Olde City, Philadelphia

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On a nice evening, especially a Friday evening, its nice to come to this part of town to just stroll around. Its full of little restaurants ( all kinds) , stores, coffee places, icecream , desert places......pubs, upscale lounges.....Plenty to see and do

DOwnside: Parking. It could be expensive to park. I wouldnt recommend parking on street if you have a nice car. I parked in the garage and for 6 hours, it was $ 16. I guess thats not so bad, but its not great either!

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The Old City is full of public squares that often commemorate important people and events in American history. Most are near Independence Hall.

Of course, Independence Square is by far the best-known. By the way, the statue there is of John Barry, an early naval hero.

Not far away is a statue of Robert Morris, who helped to finance the Revolution. Also, close by, is a statue dedicated to the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Don't overlook these little gems.

The first Friday of every month art galleries open their doors and stay open late to welcome one and all....

222 gallery
Otto Design Group

3rd Street Gallery

Arden Theater Company

Artists' House Gallery

Artjaz Gallery

Biello and Muller Studio

Larry Becker Contemporary Art

The Clay Studio

Dizyners Gallery

Ericson Gallery

Exhibit 231

Gallery Joe

Highwire Artists Inc.

Hot Soup

InLiquid.com

Rodger LaPelle Galleries

Locks Gallery

Mum Puppettheatre

Muse Gallery

Nexus Foundation For Today's Art

The Painted Bride Art Center

Peng Gallery

Pentimenti Gallery

Rosenfeld Gallery

Silicon Gallery

Snyderman Gallery

Temple Gallery/ Tyler School of Art

Wexler Gallery

Wood Turning Center

The Works Gallery

Design Arts:

Berman Gallery

Flotsam & Jetsam

Foster's Urban Homeware

Indigo Arts

Jasuta * Urban Interiors

Jonas Home / John Beirs Studio

Lost Highways Archive/Crosley-Deluxe Gallery

Lumiere

Minima

Mixed Company

Mode Moderne

Moderne Gallery

OLC

PARAGON Antique Chinese Furniture

Francis J. Purcell, Inc.

Scarlett Alley

Tribal Home

Grab a spot on a bench and listen to a storyteller spin tales of Philadelphia's Colonial days as part of "Once Upon a Nation." Distinctive curved wodden benches have been placed at 13 historic district locations.

Listen to Ben Franklin under the mulberry tree at Franklin Court on Market Street, or to Free Quaker Timothy Matlack at the Free Quaker Meeting House on Arch Street.

Other locations include Independence Visitor Center, National Constitution Center, Betsy Ross House, Elfreth's Alley, Christ Church, Independence Hall, Carpenter's Hall.

Tales are free.

My mom and I were walking around within a couple blocks of my sister's old house in Old City and decided to try to count all of the art galleries. We lost track after hitting 20 or so. They're all over the place and really have some interesting pieces by local artists.

These old bank buildings were the financial center of the USA in the early days of the 19th century. They are very beautiful buildings and are still put to good use and have been restored to their original grandeur.

There are lots of great, privately owned art galleries in Old City.
There is a monthly event called "First Fridays" in which you can go from gallery to gallery and drink some wine and enjoy the people and the art.

Olde City is my favorite part of Philadelphia. If there weren't so many cars parked in the streets, one could really imagine stepping back in time, as those lovely little streets with their red-brick colonial homes just emanate the spirit of those days when a new country was founded right here in Philadelphia. Some of the wonderfully renovated houses are open for visitors, if you go to the Visitors Center on Market Street (across from Independence Hall), you can sign up for tours, which show you the interior of large mansions as well as those of more middle-class homes during Colonial and Federal times. Of course Independence Hall is always worth a visit. There are not many rooms to see, but the background of how the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution came into being here are well explained by the tour guides.
If you don't feel like doing any tours through buildings, you can enjoy taking a walk through the streets, just enjoying the atmosphere. When I still ived in Philadelphia, I used to do this quite often, some streets are really nice and quiet and extremely enjoyable.

As you're walking around Old City, you'll notice signs like this one so that you won't get lost trying to find all of the historical sights.