Sometimes – especially when you are touring – you just need to sit down or swing on a swing or take a nap in a quiet park. Luckily Philly is teeming with places to sit and watch the world go by. A surprising amount of these places are right next to the crowded, benchless areas surrounding the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. So when you just need to sit down, head for the some of the secret, hidden gardens on our map. (Not really hidden but hidden enough that you might not dare to stop and sit a spell if we didn’t tell you about them.)
Our map shows where a few of the best kept secrets are located. Follow either line for a leisurely park-filled stroll through some very pretty neighborhoods. Blue is mostly on main roads, Green is mainly on streetless paths.
Just behind Independence Hall, Washington Square is one of the original five parks featured in William Penn’s plan for the city. Read all of the plaques to see its history, grab coffee, snacks or a sandwich from Talula’s Daily and sit down for a much needed rest, or keep going along the map to find a less discovered spot! The park has lots of benches and is perfect for people watching.
Pennsylvania Hospital Garden and courtyard
Enter through the 8th Street date, grab a sandwich and a drink from the
hospital cafeteria and sit under the huge, leafy London Plane trees in what feels like your own private estate in the city. Then wander around through the garden to the Pine Street side and enjoy the manicured gardens surrounding the hospital. Over on the 9th Street side is the Physic Garden filled with plants that would have been used to make medicines in the original hospital.
Pen
nsylvania Hospital Doctor Courtyard
Walk through the gate off of 8th Street opposite the gate pictures above and be transported to a tree and sculpture filled courtyard that offers lots of quiet places to sit and relax. Over by the gate is a sunken garden ringed with flowers.
Starr Garden and Palumbo Parks
A great place to go with the kids – swings, climbing structures and areas to run around. Palumbo is a little further afield but a perfect neighborhood place to go and play – especially with little ones. Note that the entrance to Palumbo is through the Rec Center at 10th and Fitzwater. (note that it is right across from the kid friendly Morning Glory Diner which is great for breakfast or lunch.)
Located two very short blocks east of Independence Hall, Carpenters Hall is surrounded by lushly planted gardens, big open spaces to run and play and lots of benches to contemplate the trees, sky and the joy of just sitting. On the way you pass through the plaza behind the Second Bank of the US. Nice and sunny with great benches to lay down on and catch some rays.
Behind (south) of the Second Bank of the US go across Walnut Street, through a gateway and up a flight of steps to the Daughter’s of the American Revolution (DAR) Rose Garden. This garden smells heavenly when the roses are blooming and offers lots of quiet, relaxed areas to sit.
Follow the path through the Rose Garden and cross over Locust Street. Push the gate open into the formal Magnolia Garden. Not very kid friendly but very pretty and very quiet.
St. Joseph’s Way
Go back out to Locust and turn right. Go one block and enter St. James Place. Go half a block and turn 
right onto the brick lined path that is St. Joseph’s Way. You are in Bingham
Court a tree filled courtyard set among houses. If you happen to be there at ‘rush hour’ you will see lots of walking commuters going to and from work in Center City. Otherwise it is usually very quiet.
Walk south on St. Joseph for a few blocks and imagine you are in Colonial Days – quiet, garden filled and leafy. St. Joseph’s changes to St. Peter’s at Spruce Street.
Three Bear’s Park
St. Peter’s runs right into Three Bear’s Park. Designed with children in mind this park is a true gem. Swings and play structures, lots of dappled shade, benches and places to run around. Just perfect.
St Peter’s Way
Go directly south from the park across Delancey Street and follow St. Peter’s all the way to the churchyard. Along the way there are some beautiful gardens and houses.
St. Peter’s Churchyard
St. Peter’s is one of the oldest churches in the city and the
churchyard in which it sits is filled with history, dappled shade and lots of benches for relaxing. Be sure to check out the historic markers.
Bainbridge Green
Exiting out the 3rd St side of the churchyard, turn right and wander past some of the oldest homes in the city till you come to Bainbridge Street. The green down the center of the street offers shade and benches. Grab a sandwich or a snack from the myriad of shops in this area and watch the city go by. If you need to send a postcard, check out the Post Office that is just up 4th Street from Bainbridge for some of the best postal service ever.
The Benjamin Rush House and Colonial Garden
You can get to St. Joseph’s through The Benjamin Rush House and Colonial Garden too. If you go all the way toward Walnut St behind Carpenters Hall you come to a white lattice pergola that may be one of the most peaceful places in the city. Tons of things are going on on Walnut and there you sit, secluded in a gorgeous garden in a lattice cocoon. Very nice.
To get to the Rush House garden, go back into the Carpenters Hall grounds and turn right. Go almost to the end of the brick ‘road’ to a small brick gateway. Go through there and come into a beautiful garden with fountains and sunken areas. This garden is not necessarily quiet but it is a nice place to sit and watch the city go by. Exit it at 3rd and Walnut, cross Walnut and walk down 3rd past Willings Alley and then make an immediate right into Bingham Court. That will put you on St. Joseph’s Way.
Have fun seeing Philadelphia. Sit back and take it all in.
