Philadelphia Double-Decker Bus Crawl

This bar crawl uses the Philadelphia Hop-on Hop-off City Tour buses. To hit all the bars on this list, we started our crawl at noon to make sure everything was open.

The buses start at the Independence Visitor Center, right by Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. Before you hop on the bus, however, your first stop is Independence Beer Garden. While enjoying a drink, you'll have views of Independence National Park. After your first drink, the check-in area for the bus is on the same block as the beer garden, where you should be able to jump on the bus!

Once you've hopped on, enjoy your ride through Philadelphia's Old City. This area of the city has some of the most iconic landmarks and you'll get to learn lots about our country's founding and its history. You'll pass the Betsy Ross House, Chinatown and City Hall before your next stop.

At the Love Park monument, you'll hop off the bus and head over to Tir na nOg. This Irish bar is a favorite with some of my friends for their reasonably priced drinks and their pub atmosphere. Be sure to take a picture with the iconic love sign in the park, where it's not uncommon to see wedding pictures and proposals happen.

From this stop, you'll coninue heading east through the city to the Fairmount neighborhood. Your next stop is the Eastern State Penitentiary. This large prison was in operation until the 1970s, and its most infamous prisoner was Al Capone. Right across the street from the penitentiary is Urban Saloon. This sports bar is very popular with Fairmount's residents for all of Philly's major sports games.

After Urban Saloon, it's back to the bus! The bus will take you past the Philadelphia Museum of Art and its iconic steps, made famous by Rocky. Your next stop is the Franklin Institute, the science museum between the art museum and City Hall. A few blocks away is Cherry Street Tavern. This neighborhood bar had the friendliest bartender that we saw all day. There were local and classic brews on tap, which was perfect for the halfway point of our crawl. This spot has an amazing pork sandwich as well, which I've yet to try. We enjoyed walking through the peaceful streets on our way back to the bus stop.

The fifth stop on the crawl, Good Dog Bar, is a City Center watering hole you can reach by getting off at the Bellevue stop. This spot has an extensive list of beers on tap, great burgers and pool tables in the attic if you fancy a quick game. Throughout the bar, you'll find images of many "good dogs," giving the bar its name.

If you get off at the Pine Street stop, you can easily walk to Dirty Franks, the next stop on this crawl. Make sure you bring cash to this cash-only dive that locals love for its eclectic decor. The Washington Square West area of the city has been named the Gayborhood for its LGBTQ+ friendly atmosphere, bars and rainbow paintings lining some street corners.

Moving along to the Head House Square stop, you'll find Cavanaugh’s Headhouse, the penultimate stop on this crawl. This is a large, two-story pub with seven different rooms, each offering a different theme. There is plenty of space to catch whatever game is on, play darts or just enjoy a pint or cocktail.

The final stop is Glory Beer Bar & Kitchen, which leads you back towards Old City. However, if you get off at the Penn's Landing stop, you'll get excellent views of the Delaware River on your walk up to the bar. The riverwalk has shops and piers to explore while watching the boats and jet skis on the water. Glory offers a good selection of bar food made from local ingredients if you're feeling hungry after your long day of bar crawling!