Independence Hall, Philadelphia

Wow - what an awesome experience. I took my children under 10. Of course they are in 2nd grade and have hear all about George Washington and Ben Franklin, etc. The lady tour guide was fantastic and very informative. She also offered great suggestions for the kids - like sending a special stamped letter from the 1st Us post office, nearby and going to see a printing press next to it. She made the history come to life - telling the kids, see the sunglasses Ben Franklin was the 1st to make these and people wore them all around. She told the kids people wrote with the tips of feathers, LOL. She explained the chair that all the famous founding fathers sat in to sign the Declaration and the story behind that. She asked the kids questions. It was a short tour, 40 mins. You must go early to get tickets in the Visitor Center. We got tickets at 9:20 and walked over for the 9:30 tour - no wait at all. We did this tour and after saw the Liberty B which is in a building in front of Independance Hall, which requires no tickets. It was a quick see and no wait as the huge tour group had left.

My husband and I only had one day to sightsee Philadelphia and all it's historic radiance. We were having a wonderful time despite the rain and cold weather. My advice to everyone who plans on visiting Philadelphia's Independence Hall is to NOT park underneath the Visitor's Center. Although it may be convenient, the hassle of dealing with the Parking Company's employee's incompetence were more than enough to ruin our entire trip. After spending over 3+ hours taking every possible tour and picture, we headed back to our car which was parked in the underground parking garage where he Visitor's Center was located. The parking facility was managed by Philadelphia Parking Authority, which has signs everywhere telling you not to forget to pay before you leave. My husband paid at one of their machines by credit card as soon as we descended the elevators, received our receipt but the ticket was never dispensed. We tried to exit the lot but without a ticket, the gate will not open. We pressed the Help button on the machine and the lade on the other end of the intercom was rude and said that we need to get out of the car to her office. I took the receipt with me planning on showing as proof of payment, but she didn't even glance at it and told me that I have to run back to the ticketing machine to retrieve the ticket, in a very rude tone. I replied and said that there was no ticket. She did not listen and sent me on my way. I ran over there and there was no ticket. She followed shortly after in her slow walking pace, and said that it's not there and told me to go back to my car. I thought she was going to open the gate for us after returning to the car, but it was a misguidance and she continued doing so by motioning us to move the car forward, then backward then forward again. Tired of playing her tricks, we backed up and parked again. Again, I tried showing her the receipt of proof of payment and she disregarded it and said that anyone can show a receipt and that it doesn't mean anything. She told us that we had to pay an additional $18 for losing our ticket, on top of the $16.25 that we have originally paid. We disputed and wanted to speak to her manager. She tells us that there is no manager on duty and we would have to wait til Monday. I asked her how we go about paying for the additional charge, and she pointed us back to the machine. When we tried the machine that has a button for lost ticket, it did not work. We were frustrated beyond words. We felt that we were being held hostage in the parking garage and the only way out was them stealing money that has already been paid. The women on duty was nothing near being helpful, considerate and lack customer service skills. She even told us that she's called the cop on us as if it's our plan to be stuck in their garage or attempt to deceive them without paying for parking when we had proof of payment and which they also have a video camera that shows that evidence which she chose not to validate. I have attempted over three calls to contact the parking company for reimbursement the next business day but was only able to leave messages that were never responded to.

my wife and I had a wonderful time at independence hall. it was great to stand so near the spot where so many important decisions were made, in regard to the establishment of this country. the artifacts that were still present added some much to the tour of the building. We had a wonderful tour guide named Renee....

We reserved our tickets so we skipped the long line in the visitors center. Take time to take in what where you are...this is where our country's history began and so many of our forefathers stood...amazing!

While stepping in the same room that the founding fathers of our country gave me chills, the tour guide we got was boring in a surprisingly obnoxious way. He had a very squeaky voice and put half the tour group to sleep with his background speech before the actual tour (almost literally). I would suggest doing it but be warned...

What history! Philadelphia and in particular Independence Hall are wonderful! I think it is a must see for any American. The tour is a bit long, but I would do it again.

It looks just like the history books said. It was so nice to finally get there and to see it and touch it wow. They only thing I did not like is that to get in you have to walk about three or four blocks to the visitors center to get a ticket, that is free, and then walk all the way back over to the hall. Why not have the tickets right there on the sidewalk somewhere. For those of us that have a hard time walking, and don't know that you needed a ticket from the center you were at an hour ago, is depressing. But we did get into the house and senator chambers. We sat in seats that they used. We were in the room where Pres Adams was sworn into office in. Very nice day but hard on your knees and hips if they are bad.

We had a nice day to walk around. Get free tickets at the visitors center on Market street. They go fast so get there before noon. Our tour started at 12:40. Security goes through your bags. The park ranger was nice. Her descriptions were great for the kids and I was not bored either. Very open to any questions. I learned a lot. The whole tour only lasts about 45 min. I went with a 11 yr old boy and 5 yr old girl.

would go again in a heartbeat.Very interesting.The guys who do the doors,awesome.He made it fun.My children loved to see the Chair of George Washington. Wonderful experience

A must see if you are visiting Philly. Can't go without seeing it! My husband loves history and he had to see it. I really enjoyed it as well. You get your "groundings" by stopping here first.