//
Photo: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
One of the world's most important collections of post-impressionist and modernist art, open in this location since 2012. Advance reservations strongly recommended (weeks in advance for week-end time slots); a limited number of tickets is available for same-day visits.
The Barnes Foundation is an art collection and educational institution promoting the appreciation of art and horticulture. Originally in Merion, the art collection moved in 2012 to a new building on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The arboretum of the Barnes Foundation remains in Merion, where it has been proposed that it be maintained under a long-term educational affiliation agreement with Saint Joseph's University.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Displays the largest collection of Rodin's work outside of Paris.
If you're into rare books at all, take the free tour, offered M-F at 11AM, of the Philadelphia Free Library's amazing rare book collection. Besides the Gutenberg Bible, highlights include medieval manuscripts, children's book illustrations, and the stuffed body of Charles Dickens's pet raven Grip, the raven who indirectly inspired Poe's "The Raven."
This museum attracts some of the top scientific exhibits in the world, including special exhibits that change every few months. Be sure to walk through the giant-sized human heart, a favorite with kids. Also features planetarium and the immense Tuttleman IMAX Theater and its four-story, domed screen with fifty-six speakers. This museum is incredibly popular as a field trip destination for local schools, so mornings and early afternoons on weekdays may be crowded with schoolchildren.
Not just a natural history museum, this institution also has an active research arm and library. Highlights of the museum include a 2-story dinosaur exhibit, a butterfly walk-through area, and a children's nature center with live animals. It is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas.
Opened in 2008, at 975 feet tall, the Comcast Center is Philadelphia's tallest skyscraper and headquarters of the cable provider. It features a public plaza with a gorgeous fountain display, a dramatic eight-story “Winter Garden” and an energy-saving “glass curtain” that wraps around the Comcast Center, allowing for a 360° view of Philadelphia’s urban landscape. The building has also unveiled a Sony Style Comcast Labs Store, which includes an “Interactive Technology Lab” that is open to the public. The lobby has garnered attention as a tourist attraction. At first glance, the north wall of its lobby appears to be a wood veneer wall, but it's actually a massive 2,000 square feet high-definition LED screen that's just displaying a picture of a wood veneer wall. Wait a minute and a dancing figure might appear on the wall, or the entire wall might fade out and be replaced with a photograph or a video show. The computer-generated images are so realistic, you’ll think they’re jumping out of the wall. With a resolution 500% greater than that of an HD television, the Comcast Experience is a remarkable technological and artistic achievement. The video wall, a giant HD video screen that is actually the largest four-millimeter LED screen in the world, is located right in the building’s publicly accessible main lobby, so everyone can enjoy it. Visit during the holidays for special seasonal displays.
The newest of the city's parks, but already becoming one of the most popular. For a century, Philadelphia's waterfronts were cut off from its residents by industry and an extensive system of railroads. Now gone for decades, the waterfront is a kaleidoscope of residential development, recreation, and good living. Center City's ongoing Renaissance is being charged by new amenities such as this urban river-side park, which carves its way deep into the city, culminating in South Philly.