a reading room and slide presentation. The Park Service also runs intermittent discussions and candlelight tours on Saturday afternoon.

Free Library of Philadelphia
Splendidly situated on the north side of Logan Circle, the Free Library of Philadelphia rivals the public libraries of Boston and New York for magnificence and diversity. The library and its twin, the Municipal Court, are copies of buildings in the Place de la Concorde in Paris (the library's on the left).

The main lobby and the gallery always have some of the institution's riches on display, from medieval manuscripts to exhibits of modern bookbinding. Greeting cards and stationery are sold for reasonable prices, too. The second floor houses the best local history, travel, and resource collection in the city. The local 130,000-item map collection is fascinating. The third-floor rare book room hosts visitors Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm, with tours by appointment. If you're interested in manuscripts, children's literature, early printed books, and early American hornbooks, or you just want to see a stuffed raven, this is the place.

If you're hungry, the Skyline Cafe (Mon-Fri 9am-4pm) is a very nice location for a snack and one of the only dining options on the Parkway. There's also an active concert and film series.

Rosenbach Museum and Library
The Rosenbach specialises in books: illuminated manuscripts, parchment, rough drafts, and first editions. If you love the variations and beauty of the printed word, they'll love your presence.

The opulent town-house galleries contain 30,000 rare books and 270,000 documents. Some rooms preserve the Rosenbachs' elegant living quarters, with antique furniture and Sully paintings. Others are devoted to authors and illustrators: Marianne Moore's Greenwich Village study is reproduced in its entirety, and the Maurice Sendak drawings represent only the tip of his iceberg (or forest). Holdings include the original manuscript of Joyce's Ulysses and first editions of Melville, in the author's own bookcase. Small special exhibitions are tucked in throughout the house, and don't miss the shop behind the entrance for bargains in greeting cards and a superb collection of Sendak.

You are welcome to wander around the rooms unaccompanied, but you are not allowed to sit down and leaf through the books. For access to the books, you need to call and arrange a special admission. For the most part, you will only be allowed to arrange to peruse the books if you are visiting with a specific scholarly purpose.

Parks

Benjamin Franklin Parkway, a broad diagonal swath linking City Hall to Fairmount Park, wasn't included in Penn's original plan. In the 1920s, however, Philadelphians wanted a grand boulevard in the style of the Champs Elysées. In summer, a walk from the Visitor Center to the "Museum on the Hill" is a flower-bedecked and leafy stroll. And year-round, various institutions, public art, and museums enrich the avenue with their handsome facades. Most of the city's parades and festivals pass this way.

Logan Circle, outside the Academy of Natural Sciences, Free Library of Philadelphia, and Franklin Institute, used to be Logan Square before the Parkway was built, and it was a burying ground before becoming a park. The designers of the avenue cleverly made it into a low-landscaped fountain, with graceful figures cast by Alexander Stirling Calder. In June, look for students from neighboring private schools, getting a traditional graduation dunking in their uniforms! From this point, you can see how the rows of trees follow the diagonal thoroughfare, although all the buildings along the Parkway are aligned with the grid plan. Under the terms of the city permit, the Four Seasons Hotel now landscapes and tends Logan Circle, to magnificent effect.

The PHLASH bus goes up as far as Logan Circle every 12 minutes.

The northern end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway leads into Fairmount Park, the world's largest landscaped city park, with 8,700 acres of winding creeks, rustic trails, and green meadows, plus 100 miles of jogging, bike, and bridle paths. In addition, this park (tel. 215/683-0200; www.phila.gov/fairpark) features more than a dozen historical and cultural attractions, including 29 of America's finest Colonial mansions (most are open year-round with some wonderful Christmas tours, and are run by the Art Museum; standard admission is $3), as well as gardens, boathouses, America's first zoo, a youth hostel, and a Japanese teahouse. Visitors can rent sailboats and canoes, play tennis and golf, swim, or hear free symphony concerts in the summer.

If you're driving, there are several entrances and exits off I-76, such as Montgomery Drive; the Kelly Drive and the West River Drive are local roads flanking the Schuylkill River.

The park is generally divided by the Schuylkill River into East and West Fairmount Park. Before beginning a tour of the mansions, stop by the Waterworks (tel. 215/236-5465). Philadelphia set the waterworks up here in 1812 to provide water for the city. They set aside a 5-acre space around the waterworks, which became a park in 1822.

The Greek Revival mill houses in back of the Art Museum and an ornamental post-Civil War pavilion connecting them are undergoing the end of a $23-million restoration. An upscale, year-round restaurant, open-air market, summer stage, and new bike path joined the renovated houses in summer 2003. Also on the east bank, don't miss Boat House Row, home of the "Schuylkill Navy" and its member rowing clubs. Now you know where Thomas Eakins got the models for all those sculling scenes in the Art Museum. These gingerbread Tudors along the riverbank appear magical at night, with hundreds of tiny lights along their eaves.

The four most spectacular Colonial houses are all in the lower east quadrant of the park. Lemon Hill (tel. 215/232-4337), just up the hill from Boat House Row, shows the influence of Robert Adam's architectural style, with its generous windows, curved archways and doors, and beautiful oval parlors. John Adams described Mount Pleasant (tel. 215/763-8100), built for a privateer in 1763 and once owned by Benedict Arnold, as "the most elegant seat in Pennsylvania" for its carved designs and inlays. Woodford (tel. 215/229-6115), the center of Tory occupation of the city in 1779, is not to be missed, both for its architecture and for the Naomi Wood Collection of Colonial housewares. Along with Winterthur, this is the best place to step into 18th-century home life, with all its ingenious gadgets and elegant objects. The next lawn over from Woodford is the park's largest mansion, Strawberry Mansion (tel. 215/228-8364), with a Federal-style centre section and Greek Revival wings.

Just north of this mansion is bucolic Laurel Hill Cemetery, but if you cross Strawberry Mansion Bridge, West Fairmount Park also has many charms. Located in West Fairmount Park, Belmont Mansion (tel. 215/878-8844) hosted all the leaders of the Revolutionary cause. South of this area, you'll enter the site occupied by the stupendous 1876 Centennial Exposition. Approximately 100 buildings were designed and constructed in under 2 years. Only two remain today: Ohio House, built out of stone from that state, and the rambling Beaux Arts Memorial Hall (tel. 215/683-0200), now the park's headquarters and a recreation site. The Japanese House and Gardens (tel. 215/878-5097), on the grounds of the nearby Horticultural Center, is a typical 17th-century Japanese scholar's house, with sliding screens and paper doors in place of walls and glass. It was originally presented to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Since the Centennial Exposition had featured a similar house, it wound up here. The waterfall, grounds, and house are serene and simple and were extensively refurbished in 1976 by a Japanese team as a bicentennial gift to the city. It's open during the summer only, Tuesday through Sunday from 11am to 4pm.

Two more major homes lie south of the Exposition's original concourses: Cedar Grove (tel. 215/763-8100), a Quaker farmhouse built as a country retreat in 1748 and moved here in 1928, and Sweetbriar (tel. 215/222-1333), a mixture of French Empire and English neoclassicism with wonderful river views. Continuing south past the Girard Avenue Bridge will bring you to the Philadelphia Zoo , and then to Center City.

If you have some time and really want to get away from it all, Wissahickon and Pennsylvania creeks lie north of the park and don't allow access by automobile -- only pedestrians, bicycles, and horses can tread here. The primeval trees and slopes of these valleys completely block out buildings and noise -- right within the limits of the fifth largest city in the United States! Search out attractions like the 340-year-old Valley Green Inn and the only covered bridge left in an American city.

Penn's Landing--Philadelphia started out as a major freshwater port, and its tourism and services are increasingly nudging it back to the water after 50 years of neglect (typified by the placement of the I-95 superhighway between the city and its port). Two recent proposals for a full revitalisation with shops and restaurants were not approved by the city, so for now, the options are rather limited at Penn's Landing, but it's still a pleasant place for a walk on a sunny day.

In 1945, 155 "finger" piers jutted out into the river; today, only 14 remain. The Delaware waterfront is quite wide, and the esplanade along it has always had a pleasant spaciousness. The challenge has been to give it a unified, coherent sense of destination. Since 1976, the city has added on parts of a complete waterfront park at Penn's Landing (tel. 215/629-3200; www.pennslandingcorp.com), on Columbus Boulevard (formerly Delaware Ave.) between Market and Lombard streets, with a seaport museum and an assembly of historic ships, performance and park areas, cruise facilities, and a marina. Further additions include more pedestrian bridges over I-95; a 1996 project to install wider sidewalks, lighting, and kiosks along Columbus Boulevard; and the new riverside Hyatt Penn's Landing hotel.

You can access the Penn's Landing waterfront by parking along the piers or by walking across several bridges spanning I-95 between Market Street, at the northern edge, and South Street to the south. There are pedestrian walkways across Front Street on Market, Chestnut, Walnut, Spruce, or South streets; Front Street connects directly at Spruce Street. Bus nos. 17, 21, 33, and the purple PHLASH go directly to Penn's Landing; the stop for bus no. 42 is an easy walk from 2nd Street. If you're driving from I-95, use the Columbus Boulevard/Washington Street exit and turn left on to Columbus Boulevard. From I-76, take I-676 across Center City to I-95 south. There's ample parking available on-site.

Walking south from Market Street, you'll see an esplanade with pretty new blue guardrails and charts to help you identify the Camden shoreline opposite. The hill that connects the shoreline with the current Front Street level has been enhanced with the addition of the festive Great Plaza, a multitiered, tree-lined space. In the other direction is a jetty/marina complex, perfect for strolling and snacking, anchored by the Independence Seaport Museum, the Hyatt hotel, and the Chart House restaurant. The lovely, sober 1987 Philadelphia Vietnam Veteran Memorial lists 641 local casualties. Nearby, you'll find the International Sculpture Garden with its obelisk monument to Christopher Columbus.

There's also plenty to do in and near the water. Just north of the Great Plaza at Columbus Boulevard and Spring Garden Street is Festival Pier. The Penn's Landing Corporation coordinates more than 100 events here annually, all designed to attract crowds with high-quality entertainment. Even on a spontaneous visit you're likely to be greeted with sounds and performances. Festival Pier is also the location of the Blue Cross RiverRink, Philadelphia's only outdoor skating rink, open daily from late November to early March.

Several ships and museums are berthed around a long jetty at Spruce Street, and the Independence Seaport Museum is slowly consolidating management of these attractions as the Historic Ship Zone. Starting at the north end, these attractions are the brig Niagara, built for the War of 1812 and rededicated as the official flagship of Pennsylvania in 1990; the USS Becuna, a guppy-class submarine, commissioned in 1944 to serve in Admiral Halsey's South Pacific fleet; and the USS Olympia, Admiral Dewey's own flagship in the Spanish-American War, with a self-guided three-deck tour. (Separate admission to both the Olympia and the Becuna is $3.50 for adults, $1.75 for children under 12; both are open daily 10am-5pm.) The harbor cruise boats Liberty Belle II (tel. 215/629-1131) and Spirit of Philadelphia (tel. 215/923-1419), and the paddle-wheeler Riverboat Queen (tel. 215/923-BOAT), are joined by private yachts. In fact, Queen Elizabeth docked her yacht Britannia here in 1976. Anchoring the southern end is the Chart House restaurant, 555 S. Columbus Blvd. (tel. 215/625-8383), open for lunch and dinner, and the restored Moshulu four-masted floating restaurant, 401 S. Columbus Blvd (tel. 215/923-2500) in Penn's Landing marina.

Another group of boats occupies the landfill directly on the Delaware between Market and Walnut streets. The Gazela Primiero, a working three-masted, square-rigged wooden ship launched from Portugal in 1883, has visiting hours on Saturday and Sunday from 12:30 to 5:30pm when it's in port, as does the tugboat Jupiter. All boats mentioned in the paragraph are operated by the Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild (tel. 215/238-0280); admission $3 adults, $2 students.

If you want to get out onto the water, the RiverLink (tel. 215/925-LINK), at the river's edge in front of the Independence Seaport Museum at Walnut Street, plies a round-trip route to the Camden attractions including the Adventure Aquarium, the Camden Children's Garden, and the Battleship New Jersey, next to the Tweeter concert arena. The ferry crosses every hour on the hour between 9am and 5pm during the summer months. The trip takes 10 minutes, and the round-trip fare without museum admission on either end is $6 adults, $4 children each way.


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