When we visited Philadelphia last month our main goal was to do what we love to do most when traveling: check out neighborhoods & do as the locals do. We fell in love with three neighborhoods in particular: Fairmount, Bella Vista, & Graduate Hospital. The best part about these neighborhoods is that they’re all easily accessible from Center City, where most people stay.
Fairmount
Fairmount is home to many of Philadelphia’s famous museums, including the Museum of Art, the Barnes Foundation & the Franklin Institute. But beyond these Philadelphia institutions is a hip neighborhood full of boutique shops, cafes – & the nation’s oldest prison. We enjoyed popping in & out of shops along the main drag – Fairmount Ave. – & meeting the business owners that make this area thrive. You’ll want to make time to really explore both sides of this area: the quaint urban neighborhood & the world famous museums (if you’re an art lover, the Barnes Foundation is not to be missed – make your reservations online ahead of time to ensure that you can get in at your desired time).
© Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
© Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
lots of drool-worthy doors in Fairmount
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the view from the top steps of the Museum of Art
© Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
© Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
Bella Vista
Loving the Bella Vista – “beautiful sight” – neighborhood is literally in my blood: it was the first place Italian immigrants settled in Philly. Home to the fantastic Italian Market, you could spend hours wandering the streets here. Luckily, Sabrina’s Cafe & their giant stuffed french toast is nearby for all your carb loading needs (call ahead to put your name on the list when you’re on your way). Bella Vista is also home to the funky east end of South Street – a commercial street with everything from sex toy stores to ice cream parlors to sports bars to vintage boutiques.
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yes, this does exist & it is indeed as amazing as it looks
© Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
© Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
brownstones
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© Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
South Street
© Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
© Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
Graduate Hospital
We hadn’t planned on visiting the Graduate Hospital neighborhood, but with free time to kill before dinner & no working HVAC in our hotel, we had to get out into the fresh air. Luckily, this vibrate, developing neighborhood was just south of where we stayed on Rittenhouse Square. The neighborhood is home to Graduate Hospital (hence the name), but also the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts – a performing arts facility that looks more like a football area from the outside – as well as bakeries, bars & coffee shops.
Kimmel Center
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Sweet Freedom Bakery
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skyline skyscrapers peak above the old neighborhood
© Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
© Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
OCF Pumpkin Spiced Latte > Starbucks Pumpkin Spiced Latte
© Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
The Royal Theater was a center of African American culture in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built in 1919, the theater closed in 1970, after attendance dwindled & the threat of the Crosstown Expressway had ruined the neighborhood. The proposed highway was never built. The building still stands, empty, painted with a mural homage to its past on the front.
© Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
We visited Philly as guests of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation; however, we were given free reign to explore the city on our own, unscripted & unescorted. All opinions in this post are 100% my own. Some of the neighborhoods we didn’t love – these thee we did.
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