THE US PHILADELPHIA DESTINATIONS Oh brother, There’s plenty to love in Philadelphia, finds David Whitley O


f the big US cities, there’s a strong argument for Philadelphia being the most inexplicably underrated. Often reduced to a short stop between New York and Washington DC, or sacrificed altogether, the City of Brotherly Love has an astonishingly strong barrage of attractions that would make it the number-one destination anywhere else in the world. It’s also a place with a high


degree of character and soul. Hop between restaurants, craft beer bars and distilleries along East Passyunk Avenue, and you’re likely to end up in deep conversation with whoever is sitting on the bar stool next to you.


◗ SELL: ART OF THE MATTER Philadelphia’s strong suits are history and art, and it is not shy of playing on them. It’s the birthplace of the United States, and for anyone with even the slightest interest in the country’s heritage, the Independence National Historical Park is going to grip for hours. The highlight is Independence Hall, where both the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were debated, drafted and signed. Decor and furniture are either original or kept as close to period as possible, and the tour guides make a good fist of hamming up the gravitas.


Philadelphia’s street art includes thousands of murals painted on walls across the city


It’s not just one centrepiece, though. The park and surrounds are crammed with dozens of points of historical significance, whether it’s the country’s first bank or the house where Thomas Jefferson temporarily lived. If narrowing it down (and,


let’s face it, you’ll probably have to), the open-air President’s House exhibition offers a thought-provoking look at how slavery was part of everyday life for America’s Founding Fathers. And the Benjamin Franklin Museum ends up as a multi-pronged dive into the local hero polymath whose work stretched from getting French support in the Revolutionary War to inventing lightning rods and greatly expanding our knowledge of the Gulf Stream. On the art front, the big-hitter is the Philadelphia Museum of Art. If you see people running up and down the steps, it’s in pilgrimage to Rocky – the


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