Philadelphia travel guide

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The original capital of the nation, PHILADELPHIA founded by William Penn Jr. in 1682, on a grid system that was to provide the pattern for most American cities, is the fifth largest city in The United States.

Philadelphia, the "City of Brotherly Love", is in fact one of the most ethnically mixed US cities, with substantial communities of Italians, Irish, Eastern Europeans and Asians living side by side among the majority black population. Philadelphia's strength today is its great energy grounded in its many traditional neighborhoods that took on distinct identities, becoming cultural and ethnic enclaves that continue to add color to the city's personality today. Shoppers haggle over the price of tomatoes in South Philly's Italian Market; families picnic in the parks of Germantown; street vendors hawk soft pretzels in Logan; and all over town kids play street games. It's a city of neighborhood loyalty: ask a native where he's from and he'll tell you: Fairmount, Fishtown, or Frankford, rather than Philadelphia.

Although the population is close to 1.6 million, its residents are intricately connected; on any given day, a Philadelphian is likely to encounter someone with whom he grew up. The "it's-a-small-world" syndrome makes people feel like they belong.

Just a few blocks away from the noise, crowds, heat and dust of downtown, shady cobbled alleys stand lined with red-brick colonial houses, while the peace and quiet of huge Fairmount Park make it easy to forget you're in a major metropolis, especially if you decide to visit the Old City where history, industry, art and excellent restaurants meet. It is one of the oldest sections of town, once the center of colonial life.

Philadelphia can be a very pleasant place to live. A construction boom, a restaurant renaissance, and cultural revival have helped transform the city, a city with an impressive past and a fascinating future.

If you're out for contrast and then you must explore: one of the nation's finest French haute cuisine restaurants, the fast-food heaven of Jim's Steaks, Philadelphia’s fascinating maritime history at the Independence Seaport Museum, the world-renown Philadelphia Orchestra - the focal point of efforts to transform Broad Street into a multicultural Avenue of the Arts.

Philadelphia is a city of firsts. It was the place where the American Constitution and Bill of Rights were forged more than 200 years ago. It is home to the nation's first medical school, art school, university and library, but it is also the city of superlatives: the world's largest municipal park; the best collection of public art in the United States; the widest variety of urban architecture in America; and according to some experts, the greatest concentration of institutions of higher learning in the country, thus any visit to Philadelphia will be a wonderful learning experience.

Philadelphia has history, museums and sightseeing by day, and great times by night. Whether you’re looking for good food, dance, music, comedy or just a place to hang out, Philly has something for everybody.