Four Things To Do in Philadelphia Around The Holidays
1. Go to the Christmas Village
I have been to a few German Christmas markets in my life. My grandparents lived in Munich for three years when I was a kid and we spent two Christmas's there. Of course we traveled around the country and went to every major Christmas market we could find. Good German Christmas markets are not easy to find in the States. This is one I have been to before, and is pretty good. It isn't huge and doesn't have a lot of the major things you would find at a traditional German Christmas market but it gets the job done and isn't too overwhelming for a first timer.
2. Stop in at Macy's
We stumbled upon this because the pregnant woman had to go to the bathroom and I couldn't find anywhere else where I knew there would be a bathroom. It took some searching, but I found it! In the process, we heard this amazing music playing and discovered there was an organ being played on the second floor of the store, right on the atrium. After taking lots of pictures and being really excited about the organ, we moved on. I decided to Google it later that night and found out that this wasn't just any old organ. It was the Wanamaker Grand Organ, which is the largest working pipe organ in the world! They have someone play the organ twice every day at Macy's. It just so happened that we were in Macy's during one of the times someone was playing that day. Timing is everything!
3. Visit the Liberty Bell & Independence Hall
I know these are standards for when you visit Philly. But if you haven't been before, it is worth going. Pro tip:if you don't want to wait in the long line to see the Liberty Bell, you can go to the exit where you can see into the room where the bell is. It is the exactly the same but it's a huge time saver and great if you have any impatient people in your group.
4. Go to Franklin Square Park
We went to Franklin Square Park during the day so everything but the carousel was closed. But there are a lot of really fun things, including a beer garden, that open up in the evening which make this a great place to spend the last part of your day!
