Historic Sites in Philadelphia, PA
There are 9 historic sites in and around Philadelphia. Each card below shows what it costs, when it opens and which ages it suits.
Sorted by distance from the middle of Philadelphia, nearest first. Those are straight-line miles, so every drive is longer than the number on the card.
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The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, an historic, member-supported library, was founded in 1814, decades before the advent of free public libraries. Its purpose, then as…
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The Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks is an 88 year old non-profit that is dedicated to maintaining and preserving its four historic house…
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Battleship New Jersey is a museum and memorial in Camden, NJ, housed aboard America's most decorated battleship. Families can take self-guided or guided tours…
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The Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks is an 87 year old non-profit that is dedicated to maintaining and preserving its four historic house…
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The Historical Society of Moorestown is a volunteer-run organization housed in the Smith-Cadbury Mansion, a historic house in town that serves as both a museum and…
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The Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks is an 87 year old non-profit that is dedicated to maintaining and preserving its four historic house…
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A six-story concrete castle built in 1916, the Mercer Museum holds one of the world's largest collections of pre-Industrial American tools and crafts. Families can…
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A nonprofit museum in Wilmington that explores American innovation through patent models and historical artifacts. The main exhibition, housed in the visitor…
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A mansion filled with American decorative arts, surrounded by a large naturalistic garden across 1,000 acres of hills, streams, meadows and woodland. Families can…
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A National Historic Landmark in Bucks County where families can tour the stone farmhouse home of Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck. Visitors…
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The New Castle Historical Society runs two house museums open for public tours in Delaware's oldest settlement. The Dutch House, furnished with colonial-period…
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Where a card says no price or no hours listed, the venue does not publish it. We would rather leave the gap than fill it with a guess. Prices come from each venue's own website, and we publish one only when the figure appears on the page we took it from. Tell us if we are missing one you know.
Which one, by age
Two children three years apart do not have to be a compromise. The age line on every card shows what that venue serves.
Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library
Best here for two to five, 25 miles out, listed ages 3–9 and admission $12.
Mercer Museum
Best here for six to nine, 25 miles out, listed ages 6–16 and admission $10.
Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks/Powel House
Best here for ten and up, 1 miles out, listed ages 10–16 and admission from $8.
By town
Most of these are not in Philadelphia proper, and the town is usually what decides whether a place is worth the trip.
Historic Sites in Philadelphia
5 of them: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks/Powel House, Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks | Grumblethorpe Historic House and Garden and Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks/Historic Waynesborough, the closest 1 miles from the middle of Philadelphia and 3 with a published admission price.
Historic Sites in Doylestown
2 of them: Mercer Museum and Doylestown Historical Society, the closest 25 miles from the middle of Philadelphia and 1 with a published admission price.
Historic Sites in Wilmington
2 of them: Delaware Historical Society and Hagley Museum and Library, the closest 25 miles from the middle of Philadelphia and 2 with a published admission price.
Planning a visit
These run from 1 to 29 miles out from the middle of Philadelphia. Hours move with the season and with school holidays, so check the listing before you set off. If you run one of the places on this page, you can claim it for free and keep its hours and prices right.
Before you go
Grip socks. Almost every venue requires them for children and several require them for adults. Most sell them at the door for a few dollars. Bringing your own is cheaper and means you are not buying a fourth pair.
Check whether adults pay. It runs from free to full price and it changes the cost of a visit by a lot when there are two of you.
Weekday mornings are the toddler rush. If you want space, aim for after two on a school day. Weekend mornings are the busiest hours of the week almost everywhere.
Ninety minutes is the realistic ceiling for most children under five. There is rarely a gradual wind down. Leaving with time left on the clock is not wasted money, it is a better afternoon.
Call ahead in school holidays. Several of these venues run camps and private events that close open play with no notice on the website.
Looking somewhere else in the metro? Browse every kid-friendly place in Philadelphia.
Other things to do in Philadelphia
Historic Sites in nearby cities
Common questions about historic sites in Philadelphia
How many historic sites are there in Philadelphia?
We list 9 historic sites within 31 miles of Philadelphia, PA. Every one is a published listing with an address we checked.
Which historic sites in Philadelphia publish their prices?
8 of the 9 here do, and each price was checked word for word against the venue's own page before we published it. The rest do not publish one, so their card says no price listed rather than carrying a guess.
How did Mini Navigators choose these historic sites?
We list every one we have within 31 miles of the center of Philadelphia. Each is a published place with an address we geocoded and checked, and the business can claim its listing to keep the hours and prices current.
Do adults have to pay?
It varies more than you would expect, from free to full price, and it changes the cost of a visit by a lot when there are two of you. The price on each card is what it costs to get a child in. Where a venue publishes an adult price it is on the listing, and where it does not we have left it out rather than assume.
Do I need to book ahead?
Usually not for open play, but several venues cap capacity at weekends and during school holidays, and some close open play entirely for private events. Where a venue has its own booking page, the listing links straight to it.
What should I bring?
Grip socks, a water bottle, a change of clothes for anyone under four, and a plan for leaving before the meltdown rather than after it.
What else is there to do with kids in Philadelphia?
Philadelphia has 7 categories of kid-friendly places on Mini Navigators, from playgrounds and museums to splash pads and zoos. The Philadelphia hub lists all of them.
Listings last checked August 21, 2026.