>wanna go to Philadelphia cuz I’m really interested in American history
>worried I’ll pay a shit load and it turns out to be a shit hole
Any PAanons advise? Is Philadelphia worth it?
>wanna go to Philadelphia cuz Im really interested in American history
Nope. It's a shithole and everyone who lives there is miserable. It's easily my least favorite city in the US. You can see it all in one afternoon. Go south and do Charleston and Savannah.
If you can wait until October when the weather is better, Washington DC would be significantly better than Philadelphia. All the DC museums are free. It also has a great metro system to get around. And the outdoor monuments are way more impressive in DC.
I like Philly but mostly for the museums (going to visit the Mütter Museum for the second time this week), I'm not a revolutionary or civil war geek and I think PA food in general is some of the worst in the country. The nice thing about the science museums is that they're clustered around the Amtrak station, so you can visit most of them just by walking. There are some cool seaside attractions by all the historical stuff as well like the harbor park (just a nice place to hang in the summer) in case you need some filler for your visit. I do agree with anons that it's a pretty filthy city, but what city isn't?
I also think DC is a good city to visit, especially if you're a museum buff. The one museum I would recommend that isn't free is the spy museum. At first it seems geared towards kids but once you step onto the 4th floor and learn about the ethics of torture, you'll realize that the first few exhibits are traps for impatient monster children and their weary parents. The metro is great, just don't try to drive there. It's the worst.
And yeah, Gettysburg is nice if you like quieter locations with a strong Americana vibe. I got bored there fast (again, not interested in civil war stuff) but I want to give it another try and see a reenactment.
The Spy Museum is cool. The National Gallery of Art, The Air and Space, the Natural History, The Freer, The Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial are my favs. All free. If you rent a car, you can go see some other good stuff nearby like Great Falls, Annapolis, Old Town Alexandria, Harper's Ferry and Shenandoah National Park. The nicer Delaware beaches are only 2 hours from DC too. The food on the Deleware Shore is great. You could even drive down to trashy ocean city and look at the e-girltas on the boardwalk.
>Mütter Museum
Based. Great underrated place.
If you've got a car, the best museum near DC, in my opinion, is the National Museum of the Marine Corps.
PAanon here, Philly's historic square is kinda worth it. That said, the rest of the city is not, it is very filthy and crime filled. Berks, Lancaster, and Dauphin counties are high population and mostly safe.
Low population county recommendations would be: Mifflin for the most 'Pennsylvania' county in the state with the strongest accent, the Amish that live there are the most traditional. Northumberland is important to the history of coal and has a great themepark called Knoebels. McKean is close to New York so the scenery is less narrow valleys and steeper mountains.
I should also mention Gettysburg is a nice town has quasi-resort type attractions, novelties and such. If you want a similar spirit to Gettysburg with less cross-country tourists (not that they cause much of a problem), visit Bedford.
Assuming OP is from this country, he should be smart enough to stay out of urban bugtopias anyway. Visiting in October is a good suggestion for most of the non-Plains North, from West Virginia to Maine.
I’m from the UK, I know cities are shit mostly
Come on now. Gettysburg? He's coming from a country with giant castles and you want him to waste his time walking around a big cemetery? I did Gettysburg as a kid and it was one of the most insanely boring trips I've ever taken. That's a complete waste of a trip.
If you want to come to the US and do something fun, go to some National Parks out west in the early fall. You could do Yosemite, or head to south and do the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Arches. You can fly in and out of Vegas.
Well OP said he was coming to look at American history, so for that he'd best stay in the original 13 states unless he has particular interest in industry.
I'd like to be able to respond to your suggestion with "he's probably not intersted in basedjakking over a bunch of titilating big dead rocks out West" but that wouldn't be honest. Colorado is probably the most beautiful section of land on Earth, and they treat their tourists great.
The medium for both of these would be an Appalachia tour that starts in the Catskills and ends in Burmingham; maybe Mobile if he wants to touch the sea.
There's a lot of cool things to do in and around Philly, but the city is undoubtedly a shit hole beyond the major tourist areas. You can definitely have a good time, and I love being close enough to the city to visit it, but I'd rather shoot myself than have to live there.
I'll second Gettysburg as a great place to visit in PA, but it's not really near Philly. If you do visit the area in October like other anons suggested, there are loads of quality haunted houses in driving distance of Philly if that's your thing. Otherwise, you can probably enjoy 2, maybe 3 days in the city without getting too fed up with the shit. You could easily extend that timeframe if you head out into the surrounding suburbs and towns.
>Gettysburg in October
Do people see ghosts and stuff?
I don't believe, but Gettysburg is absolutely a Mecca for ghost hunters. You can get ghost tours there any time of year, but I wouldn't be surprised if they ramp up around Halloween. You can also just drive yourself around the battlefield after dark. I remember scaring some people at Devil's Den one night by hiding under a little wooden bridge and throwing pebbles at it as the walked across.
>I remember scaring some people at Devil's Den one night by hiding under a little wooden bridge and throwing pebbles at it as the walked across.
Lol nice
Try to go get some pussy on the fetanyl street, it's the closest thing Americans have to mongering.
Philly has a bunch of cool stuff just avoid north and west Philly
I hope you like blacks, very aggressive sports fans, and fat people
Go to the reading terminal and get a dinics roast pork if you wanna try something locals eat besides cheesteaks
I went to Philadelphia. There was trash everywhere an no trashcans for some reason. Lots of homeless and everyone was rushing.
There was a monument to a construction accident or something that was covered in trash. A church nearby that had a bunch beer cans at the step.
I wouldn't recommend it. I got charged 14 dollars for a puff pastry.
Go to Barnes museum
>Is Philadelphia worth it?
For a weekend trip yes it's fine. I wouldn't spend more than a couple of days. All the touristy stuff is nice and the cheese steaks are tasty but outside of that it's a pretty grime-y city with a lot of trash and drug addicts.
Philly is nice. Bucks country is comfy. FOnthill castle is fun and off the beat track. New Hope is comfy. Chanticleer is a must see if you like gardens. There's a lot to do in the philly metro area, let alone the entire state of Pennsylvania.
You can probably knock out historic philly in a day or a day and a half. There's valley forge and other colonial shit further in the metro area and as the other anon said Gburg isn't too far and that's a really cozy town. Also, Bethlehem is interesting to check out as is Glenncairn.
Yeah, I go to Philly all the time dude. Stay near Rittenhouse square or over by Penn's Landing. Good deals to be had staying at the Philly Sheraton, the Warwick, or the sleep inn in Chinatown if you want to go cheap. The babies in this thread saying the city is a crime riddle shithole are the exact kind of pussies we don't want coming here; the city is fine, I'm a waify white boy and have never had a problem in the city. Grow a pair.
Go see The Barnes Foundation, Independence Hall, and the Museum of the American Revolution. Eat at Via Locusta during happy hour. Go shop at the Wanamaker. Have fun.