Philadelphia Pass: 30+ Things To Do including Philadelphia Zoo

Philadelphia’s best value here is the sheer range. One pass can take you from the Liberty Bell area to a 19th-century prison, a battleship, an aquarium, a zoo, and world-class art museums. The included Big Bus hop-on hop-off tour is especially useful on your first day, when you want a quick look at the city before choosing where to spend more time.

I like the easy phone entry and the chance to save real money if you visit several major sights. I also like the mix of serious museums and family stops, from the Museum of the American Revolution to LEGOLAND Discovery Center. The catch is that the pass works on consecutive calendar days, not 24-hour periods, and bus routes, ferry service, opening hours, and included attractions can change.

Key points for planning your Philadelphia Pass

• One pass covers 30+ attractions: Visit each included attraction once during your chosen 1, 2, 3, or 5-day period.
• Big Bus helps you get oriented: The full loop takes about 90 minutes, with live narration and more than 25 stops.
• The best savings require a full schedule: Five attractions in one day can make the pass excellent value, while a slow museum day may not.
• Crossing to Camden takes planning: Adventure Aquarium and Battleship New Jersey are across the river and may require the seasonal RiverLink Ferry.
• The app matters: Use it for current hours, reservation rules, route changes, and the final list of included attractions.
• Each attraction is one-time entry: You cannot revisit the same sight repeatedly on the same pass.

How the pass works, and where the value comes from

The Philadelphia Pass costs $59 per person at the stated price and is sold for 1 to 5 days. Your digital pass arrives after booking and can be displayed on your phone, printed, or synced to the Go City app.

The pass activates when you enter your first attraction. From then, it remains valid for the number of consecutive calendar days you bought. A two-day pass used for the first time late on Monday still ends Tuesday night, so start early on your first day.

The math is simple. If you visit the Philadelphia Zoo, Eastern State Penitentiary, the Franklin Institute, and another museum, you may come out ahead. One especially productive two-day plan could include the Big Bus tour, the Museum of the American Revolution, National Constitution Center, Franklin Institute, and Eastern State Penitentiary. Add the zoo or aquarium, and the savings can become substantial.

I would not buy it automatically. If your plan is one museum each afternoon, paid admission may cost less. The pass rewards people who like to keep moving and make good use of long opening hours.

Start with the Big Bus loop for city bearings

The included one-day Big Bus tour is a practical first step. The blue route takes about 90 minutes if you stay aboard, and the buses connect more than 25 stops around Center City, Old City, the Parkway, and other major areas.

You get a live guide rather than a recording. Guides explain Philadelphia’s history, shopping and food areas, and where to look for an authentic cheesesteak. Dan was praised as a fun guide, while Ron was singled out for useful advice on the ride toward the zoo.

The upper deck gives you a breezy view on a warm day, while the lower level has covered seating. The advertised frequency is about every 15 to 20 minutes, but actual waits can be longer. Some passengers have reported waits of 30 to 50 minutes, route detours, and stops affected by rallies, parades, or street closures.

That makes the bus useful, but not a perfect clockwork shuttle. Check the current route and stop information before leaving your hotel. If a stop is closed, ask the driver where the nearest active stop is rather than waiting at the old location.

Historic Philadelphia: prisons, founders, and civic life

Eastern State Penitentiary is one of the strongest stops on the pass. Its seven original cell blocks radiate from a central hub, a design that once placed prisoners in isolation. Running water and central heat were installed here before the White House had them, a striking detail in a building created for severe confinement.

Today, the penitentiary is a haunting ruin with empty guard towers, crumbling cells, punishment areas, and Death Row. Give yourself about 90 minutes. Tight spaces, uneven surfaces, and the stark subject matter may not suit very young children.

The Museum of the American Revolution is a good anchor for your first historical day. Its chronological displays move from colonial tension in the 1760s through the war and the creation of new state governments. Weapons, uniforms, manuscripts, maps, and personal objects help put familiar names and dates into human scale.

Nearby, the National Constitution Center focuses on the document’s continuing role in American life. Its main displays include Freedom Rising, The Story of We the People, and Signers’ Hall. Interactive features let you take a presidential oath, sit in a Supreme Court setting, and consider questions of civic life.

The Betsy Ross House is smaller and more personal. This restored circa-1740 row house uses a self-guided audio tour to explain 18th-century home life, business, and the famous flag story. The traditional account of Ross sewing the first Stars and Stripes is part of the visit, but the house also presents her as a working upholsterer, wife, mother, and business owner.

Christ Church Burial Ground takes about 45 minutes. You can see Benjamin Franklin’s grave and the burial places of four other Declaration of Independence signers among about 1,400 markers. It is a quiet stop in the middle of the Old City sightseeing zone.

The 75-minute Bow Tie walking tour adds useful context. Guides are teachers or historians who cover more than 20 landmarks, including Independence Hall, the President’s House site, Benjamin Franklin’s home, and Betsy Ross’s home. It is a good alternative when the bus route is delayed, but allow extra walking time.

Art, science, and museums along the Parkway

The Franklin Institute is one of the pass’s most reliable family choices. You can walk through a giant two-story heart, explore the science of sports, climb into a fighter jet, and move between displays about the human body, space, and the earth. Plan about two hours, longer if you have children who want to test every hands-on feature.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art deserves at least three hours. Its collection covers more than 240,000 objects, including Impressionist paintings, Asian art, arms and armor, a Japanese teahouse, an Indian temple hall, and historic rooms moved from buildings around the world. The building and broad city views are part of the appeal, but the collection is large enough to require a plan.

The nearby Rodin Museum is much smaller and easier to fit into a busy day. It holds more than 140 bronzes, marbles, and plasters, covering each phase of Auguste Rodin’s career. Two hours gives you time for the galleries and gardens without rushing.

The Barnes Foundation is unlike a standard art museum. Dr. Albert Barnes arranged paintings, furniture, metalwork, and objects from different places in dense wall groupings based on color, line, light, and shape. You will see major works by Van Gogh, Matisse, Picasso, Modigliani, and Renoir, but the unusual arrangement is the main lesson. Give yourself 90 minutes and be ready for a visually crowded experience.

The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University is a fine family stop. Dinosaurs, live animals, butterflies, fossils, ecosystem displays, and a fossil preparation lab make science feel active rather than distant. The Penn Museum offers a more archaeological focus, with Egypt, Africa, China, Greece, Rome, Japan, Mexico, and Central America galleries. Its building also rewards a slow look, with the Harrison Rotunda, gardens, fountains, and sculpture.

The African American Museum in Philadelphia traces African American life through three main themes: the African Diaspora, Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, and contemporary stories. Exhibits address family life, civil rights, art, sports, medicine, religion, politics, and technology. It is an important counterpoint to the more familiar founding-era sights.

The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History follows 350 years of Jewish life in the United States through objects, films, and interactive displays. Its themes include immigration, worship, work, family, entertainment, and community. You do not need a Jewish background to find the museum useful, since it connects one group’s experience to wider American questions about freedom and belonging.

The National Liberty Museum uses glass art, films, stories of eight civic heroes, and interactive displays to examine freedom, justice, character, inclusion, and peaceful disagreement. It is a shorter, discussion-oriented museum rather than a traditional collection of old objects.

Animals, water, and family attractions

The Philadelphia Zoo covers 42 acres and houses more than 1,300 rare, exotic, and endangered animals. Zoo 360 adds overhead mesh trails and tunnels, so tigers may pass above you and apes can move through treetop bridges. Allow about three hours, especially if you want to see feeding times and special animal programs.

Adventure Aquarium is across the Delaware River in Camden, New Jersey. Its collection includes more than 8,500 sea animals, hippos, sharks, stingrays, penguins, and touch exhibits. The daily schedule may include penguin feedings, hippo programs, diver talks, and close animal encounters.

Do not assume the Big Bus takes you directly to the aquarium. The RiverLink Ferry is the key connection when it is operating, but it is seasonal and schedules can change. The ferry ride itself takes about 30 minutes and links Philadelphia’s Penn’s Landing with the Camden waterfront.

Battleship New Jersey is another Camden stop. The self-guided, docent-assisted visit leads you through five levels and two decks below the main deck. You can see crew quarters, command areas, cabins, communications rooms, missile launch pads, and the massive 16-inch gun turrets.

This is not an easy stroll. You climb steep Navy ladders and pass through tight corridors. If you have limited mobility, check the current conditions before committing to the visit.

LEGOLAND Discovery Center Philadelphia is aimed at children from about 3 to 10. It has ten themed play areas, a 4D cinema, a ride, NINJAGO training, building challenges, and a MINILAND display of Philadelphia landmarks made from LEGO bricks. Plan two hours, and remember that the pirate play area requires socks.

Riverfront and garden outings

The Independence Seaport Museum sits near Penn’s Landing and explains Philadelphia’s connection to shipping, immigration, navigation, defense, recreation, and the Delaware River. You can see more than 1,000 objects, watch boatbuilding, and board the historic cruiser Olympia and submarine Becuna. It takes about 90 minutes.

Longwood Gardens is the biggest outing in the collection, with 1,077 acres of gardens, fountains, meadows, conservatories, seasonal flowers, cacti, and succulents. The stated visit time is 90 minutes, but I would allow longer if you want more than a quick look. Its location outside central Philadelphia makes it difficult to combine with several downtown attractions in the same day.

Brandywine Museum of Art is another excursion beyond the center. It is best known for three generations of Wyeths, N.C., Andrew, and Jamie, along with American illustration, still life, and landscape painting. It suits an art-focused day more than a quick stop between Old City sights.

Ghost stories after dark

The Ghost Tour of Philadelphia is a 75 to 90-minute candlelight walk through Independence Park and Society Hill. Costumed storytellers cover documented tales connected with old houses, graveyards, gardens, and reported hauntings.

The evening walk adds atmosphere to streets you may have already seen in daylight. It also requires a reservation and depends on the current operating schedule, so confirm the time in the app. The stories can be amusing, eerie, or disturbing, and the tour is better for older children and adults.

Reservations, route changes, and small print that matters

Use the Go City app before you set out. It shows the current attraction list, operating hours, reservation instructions, and any updates. Some attractions require advance reservations, and each attraction can be visited only once.

The pass is valid for one year from purchase before activation, which gives you time to plan. Once activated, though, the consecutive-day rule matters.

The biggest source of frustration is outdated or unclear transport information. Big Bus stops can move, service can slow during events, and a ferry may be needed for Camden attractions. The zoo and aquarium are not interchangeable stops, and you should verify the current route rather than relying on an old map or an address copied from a booking page.

At $59 per person, the pass makes sense for an active schedule. It suits families combining the zoo, aquarium, and science museums, couples who want several art and history stops, and first-time visitors who value a quick city overview.

Should you buy the Philadelphia Pass?

Buy it if you can name at least three or four included attractions you truly want to visit, especially if your plan includes the Big Bus, Philadelphia Zoo, Eastern State Penitentiary, Franklin Institute, or a major museum. A two-day plan with five stops can produce clear savings.

Skip it if you dislike fixed schedules, want to revisit museums, or expect public transport to carry you everywhere without checking conditions. The pass is not a magic city shuttle, and Camden, Longwood Gardens, and Brandywine require more planning than downtown Philadelphia.

My practical choice would be a two-day pass for an energetic first visit. Use the Big Bus early, group Old City sights together, reserve any required tours, and treat the ferry and bus as useful tools rather than guarantees. That approach gives you the strongest value and the fewest surprises.

FAQ

How many days can I choose for the Philadelphia Pass?

You can choose a pass valid for 1, 2, 3, or 5 consecutive calendar days.

How much does the pass cost?

The stated price is $59 per person. Pricing can vary by pass length or booking conditions, so check the current price before purchase.

Does the pass include the Big Bus Philadelphia tour?

Yes. The pass includes one day on the Big Bus hop-on hop-off blue route, with a full loop lasting about 90 minutes.

Can I use the pass for the Philadelphia Zoo?

Yes. Philadelphia Zoo admission is included, and the suggested visit time is about three hours.

Can I visit the same attraction more than once?

No. Each included attraction can be visited once during the pass period.

Does the pass include transportation between all attractions?

No. Transportation to and from attractions is generally not included unless specifically stated. The Big Bus tour and RiverLink Ferry are included attractions, but ferry operations and routes can vary.

Do I need reservations?

Some attractions require reservations. Check the Go City app or digital guide before visiting so you know which activities need advance booking.

Can I cancel the pass for a refund?

The pass is non-refundable and cannot normally be changed. If poor weather causes the activity to be canceled, you may be offered another date or a full refund.