Where to Stay in Philadelphia

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Image by Pierre Blaché from Pi

Undeniably historic, Philadelphia is packed with iconic sights, a plethora of cultural attractions and an ever-growing foodie scene. Our guide to the best neighbourhoods in Philadelphia will help you choose which area is best suited to your trip whether you're visiting for the history, architecture, fantastic bars and restaurants or catching a game or concert at one of the major arenas.

Guide to Philadelphia’s Neighbourhoods

Philadelphia MapBy Peter Fitzgerald, OpenStree

As with many big cities there are certain neighbourhoods with strong personalities and tastes. Philadelphia’s artistic treasures are clustered around the city’s north-west neighbourhoods, including Logan Square and Fairmount — this is where you’ll find the Rodin Museum, the Museum of Art and the Benjamin Franklin Museum. Many of the city’s historic highlights can be found to the east of Center City, around Old City, Washington Square West and Rittenhouse Square — these are great places to stay if you want to spend some time at the Liberty Bell Center, Independence Hall, and the City Hall. There are some hip and lively neighbourhoods in the city too — popular with Philadelphia’s university demographic — check out University City and Fishtown.

Center City

Center CityVia Pixabay

Center City is what Philadelphia calls its very walkable downtown neighbourhood. The bit most densely packed with historic sights, museums and galleries, offices and accommodation. Within the Center City area are the smaller neighbourhoods of Old City, Chinatown, Rittenhouse Square, Midtown Village, Washington Square West, and Society Hill. This is where you’ll find City Hall, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Kimmel Center, and many of the most historic buildings in Philadelphia — including some fantastic old residential buildings that have now been converted into gorgeous boutique and bijou hotels.

Pros and Cons

  • Pros: central location; walkable; great sightseeing; huge range of accommodation; great food and drink options
  • Cons: busy; can be expensive
  • Ideal for: city breaks; sightseeing; first-time visitors; families; couples

Rittenhouse Square

Rittenhouse SquareBy Jeffrey M. Vinocur - Own wo

Rittenhouse Square is considered a chi-chi neighbourhood, known for its chic hotels and buzzing alfresco drinking and dining scene. Among the elegant cafes, bars and restaurants along the main streets — Broad Street, Market Street and South Street — are cool, locally owned galleries, independent boutiques, and even theatres and music venues. If you want to shop head over to Rittenhouse Row and Walnut Street. The actual Square in the name is a one block park, popular with families, artists, and everyone who likes a bit of city greenery. It hosts festivals, farmers’ markets, fairs, and all sorts of arty and family-friendly events. There’s a lot going on in this neighbourhood; it’s a super popular place to stay with a great range of accommodation.

Pros and Cons

  • Pros: huge range of accommodation; high-end atmosphere; great shopping; buzzing food and drink scene; welcoming for families; central; great transport links
  • Cons: can be expensive
  • Ideal for: first time visitors; city breaks; families; romantics; food lovers; style aficionados

Old City

Old CityBy Beyond My Ken - Own work, C

Old City is a neighbourhood of cobbled streets and 17th and 18th century architecture radiating out from Independence Mall. It is one of Philadelphia’s oldest neighbourhoods, and is a key part of the Historic District — which is frequently referred to as the birthplace of the nation. Old City is close to the Liberty Bell, the First Bank of the United States, and Penn’s Landing too; it's right on the river close to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. The waterfront area is a great place for families: events are hosted here throughout the year, including an ice rink in winter. Old City is where you will find the National Constitution Centre, the Independence Visitor Centre, and the National Museum of American Jewish History. When it comes to more contemporary features, it has a number of very fashionable restaurants, cool boutiques, and cutting-edge galleries and theatres. This is a great neighbourhood to stay in if you love a bit of local nightlife.

Pros and Cons

  • Pros: historic; lots of sights; great restaurants, cafes and bars
  • Cons: can be expensive;
  • Ideal for: sightseeing; history buffs; city breaks; families; night owls

Midtown Village

Midtown VillageImage by Bruce Emmerling from

Midtown Village is the neighbourhood at the very heart of Philadelphia's Center City: a rectangular area between Broad Street and 11th Street, which encompasses several of Philadelphia’s best hotels and restaurants, and an exciting collection of theatres and galleries. Midtown Village has some well known nightclubs, late night cafes and bars too — this is a hub of LGBT life in Philadelphia, so there’s an extra layer of colour to some of them. The neighbourhood hosts Philadelphia Pride, as well as a lively food and music festival called the Midtown Village Fall Festival, which livens up the area every October. Midtown Village is also known for its boutique shopping.

Pros and Cons

  • Pros: central location; high end; fashionable; highly recommended places to eat and drink; lively nightlife
  • Cons: can be expensive; busy of an evening
  • Ideal for: a special occasion; couples; night owls; luxury lovers

Fairmount

FairmountBy Laura Klotz - Own work, CC

Just to the north of Center City, the Fairmount neighbourhood is best known for its fantastic collection of galleries and art museums. There’s the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Rodin Museum, the Franklin Institute and the Barnes Foundation. Fairmount is also home to the 1829-built Eastern State Penitentiary — now a museum of itself — the Philadelphia Central Library, the Franklin Institute of Science, the Academy of Natural Sciences, and the rather grand and beautiful Fairmount Water Works. Fairmount is a very special green space — it's large and lush, with a smattering of historic houses and plenty of brilliant public art. In spring, the district's 2,500 cherry trees colour the smart-looking residential streets in petals the shades of cotton candy. Fairmount’s foodie scene is a real draw too; you can expect a variety of different cuisines as well as some local classics like Jack’s Firehouse.

Pros and Cons

  • Pros: green and leafy; art museums; local sights; great places to eat and drink
  • Cons: residential; can be expensive
  • Ideal for: families, city breaks, sightseeing; art lovers; foodies; couples

University City

University CityBy Bestbudbrian - Own work, CC

The University City neighbourhood is the busy centre of Philadelphia academia, radiating around not one, but three universities: the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, and Saint Joseph’s University. So as you'd expect there's a creative and youthful vibe here and this neighbourhood reflects that with its food and drink culture, affordable and hip accommodation options, and artistic and cultural attractions. Guests staying in University City are close to the Penn Museum, one of the world’s first archaeological and anthropological museums — with loads of Egyptian artefacts — and the Institute of Contemporary Art. Walk the streets of University City and you’ll see Victorian architecture, along with chic art galleries, cool cafes, and late-night hang-outs. If you’re eating out you’ll find everything from student-friendly street food to Michelin recommended restaurants.

Pros and Cons

  • Pros: central; arty; lively; great food and drink scene; walkable
  • Cons: lots of students and student haunts
  • Ideal for: hipsters; academics; sightseeing; city breaks; families; first time visitors

Chinatown

ChinatownImage by Bruce Emmerling from

One of the iconic sights of Philadelphia’s Chinatown neighbourhood is the 400ft Friendship Gate, on 10th and Arch Streets. Once through the gate you’ll be surrounded by Asian supermarkets, restaurants and specialist shops — not just Chinese, but Cantonese, Vietnamese, Thai and Korean too. As well as being known for its food markets, street food and restaurants, this neighbourhood is also known for its fantastic festivals. This is definitely the place to come to celebrate Chinese New Year, as well as the Moon Festival, the Lantern Festival and a myriad of other colourful Asian celebrations. If you don’t time your stay for one of these large events, Philadelphia’s Chinatown also has a vibrant night market — which is definitely worth adding to your itinerary, even if you’re not staying in the neighbourhood. The area is also close to the Reading Terminal Market, which is one of the U.S.’s oldest markets.

Pros and Cons

  • Pros: central; colourful; fantastic for food; friendly; great transport links; walkable; bustling of an evening
  • Cons: busy of an evening; you really have to like Asian food!
  • Ideal for: city breaks; foodies; market lovers

Washington Square West

Washington Square WestVia Pixabay

Some folk draw a line around the Washington Square West neighbourhood that includes part of Midtown Village, but purists draw the boundary quite tightly around Washington Square. Washington Square was one of Philadelphia’s five original public squares, and it’s still a valuable green space in the city, much loved by families and anyone who likes to eat outdoors on a rug. The neighbourhood expands outwards from the square into streets lined with bars, cafes and restaurants that spill out onto the pavements when the weather is fine, antique and jewellery shops, galleries and high-end boutiques. Washington Square West is a great base for anyone who wants to walk out and visit the sights: Independence Hall is within the neighbourhood.

Pros and Cons

  • Pros: central; green and leafy; walkable; close to major sights; great dining options
  • Cons: can be expensive
  • Ideal for: sightseeing; city breaks; couples; families; foodies, first-time visitors

Fishtown

FishtownFlickr user Wally Gobetz

Fishtown is a cool neighbourhood on the Delaware River. Possibly Fishtown’s previous incarnation as a centre for commercial fishing is what has kept the area from gentrifying too far. It’s got a pre-grid layout of narrow streets and alleys with modest terrace houses — some which have now been turned into hotels and aparthotels, or other small, independently owned businesses. And as with any up-and-coming neighbourhood, Fishtown has seen all sorts of interesting places to eat, drink and shop open up to please the trendy crowd moving in, and this is now one of Philadelphia’s liveliest neighbourhoods.

Pros and Cons

  • Pros: hip; great range of accommodation; just off centre; lots of places to eat and drink; great independent shopping
  • Cons: hip; off centre
  • Ideal for: night owls; party people; hipsters; great value