Top Ten Non-Tourist Places to Visit in Philadelphia

If you visit Philadelphia be sure to see all the places that hearken back to the heady days of revolution. They are all generally within walking distance of each other and can be seen in a day. But then take time to get off the beaten cobblestone path and search out the wonderful treasures that Philadelphia is home to, those places that typical tour guides may not lead you to. Here are the top ten non-tourist spots to visit in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love.

The Rosenbach Museum & Library, 2008-2010 Delancey Place, offers in-depth tours and discussion on fine art and artifacts. The facility is housed in a historic house and was founded by rare book dealers Dr. A.S.W. and Philip Rosenbach. It is a research library as well as museum featuring rare books, manuscripts, and fine and decorative art. The museum has a special relationship with children's book author Maurice Sendack, who serves on the Board of Trustees and has contributed more than 7,000 drawings and other works. The museum often has "Hands-On Tours" which allows visitors a unique inside view of its collections. Guided tours of the historic Rosenbach home are offered on the hour Tuesday and Friday between 12pm-5pm; Saturday and Sunday 12pm-6pm and Wednesdays and Thursdays 12pm-8pm.

Other non-tourist type art museums in Philadelphia are: The Woodmere Art Museum, a free museum that focuses on the art and artists of the Philadelphia region; the Rodin Museum which offers free guided tours at 1:30 p.m. every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday, and on the first and third Saturdays of the month; and the amazing Barnes Foundation museum, which houses more Renoirs, Cézannes and Matisse works than anywhere else in the United States.

If you dig archaeology, a visit to the Penn Museum is in order. Formally known as The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, this facility was founded in 1887 to preserve artifacts found in on-going excavations. A revolving slate of exhibitions as well as a vast permanent collection (more than 1 million pieces) are housed in the museum galleries, which span three floors in an historic building on the west bank of the Schuylkill River. It feature materials from Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Bible Lands, Mesoamerica, Asia and the ancient Mediterranean World, as well as artifacts from native peoples of the Americas, Africa and Polynesia.

To immerse yourself in all things Swedish, visit The American Swedish Historical Museum in South Philadelphia. Here you can tour art exhibits, learn the history of Swedes in America and beyond and even take a Swedish cooking class. The Museum consists of twelve permanent galleries, one changing exhibition gallery, and a library.

If you like Ripley's Believe it or Not, you'll love The College of Physicians of Philadelphia's Mütter Museum, which was founded to educate future doctors about anatomy and human medical anomalies. Here you can see the cancerous growth removed from President Grover Cleveland, the conjoined livers of the world-famous Siamese Twins, Chang & Eng, and a collection of 2,000 objects extracted from people's throats.

Other medical related museums in Philadelphia are The Dr. and Mrs. Edwin F. Weaver, III Historical Dental Museum at the Temple University School; the Temple University Shoe and Podiatry Museum, which includes roughly 900 pairs of shoes, 250 of which are on display on the sixth floor of the college building and Pennsylvania Hospital, which was founded in 1755 by the quintessential Philadelphian, Benjamin Franklin.