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Pennsylvania (PA)
Philadelphia
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Franklin Square
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Franklin Square

See all things to do
See all things to do
Franklin Square
4
#61 of 480 things to do in Philadelphia
Points of Interest & LandmarksParks
10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
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About
One of Philadelphia’s five original squares, Franklin Square is Center City's favorite playtime oasis. Centered around its beautiful fountain with the new free Fountain Show featuring spectacular dancing water effects and colored lights choreographed to music (spring-fall), Franklin Square also features the Parx Liberty Carousel, the one-of-a-kind Philly Mini Golf course, and the renowned SquareBurger. Now featuring Spooky Mini Golf! From 6-9pm every night in October, Philly Mini Golf becomes a magical playground with spooky tricks around every corner! Lights, fog, cobwebs, and more return to this Philadelphia-themed miniature golf course where you can putt through city icons and landmarks.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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The area
Address
Neighbourhood: City Center East
How to get there
  • Franklin Square • 1 min walk
  • Chinatown • 4 min walk
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Best nearby
Restaurants
2,867 within 5 kms
Terakawa Ramen
200
0.4 km₹₹ - ₹₹₹ • Japanese • Asian • Soups
Sang Kee Peking Duck House
323
0.4 km₹₹ - ₹₹₹ • Chinese • Asian • Cantonese
Morimoto
1,015
0.7 km₹₹₹₹ • Japanese • Seafood • International
Old City Pizza & Restaurant
226
0.5 km₹ • Italian • American • Pizza
High Street Philadelphia
340
0.6 km₹₹ - ₹₹₹ • American • Vegetarian Friendly • Vegan Options
Fork
679
0.6 km₹₹₹₹ • American • Vegetarian Friendly • Vegan Options
Cafe Ole
107
0.4 km₹ • Quick Bites • Cafe • Middle Eastern
Buddakan
1,235
0.7 km₹₹₹₹ • Chinese • International • Asian
Dim Sum Garden
536
0.6 km₹ • Chinese • Asian • Cantonese
Radicchio Cafe
96
0.3 km₹₹ - ₹₹₹ • Italian • Vegetarian Friendly • Gluten Free Options
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Attractions
400 within 10 kms
National Constitution Center
1,633
0.1 kmSpeciality Museums • History Museums
United States Mint
1,154
0.2 kmGovernment Buildings
Benjamin Franklin's Grave
373
0.3 kmCemeteries
Independence Visitor Center
2,465
0.4 kmVisitor Centres
Christ Church Cemetery
246
0.3 kmCemeteries
Commodore Barry Statue
30
0.2 kmMonuments & Statues
Old St. Augustine's
16
0.3 kmHistoric Sites
The African American Museum in Philadelphia
125
0.3 kmHistory Museums
Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
1,128
0.5 kmSpeciality Museums • Educational sites
Old First Reformed Church
1
0.3 kmReligious Sites
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
4.0
263 reviews
Excellent
110
Very good
102
Average
35
Poor
8
Terrible
8
Josh D
Mamaroneck, NY449 contributions
Very green!!
Oct 2023 • Friends
My parents and sisters always used to ask me who I had a thing for and I never told them no matter how hard they tried to get me to!! They got a breakthrough this summer and I finally admitted it but I still don’t know why people get sappy and say that someone is the best thing to ever happen to them!! I am rambling about people’s love lives for a reason because I know people go to parks on dates or go to parks to cry after getting dumped!! I went here today platonically with one of my temple friends and we were mini golfing!! It was Halloween themed and there was a bunch of creepy looking creatures!! It was very cheap for us broke people and was only 13 dollars!! I think it took an hour and a half and they were playing fancy tunes!! I will complain about one thing which is that the person I went with wanted to get water and they gave her a cup of ice to fill up in the water fountain and they made her pay 1 dollar!! I still enjoyed my time!!
Written 28 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ELKW
United States11,862 contributions
can see the mini version of Philadelphia landmarks
Aug 2022 • Family
there is mini version of Philadelphia landmarks inside the park, besides, there is also fountain、playground、carousel, but surprisingly when we went there in Aug 2022, there is Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival, we can see the lantern decoration in the park which is a bonus for our visit.
Written 7 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
FrequentTraveler1500
Carlisle, PA13 contributions
Worth checking out
Jun 2023
An urban oasis and fun for the whole family. Great place to spend an afternoon. My only complaint is the concessions stand, which was understaffed.
Written 27 June 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
sheryl g
Detroit, MI19 contributions
Chinese Lantern Festival is here
Jul 2022
Festival is set up in the park for a few more weeks. Please take the time to go and explore all the fabulous lanterns. Best at night since all are lit up. Beautiful, colorful, some are inter active,. Food is available. The fountain is tuned into a show of lights and dancing waters. We made sure to attend one of the live cultural performances. So very entertaining.
Written 15 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SeaMariner22
Seattle, WA251 contributions
Must see park!
Sep 2021
Close to the National Park, Franklin Square is a collection of colorful art, a fabulous fountain, and a carousel. The fountain is a miniature version of Las Vegas' Bellagio fountains complete with choreographed performances every half hour.
Written 10 June 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
jonahNJ
Pennington, NJ11,562 contributions
Family friendly park in Philadelphia
Oct 2021
Following a walk across the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, my wife and I took a stroll around this park and then took a seat on one of the comfortable benches to take in the views. This is a family friendly park that is safe, clean and well maintained. There is a concession stand with various food offerings, clean restrooms as well as a merry-go-round and a lovely fountain display. There are also plenty of tables and benches available to visitors.

There is a facility that can be rented for weddings and other events. When we visited a wedding reception was being set up—it looked beautiful and the weather was picture perfect.

This park offers a nice respite from the hustle and bustle of Philly that we especially appreciated on a beautiful Fall day.
Written 14 November 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
daisyferret1
Bear, DE27,813 contributions
Electrical Spectacle Holiday Light Show presented by PECO 2020
Dec 2020
We decided to attend the Electrical Spectacle Holiday Light Show presented by PECO at Franklin Square. Once we got into Philly and near the area, we started looking for the actual park. Signage was not good. We also found it kind of hard to find parking in the immediate area of Franklin Square. We eventually did find some metered parking a few blocks away, which was priced at $2.50 per hour.

Once in the Square, we I thought it was nicely done. The brick walkways were lined with lighted trees. Ahead in the distance you could see the focal point of the light show. We saw the strands of lights meeting at the center KITE. As we got nearer, we spotted the KEY attached to the KITE by a string of lights. What a perfect design for FRANKLIN (Benjamin) Square. Also, as we neared the park we heard some overhead Christmas carols being piped into the park. We noticed a seating area with tables and fire pits to warm your hands. We also saw several little decorated houses that seemed to house restrooms and restaurants, but NONE of them were open. The park also houses a small playground, picnic tables, a small miniature golf course, a Little FREE library box and a carousel. Philly Mini Golf was open ($10 adut, $8 child) as was the carousel ($3 per rider). We decided to watch the light show and ride the carousel. Light show started every 30 minutes and lasted about 10 minutes. The show was pretty good. Afterwards we purchased tickets for the carousel and took a spin on it. Staff was friendly. Riders were socially distanced on the carousel since they had only 1 horse per aisle open. Staff were quick to clean the horses after the current riders departed & before admitting new riders. After our carousel ride, we decided to wait around another 10 minutes to catch the last light show of the evening. We were expecting the see the same show over again, but were pleasantly surprised to see a whole new set of songs!

Overall, we really enjoyed the Electrical Spectacle Holiday Light Show presented by PECO at franklin Square. It was pretty amazing. The song selection was a mix of classic Christmas and some newer remixes of classics. The light show to the Carol of the Bells remix by the London Festival Orchestra was amazing. Park felt clean and felt safe as it was patrolled by security. Biggest downfall was the limited parking and poor signage from the expressway.
Written 29 December 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
JOANNE H
Philadelphia, PA1 contribution
Franklin Square light show
Dec 2020 • Couples
My family and I traveled awhile to get there, find parking and then walk several blocks only to find out after waiting that there would be no light show this evening (Dec 19) due to a wedding in the area. They didn’t want the music to disturb the wedding. I asked the girl working at the mini golf booth and that’s what she told me. I told her that information should have been posted on their website and she said we have no control over that. Really?? Very poor customer service. I’m sure we weren’t the only family disappointed
Written 20 December 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Vicki A
Brunswick, Md.1,361 contributions
Beautiful to see!
Jun 2020
We happened upon this beautiful square in downtown Philly as we were out and about walking around. It is beautiful. Well worth visiting and sitting a bit to relax. Well maintained. Don't let the traffic circle deter you from going!
Written 19 June 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Eduardo M
14 contributions
Nice evening by the lights
Dec 2019
All of my family enjoyed a great evening playing mini golf and watching the lights show going on every certain minutes. Wear appropriate clothes during December is a must.
Written 31 December 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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Franklin Square (Philadelphia) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos) - Tripadvisor

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