The things to do in Philadelphia that we could check are Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell Center, the Museum of the American Revolution, Elfreth's Alley, Eastern State Penitentiary, Reading Terminal Market, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Barnes Foundation and the Franklin Institute. You do not need a car for the old town sights, by our reading of the National Park Service's transit page. We read each official page on 15 October 2026.
The sights, with address, hours and price
Independence Hall
Address: 520 Chestnut Street, on Chestnut Street between 5th and 6th Streets (NPS, Independence Hall page, last updated 9 Oct 2026, read 15 Oct 2026)
Hours: Open house 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. with no ticket. Timed tours 10:40 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. every 20 minutes, and an expanded tour at 4:20 p.m. The tour pages say tickets are required for the timed tours. The hall page says tours start at 10 a.m. and the last is at 4:20 p.m., which does not match the hours page, so check the day (NPS, hours page, updated 28 Sep 2026, and Independence Hall page, read 15 Oct 2026)
Price: Free, with a $1.00 administrative fee per ticket. Interagency passes do not cover the fee and there are no refunds. Reserve up to 30 days ahead on Recreation.gov or by phone at 1-877-444-6777, up to 10 tickets per account. Unbooked tickets stay available until the tour time, and more next-day tickets are released at 5 p.m. the day before, first come, first served (NPS, Independence Hall tickets page, last updated 17 Feb 2026, read 15 Oct 2026)
The NPS says you can see the room where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were both signed. Plan to reach security screening 30 minutes before your tour time. The tickets page says to reserve "when necessary" and does not list which dates need a ticket. It does not give the length of a tour either. Everyone and their bags are screened, and the NPS bans weapons, explosives and open food or drink containers. Bottles with screw-on lids are allowed.
Liberty Bell Center
Address: 526 Market Street (NPS, Liberty Bell Center page, last updated 20 Jan 2026, read 15 Oct 2026)
Hours: Daily, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Security screening closes at least 5 minutes before closing (NPS, hours page, updated 28 Sep 2026, read 15 Oct 2026)
Price: Free. No tickets are required. Entry is first come, first served after security screening (NPS, Liberty Bell Center page)
Independence National Historical Park, other buildings
The NPS hours page lists more buildings in the same park. The Independence Visitor Center is open daily 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Congress Hall has an open house 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. and tours until 4:40 p.m. The Benjamin Franklin Museum is open daily 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The First Bank of the United States is open Thursday to Monday, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Carpenters' Hall is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (NPS, hours page, updated 28 Sep 2026, read 15 Oct 2026). We did not check prices for these buildings.
Elfreth's Alley
Hours: The street is public: "a stroll anytime of day." The museum is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. (Elfreth's Alley Museum, visit page, undated, read 15 Oct 2026)
Price: Walking the street is free. Museum admission is $3 for adults and $2 for children 7 to 12 (same page, undated)
The page we read gives no street address, so we give none.
Reading Terminal Market
Hours: Open daily, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The page lists a closure on Labor Day, Monday 7 September (Reading Terminal Market, home page and contact page, read 15 Oct 2026)
Note: The market says it has been "housed since 1893 in a National Historic Landmark building" (Reading Terminal Market, about page, read 15 Oct 2026). The only street address on its site is 1136 Arch Street, #400, which looks like an office address. We did not confirm the entrance address, so check a map. We found no admission fee on the pages we read
Eastern State Penitentiary
Address: 2027 Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19130 (Eastern State, visit page, read 15 Oct 2026)
Hours: Open daily, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The page says hours are subject to change (same page, undated)
Price: Daytime admission bought online: adult $21, senior $19, youth 7 to 17 $17. At the door each costs $2 more. The page says children under seven are not recommended for this admission (same page, undated)
Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Rocky Steps
Address: 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19130 (Philadelphia Museum of Art, visit page, read 15 Oct 2026)
Hours: Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Friday 10:00 a.m. to 8:45 p.m. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday (same page, undated)
Price: Regular adult admission: not confirmed. The museum's tickets page did not show prices to our reader. The museum's press release says children 18 and under are always free and admission on the first Sunday of each month is always pay what you wish. PhillyVoice reported on 3 Sep 2026 that pay-what-you-wish Fridays after 5 p.m. continue through 25 June 2027. We did not find that on a museum page
The museum says its seventy-two steps up to the East Terrace became famous as the "Rocky Steps" after the 1976 film. VisitPhilly says visiting the steps and photographing the statue is free. VisitPhilly's page (updated 8 Sep 2026) says the statue is now at the top of the steps and was closed to the public through the end of September 2026 while the museum reinstalled it. The museum's own FAQ, dated 2017, says the statue is on the lawn near the bottom. The two pages disagree, so check where it stands on the day.
Barnes Foundation
Address: 2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19130 (Barnes Foundation, plan your visit page, read 15 Oct 2026)
Hours: Thursday to Monday, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Closed 4 July, Thanksgiving and Christmas (same page)
Price: Adults $30, seniors $28, youth 13 to 18 $5, college students with ID $5 (by phone at 215.278.7000), children 12 and under free. Admission includes the special exhibition and is valid for two consecutive days (same page)
Franklin Institute
Address: 222 N 20th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 (Franklin Institute, visit page, read 15 Oct 2026)
Hours: Open daily, 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (same page)
Price: General admission "From $23.00 per person" for a full-day pass. The page did not split prices by age, and we did not confirm child, senior or special exhibit prices (same page, undated)
Museum of the American Revolution
Address: 101 South Third Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106 (Museum of the American Revolution, plan your visit page, read 15 Oct 2026)
Hours: Daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed the Tuesday after Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day (same page)
Price: Adults $25 online or $27 at the door. Military, students, teachers and seniors 65 and up $21. Youth 6 to 17 $14. Children 5 and under free (same page, undated)
The museum has no parking of its own. Its special exhibit The Declaration's Journey runs until 3 January 2027, says the same page.
Old City and Society Hill
These are neighborhoods, not ticketed sights. We have not read a source on Society Hill, so we say nothing about it. The NPS puts its visitor center at 6th and Market Streets. Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell Center, the Museum of the American Revolution and Elfreth's Alley are in the same old part of the city.
The 250th anniversary in 2026
2026 is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. We could not load the Philadelphia250 website. VisitPhilly's 2026 page (read 15 Oct 2026) lists these items with its own dates: the First Bank of the United States "now open", Rocky Season through 3 December 2026, 52 Weeks of Firsts through 26 December 2026, a 2026 lineup by Mural Arts Philadelphia through 2026, The Declaration's Journey through 3 January 2027, and A Nation of Artists through mid-2027. It also listed Red, White & Blue To-Do on 2 July 2026. We did not check each event's details, tickets or prices.
Do you need a car in Philadelphia?
No, not for the sights above. This is our reading of the sources, and no source says it in those words. The NPS directions page lists these ways to reach its visitor center at 6th and Market Streets (page last updated 12 Apr 2021, read 15 Oct 2026):
| Way to come | What the NPS says |
|---|---|
| SEPTA Regional Rail | Trains reach Jefferson Station at 11th and Market, about a 10-minute walk |
| Market-Frankford El | The 5th Street stop is at 5th and Market |
| PATCO | Get off at 8th Street, two blocks away |
| Bus | SEPTA and New Jersey Transit buses stop near 6th and Market |
| Car | The garage under the visitor center "may be available (fee applies)" |
We could not confirm SEPTA bus and Metro fares on SEPTA's site, so check septa.org/fares. The Parkway museums and Eastern State are farther from Old City. We did not check walking times or bus routes to them, so look up your own route.
Getting to Philadelphia
From the airport
Getting there: SEPTA Airport Line from Philadelphia International Airport. The line stops at Terminals E and F, C and D, B and A, then Eastwick, Penn Medicine, Gray 30th Street, Suburban and Jefferson Stations. Trains leave Terminals E and F about every 30 minutes, from 5:07 a.m. to 12:07 a.m., on weekdays and on weekends. A sample run: 5:07 a.m. at Terminals E and F, 5:30 at 30th Street, 5:35 at Suburban and 5:40 at Jefferson. The airport stations are in fare Zone 4. SEPTA takes contactless cards, SEPTA Key, Quick Trip tickets or cash (SEPTA Airport Line timetable PDF, effective 5 July 2026, read 15 Oct 2026)
Price: Fare: not confirmed. The timetable gives no prices, and SEPTA's fares page would not load for us. Check septa.org/fares for the Zone 4 fare
From New York by train
Getting there: Amtrak, Moynihan Train Hall to William H. Gray III 30th Street Station. In Amtrak's timetable files made on 15 Oct 2026, we compared the times at New York and Philadelphia in every listed row. The Acela takes 1 h 9 to 1 h 41. The Northeast Regional takes 1 h 20 to 1 h 40. We worked these out ourselves from the timetable, and a few rows may be misread. Amtrak's trains-from-New-York page lists Philadelphia as an Acela destination with no fare. The page's headline sample price of $10 comes from Washington, DC (Amtrak, Acela and Northeast Regional timetable PDFs and trains-from-New-York-City page, read 15 Oct 2026)
Fares change by date, so we give none. Our New York to Washington guide cites an Amtrak notice that Portal North Bridge work affects Northeast Corridor service from 9 October to 15 November 2026, with fewer weekday trains from 10 October. Check Amtrak for your day.
Where to stay in Philadelphia
We did not check any hotel's rate or room list, so we give no prices. Rates change by date, so look up your own dates.
| Area | What it is near |
|---|---|
| Old City | Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell Center and the NPS visitor center at 6th and Market |
| Center City | Reading Terminal Market, and Jefferson Station at 11th and Market |
| Benjamin Franklin Parkway | The Philadelphia Museum of Art (2600), the Barnes (2025) and the Franklin Institute (222 N 20th Street) |
Old City suits a first visit, because the park buildings are close together. The Parkway suits a trip built around museums. This is our advice, not an official ranking.
Weather by month
NOAA's 1991 to 2020 monthly normals for Philadelphia International Airport:
| Month | Average high | Average low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41 F | 26 F | 3.1 in |
| April | 65 F | 44 F | 3.5 in |
| July | 88 F | 70 F | 4.4 in |
| October | 67 F | 49 F | 3.5 in |
(NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, monthly normals dataset, station USW00013739, read 15 Oct 2026.) These are averages. A single week can be warmer or colder.
What we checked and what can change
Read on 15 October 2026: the NPS pages for Independence Hall, Independence Hall tickets, the Liberty Bell Center, park hours and directions, the Elfreth's Alley Museum visit page, the Reading Terminal Market home, contact and about pages, Eastern State's visit page, the Philadelphia Museum of Art's visit page, tickets page, press release and FAQ, the Barnes Foundation's plan your visit page, the Franklin Institute's visit page, the Museum of the American Revolution's plan your visit page, VisitPhilly's Rocky Steps page and 2026 page, SEPTA's Airport Line timetable PDF on schedules.septa.org, Amtrak's Acela and Northeast Regional timetables and trains-from-New-York page, a PhillyVoice article of 3 Sep 2026, and NOAA's monthly normals.
Not confirmed: regular Philadelphia Museum of Art admission, Franklin Institute prices by age, Elfreth's Alley's street address and whether its undated hours and prices are current, the Reading Terminal Market entrance address, Independence Hall tour length and which dates need a ticket, every SEPTA fare (its fares page would not load for us), Amtrak fares, walking times between sights, any hotel rate, anything on Society Hill, and the Philadelphia250 website. Prices, hours and closures change, so check the operator's page for your date. We did not visit Philadelphia for this page.
