Any suggestions for a several day Philly trip with a 7 year old?

I really liked the Art Museum, but I don’t know if a seven year old would appreciate it.

The zoo, The Franklin Institute, the National Museum of the Constitution (surprisingly fun and interesting), the Rodin Museum (it’s small.) There are some neat rooms upstairs at the Art Museum like a Chinese temple, etc.

Maybe relax for a day, wander about town or through a park, do a little shopping. On my vacations, I love days of unscheduled activity. I just go wherever the mood suits me. It can be very relaxing and less hectic than trying to keep a 7 year old on a schedule.

It might be worth it to make a day trip over to Hershey PA “The sweetest place on earth”

Can you get as far as Easton? Go to the Crayola factory / museum.

The first day I would consider a Hop on Hop off off tour day, is that the tour that comes with your pass? If you stay on an entire tour it looks like they are 90 minutes, but the beauty of hop on hop off is you can get on and off anywhere you want. If the driver passes by some famous Philly steak place, you can get off at the next stop and have a Philly steak and then catch the next bus. If your daughter is tired of sitting, you can get out and finish the tour three hours later. I haven’t done it in that city, so you might want to check reviews if it sounds interesting to you. After seeing the city on hop on and hop off you can still go back to some of the places over the next few days, but the tour can help give you a lay of the land.

Also, Atlantic City is just over an hour away. If it’s nice out you can walk down the boardwalk or even play in the sand and swim in the ocean.

I would want a photo in front of the Liberty Bell. I’m not sure if that would be a priority with a 7 year old though.

Crayola sounds good. I’ve never been there, maybe do that on the way down or on the way back home? It takes you out of your way, but only about a half hour each way I think? It’s North of Philly isn’t it?

(It’s kind of funny that a lot of people are giving you suggestions of things to do outside of Philly. I guess second prize really is two weeks in Philadelphia!)

Another thought. You could check out what there is to do and see at the University of Penn. they must have a museum or too. Maybe a green house/botanical garden, planetarium, or a theatre. Possibly an area near the university with shops and restaurants. I like college campuses for walking. I honestly don’t remember if the campus is just building through the city, or a real campus feel. I can find out if that interests you, my dad went to Penn. I was there was once as a little girl.

You live near a city that has so much already, I guess doing things you can’t do in NYC should be a priority.

I just noticed @janbb mentioned the national museum of the consitituion. That would definitely be on my list.

The City Pass includes Philadelphia Trolley Works and Big Bus, which has both trolleys and buses, hop on/hop off. It also includes the Philadelphia Zoo OR the National Constitution Center, the Aquarium OR the Please Touch Museum, the Franklin Institute and 24 hours of the hop on/hop off bus/trolley. I figured we’d do the Heinz Nature Sanctuary for some unstructured time. We will also meander around depending on what we see and the weather.

Please Touch Museum sounds like fun for kids. I’d opt for that personally over the aquarium. I would also go to the national constitution center for me. You can go to the zoo in NY. Just my opinion. Plus, you can still go to the zoo or aquarium, you just will have to pay. I figure you saw animals and aquariums in Orlando when you were there.

I think you can go to the Mint there and see money made. Would she like that?

@JLeslie: I figure the Constitution is a concept she may find hard to understand and/or boring.

@jca The National Constitution Museum has wonderful displays and a very accessible film. I think there are kid oriented parts she would enjoy of it.

@jca It’s why I said I would want to go there for myself. I have never been there, it sounds like your daughter might enjoy parts of it from what @janbb wrote. I would possibly bring my child and hope for the best, and then go to another place afterwards very kid oriented. That’s me, if it is not a museum that really interests you then probably there are more kid oriented things to do.

My parents did not always cater to the kids the whole time we vacationed, and sometimes unexpectedly kids are interested in adult things.

Betsy Ross House
The Franklin Institute
The Zoo
The Mutter Museum
The Liberty Bell
The Mann Center – if they have a show when you’re in town, I strongly recommend checking it out. Ticket prices are usually very reasonable.
The Magic Gardens – Probably my favorite thing in Philly. Also a great jumping-off point to explore the rest of South Street – just walk from there to the river (the streets number down to the water) and enjoy the people-watching.
And be sure to hit a Wawa if they don’t have them in your home area.

I’ve heard the Ghost Tour is fun. I haven’t been on it, but it goes through Old City, which is a lovely part of town and well worth a stroll on its own.
Penn’s Landing always has cool stuff going on.
If you enjoy disc golf, there is a world-class course called Sedgley Park within Fairmount Park. Lots of local color, and if you don’t have a disc you can buy one there for about $10.
The main lobby of CHOP (The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia). It has an enormous, beautiful mobile and a huge Rube-Goldberg machine.

Regarding the aquarium versus Please Touch Museum – if you asked me a few years ago I would’ve said aquarium, no question. I went to the Museum before it moved with some young cousins, and it was cute but more of a playplace than anything else. But it recently made the move to this incredible building, which, if you can believe it, had been empty and kind of run-down for at least a decade beofre that. I haven’t been in since it re-opened but my brother had his prom there and he said it was awesome. There’s also a very cool large carousel house on the grounds, and it’s worth a short drive both up and down the street the museum is on to see the marvelous statues at the roundabouts. The Mann is at one end of that street, and the whole lane is lined with cherry trees that should be blooming now or soon. Also in that area is the Japanese Tea House, which is gorgeous and very much worth a visit. So, I’d go for the Please Touch Museum.

The Mutter museum. Strange, curious, grotesque, amazing.

Probably wouldn’t kill a 7-year-old who likes to eat: Reading Terminal Market has a lot of interesting food. Ice cream too. Basically a big indoor “outdoor” market.

The Franklin Institute is a great hands-on museum.

You haven’t said when you’ll be making this trip. If it will be in the warmer months, Sesame Place is just north of Philly – you will probably pass by it on your drive into and out of the city, so perhaps go there on the last day and stay in that area and your drive back will be a little shorter.

I get a lot of Philly discounts and event calendars emailed to me; so if you’d like, you can PM me your email address and I can forward things to you. Again, it would be helpful to know when you plan to be in the area, and what activities and interests your daughter likes.

If you go to the Franklin Institute, walking through the heart is a must. As a matter of fact, if you go to Philly, walking through the heart at the Franklin Institute is a must.

@hearkat: I’ll be going in two weeks – mid April for 3 nights.

I think I am doing to avoid something like Sesame Place during this time of year (Spring Break) because I think it will be jam packed with kids. A friend went to Hershey Park last year during spring break and posted a photo of a total parking lot of people at the front gate.

I would stick to just Philly if you are going for three days.

@jca – Oh, that’s soon! I agree with Jan that those side trips would detract from the visit too much, especially since your visit will be so short and it’s not as if you live far from the beach and boardwalk or can’t plan a different getaway to places like Hershey Park. I only suggested Sesame Place because it’s basically on the way, and 7 is the perfect age, but I don’t think it opens until at least mid-May.

I’ll keep an eye on the emails I get and send any kid/family oriented things to you via FB, if that’s OK with you?

Have a great time. I hope the weather will be good.

Thank you @hearkat and @JLeslie. And thank you everyone for all the tips and advice. Keep them coming! Trip is in a few weeks.