Things to do in Philadelphia on foot

Philadelphia on foot

Philadelphia was the largest city in the American colonies when delegates met here to argue about independence, and the buildings where they argued still stand within a few blocks of each other in Old City. The same streets near the Delaware River were where ordinary Philadelphians lived and worked, in narrow brick houses that have outlasted many of the grand ones. Our walk starts at Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed, and goes next door to the Liberty Bell, which got its name not from the Revolution but from abolitionists in the 1830s. At Washington Square you stand beside the tomb of a soldier nobody can name. At Carpenters' Hall, where the First Continental Congress met in 1774, you hear about the builders who owned it. Franklin Court marks Benjamin Franklin's house, which isn't there anymore, with a steel outline. At Christ Church you hear how Americans got a bishop without a king. Elfreth's Alley, a lane of small brick houses, has been lived on for about three hundred years. The walk passes the Betsy Ross House and ends at Christ Church Burial Ground, where Franklin is buried. The walk is 2 miles on city sidewalks and takes about 1 hour 16 minutes with the stories. Going inside Independence Hall or the Liberty Bell Center adds time.

Philadelphia: questions people ask

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