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Gayborhood, Midtown Village

Lively Midtown Village includes LGBTQ bars and clubs in the Gayborhood area and features early-20th-century commercial architecture like the Wanamaker Building, now home to Macy’s department store.

Adults: 2 Children: 0

Shop at independent boutiques, tour the Mural Mile, learn about Philadelphia's LGBTQ+ culture and discover historic parks, streets and buildings along the way.

Nearby Attractions

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One of the most iconic symbols of American independence, the Liberty Bell cracked the first time it rung and was twice recast.

Designed by Robert Indiana, the statue in John F Kennedy Plaza brings throngs of people looking to get an iconic shot of their time in the city of 'Brotherly Love.'

Reading Terminal Market

It's home to one of America's oldest public markets, and today it's still used by locals to buy their fresh produce and locally sourced epicurean treats.

Ray's Cafe & Tea House

From the outside, the shop looks unassuming, but inside you will find some of the city's most rare and excellent coffee, including a pour made from Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee beans.

The President's House Site

Exploring the role of slavery at the founding of the United States, the site challenges norms that have developed around the myths of the Founding Fathers.

The Declaration House

Though the original structure no longer stands, the National Park Service rebuilt a replica of the house where Thomas Jefferson penned his immortalized words, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’

Related Tours

The Best of Philadelphia: Private Half-Day Driving Tour

Enjoy a private tour of Philadelphia’s highlights, where you will explore the best of the city of Brotherly Love with your professional guide by car, making several stops along the way to make the most of your visit to one of the oldest cities in America.

On your private driving tour, you will:

Enjoy hotel pick-up and drop-off by your private driver-guide and embark on a private tour tailored to your interests;
Explore the historic district, where the founders crafted many of the nation’s founding documents;
Walk past Independence hall, the Birthplace of democracy where the Declaration of Independence was signed;
See the Liberty Bell, a true symbol of America's freedom;
Learn about Betsy Ross - her inspiration for making the first US flag and the events which shaped her life;
Visit the famous ‘LOVE’ statue, and snap the perfect photo to remember your time in the city of brotherly love;
Discover the numerous sites along Benjamin Franklin Parkway - including Rodin’s ‘The Thinker sculpture, Fairmount Water Works, and the Free Library of Philadelphia;
See the Philadelphia Museum Of Art, climb the Rocky Steps and see the famous Rocky Statue;
Enjoy tickets to Philadelphia’s Magic Garden, with two levels of indoor and outdoor sculpture gardens.

Your private tour begins with an easy hotel pick-up in a private vehicle, for those staying in centrally located Philadelphia hotels.

Enjoy an easy drop-off at the first site, where your guide will take you on a poignant journey around the historic sites of the American Revolution, where the seeds of independence were taking root long before a musket shot was fired.

As you walk around Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross’s homes, along with the homes of numerous other founders, your guide will colour in the missing details of life in Philadelphia during the period: about the political climate of the time, about the tension and excitement around the city.

You will have the opportunity to see several of the city’s other highlights and recognizable sites, like the LOVE statue, Reading Terminal Market, Rodin’s "The Thinker" and numerous other public sculptures outside the Rodin Museum.

You will also visit Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens with tickets included, which is an immersive mixed-media art environment that is completely covered with mosaics. The creator, Isaiah Zagar, used handmade tiles, bottles, bicycle wheels, mirrors, and international folk art to chronicle his life and influences.

At the end of your tour, your guide will take you back to your hotel or drop you off somewhere central in the city.

Welcome to Philadelphia: Private Half-Day Highlights Walking Tour

Discover Philadelphia, one of America's oldest cities, which played a significant role in American history, from the signing of the Declaration of Independence to the birth of the US Constitution. Philadelphia is a pedestrian-friendly city and exploring it on a walking tour, it's the best way to visit its most popular sites.

On your private half-day tour, you will:

See Benjamin Franklin's tomb from outside the cemetery, and hear about the life and legacy of one of America's most celebrated founding fathers;
Stroll the cobblestone roads of Independence Mall, a historic landmark as the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution;
See the enduring symbol of American freedom and independence: the Liberty Bell;
Pass by Betsy Ross’s house, the woman who first sewed an American flag;
Explore Christ Church and Franklin Court, where you can see the graves of Benjamin Franklin and other notable figures from America's early days (if open on the day of the tour);
Explore Midtown Village and the Gaybourhood, where your guide will take you down the ‘Mural Mile’ for some of the best graffiti cultures in America!
End your tour at Reading Terminal Market, one of the oldest and largest public markets, filled with locals and travellers alike, where you can return throughout your stay to shop for groceries or dine on the go.

Originally founded as a haven for religious freedom by William Penn, Pennsylvania was colonised by French Huguenots, Mennonites, and most famously in the state - Quakers and Amish. The capital city was formed in 1682 and has served as the seat of government ever since.

Throughout the centuries, Philadelphia has gone through revivals and slumps - prosperous then seasons of economic free fall. During the American Revolution, Philadelphia was the site of the First and the Second Continental Congresses. After the Revolution, the city was chosen to be the temporary capital of the United States from 1790 to 1800.

Though federal and state governments left Philadelphia at the beginning of the 19th century, the city continued for some years to be the nation’s cultural and financial hub.

To see the remnants of these boom-and-busts of the city, nothing is better than a privately guided walk of it. From its role in inventing the United States to the modern ways in which Philadelphia continues to reinvent itself today, your guide will take you through the highlights and spots off the beaten track to give you a feel of the entire city –not just the highlights seen by most.

On your tour, you will not only check off the highlights of the historic district but also fall in love with the city's unique combination of grit and charm.