My family just returned from an amazing vacation in Pennsylvania! Yes, that’s right, not Florida, not California, not Mexico or Cuba we choose Pennsylvania and we had a blast creating hundreds of family memories! In fact, there was sooo much to do in the Philadelphia area, we could have stayed a whole extra week!
The very best way to discover Philly is by purchasing a Philadelphia CityPASS so you can take in a number of the sites without breaking the bank.
Why Use CityPASS?
- You save up to 50% off combined prices
- You can skip most ticket lines
- One easy purchase gives you a passport to the whole city! so convenient!
A Philadelphia CityPASS will get you into these venues-
-
The Franklin Institute
-
Adventure Aquarium
-
Phila Trolley Works Tour & The Big Bus Company
-
Philadelphia Zoo
-
National Constitution Center OR The Academy of Natural Sciences
-
Eastern State Penitentiary OR Please Touch Museum
Here’s how we used our Philadelphia CityPASS-
The Please Touch Museum was an amazing way to spend a rainy day in Philly! We literally spent 5 hours playing to our hearts content! Our favourites were the River Adventure, Flight Fantasy and Roadside Attraction rooms. Read a full review here.
Since 1976, Please Touch Museum has been the Children’s Museum of Philadelphia. Our museum was the first in the nation whose target audience was families with children seven and younger. We have grown into one of the best children’s museums in the nation, have become experts in play and have had our programs for underserved families in the region nationally recognized. Our mission to enrich the lives of children by creating learning opportunities through play, enables us to lay the foundation for a lifetime of learning and cultural awareness.
The Adventure Aquarium is now one of my favourite places on the planet, we had such an amazing time here! Just look at my boys a few inches away from a hippos face! When does that EVER happen! We were able to watch the hippos swim, see alllll kinds of sharks – including a hammerhead and we even got to touch starfish, sting rays and sharks! yes sharks! they had a shallow pool of baby sharks and you could pet them as they swam by, it was a really amazing experience! Again we spent a full day here, 5 hours and just had a blast!
Roll up your sleeves and prepare for a thrill at America’s Most Touchable Aquarium, Adventure Aquarium on the Camden Waterfront. This top-notch nautical attraction features more than 2 million gallons (7.6 million liters) of water and 8,500 animals, including Button and Genny, the resident hippos. See seals, penguins, sea turtles, hundreds of colorful fish, and one seriously impressive shark collection as you walk through a massive acrylic tunnel. Then, get hands-on with sea stars, anemones, shrimp, jellies and sharks; and be sure to visit the newest exhibit, Stingray Beach Club, to touch and hand-feed stingrays in a tropical setting.
We weren’t sure how this would work out, the bus tour was scheduled for an hour and a half and while we knew the boys would love the bus (we were kinda expecting a cute trolley too) we weren’t sure if they would get bored quickly. There is the option to get off at stops and get back on the next bus but it was late in the day and there was only one bus after us, if we missed it, we would be stranded in Philly! So we opted to stay on and take a full tour of the city at once. Turns out they loved it and had a really fun time! It was hard to hear sitting at the back but it was a long enough bench for the whole family and it kept our wiggly boys away from other passengers. We were even able to ask the tour guide for the best place to grab a Philly Cheesesteak and he pointed us in the right direction – Sonny’s!
Experience the unique history and beauty of Philadelphia from an authentic London-style double-decker bus. These open-top tours of the city offer the most spectacular views and entertaining live commentaries. See Philly at your own pace by hopping on and off at any of over 20 stops, or just sit back and soak in the history and the sunshine.
You can purchase a city pass for the following cities:
Atlanta
Boston
Chigaco
Hollywood
Houston
New York
Philadelphia
San Francisco
Seattle
Southern California
Toronto
Visit CityPASS when you are planning your next holiday and give them a follow on Facebook and Twitter
I was provided with two citypasses for reviewing purposes. all opinions are my own.
This is a great deal! I would definitely consider getting this, it saves so much time. Thanks for sharing, it looks like you had a wonderful time!
OMG I am obsessed with hippos!!! I would have loved to see them= I am going to check it out= Thanks!
it was really incredible, they also have a wall of windows for underwater viewing and you can see those huge bodies swimming under there! amazing!
Looks like you had a blast!! I love PA!!
I would probably get one for Seatle. That’s a great thing to do. I bet you all had fun in PA. I’ve been there once and it’s a beautiful state.
This looks great! I don’t know if I will ever get to Philadelphia, but I will check out the Southern California area.
I’ve never heard of City Pass, but thanks for sharing 🙂
What a great idea! I think this is a great way to see the sights and save some money.
love hearing about and seeing pics of your vacay!
I had never before heard of this…thanks for the heads up and the great post! Looks like you all had a blast!
Who knew you could purchase a city pass for Toronto?!
Such a great idea! That is so much fun! Looks like you guys had a blast! Thanks for sharing!
Wow, I love your pics! You had a great time. I love city passes! They save time and money
Hello!
I have been following your Sesame Place adventures as we are heading there soon.
Thought about purchasing the CityPass but not sure if we have enough time to see it all. Do you think we could do the Please Touch Museum and Zoo in one day with ease?
we didn’t do the zoo so I can’t speak for that, but you can spend hours at the museum. how old are the kiddos? it was a rainy day for us so we weren’t in a hurry, we ate lunch there and then the kids went back and played in some of the areas that they liked the best again. you could probably do the whole museum in 3 hours, we were there for 5. it is truly wonderful and full of things to explore. the museum is perfect if you are having a rainy day and so is the aquarium, in fact, for me I would say the aquarium is on the top of my list for things to see but Hubster says he thinks the museum was the best day and value.
I love your pictures!!! Nice way to create a mini scrapbook of each place you visited. My husband and I have checked out the CityPASS for Seattle and it looks like an awesome deal. (Except, perhaps, for our four-year-old – most places will still let her in free so then paying for the CityPASS for her doesn’t make sense.) Would love it if more Canadian cities had the CityPASS (like Calgary or Vancouver). Thanks for sharing!
I was surprised that Toronto was the only Canadian City as well
The City Pass sounds SO convenient! Am hoping to pick one up for New York. 😀 All of those pics are too cute!! It’s obviously your boys had a great time!
it would be a great way to check out NYC!
Looks and sounds as if you all had a fabulous time!! Your children are so adorable too! It reminds me of when my boy was little and we went and took him to all these fun & educational places. I have read and heard of this City Pass previously but never really read or look into it deeply. The thing about the city pass is it does save one a bit of money. I only wish it was extented over a longer period than 9 days. Doing 5 tours or visiting 5 places is quite a lot for older people who would like to see these things but don’t want to have to do in in the 9 day allotment. Like me, I tired easily walking and having to hurry around. Everything is in a fast paced world now a days!! And things a so very costly also. So staying overnight in say Toronto would be hard to do on fixed incomes but also riding the Go train back and forth daily could also be a large expense for 2. There are so many sites in Toronto I still would love to see and visit. OHHH to be young again. LOL Although I am not saying I am old….just older than I once was…. 🙂 takes me longer to do some things. lol I will definitely consider this City pass tho if ever we were to be in any of these cities for an extended stay !
That’s a good point Linda, I think they try to focus on people visiting but there is no reason why locals shouldn’t be able to use the pass as well and have at least a few weeks to use it up!