Eastern State Penitentiary ~ Philadelphia Pennsylvania

My husband and I recently went on a little road trip with a stop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During our jaunt we discovered one of the best places we’ve ever visited.

Eastern State Penitentiary.

I mean, come on. Look at this place!

The cost is $14 per person but they often have discounts available. I used a $2 off coupon I found at the hotel, but there are also discounts for students and occasionally groupons as well. We paid $12 each. And it was worth it!

When you walk inside, you are directed to dawn headphones for the audio tour. I’ve never taken an audio tour before. I was expecting a droning voice going on about the history of this cell and the significance of this brick. My expectations were definitely exceeded.

The voice of Steve Buscemi lead us down the corridors. His narration a bit creepy on it’s own. Add that to some of the stories he told and we felt a bit chilly.

I suggest you go through the main tour first. This will keep you busy for at least an hour and give plenty of opportunity for great photos. Then if time allows, use the map to visit other interesting spots.

What’s really neat is that they have staff at different locations at certain times. You can talk to someone in the synagogue, close the big iron gate and get a birds’ eye view in the watchtower.

There are rest areas with wifi and air conditioning, but the place is dilapidated. With good reason. So visit on a cool spring or autumn day. I wouldn’t visit in the dead of summer if you paid me!

To add to the cool factor, Eastern State Penitentiary has been featured on Ghost Adventures! The guys caught disembodied voices, scuffling footsteps and other eerie things on camera and audio. I can’t even imagine visiting at night!
Have you visited any historical creepy places? Any suggestions on what we should check out next?