Museum of the American Revolution
Museum of the American Revolution
Museum of the American Revolution
4.5
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
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
About
The Museum of the American Revolution explores the dramatic, surprising story of the American Revolution through its unmatched collection of Revolutionary-era weapons, personal items, documents, and works of art. Immersive galleries, powerful theater experiences, and interactive digital elements bring to life the diverse array of people that created a new nation against incredible odds. Visitors gain a deeper appreciation for how this nation came to be and feel inspired to consider their role in the ongoing promise of the American Revolution. Located just steps away from Independence Hall, the Museum serves as a portal to the region’s many Revolutionary sites, sparking interest, providing context, and encouraging exploration.
Suggested duration
2-3 hours
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from $24.00
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The area
Address
How to get there
- 2nd St • 4 min walk
- 5th St • 5 min walk
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2,512 within 3 miles
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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
4.5
1,425 reviews
Excellent
1,031
Very good
276
Average
76
Poor
29
Terrible
13
jpete02
Lansing, MI801 contributions
Oct 2021 • Couples
Great museum. Not cheap at $21 ($19 if purchased in advance) but so many great artifacts you won’t see anywhere else. Even if you know the history of the Revolution, worthwhile going here just to see what is on display. Very few replicas and most items are originals.
The museum is fair in its handling of the Revolution and tries to incorporate different perspectives (African Americans, British, Indians, and women) in its telling of the story of the war. Museum is organized in a chronological format and in great shape.
The highlight is Washington’s wartime tent. They have it in a separate theater and you have to watch a 12 minute film to see it but I thought it gave good context to what you were seeing. Washington was not perfect (no one is) but gave up decades of his life in service of our country. Judging by the standards of his time, he was a great leader and the right person at the right time.
Overall, if you have to choose one museum in this Independence Hall area to visit, make it this one.
The museum is fair in its handling of the Revolution and tries to incorporate different perspectives (African Americans, British, Indians, and women) in its telling of the story of the war. Museum is organized in a chronological format and in great shape.
The highlight is Washington’s wartime tent. They have it in a separate theater and you have to watch a 12 minute film to see it but I thought it gave good context to what you were seeing. Washington was not perfect (no one is) but gave up decades of his life in service of our country. Judging by the standards of his time, he was a great leader and the right person at the right time.
Overall, if you have to choose one museum in this Independence Hall area to visit, make it this one.
Written October 9, 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.
vakamalua
reston, va591 contributions
Apr 2023 • Couples
A great museum to understand the full story of the American Revolution! We took the 1 hour "Core Exhibit" tour first with Lilly who was a very good guide at giving us an overview of the museum & the history of the revolution while answering all our questions. We then spent another 2 hours going back through the exhibits & watching the films. The information is well curated & presented. We especially appreciated the very important information about the Native American & Enslaved Persons who were used as pawns in this war grounded in economics.
Written May 14, 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.
TFopinion
Pennsylvania620 contributions
Oct 2021 • Couples
Took me 4 years to get here and so glad we finally made it. This museum exceeded my expectations in its quality of content, presentation, professional appearance,/design, cleanliness and helpfulness of staff. Haven’t been in a museum that impressed me so much in a long time.
Visiting from out of town, my wife and I purchased our senior tickets online and parked in the Bourse garage only 1 1/2 blocks from the museum. Wasn’t busy the recent Tuesday when we visited. While there are 3 floors to the museum, the 1st floor consists of the lobby/admission area, restrooms, cafe, gift shop, auditorium for introductory video and area for rotating, special exhibits. The lower level is geared for kids but worth checking out. The heart of the museum is located on the 3rd floor.
Somewhat hard to sum up the superb educational content on the 3rd floor covering such a watershed period in our nation’s history. Not much of anything missed. While everything here is so well done, informative with no shortage of authentic artifacts, the highlight for us was Washington’s tent. It was excellently presented, very impressive.
We ate lunch in the sun lite cafe (good selection, expected prices) and purchased a couple books in the gift shop. Overall spent about 3+ hours here - time very well spent and so deserving of a strong 👍🏻 . Don’t miss Carpenter Hall (location of First Continental Congress) only a block away.
Visiting from out of town, my wife and I purchased our senior tickets online and parked in the Bourse garage only 1 1/2 blocks from the museum. Wasn’t busy the recent Tuesday when we visited. While there are 3 floors to the museum, the 1st floor consists of the lobby/admission area, restrooms, cafe, gift shop, auditorium for introductory video and area for rotating, special exhibits. The lower level is geared for kids but worth checking out. The heart of the museum is located on the 3rd floor.
Somewhat hard to sum up the superb educational content on the 3rd floor covering such a watershed period in our nation’s history. Not much of anything missed. While everything here is so well done, informative with no shortage of authentic artifacts, the highlight for us was Washington’s tent. It was excellently presented, very impressive.
We ate lunch in the sun lite cafe (good selection, expected prices) and purchased a couple books in the gift shop. Overall spent about 3+ hours here - time very well spent and so deserving of a strong 👍🏻 . Don’t miss Carpenter Hall (location of First Continental Congress) only a block away.
Written October 27, 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.
NapiliR
Brandon, FL260 contributions
Jan 2023
I thoroughly enjoyed this museum. I found the history portrayed in such a creative way that although I know quite a bit of history of this era, I was captivated by the way the curators brought the history alive with both the artifacts and the way in which the story of the American Revolution is portrayed. Don't bother with the cafe as it provides minimal food and beverages. That's too bad, as it could have been quite a creative way to continue the history as well as a good way for the museum to raise funds.
Written January 24, 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.
Traveller
New York City, NY2,992 contributions
Dec 2021
I visited the Museum of the American Revolution in December 2021. It was my third visit to this museum. The museum does a great job of covering the major events of the American Revolutionary War. It starts with the coverage of the runup to the war, the various acts passed by the British government, the Boston Tea Party, the Boston massacre. Then the coverage shifts to 1775 and the Battle of Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Bunker Hill. Moving into 1776, the coverage continues with the Declaration of Independence, the Battle of New York and the ten crucial days (Washington crossing the Delaware, the Battle of Trenton and the Battle of Princeton). The rest of the coverage including the winter at Valley Forge and the shift of the war to the South is also very interesting. I had missed the coverage of the Battle of Yorktown my first two visits in the museum. The Battle of Yorktown is covered in a movie towards the end of the exhibit. The museum has a very nice gift and book shop. One note in visiting the museum during a weekday is that you will probably have to navigate around groups of school children visiting with their teacher and a guide.
Written December 7, 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.
Louis L
7 contributions
Apr 2023 • Solo
This museum is a block or two further than the usual sights but I spent three and a half hours there. Even though we learn about this in school, there is much more to know. Did you know: the war lasted until 1783? George Washington was fighting for8 years? Benjamin Lincoln and Alexander Hamilton had key roles at Yorktown? That the Netherlands and Spain had declared war on England? The museum is chronologically laid out and you just follow the winding path through the multitude of exhibits. There are short videos in the theaters and a sound and light show about the Battle of Brandywine. There are stories about all of the many battles that the colonists lost. You come to realize how desperate it all was. Okay, you can see it all in less time than me but I enjoyed every minute that I was there.
Written April 24, 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.
ransom007
Anaheim, CA1,206 contributions
May 2021
There are pay to park lots in the area. There are 2 floors to the museum. The first floor is admission, the cafe (not open when I visited) and the gift shop. Upstairs is a thorough timeline of the American Revolutionary War. There are some artifacts, many information boards, several topical films, and in the main theater a program entitled "Washington's War Tent" narrated by Peter Coyote. COVID-19: Employees were masked and visitors were expected to remain masked and employ social distancing protocols during their stays. The seating in the theater was done by an usher in a way to respect social distancing.
Written May 27, 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.
Heather M
Maryland125 contributions
Jun 2022
We came here with 4 elementary aged children. The highlight for the adults was seeing George Washington's actual tent from the Revolutionary War. (Although the other adult I visited with, who is a seamstress, was disappointed to not be able to get closer to the tent. It is behind a screen the whole time and you can only see it for a few minutes at the tail end of a media presentation about it's history. We had seats toward the back of the auditorium. This may have impacted the experience for her.)
The rest of the museum went in chronological order. Our kids particularly enjoyed the life-size (piece of a) warship that they could get into and horse around a bit (on the deck.) My oldest (10) was especially interested in the interactive stations featuring the stories of enslaved people and how the war impacted them.
This museum is interactive and we enjoyed it. However, I recently went to the Revolutionary War Museum in Yorktown Museum, and I liked that one a lot better. There were more multimedia presentations, more interactive stations, and an outdoor area with a small farm and small revolutionary war encampment including actors who explained medical procedures, cooked in an earthen oven, and fired a rifle.
The rest of the museum went in chronological order. Our kids particularly enjoyed the life-size (piece of a) warship that they could get into and horse around a bit (on the deck.) My oldest (10) was especially interested in the interactive stations featuring the stories of enslaved people and how the war impacted them.
This museum is interactive and we enjoyed it. However, I recently went to the Revolutionary War Museum in Yorktown Museum, and I liked that one a lot better. There were more multimedia presentations, more interactive stations, and an outdoor area with a small farm and small revolutionary war encampment including actors who explained medical procedures, cooked in an earthen oven, and fired a rifle.
Written July 1, 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.
Gary N
Cockeysville, MD73 contributions
Aug 2022
The General Society of the War of 1812 arranged for a multi hour guided tour of the Museum. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable. Due to time constraints, we were not able to view the Washington Tent Presentation. I learned new information i.e., women in NJ who owned 50 pounds of property could vote until the early 1800s.
Written August 7, 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.
Jennifer T
Grand Junction, CO709 contributions
Jun 2021
Great museum. You learn a lot in an entertaining way. Like most museums right now you need timed tickets but they were easy to purchase on-line as well as at the museum. No waiting on a Saturday in June when we went. You can download an app that provides you audio intros to most rooms using you smart phone.
There are about 17 rooms in the main section and about 3 videos/films to watch. The rooms walk you thru that lead up to the revolution, the revolution itself and then a bit about the after math. There are many displays in each room with write-ups for each and lots of items to grab your attention. They provide the big picture of the war but also individual stories to capture your interest. They also try to provide the views of from multiple sides such as the British, the Loyalists, the Revolutionists, women, African Americans, American Indians, etc.
There is also a cafe and shop on the first floor and plenty of bathrooms and seating. Your tickets are good for 2 consecutive days. We spend 5 hours in the museum and might go back to see a few displays and the film me missed on the first day.
Great experience and fun too.
There are about 17 rooms in the main section and about 3 videos/films to watch. The rooms walk you thru that lead up to the revolution, the revolution itself and then a bit about the after math. There are many displays in each room with write-ups for each and lots of items to grab your attention. They provide the big picture of the war but also individual stories to capture your interest. They also try to provide the views of from multiple sides such as the British, the Loyalists, the Revolutionists, women, African Americans, American Indians, etc.
There is also a cafe and shop on the first floor and plenty of bathrooms and seating. Your tickets are good for 2 consecutive days. We spend 5 hours in the museum and might go back to see a few displays and the film me missed on the first day.
Great experience and fun too.
Written June 12, 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.
Can I take Patco or Septa trains to the museum of the American Revolution?
Karen H
Norwood, MA89 contributions
Sorry, I do not know. We walked everywhere.
Where do I park when I go to the American Revolution Museum
Jonesy1234
Wilmington, DE14 contributions
There are a few parking garages within walking distance. We parked at the below ground parking garage at the National Constitution Center and walked there via Betsy Ross House. We hit the City Tavern afterwards. Have fun.
Liv2travol
Uwchland, PA1 contribution
Can you bring food in a backpack into the museum for lunch or can you only eat in their cafe?
Anne L
Plantation, FL68 contributions
I am not sure if you can bring food in a backpack. I would call and ask. We ate at a restaurant after we visited the museum. There are a lot of places right in the area. Enjoy!
Paul M
New Jersey6 contributions
How long did it take to go through the museum.
gregoryr0301
Lancaster, PA115 contributions
Took us about 4 to 5 hours and well worth it. Amazing deep dive into American History!
vdegregorio
Philadelphia, PA
Would this museum be interesting for a 7 year old?
Are there any interactive activities for that age group?
Britt
Binghamton, NY56 contributions
If your child enjoys history then yes. However there are few interactive activities. It is mostly artifacts with descriptions to read and learn about. There are lots of knowledgeable tour guides and some films. This is a museum not a play center.
where do i park?
Pat W
Albany89 contributions
We walked, did uber and used public transportation which were all easy. Those I would recommend. We saw lots of parking garages and there was some street parking. Don't know how much they cost though.
where do i park?
Frank Palatucci
Williamsburg, VA126 contributions
The best place to park is on 2nd Street. If you travel down Chestnut Street toward the Delaware River (no choice - one way) make a right on Chestnut Street. The parking garage is about mid-block across from the City Tavern. It's then about a 2 block walk to the museum.
KatrinaPa
PA595 contributions
Do I really need to buy a timed ticket ahead of time? I plan to visit on Sunday morning, but I'm not sure how many people are coming along so I don't want to buy tickets I don't need. Also why can you buy tickets for 9:30 if the museum opens at 10:00 am?
MrSaturn64
Philadelphia, PA349 contributions
Since it's on a weekend very early on, yes, I would absolutely get an advance ticket. You may not need it, but it's still better to have it than to need it.
As for the other people in the group, youse can figure that out yourselves.
As for the 9:30 thing, why the hell not?
Museum of the American Revolution (Philadelphia) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go
Frequently Asked Questions about Museum of the American Revolution
- Museum of the American Revolution is open:
- Sun - Sat 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
- Museum of the American Revolution admission prices can vary. Entrance tickets currently cost $24.00, while a popular guided tour starts around $5.00 per person. See all 12 Museum of the American Revolution tickets and tours on Tripadvisor
- Museum of the American Revolution can be crowded, so we recommend booking e-tickets ahead of time to secure your spot. If you book with Tripadvisor, you can cancel at least 24 hours before the start date of your tour for a full refund. See all 12 Museum of the American Revolution tickets and tours on Tripadvisor
- According to Tripadvisor travelers, these are the best ways to experience Museum of the American Revolution:
- Museum of the American Revolution Admission Ticket with Audio Guided Option (From $24.00)
- Go City: Philadelphia Explorer Pass - Choose 3, 4, 5 or 7 Attractions (From $59.00)
- Go City: Philadelphia All-Inclusive Pass with 30+ Attractions (From $54.00)
- The Philadelphia Sightseeing Flex Pass: Save on 35+ Landmark Attractions & Tours (From $55.60)
- The Philadelphia Sightseeing Day Pass: 35+ Historic Attractions & Tours (From $59.00)
- Hotels near Museum of the American Revolution:
- (0.02 mi) Society Hill Hotel
- (0.03 mi) Independence Park Hotel, BW Premier Collection
- (0.06 mi) Apple Hostels Philadelphia
- (0.12 mi) Thomas Bond House Bed & Breakfast
- (0.10 mi) Renaissance Philadelphia Downtown Hotel
- Restaurants near Museum of the American Revolution:
- (0.02 mi) Cross Keys Café
- (0.03 mi) Cafe Square One
- (0.06 mi) Amada
- (0.07 mi) Buddakan
- (0.10 mi) Khyber Pass Pub
Museum of the American Revolution Information
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