Philadelphia Museum of Art
Art · Top of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway
The Rocky steps. Also one of the great American art museums.
/ 5
23,727 Google reviews
$30
general admission
PHILADELPHIA · PA
12 best museums in Philadelphia
From the Rocky steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the Mütter Museum's medical specimens, Philadelphia's museum scene mixes art-historical heavyweights with deeply specific specialist collections.
Updated Apr 2026 · 11 min read · 12 museums ·12 bookable
Philadelphia · 12 results
Philadelphia’s museums cluster on two axes. The Benjamin Franklin Parkway — Philadelphia’s Champs-Élysées — runs from City Hall to the Art Museum and lines up the Franklin Institute, the Barnes Foundation, the Rodin Museum, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art on a single one-mile walk. The Independence Mall area — Old City and the Constitution Center — houses the National Constitution Center, the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, and the African American Museum.
Two specialist institutions are reasons to visit Philadelphia on their own. The Mütter Museum’s medical specimens are unmatched anywhere; Eastern State Penitentiary is the country’s best example of preserved 19th-century carceral architecture, and its Halloween Nights program runs October–November.
The full directory of every Philadelphia museum (45+) is at the bottom of this page.
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Barnes Foundation
Art · On the Parkway, between Logan Square and the Art MuseumThe largest single Renoir collection in the world. Hung exactly as Albert Barnes arranged it.
Get tickets/ 54,769 Google reviews$30general admission -
Franklin Institute
Science · Logan Square, on the ParkwayThe Giant Heart you walk through. Old-school hands-on science.
Family favoriteGet tickets/ 514,081 Google reviews$25general admission -
National Constitution Center
History · Independence Mall, opposite Independence HallThe only museum dedicated to the U.S. Constitution.
Get tickets/ 52,731 Google reviews$16general admission -
Mütter Museum
Specialized · Center City, near Logan SquareAnatomical specimens and medical history. Not for everyone.
Get tickets/ 56,724 Google reviews$20general admission -
Independence Seaport Museum
History · Penn's Landing, downtown waterfrontThe cruiser Olympia (1892) and submarine Becuna (WWII), with the Seaport Museum.
Get tickets/ 51,869 Google reviews$20general admission -
Rodin Museum
Art · On the Parkway, between Logan Square and the Art MuseumThe largest collection of Auguste Rodin sculpture outside Paris.
Get tickets/ 51,992 Google reviews$12general admission -
Penn Museum
Specialized · University City, on the Penn campusThe University of Pennsylvania's archaeology and anthropology museum.
Get tickets/ 52,994 Google reviews$18general admission -
African American Museum in Philadelphia
History · Old City, near Independence MallThe first major US museum dedicated to African American history. Built for the 1976 Bicentennial.
Get tickets/ 51,520 Google reviews$14general admission -
Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
History · Independence Mall, opposite the Liberty BellThree centuries of Jewish American history, on Independence Mall.
Get tickets/ 51,335 Google reviews$15general admission -
Eastern State Penitentiary
History · Fairmount, on the way to the Art MuseumA preserved 1829 prison, including Al Capone's cell. Also runs Halloween Nights.
Get tickets/ 52,544 Google reviews$25general admission -
Please Touch Museum
Children · Fairmount Park, west sidePhiladelphia's children's museum, in the 1876 Centennial Memorial Hall.
Family favoriteGet tickets/ 57,402 Google reviews$24general admission