For the second consecutive year, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was voted the “Most Walkable City to Visit” in USA Today’s 2024 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. According to Gregg Caren, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, the City of Brotherly Love is consistently voted as especially strollable for a couple reasons: One, it contains five park-like squares incorporated into its layout for pleasant pathways full of green space, and two, it is fairly compact. “Philadelphia’s downtown is located between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. Walking ‘river to river’ takes visitors just about an hour,” says Caren. Those convening at the Pennsylvania Convention Center have more than 14,000 hotel rooms available to them within walking distance, making it easy for attendees to get to their programs.
“When attendees come to Philadelphia, they don’t need to worry about renting a car or relying on public transportation to get around,” Caren says. “Not only does this help make the city more accessible for visitors, but it also makes it a more affordable destination for planners and groups that often must rely on (and pay for) shuttle systems.” He also notes that by exploring the city on foot, attendees get the chance to truly get to know it during their stay, seeing things they could easily miss in a car, like the 4,000-plus public murals, quaint colonial-era side streets, and locally owned restaurants and shops that fill the downtown.
