Walking Philadelphia
30 Walking Tours Exploring Art, Architecture, History, and Little-Known Gems
Explore the most interesting, scenic, and historic places in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, via 30 self-guided walking tours.
From Broad Street to Independence National Park, from Manayunk to the Delaware River, the City of Brotherly Love is one of the world’s most fascinating places to explore. Grab your walking shoes, and become an urban adventurer. Local author Natalie Pompilio guides you through 30 unique walking tours in this comprehensive book. Walking Philadelphia makes you feel like you’re being led by your closest friend as you soak up the architecture, trivia, and more. The tours include important historic facts, as well as Natalie’s behind-the-scenes stories and tidbits. Plus, Tricia Pompilio’s photography brings these walking tours to life.
Find vintage boutiques and high-end shopping destinations. Try restaurants that showcase famed fare (like cheesesteaks, soft pretzels, and beer that make Philadelphia a foodies’ paradise). Discover Philadelphia’s many firsts: the first zoo, first library system, and first hospital—plus dozens of historic sites that you learned about in school. Explore a Museum District that’s second to none, an all-encompassing park system, and much more.
Book Features
- 30 self-guided tours through the City of Brotherly Love
- America’s Most Historic Square Mile, one of the country’s liveliest and most lived-in urban centers
- Unique and surprising stories about people, places, and things
Whether you’re looking for the Mural Mile in Center City or the historically modern charm of Society Hill, Walking Philadelphia will get you there. Find a route that appeals to you, and walk Philly!
Freelance journalist Natalie Pompilio lives in an alley off an alley in South Philadelphia. A former staff writer with The Times-Picayune (New Orleans), The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Philadelphia Daily News, she is a frequent contributor to The Star-Ledger (Newark), The Washington Post, the Associated Press, and regional magazines. She and her sister also collaborated on This Used to Be Philadelphia (Reedy Press, 2021). Her other books include More Philadelphia Murals and the Stories They Tell (with Jane Golden and Robin Rice, Temple University Press, 2006) and Philadelphia A to Z (with photographer Jennifer Zdon, self-published, 2009).
Natalie’s idea of a perfect night is sitting on her roof deck on a warm night with her husband, Jordan Barnett, and watching the chimney swifts do their nightly dance.
Tricia Pompilio is a Philadelphia-based portrait and family photographer. Her favorite subjects are dancers and families, especially her husband, Vince Savarese, and their three daughters, Fiona, Luna, and Poppy. In 2019, Philadelphia Family magazine named her the city’s best portrait photographer. When she’s not behind the camera, she’s probably rereading Harry Potter while listening to Rob Thomas while her cats, Albus and Clara, sleep at her feet.
More in this series
