Your Philadelphia CME conference.

Philadelphia after your study day

Study days finish at 2:00 PM Philadelphia time. For an easy afternoon, choose one outing near your study setting: Independence National Historical Park in Old City, lunch or a snack at Reading Terminal Market, or the museums along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Leave time for getting there, and for road closures on the Parkway, which the Philadelphia Museum of Art warns can cause delays and detours.

Travel, accommodation and admission are arranged separately. Your conference follows your own schedule on your phone or laptop; the city is the setting you chose for it.

History, markets or museums?

Independence National Historical Park is at 143 S. 3rd Street. The Park Service describes Independence Hall as the place where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed. Independence Hall has a reservations and timed entry section on the park’s site, so look at it before you plan the day. The Liberty Bell Center needs no tickets, and the park also has the Independence Visitor Center, the Benjamin Franklin Museum, Washington Square and the Second Bank of the United States, with more than 100 portraits. The Franklin Court Printing Office has printing equipment similar to what Franklin’s original office would have held.

Reading Terminal Market is at 1136 Arch Street. It is a nonprofit market, and its merchants include bakeries, eateries, produce, seafood, and meat and poultry sellers. The market says it is open daily, so it fits an afternoon after study.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is at 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and stays open later on Fridays, so check its hours against your 2:00 PM finish. If you want a longer visit after study, plan it for a Friday. Visit Philadelphia describes the Parkway as a corridor of museums, art and architectural wonders, and says the city has roughly 4,000 murals. The fact sheet also lists the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, which it says is over 200 years old. For a first visit, the Art Museum lists a Highlights of the Museum tour.

Science, art and a historic prison

The Franklin Institute, a nonprofit science museum at 222 North 20th Street, is open daily. Its site notes that weekdays before 2:00 PM bring more group visits and suggests visiting after 2:00 PM for a calmer experience, which suits your schedule. It lists the Fels Planetarium under a 60-foot dome, Body Odyssey with its Giant Heart, and the Hamilton Collections Gallery, where artifacts are displayed around the Baldwin 60000 locomotive.

The Barnes Foundation is at 2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway and is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Eastern State Penitentiary, at 2027 Fairmount Avenue, preserves what it calls the world’s first penitentiary. It is open every day, offers a self-guided audio tour of about 40 minutes, and lists Al Capone’s cell, the historic synagogue and 14 art installations.

Penn’s Landing and the river

Penn’s Landing is on the Delaware River, near Cherry Street Pier, Race Street Pier and the Delaware River Trail, and Visit Philadelphia lists hotels there with river views. It adds that most hotels in Old City, Society Hill and the historic district are within walking distance of Independence National Historical Park, including Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and the National Constitution Center.

Along the Schuylkill

Visit Philadelphia says the Boathouse Row boathouses keep watch over the Schuylkill River and its waterfront trails, and that Fairmount anchors a cultural corridor north of Center City. The Greater Philadelphia fact sheet describes Fairmount Park as 8,700 acres of landscaped city park.

Choose Fairmount or the Parkway area if you want to combine a museum visit with time outdoors. Choose Rittenhouse Square if you would rather have boutiques, galleries, theaters and eateries around a central park; Visit Philadelphia says it draws 10,000 daily visitors.

Mosaics and a waterworks

Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens is at 1020 South Street and is closed on Tuesdays. Its site lists a museum and a studio, guided tours and workshops, and mosaic and mural works linked to Isaiah and Julia Zagar.

Fairmount Water Works is an interpretive center run with the Philadelphia Water Department, at 640 Waterworks Drive. The site began in the early 19th century as a water pumping station, and the center lists a photography exhibit about the Schuylkill and a freshwater mussel hatchery. Choose the Magic Gardens for mosaic art and Fairmount Water Works for a river-themed stop. Check each site’s current hours against your 2:00 PM finish.

When to visit Philadelphia

The National Weather Service’s Philadelphia International Airport normals show a January average high of about 41°F, an April high of about 65°F, a July high of about 88°F and an October high of about 67°F. April and October are therefore the comfortable ends of the year, while July is hot and January is cold.

Check the local forecast before you plan outdoor time.

Getting to Philadelphia and your study setting

Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) is the arrival point shown in this guide. Visit Philadelphia says it is about 10 miles from Center City via I-95. The SEPTA Regional Rail Airport Line serves all six terminals and connects to Amtrak at 30th Street Station, and rideshare pickups are at the airport. Once in the city, SEPTA runs buses, subway lines and trolleys, and visitors can park in Philadelphia Parking Authority lots and garages. A seasonal RiverLink Ferry runs between Penn’s Landing and Camden.

Visit Philadelphia describes Center City as compact and walkable, and names Chestnut Hill, Manayunk, Fishtown and University City as other walkable neighborhoods. Choose your accommodation and ground transport with both your study setting and your plans outside study hours in mind.

The map shows straight-line distances from Shift’s designated center. These are orientation distances, not driving distances or travel-time estimates. Check your exact address against the conference’s check-in area before booking.