Let Us Show You What We Love About the City of Brotherly Love

Here at The Edge, we love a hometown tour, and this week we’re taking our readers to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although a solid 20 percent of Elon’s campus is from Philadelphia or somewhere in the area, we are here to show you how to make the most of a day in Philly and the best spots to go to if you were to have a hometown date here (a la “The Bachelorette”)!

To start your day on the right foot, plan on waking up at around 10 am to hit up one of our favorite workout classes, Barry’s BootCamp. Barry’s is such a fun workout, featuring a mix of cardio and weight training. After sweating it out, we would venture to one of the best brunch spots in the city: Parc. This place could not be in a better location. It is located right near Rittenhouse Square, which has a beautiful park to walk around in after with great shopping nearby on Walnut Street. This restaurant is French-inspired, and the seats all look out to the street to make it feel like you are truly dining in Paris. You can’t go wrong with anything on the menu, but we absolutely recommend the burger. 

After finishing up your eggs or burger and having the last sip of your coffee, we would take you down to Walnut Street to shop! This is the main place to be if you are a shopaholic. They have a huge Urban Outfitters and Free People and if you keep walking, you will find Anthropologie, Brandy Melville, LuluLemon, Sephora and so much more. There are also a ton of different thrift stores located near the area with incredible selection as well. 

We would take a quick coffee break at La Colombe and then hit the art museum. This is an amazing place with tons of different expositions and tons of different contemporary and impressionist pieces. This would take up a huge chunk of the afternoon, and finally we end at the best stop: the Philadelphia Zoo! Fun fact, this zoo is actually the first zoo in the United States. This is a must-hit when showing Philadelphia’s highlights because of its size. This zoo will take a solid two hours to walk through, and who doesn’t love seeing some animals?

All this walking has worked up an appetite, so for our final bite, we would stop at Geno’s Steaks to give you a real taste of Philly. This place always has a line, but if you are looking for a greasy, cheesy, classic Philly cheesesteak, this is the spot for you. Geno’s is world-famous and worth the visit — and all the mess created by the meal! Finally, for dessert, Rita’s Italian Ice is a classic if you need something sweet as a nightcap. Their Italian ice is light and sweet and the perfect treat before going to bed. 

We hope that this day wasn’t too exhausting, but thank you for following us around on our hometown date. If you visit Philly, tag us @theedgemag with your favorite spots!

TravelEmily Cohn