West Philadelphia
West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia.
West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. It has no officially defined boundaries, but is generally considered to be west of the Schuylkill River between City Avenue in the northwest, Cobbs Creek in the southwest, and the SEPTA Media/Wawa Line in the south. An alternate definition includes all city land west of the Schuylkill, thus including Southwest Philadelphia and its neighborhoods. The eastern side of West Philadelphia is also known as University City.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around West Philadelphia
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Chartered in 1755 by its first president Benjamin Franklin, who advocated for an educational institution that trained leaders in academia, commerce, and public service, it is one of nine colonial colleges in the country.
3.1 km · private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States · Wikipedia - 02Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at Eakins Oval.
2.9 km · art museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · Wikipedia - 03Drexel University
Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist.
3 km · private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA · Wikipedia - 04Franklin Institute
The Franklin Institute is a science museum and a center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin.
3.9 km · science museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · Wikipedia - 05Barnes Foundation
The Barnes Foundation is an art collection and educational institution promoting the appreciation of art and horticulture. Originally in Merion, the art collection moved in 2012 to a new building on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
3.8 km · art museum and educational center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · Wikipedia - 06Rodin Museum
The Rodin Museum is an art museum located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that contains one of the largest collections of sculptor Auguste Rodin's works outside Paris. Opened in 1929, the museum is administered by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
3.7 km · museum located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · Wikipedia - 07University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, branded as Penn Museum, is a museum at the University of Pennsylvania. It is located on Penn's campus in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia, at the intersection of 33rd and South Streets.
3.5 km · archaeological museum · Wikipedia - 08Saint Joseph's University
Saint Joseph's University is a private Jesuit university in Philadelphia and Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, United States.
3.1 km · private, coeducational Roman Catholic Jesuit university in Philadelphia and Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, USA · Wikipedia - 09Philadelphia Zoo
The Philadelphia Zoo is a zoo located in the Centennial District of Philadelphia on the west bank of the Schuylkill River. It was the first true zoo in the United States; it was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on March 21, 1859, but its opening was delayed by the Civil War until July 1, 1874.
1.4 km · zoo in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States · Wikipedia - 10Mütter Museum
The Mütter Museum is a medical history and science museum located in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US. It contains a collection of anatomical and pathological specimens, wax models, and antique medical equipment. The museum is part of College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
4 km · medical museum · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Things to do
- 01The Palestra
- 02Rave Cinemas University City 6
- 03Painted Bride Art Center
The Bride, as it is known, was founded in 1969 and is dedicated to producing and showing works generated by points of view that are "outside the mainstream," according to the center's website.
- 04Group Motion Dance Company
3500 Lancaster Ave.
- 05Film @ International House
- 06Philadanco
Events often take place at the Kimmel Center in Center City.
From Wikivoyage: West Philadelphia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
West Philadelphia boasts one of the largest and most varied concentrations of ethnic restaurants outside of Center City. However, more familiar chain restaurants, from McDonald's to Boston Market, aren't hard to find for the less-adventurous palate.
- 01Abyssinia Ethiopian Restaurant
Good, affordable Ethiopian food, if you can stand the poorly rated service and long wait times.
- 02Kaffa Crossing Cafe
Cross between fair trade coffee shop and Ethiopian restaurant.
- 03Kim's Oriental Food
37th and Walnut Streets (in the plaza next to the Pottruck Gym).
- 04Pho Cafe Saigon
4248 Spruce St,.
- 05Saad's Halal Restaurant
4500 Walnut St,.
From Wikivoyage: West Philadelphia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to West Philadelphia
- Airports
- Philadelphia (PHL), 12 km · Newark Liberty (EWR), 119 km · John F. Kennedy (JFK), 142 km
- Stations
- 30th Street Station, 3.4 km · 30th Street, 3.4 km · 22nd Street, 3.9 km · 46th Street, 1.9 km · 33rd Street, 3 km
- New York → West Philadelphia133 km · quickest by road, 2h 48m · $13–17
- Newark → West Philadelphia124 km · quickest by road, 2h 52m · $11–16
- Baltimore → West Philadelphia140 km · quickest by road, 2h 43m · $12–17
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for West Philadelphia
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for West Philadelphia. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inAir charter companies such as Monarch Air Group and Mercury Jets fly a variety of private charter aircraft and jets, from charter luxury Gulfstream's down to economical piston twins for small groups and individuals.
- Get inThe RiverLink and Freedom Ferry services provide travel from Philadelphia to neighboring Camden, New Jersey, between April and September.
- Get inAccess to the other waterfront attractions, including an aquarium, is also provided by the ferry service.
- Get aroundThose rates are as follows: Lindenwold, Ashland & Woodcrest Stations and Philadelphia: $3.00 Haddonfield, Westmont & Collingswood Stations and Philadelphia: $2.60 Ferry Avenue (Camden) Station and Philadelphia: $2.25 Travel within Pennsylvania, between Broadway and City Hall (Camden), and between PA and those two stations: $1.40 Any other trip within New Jersey: $1.60 Note that PATCO is not operated by SEPTA and uses its own fare system.
From Wikivoyage: Philadelphia, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-08.
- 01190 km
- 02695 km
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- 042,604 km
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If you know how people move in West Philadelphia – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to West Philadelphia
West Philadelphia is 5 km from Philadelphia, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.
- Merion Stationunincorporated community in Pennsylvania, United States3.8 km
- University Cityneighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania3.1 km
- Northwest Philadelphiahuman settlement in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America2.2 km
- Belmont Villagehuman settlement in Pennsylvania, United States of America1 km
- Overbrookneighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania3.5 km