Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIASTARTER

The Bell, the Grave and the Alley

≈ 1,400 steps0.7 mi · about 1.5 hoursStarter · 3 stops · 500 credStart where you live.

A short loop through Old City: the Liberty Bell in its glass hall, Benjamin Franklin's grave seen through the railing at 5th and Arch, and the oldest continuously lived-in street in the country. About ninety minutes on flat brick sidewalks.

PHILADELPHIASTARTER

Up the Parkway to the Top Step

≈ 2,500 steps1.2 mi · about 1.5 hoursStarter · 3 stops · 500 credStart where you live.

Walk the Benjamin Franklin Parkway from the LOVE sculpture across from City Hall to the Rodin Museum's gate and up the 72 steps of the art museum. About an hour and a half, flat until the last climb.

PHILADELPHIASTANDARD

Along the Delaware

≈ 4,500 steps + 4.8 mi by car2.1 mi on foot · about 4 hoursStandard · 4 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.

The riverfront from the old cruiser at Penn's Landing north to the park where Penn signed his treaty, with a walk out over the water on the Ben Franklin Bridge. About four hours; the bridge walkway opens early, closes in the evening and shuts in snow.

PHILADELPHIASTANDARD

From the State House to the Singing Fountain

≈ 5,500 steps2.6 mi · about 4.5 hoursStandard · 5 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.

A walk south from Independence Hall through Society Hill's market shed, past a building covered in mirror and tile, down the Italian Market's curbside stalls to a fountain on East Passyunk Avenue. Half a day, best started mid-morning while the market is busy.

PHILADELPHIASTANDARD

William Penn's Five Squares

≈ 8,000 steps3.7 mi · about 4 hoursStandard · 5 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.

In 1682 William Penn drew a grid with a square at its centre and one in each quarter. This walk visits all five, from the fountain in Franklin Square to City Hall, Logan Circle, Rittenhouse and Washington Square. About four hours on foot.

PHILADELPHIAADVANCED

Prison Walls, Boathouses and the Centennial Grounds

≈ 7,500 steps3.6 mi · about 7 hoursAdvanced · 7 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.

A full day on both banks of the Schuylkill: inside the walls of Eastern State Penitentiary, past the gilded Joan of Arc and the Water Works to Boathouse Row, then across the river to the grounds of the 1876 Centennial Exhibition. Expect a long walk or a bus or bike for the river crossing, and stay for Boathouse Row's lights after dark.

PHILADELPHIAADVANCED

Up the Wissahickon to Germantown

≈ 4,000 steps + 12 mi by car1.9 mi on foot · a full dayAdvanced · 6 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.

A full day that leaves the grid behind: a rail bridge high over the Schuylkill, a stone statue and a covered bridge in the Wissahickon gorge, then the old houses of Germantown where the 1777 battle was fought. Needs a car or regional rail between the gorge and Germantown Avenue, and good shoes for the trails.