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Explore the most interesting, scenic, and historic places in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, via 30 self-guided walking tours.
From Broad Street to Independence National Park, from Manayunk to the Delaware River, the City of Brotherly Love is one of the world’s most fascinating places to explore. Grab your walking shoes, and become an urban adventurer. Local author Natalie Pompilio guides you through 30 unique walking tours in this comprehensive book. Walking Philadelphia makes you feel like you’re being led by your closest friend as you soak up the architecture, trivia, and more. The tours include important historic facts, as well as Natalie’s behind-the-scenes stories and tidbits. Plus, Tricia Pompilio’s photography brings these walking tours to life.
Find vintage boutiques and high-end shopping destinations. Try restaurants that showcase famed fare (like cheesesteaks, soft pretzels, and beer that make Philadelphia a foodies’ paradise). Discover Philadelphia’s many firsts: the first zoo, first library system, and first hospital—plus dozens of historic sites that you learned about in school. Explore a Museum District that’s second to none, an all-encompassing park system, and much more.
Book Features
- 30 self-guided tours through the City of Brotherly Love
- America’s Most Historic Square Mile, one of the country’s liveliest and most lived-in urban centers
- Unique and surprising stories about people, places, and things
Whether you’re looking for the Mural Mile in Center City or the historically modern charm of Society Hill, Walking Philadelphia will get you there. Find a route that appeals to you, and walk Philly!
Freelance journalist Natalie Pompilio lives in an alley off an alley in South Philadelphia. A former staff writer with The Times-Picayune (New Orleans), The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Philadelphia Daily News, she is a frequent contributor to The Star-Ledger (Newark), The Washington Post, the Associated Press, and regional magazines. She and her sister also collaborated on This Used to Be Philadelphia (Reedy Press, 2021). Her other books include More Philadelphia Murals and the Stories They Tell (with Jane Golden and Robin Rice, Temple University Press, 2006) and Philadelphia A to Z (with photographer Jennifer Zdon, self-published, 2009).
Natalie’s idea of a perfect night is sitting on her roof deck on a warm night with her husband, Jordan Barnett, and watching the chimney swifts do their nightly dance.
Tricia Pompilio is a Philadelphia-based portrait and family photographer. Her favorite subjects are dancers and families, especially her husband, Vince Savarese, and their three daughters, Fiona, Luna, and Poppy. In 2019, Philadelphia Family magazine named her the city’s best portrait photographer. When she’s not behind the camera, she’s probably rereading Harry Potter while listening to Rob Thomas while her cats, Albus and Clara, sleep at her feet.
Acknowledgments
Authors’ Note
Introduction
Walking Tours
- Independence National Park
- Chinatown
- African American Philadelphia
- The Museum District: From Love Park to the Rocky Steps
- The Museum District: From the Art Museum to the Cathedral
- Rittenhouse Square
- Fitler Square and the Schuylkill River
- North Broad Street I: From City Hall to “Dixie Hummingbird Way”
- North Broad Street II: Temple University and Urban Renewal
- South Broad Street I: From Navy Yard to City Hall
- South Broad Street II: From the Avenue of the Arts to Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park
- Market Street East: The Gayborhood and Reading Terminal Market
- Market Street West: City Hall and the Skyscrapers
- Center City
- Along the Delaware River
- Old City
- Society Hill
- Northern Liberties
- The River Wards: Kensington and Fishtown
- Fairmount, the Neighborhood
- Antique Row, Jewelers’ Row, and Rittenhouse Row
- Headhouse Square, Fabric Row, and South Street
- South Philadelphia I
- South Philadelphia II
- West Philadelphia I: University City, The Woodlands, and Clark Park
- West Philadelphia II: 30th Street Station, Drexel University, and More
- Manayunk
- Germantown
- Mount Airy and Wissahickon Valley Park
- Fairmount Park
Appendix I: Walks by Theme
Appendix II: Sources of Information
Index
About the Author and Photographer