About two weeks ago, my husband and I flew out to Philadelphia to finally visit his sister and brother in law in their new city. By new I mean about 3 years since that’s how long it took us to venture out that way. We had an absolute blast and were very productive, making the best of our time. Today, I’ll be talking about how we spent our 3 day weekend exploring the nation’s first capital and what I would personally recommend. So, if you’re looking to visit Philly, or just enjoy reading about what to do in different US cities, keep reading.

Day 1

Our first day started exploring the cute little town of Conshohocken which is where we stayed during the trip. We walked around Fayette Street which is littered with restaurants and just got a feel of the little town. We 100% stand by the rule that the best way to see a city is to walk it and we very much applied this during our Philly visit. After this, we ventured over to Chestnut Hill for lunch which was the cutest little area covered in old timey looking/ivy covered houses and small businesses. If you’re into unique little family owned businesses, this is a great place to check out. We visited a cheese shop, an oil shop (cooking oil that is), and a few other boutiques. There were a lot of options for lunch but we settled on Cake which is a very Instagram-able indoor café with greenery and a bakery inside.

We started our night off with drinks at Sky Garten which had an amazing view of the city. This is where I got my first peek at City Hall which ended up being my favorite thing architecture-wise in Philly. After drinks, we headed to our dinner location and actually got to pass City Hall on our way and I was even more impressed after seeing it close up. The building is beautiful and so intricate.

After drinks, we headed to Lolita’s for tacos and margaritas. Both places got an A+ from me so major shout out to my sister in law for picking such great places 😊. After dinner, we headed towards Independence Hall to see it without the crowds which was definitely a great decision as we also got to see the Liberty Bell up close without any crowds. There was a pop-up beer garden nearby which is apparently a thing in Philly, so I would recommend putting in some research if you’re here in the summer and stop by one of those.

Day 2

We started the day with a tour of Independence Hall. The tour is free and you can pick up tickets at the office near the Liberty Bell. The tour itself was about an hour and was very informational. It’s really cool to be in the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed, especially considering most of the building is still preserved and is exactly how it was back in the day.

After the tour, it was time for some cheesesteaks. I mean, you can’t go to Philadelphia and not try the sandwich that’s named after the city. We ended up getting ours at Steve’s  Prince of Steaks and they were pretty great. I ended up getting mine with lettuce and tomato and my husband got the more classic kind and I would recommend going with the latter.

Being all medical professionals (a pharmacist, a doctor, a nurse and a health outcomes researcher), it was decided that we had to go to the Mutter Museum. If you’re not familiar with that museum, it’s a medical museum filled with medical oddities, anatomical and pathological specimens and other things that us, medical peeps, find fascinating. If you’re visiting as a student, make sure to bring your student ID for a discounted ticket. The museum has enough to see for at least two hours so make sure to set some time aside for it.

We then headed towards Love Park to see the famous Love sign and take some pictures. There’s a great view of City Hall from the park as well.

Dinner that night was back at Conshohocken and this time we went out for dinner to Jasper’s Backyard. It had the cutest little outdoor patio with lights, so I would definitely recommend saving this for a later dinner.

Day 3

Our last day was an active one. We rented bikes from Riverbend Cycles and rode 10 miles from Conshohocken along the Schuylkill River Trail down to the Art Museum aka the home of the Rocky Steps. The ride down was very pleasant with a very pretty view of the river. The area by the back of the art museum is beautiful as well, so if you have time, make sure you go out back. We left our bikes by the museum and headed towards Reading Terminal Market which we briefly visited the night before and vowed to come back for lunch the next day.

The market was one of my favorite things we saw in Philly. I’m always a fan of markets (Chelsea Market is still one of my mandatory spots every time I visit NYC) and this one was a foodie’s dream. It had every type of cuisine you can imagine choosing from as well as ice cream, smoothie and coffee options as well. My husband and I ended up getting gyros at a little Greek stand and I also picked up a delicious latte from Coffee, Please. We then finished lunch off with some gigantic cookies and ice cream.

We then had a very rainy bike ride home so the night ended with some Door Dash food delivery from California Kitchen and Ali Wong’s Netflix special. Our three day weekend ended on a very happy and relaxed note.

Overall, we loved our time in Philly and would happily go back and visit. There’s lots of great food options if you’re a foodie (and I believe we’re all foodies at heart), lots of history to see and lots of cute little parts of town to check out.

Our hosts in Philly couldn’t have been better and the people we met while we were there couldn’t have been nicer so Philadelphia, we’ll happily visit again.

Let me know if you’re either from Philly or have been there and what you love doing around the city! We’ll take some recommendations for next time and will happily forward them on to our family that’s there!

Eat Well, Travel Often.

As always, thanks for reading!