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University of Pennsylvania
3451 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104
+1 215 898 5000
site: University of Pennsylvania
#302 of 419 things to do rated by Real Travelers

More information on University of Pennsylvania

You could call Philadelphia one big campus, with 27 degree-granting institutions within city limits and 50,000 annual college graduates. The oldest and most prestigious university is Penn. This private, coeducational Ivy League institution was founded by Benjamin Franklin and others in 1740. It boasts America's first medical (1765), law (1790), and business (1881) schools. Penn's liberal arts curriculum, dating from 1756, was the first to combine classical and practical subjects. The university has been revitalized in the last 30 years, thanks to extremely successful leadership, alumni, and fundraising drives. The West Philadelphia neighborhood has experienced a revitalization, too, thanks to former president Judith Rodin, and current president Amy Gutmann. Nowadays, the university is a fun place for an afternoon of shopping or a night out. Sansom Commons, with Urban Outfitters, Douglas Cosmetics, and Pod restaurant, is across the street from campus. There are also the wonderful Inn at Penn, the stylish Bridge de Lux cinema at 40th and Walnut streets, and the massive Barnes & Noble-run university bookstore.The core campus, based in West Philadelphia since the 1870s, features serene Gothic-style buildings and specimen trees in a spacious quadrangle. Visitors can hang out comfortably on the lawns and benches. More-modern buildings are results of the 20th-century expansion of the university to accommodate 22,000 students enrolled in four undergraduate and 12 graduate schools, in 100 academic departments. Sights of most interest to visitors include the University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, and the always intriguing Institute of Contemporary Art, with its changing exhibits. Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

Credit Cards Accepted

none accepted

Directions

Bus: 21, 30, 40, 42, or 90. Car: 30th St. exit from I-76 (Schuylkill Expwy.), 6 blocks west toward West Philadelphia

Area

34th and Walnut Sts. and surrounding neighborhood

Information by Frommers

Things to do near University of Pennsylvania

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     Real Travelers who've been here

    Louis Louis said

    … on some convention centre holding some fossil conference, to get to UPenn campus passing Drexel university… continue reading »

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the original bell??! A nice rivery bit. The oldest continually inhabited street in the US Love Fountain (?)
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