Philadelphia Museums

(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - PA, USA)

Philadelphia's innumerable cultural attractions tend to be very child friendly. Particularly so is the Franklin Institute Science Museum and the Mummer's Museum, both of which have excellent interactive exhibits for children and eye-opening displays for adults.

The Independence Seaport Museum stands on the banks of the Delaware River, next to Penn's Landing, and is another of Philadelphia's top places to interest, while Franklin Court and the National Constitution Center are housed within some rather intriguing buildings.

Franklin Court

Address: 314-322 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA), USA
Tel: +1 215 597 8974
Located underground on the site of Benjamin Franklin's first permanent home in Philadelphia, Franklin Court is a tribute to the great man featuring exhibits on his achievements in science, politics and business. A replica of Franklin's former home has been erected adjacent to the museum and visitors can look inside through its windows, while several nearby houses were also once rented by Franklin and are now used as exhibition halls.
Open hours: daily - 10:00 to 17:00
Admission: free

Franklin Institute Science Museum

Address: Logan Circle, 20th St. and Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA), USA
Tel: +1 215 448 1200
Another Franklin institution comes in the form of the outstanding Franklin Institute Science Museum, a huge complex packed to the hilt with clever and educational hands-on exhibits. Highlights include: the largest replica of the human heart in the world, at 15,000 times bigger than life size; the T-33 jet trainer at the Franklin Air Show exhibit; and the Baldwin steam locomotive. Franklin was also an inventor and you can see his famed lightning rod as well as an array of interesting exhibits covering the sciences. Other major displays include the world's largest pinball machine, Shaquille O'Neal's huge sneakers and an IMAX theater.
Open hours: daily - 09:30 to 17:00
Admission: charge, discount for children

Independence Seaport Museum

Address: Penn's Landing on Delaware River, 211 South Columbus Boulevard / Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania PA, USA
Tel: +1 215 925 5439
Ideal for maritime buffs, the Seaport Museum has some fantastic hands-on exhibits and nautical artifacts which show how the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers have shaped the city's fortunes. Highlights here include a replica of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, the opportunity to operate a crane to unload giant container ships, the chance to row along the Schuylkill in a scull and to assist in constructing the hull of a ship.
Open hours: daily - 10:00 to 17:00
Admission: charge, discounts for children, students, active military and seniors

Mummers Museum

Address: 1100 South 2nd Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA), 19147, USA
Tel: +1 215 336 3050
The museum was opened in 1976 and displays a collection of elaborate costumes and musical instruments used in past New Year Mummers Parade celebrations. From May to September, depending on the weather, free outdoor string band concerts are held on Thursday evenings.
Open hours: Wednesday to Saturday - 09:30 to 16:30
Admission: charge, discount for senior citizens, students and under 12s. Group rates available

Mutters Museum

Address: 19 South 22nd Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA), 19103, USA
Tel: +1 215 563 3737
Philadelphia's Mutters Museum is a must-see attraction if you have kids. Loaded with over 20,000 stomach-churning objects, exhibitions at Mutters Museum are housed in an eerie 19th-century building in the city center. The spooky décor keeps visitors on edge and exhibits such as the 'Secret Tumor of Grover Cleveland', brains in vintage glass jars and casts of the conjoined twins Chang and Eng, as well as thousands of other niceties, make for an interesting visit.
Open hours: daily - 10:00 to 17:00
Admission: charge, discount for senior citizens, students and under 18s

Brandywine River Museum

Address: US 1 and Route 100, Chadds Ford, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA), USA
Tel: +1 610 388 2700
Housed in an intriguing Civil War-era gristmill, with an interior graced by natural light that seeps in through a series of baffles, filters and blinds, the Brandywine River Museum displays works by the American realist painter, Andrew Wyeth. The museum is located to the southwest of Philadelphia in Chadds Ford and the exhibits here are accompanied by other illustrations and landscape paintings by the likes of Maxfield Parrish and Howard Pyle. The museum overlooks the river and has a garden boasting wildflowers and a nature trail.
Open hours: daily - 09:30 to 16:30
Admission: charge

National Constitution Center

Address: 525 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA), USA
Tel: +1 215 923 0004
Designed by a well respected firm, the multi-million dollar National Constitution Center is a huge complex covering the American Revolution and the country's constitutional history through a range of brilliant interactive exhibits. Visitors also have the chance to be a Supreme Court judge on an important case.
Open hours: Monday to Friday - 09:30 to 17:00, Saturday - 09:30 to 18:00, Sunday - 12:00 to 17:00
Admission: charge