Philadelphia Museum of Art

Most people meet the Philadelphia Museum of Art from the bottom of its east steps, fists in the air, because Sylvester Stallone ran up them in 1976 and the city never stopped. The run is free, fun and worth doing — the top-step view straight down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to City Hall is genuinely grand, and the bronze Rocky statue waits at the foot of the steps for the photo — but the real event is behind the columns. This is one of the major art museums in the United States: European painting from the Renaissance through Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Cézanne's monumental Large Bathers, a defining collection of Marcel Duchamp, deep American holdings led by Philadelphia's own Thomas Eakins, and a signature trick no other museum quite matches — whole architectural interiors rebuilt inside the galleries, from a medieval cloister to a Japanese teahouse and a temple hall from South India. Frank Gehry's long renovation of the building's core opened in 2021, adding light and gallery space without changing the temple's skyline silhouette. In autumn 2026 the museum hosts a major Marcel Duchamp exhibition through January 31, 2027, while A Nation of Artists, its large anniversary survey of American art, continues into July 2027. One currency note: the museum rebranded itself the Philadelphia Art Museum in October 2025, then reversed course in February 2026, and is once again the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with a late opening on Fridays.

The steps came first for most visitors, so do them right. The east entrance faces the Parkway and the Schuylkill side of the city; the Rocky statue stands at street level to the right of the steps, and a line forms for the photo on any pleasant day. Early morning gives you the steps almost alone, with runners doing the real workout and the sun coming up behind City Hall's tower at the far end of the Parkway. The view from the top is the city's best free panorama — the flag-lined boulevard drawn straight as a ruler through Logan Square to Penn's statue on City Hall.

Inside, three hours covers the essentials if you choose. The European galleries upstairs hold the headline paintings; the Duchamp holdings — including the Large Glass and the peephole installation Étant donnés — are among the museum's distinctions and are the backdrop to this season's big exhibition; and the architectural rooms are the best surprise, especially the cloister with its fountain and the teahouse with its garden. The American wing makes the case for Eakins as Philadelphia's great painter. The Gehry-renovated vaulted walkway now runs through the heart of the building, and the north entrance gives step-shy visitors a level way in.

Planning: the museum is open Thursday through Monday, with a Friday evening late night, and closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays — the most common trip-planning mistake in the city. The Rodin Museum, a garden pavilion with The Thinker at its gate, sits a short walk down the Parkway, and the Barnes Foundation is a few minutes beyond it, which makes the Parkway the best art afternoon on the East Coast for its cost. The Schuylkill River Trail and Boathouse Row's outlined houses are just behind the museum for a walk afterward. Do the steps for the story; stay inside for the collection.