Eastern State Penitentiary, Pennsylvania, United States
4.5 (6.439 reviews) Tuesday: Spent 2-3 hours Ranking #4 in Philadelphia History Museums
A MUST VISIT while in Philly!
Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site was once the most famous and expensive prison in the world, but stands today in ruin, a haunting world of crumbling cellblocks and empty guard towers. Known for its grand architecture and strict discipline, this was the world’s first true “penitentiary,” a prison designed to inspire penitence, or true regret, in the hearts of convicts. Tours today include the cellblocks, solitary punishment cells, Al Capone’s Cell, and Death Row.
Address
2124 Fairmount Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19130-2603
Mobile
Website
http://www.easternstate.org
Working hours
Monday :
Tuesday :
Wednesday : 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday : 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday : 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday : 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday : 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Current local date and time now
Tuesday, May 07, 2024, 1:38
User Ratings
4.5 based on (6.439 reviews)
Reviews
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5][ 5:00 PM Jan 4, 2023
Highly recommended for families with teenagers
Highly recommend visiting this attraction! Family with 16 yr old and 13 yr old enjoyed the basic audio tour and also stayed for the additional audio tour stops. Bought the tickets at the gate with no issues. All staff very friendly and helpful. Check the website for directions and info on free parking (we parked for free on north 22nd st). Budget for 2-3 hours. Fyi - it was colder inside the penitentiary than the air temperature when we were there (winter). I was told it's also hotter inside in the summer so judge what you wear accordingly.
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5Seevert 5:00 PM Jun 10, 2021
Exceeded all expectations!
This was much cooler than I thought it would be. The audio tour is well done, and the modern prison exhibit brings to light excellent points. This is a must see in Philly. Here are the only issues we had: 1) While their website and places like trip advisor say it’s a 30 min tour, this is misleading. The main audio tour is 30 min, but there are 40+ other points of reference you can listen/look/learn about. We spent two hours and still ran out of time. 2) apparently there is a time limit to your stay. We came at 3pm after reading their site that it is 30 mins. By 5pm we were not done. I didn’t think this was an issue because they are open til 9pm with their sundown time but even though it’s the same thing and same pricing as the regular day, they still made us leave at 5pm. If I had known that I would have skipped some exhibits to see the ones I wanted to see. Definitely need more info explaining that and fixing the misleading 30 min tour statement.
