Philadelphia – Independence Hall (the Queue)

A visit to Independence Hall is free of charge, but to get in it’s necessary to book a ticket on-line (with limited times available if booking close to the day) and pay a small booking fee or just turn up at the visitor centre at 08.30. I had arrived into Philadelphia early, so thought I’d go along at 08.10 to just wait in the queue. I was surprised it was this long at that stage, but by the time it was 08.30 there must have been 150 people in the queue. I liked that one of the rangers came down the queue offering maps and asking if we had any questions.

Apparently tickets for the day are sometimes gone by 10 in the morning, although it’s usually sold out by around 11, and even then the tickets would only be available for the later tours. I just missed out on the 09.00 tour, but got a ticket for the 09.20 tour.

The moral of the story really is to either get up really early or be organised and book on-line and pay the $1 free. For anyone who does want to wait in the queue, there is free wi-fi available which helped pass the time nicely.