If you are familiar with the winter in Philly, you will know that it can be hard to find things to do given the weather. For those of you who are not familiar with winter in Philadelphia, allow me to describe it to you. The city of Philadelphia is nestled in southeastern Pennsylvania. That means that it is the northeast corridor of the United States.
To break it down in layman’s terms, it is cold. Not just cold, it is frigid. It is grey. Not just grey, but bleakly grey. In the city, the buildings create a wind tunnel effect. That means the bitter, frigid wind stings at your poor little cheeks as you try to go about your day. And since Philly is a very busy place with limited parking, that means lots of walking.
Have I scared you away yet? I hope not. Because even with the cold greyness of winter and the frigid air, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t any reason to go to Philadelphia in the winter. For that very reason, we spent a day in Center City.
For our time in Philly, we were only able to stay for a few hours. That means we wanted to pack in as much as we could in our limited time. We were in Center City Philadelphia and wanted to stay in the neighborhood. Because it was cold, we limited our walking to only a handful of blocks from where we parked. Since we parked at the Love Park garage, that gave us a confined area to venture to. So, bundle up and follow us along on our trip through Philadelphia in the winter.
The Philly Sites
Let’s start with the sites. We parked at the Love Park Parking Garage which can be found catacorner to City Hall. This parking lot is underground as opposed to the high-rise style parking garages that are common in the city. The advantage to this garage though is that it was significantly cheaper than the other garages we had checked out as we drove around.
City Hall and the Winter Park
City Hall in Philadelphia is an iconic place to go and see. You can walk through the center of it and see the courtyard. It is nice to be able to walk through and take in all the beautiful historic architecture. Because it is less crowded in winter in Philly, we were able to get a nice picture from down Broad Street with city hall in the background. It is one of those pictures you see everyone sharing and think “That’s a cool shot.”
Dilworth Park
Dilworth Park is adjacent to City Hall. When it is winter in Philly, you will find that they have an Ice-skating rink installed there. This is a neat little thing you can do if you like to ice skate. If not, there are also local wineries that have carts there, as well a coffee shop and a Starbucks. During the holidays they also have a Christmas Village set up with shopping. Dilworth Park is also home to the Wintergarden which is a beautiful display of plants that is worth taking a few moments to walk through.
Love Park
Love Park is an iconic Philadelphia site. It is the home of the famous Love Sculpture which has been derived into many forms from postage stamps to shirts and so much more. You can stand under the sculpture and get a shot of Benjamin Franklin Parkway and the Philadelphia Art Museum (think “Rocky’s” steps) in the background. One advantage to seeing these types of sites when it is winter in Philly is that while they are outside and you must brave the cold, the lines and the crowds are much smaller. That means easier and better pictures.
Di Bruno Brothers
Di Bruno Bros is a Philadelphia Staple. Founded in 1939 in the Italian Market, they are known for their positive attitude and great culinary items. They have a huge selection of dried meats, cheeses, baked goods, as well as a full-service deli and so much more. The location we went to is their Center City location. Whether or not you are in the market to purchase items or not, it is worth looking around as you won’t find many stores like it. Plus, it gives you a chance to warm up when you are dealing with Winter in Philly.
One Liberty Place
One Liberty Place is the tallest building in Philadelphia. While we did not go inside the building this time around, we stopped to take some pictures. Inside One Liberty Place, there is shopping and a food court, so it is an opportunity to get in and get out of the cold when spending time in winter in Philly. They used to house an observation deck where you could get views of the city, but it was closed last year.
Miscellaneous Art Installations
As you walk around City Hall, there are lots of other art installations that you can catch and grab pictures of. There is the famous giant “Clothespin” by famed artist Claes Oldenburg, the “Your Move” sculpture, “Ben Franklin, Craftsman” sculpture, and more. Just down Broad Street is Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) and there are a few installations there as well that are worth seeing. Look for the giant paint brush. Keep your eyes peeled as many of them could easily be overlooked in your haste.
Masonic Temple and Museum
The Masonic Temple and Museum is the historic home to the freemasons of Philadelphia. The architecture on the outside of the building and the stonework are magnificent. We had wanted to go inside and look around, however, due to the current restrictions from the pandemic, they only offer daily guided tours. These tours take place at 1, 2, and 3 pm and by the time we had arrived we had missed it.
Philly Eats
As you may already know we love our food stops. This trip had no shortage of snacks and food. We had never been to any of these places before, so this was an adventure for us as well. We love trying new places though
Cleavers
What is a trip to Philadelphia without stopping for the classic Philly cheesesteak? Between the two of us, my husband and I have eaten an unfathomed number of cheesesteaks from a huge number of cheesesteak places. Strangely enough, though, we had never gotten a cheesesteak in Center City. Usually, we find ourselves in South Philly or the Northeast.
So, when we were spending the day in Center City, we had no idea where to go. Luckily, one of the patrons at Paris Baguette happened to overhear us talking and offered a recommendation. He advised us to head over to Cleaver’s and grab a cheesesteak there. The place was just around the corner, so it fits within our parameters.
We decided to take his advice and went over and ordered a beef cheesesteak, fried onions on the side. Normally I go chicken cheesesteak, but my hubby told me it would be a sin to go into Philly and not get a beef cheesesteak. My husband is anti-fried onions to that is why they were on the side.
To say that Cleaver’s did not disappoint would be an understatement. The steak was juicy with just the right amount of grease. The roll was a good quality roll (which is vital to a good cheesesteak.) My husband even said he would put this one in his “top five” list of Philly steaks, so you know it had to be top-notch. We would go there again, for sure.
Paris Baguette
Paris Baguette is a cute little bakery that has a cafeteria-style setup. You pick out the items you want, place them on your tray and take them up to the counter. There are so many items to choose from, we had to take a second walk-through to decide what we wanted. And when we were leaving, even noticed a couple of things we overlooked.
We ended up choosing a chocolate croissant (an old standby of ours) and a croissant filled with cream and strawberries. Both were out of this world. The indoor seating area is small and intimate but has a communal feeling. The tables are all near each other and they have one long table that can seat multiple groups. The space is well decorated with modern flairs.
Corner Bakery Café
Corner Bakery Café is a little shop that we found in Center City. Started in Chicago, there are now locations in over 20 states. We stopped in for a coffee and a hot chocolate to warm us up. This type of stop is essential for a visit when it’s winter in Philly. There was a large seating area for those who want to dine in, and they have an extensive breakfast and lunch menu to go along with the drink choices. The overall feel would compare to something like Panera Bread. Overall, our coffee and hot chocolate tasted good and was a great pick me up (and warm up) on this colder winter day.
Our Final Thoughts
While winter in Philadelphia may not seem like the ideal time to visit, but the contrary is true. Philly is the type of city that you can visit any time of year, and for some, winter in Philly might be ideal. There tends to be less crowds, shorter lines and still all the same fun things to see and do. It also makes it easier to get pictures of some of the iconic landmarks since there is less chance of catching an accidental photobomb. Winter in Philly may be cold, but it is still fun, just make sure you bundle up and are ready for adventure!
If you’ll be in the area for a few days and have a full day to spare, it’s worth the drive to check out Lancaster County, PA.
