Fairmount Park

Planning Your Time

You can tour by car (get a good city map), starting near the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Signs point the way, and the historic houses have free parking. Park House Information. Before you set out, call Park House Information to find out which historic houses are open that day. Another option is to take the narrated tour given by Philadelphia Trolley Works (board it at the Philadelphia Museum of Art or at John F. Kennedy Plaza, at 16th Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard). The trolley bus visits many of the sites, and you can get on and off all day for $27. 215/683-0200 or 215/988-9334. www.fairmountpark.org.

If you leave the driving to the Philadelphia Trolley Works, your narrated tour will take 40 minutes. If you drive yourself, you'll need about two hours. Add another 20-30 minutes for each historic house you tour. Animal lovers can spend half a day at the Philadelphia Zoo, while parents of children 9 and under will want to spend a full morning or afternoon at the Please Touch Museum at Memorial Hall, the hub of a new district celebrating sites that were part of the 1876 Centennial Exhibition.