Avenue of the Arts
Philadelphia's main cultural district, the Avenue of the Arts runs for about 4 miles on Broad Street, from York (North Broad end) to Washington (South Broad end). It's not overly tourist-y, despite the number of hotels in the area (and the nearby Convention Center). There is a lot of parking in the area (between hotel parking and other parking decks, you can park within a block of most points of interest). You can also get there via:
SEPTA (regional rail at Market East and Suburban Stations; subway at 15th Street and Walnut-Locust stations; trolley; bus)
PATCO (13/14th Street and 15th/16th Street at Locust)
New Jersey Transit bus
Downtown Visitor Shuttle (Phlash)
What's there to do on the Avenue of the Arts? Plenty. You'd be hard pressed to spend any time in Philly and NOT end up in this area at some point, due to the unbelievable number of theaters, concert/recital halls, restaurants, and hotels around here. For those of you who fancy history and/or civics, City Hall is smack dab in the middle (at the North Broad / South Broad split). Like dolls? You can pay a visit to the Philadelphia Doll Museum. This is, in general, a pretty nice area of Philadelphia; like any city, Philly has its nice areas and its not-so-nice areas. Here's a list of some of what you'll find on the Avenue and on some adjoining streets:
Arts Venues:
The Liacouras Center - Temple University's arena, concert venue
Rock Hall - Temple University Esther Boyer College of Music
Freedom Theatre
The Legendary Blue Horizon
Prince Music Theater
The Academy of Music - home of the Pennsylvania Ballet and the Opera Company of Philadelphia (under renovation)
The Merriam Theater
The Wilma Theater
The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts - home of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops, PHILADANCO, The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and American Theater Arts for Youth
The Philadelphia Artsbank
Organizations:
Coalition of African American Cultural Organizations
Black Family Reunion Cultural Center
Black United Fund of Pennsylvania
The Minority Arts Resource Council, Inc.
The Union League of Philadelphia
The International Association of African-American Music
Gershman YW/YMCA
The Philadelphia Senior Center
The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts
Schools / Workshops:
Roman Catholic High School
The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
The University of the Arts
The Brandywine Workshop
The Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts
The Ballet Centre (The Rock School)
Dining: (this is by no means a complete list)
Bellevue Food Court - Food court selections, including Japanese, hoagies, pizza, sandwiches.
Bookbinder's 15th Street Seafood House - Seafood, traditional American
Buca di Beppo - Italian
Bump - New American cuisine, featuring the Sunday "Beef and Drag" brunch
The Capital Grille - American, steak, seafood
Chris' Jazz Café - Jazz club
Copa Too! - Sports bar with burgers, Mexican food
Fadó Irish Pub - Irish themed restaurant/pub
Italian Bistro - Italian
Locust Rendezvous Bar & Grill - Burgers, wings
Ludwig's Garten - authentic German restaurant/pub
McCormick & Schmick's - Seafood
McGillin's Old Ale House - English/Irish pub
Morton's of Chicago - steakhouse
Olive Garden - Italian
Pasión - Latin American
Roy's - Hawaiian fusion
Ruth's Chris Steak House - steakhouse
Sahara Grill - Middle Eastern
Toto - Italian
Upstares at Varalli - Italian (yes, spelled "Upstares")
Vetri - Italian
Zanzibar Blue - Cajun/Southern cuisine, live music
Most of the hotels also have restaurants, including the Founders Restaurant at the Park Hyatt, the Paris Bar & Grill and the Pantheon at the Ritz-Carlton, and the Academy Cafe and Jack's Center City Tavern at the DoubleTree.
Hotels:
The Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia
Park Hyatt Philadelphia at the Bellevue
The DoubleTree Hotel Philadelphia
Holiday Inn Express Midtown
Inn at the Union League (Member sponsored only)
The Inn on Locust