Philadelphia Tours

A host of tours covering Philadelphia and the surrounding region are listed in the Visitors Guide, available from the tourist office or at www.gophila.com/itineraries.

Walking Tours
See the sites at your own pace and rent a tour CD from Audio Walk & Tour of Historic Philadelphia (tel: (215) 275 3635; website: www.ushistory.org/audiowalk), which is available at Independence Visitor Center, 6th and Market Streets, and Lights of Liberty, 6th and Chestnut Streets. Mural Arts Tours (tel: (215) 685 0754; website: www.muralarts.org/tours) examines the city's plentiful wall art. From April to October, Ghost Tour (tel: (215) 413 1997; website: www.ghosttour.com/philadelphia.html) explores ethereal sites, while other special interest tours include a Chinatown Tour (tel: (215) 928 9333; website: www.josephpoon.com/toursWokWalk.htm). Independence After Hours tours (tel: (215) 629 5801; website: http://historicphiladelphia.org) takes visitors to the historic City Tavern for a three-course meal, followed by an evening visit to Independence Hall.

Explore the Italian Market on the Food Tasting Tour of the Italian Market (tel: 1 888 478 1479), which includes history and tasty samples of cheeses and Italian treats. On Thursday nights from early May to late October, the Tippler's Tour (tel: (215) 629 5801; website: http://historicphiladelphia.org) journeys to watering holes around the Old City and provides history of colonial tavern life.

Bus and Trolley Tours
The Big Bus Company (tel: (215) 389 TOUR or 8687; website: www.phillytour.com) offers tours on double decker buses and horse-drawn carriages. Philadelphia Trolley Works, part of the Big Bus Company, gives 90-minute city tours, plus a 40-minute excursion through Fairmount Park, with a 24-hour hop-on hop-off pass covering 20 stops.