Revolution and the Founders: Philadelphia Historic Walking Tour

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/35

Duration2h

GroupUp to 24

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Every guide holds a history degree, most teach American history at the university level.

A two-hour guided walking tour of Philadelphia's Revolutionary sites with a historian who has studied the period formally. The tour covers the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the President's House, Congress Hall, Franklin Court, Carpenters' Hall, and the homes and workplaces of the Founding Fathers—Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton, Madison, and Monroe. Runs every morning and afternoon, rain or shine; the interior of the Liberty Bell Pavilion and Independence Hall's timed entry passes are optional additions you can arrange on your own time afterward.

Step-by-step itinerary

Philadelphia Revolutionary History Tour

Check-in and introduction at Visitor Center
Visit The Liberty Bell exterior and pavilion
Quick visit inside East Wing of Independence Hall
Visit America's first White House
Visit Congress Hall
Visit Franklin Court and discuss Benjamin Franklin
Visit New Hall Military Museum
Discuss Benjamin Franklin's life and experiments
Visit Benjamin Franklin Post Office & Museum
Visit Carpenters' Hall and discuss secret meetings
Visit First Bank of the United States
Visit Second Bank of the United States and discuss duels
Walk by American Philosophical Society and discuss history
Walk by Library Company and discuss its history
Visit Dolley Todd House

The Experience

Start at the Independence Visitor Center, where your guide orients you to the Revolutionary landscape before walking the core sites. The Liberty Bell sits behind glass in its pavilion—your guide covers its 1752 commission, the crack on its first ring, and the recast by John Pass and John Stow with the King James Bible inscription, all from the exterior, so you see the icon without the hour-long queue that often forms at the door. If you want to step inside the pavilion itself, that's a separate choice you can make on return.

Independence Hall comes next—the building where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were debated and adopted. Your guide hits the essential points and the East Wing's Supreme Court Chambers, the oldest part of the complex, without eating into the two hours; the full interior exploration is yours to do afterward with a timed pass. From there, the walk moves through the President's House, where Washington and John Adams both held office when Philadelphia was the capital from 1790 to 1800, then Congress Hall, which hosted two presidential inaugurations and housed Congress during those same years.

Franklin Court, Carpenters' Hall, the First and Second Banks of the United States, the Benjamin Franklin Post Office (the only active U.S. post office that still doesn't fly a flag, because there wasn't one in 1775), and the Dolley Todd House round out the stops. Your guide discusses Franklin's role in the Constitutional Convention and his secret December meetings with John Jay and the French spy Julien Achard de Bonvouloir at Carpenters' Hall—negotiations that brought French support without which the colonies likely would not have won the war. Hamilton's influence on the First Bank and the Second Bank's later loss of charter under Andrew Jackson get their due as well.

What’s included

Two-hour guided walking tour with a historian.
visits to the exteriors and key interior spaces of the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the President's House, Congress Hall, Franklin Court, Carpenters' Hall, the First and Second Banks of the United States, the Benjamin Franklin Post Office, and the Dolley Todd House.
discussion of the lives and roles of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton, Madison, Monroe, and other Founding Fathers.
runs every morning and afternoon, rain or shine.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyInfant seats availablePets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Grim Philly Twilight Tours

Is this one for you?Choose this tour if you're visiting Philadelphia for the first time and want the essential Revolutionary sites and their stories in a single morning or afternoon, guided by someone trained in the period rather than a general tour operator. The two-hour frame keeps the pace moving and leaves you free to explore the interiors of Liberty Bell and Independence Hall on your own schedule afterward.