A Dog-Friendly Weekend in Philadelphia

A Dog-Friendly Weekend in Philadelphia | Winter Edition

Having grown up in the Philadelphia area, you would think we’d take Navy to visit the city much earlier. Truthfully, we’ve been waiting for the perfect time to take Navy to visit the dog-friendly city of brotherly love. After spending the Thanksgiving holiday with our families in the suburbs, we drove an hour east to Philadelphia for a long weekend of fun!

When researching activities to do with Navy in Philadelphia, there were a ton of lists and blog posts that recommend some awesome dog-friendly activities. Unfortunately, these opportunities were only available for the warmer months. With the cold weather upon us, I turned to my good friend Google and Instagram for recommendations.  

This post highlights our recent trip to Philadelphia, PA with our dog Navy. We also list a few things we weren’t able to do but will definitely do next time!

Where we stayed:

Dog-Friendly Lodging in Downtown Philadelphia

If you know anything about us, you’d know we have a preference in pet-friendly hotel chains. For this long weekend visit to Philly, we chose to stay at the new Aloft Downtown Philadelphia Hotel. The hotel officially opened its doors last May, but the building itself has quite a bit of history. It is redeveloped from the historic 1925 Liberty Title Building. Much of the building’s historic features remain in the design of the hotel. The now basement gym prominently features the historic bank vault doors!

We were pleasantly surprised at how affordable the Aloft was, especially for the prime location! Located in the heart of center city, we were in walking distance to the famous Reading Terminal Market, LOVE Park, the Historic District, as well as a number of awesome bars and restaurants. You really can’t get a better than that. And that view… our room on the 17th floor looked directly on to historic Philadelphia City Hall.

The Aloft Philadelphia was incredibly dog-friendly. Navy was allowed virtually everyone in the hotel, with the exception of the WXYZ bar area. But no worries! You can still dine and have a drink with your pet in the hotel lobby. There are plenty of seating in the lounge area of the lobby. We were able to take advantage of the happy hour specials and order drinks and snacks from the WXYZ bar in the hotel lobby with Navy by our side. Dogs under 40 pounds can stay at this Aloft complimentary. Navy was even given her own bed (though you know she ended up in our bed at night), treats, and bowls for her stay.

We highly recommend staying at the Aloft Philadelphia Downtown. Next time we are in Philly, we will be sure to visit again!

What we did:

Fall/Winter Activities with your dog

One cannot visit Philadelphia without stopping by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and climbing the same steps as Rocky. Take a picture at the top with your arms raised in victory and at the bottom with the bronze statue of Rocky.

Finally, Philadelphia’s Christmas Village is back! This outdoor Holiday market is modeled after the traditional Christmas Markets in Germany. Vendors set up shop around Center City Philadelphia to sell food, sweets, drinks, and other holiday gifts. We stopped by three booths selling dog treats. Navy just HAD to try a sample. The Christmas village generally stays open from from Thanksgiving Eve to Christmas Eve every year.

Dog parks galore! Philadelphia is home to some of the best dog parks. We chose to visit the Schuylkill River Dog Park where we met up with some of Navy’s friends from Instagram. There are two gated dog parks, one for small dogs and another for bigger dogs. We chose to stay in the smaller park as the bigger one was a bit muddy.

You may not know what John F. Kennedy Plaza is, but I am sure LOVE Park looks familiar. The iconic LOVE statue has resided in John F. Kennedy Plaza since 1976. Currently the plaza is receiving some renovations but we were still able to grab a picture with Navy by the statue. If you want to take your photo, I recommend going early in the morning. There was a long line when we originally visiting the park.

Franklin Square certainly did not look like much during the day, but during the evenings in late November through December the park lights up…literally! Each year the Franklin Square hosts a Holiday Festival. This year in particular included a winter beer garden with fire pits, plus s’mores and hot chocolate stations.

No, Philadelphia is not just the the home of the cheesesteaks and the soft pretzels. Philadelphia is known for its rich history, especially during the 1700s. While your pet can’t join you inside these historic buildings, many of them allow pets to walk around outside. We took photos in front of the Betsy Ross House, Independence Hall, the National Constitution Center, and just outside the Liberty Bell.

After visiting the historic sites in Old City, we stopped by Doggie Style Pets to pick up a few treats for Navy. We left with a big bag of treats and a little Philadelphia Eagles Jersey for Navy. It’s about time she had a proper on!

We spent quite a bit of time relaxing and walking around Race Street Pier. I can only imagine how gorgeous it would be to sit out there and relax in the spring and summer. We stopped by the Cherry Street Pier next door to get out of the cold and have a quick bathroom break.

If we had more time in Philadelphia, we definitely would have checked out the Philadelphia Magic Gardens. Good news! Your dog can visit with you. The Magic Gardens can get crowded. Be sure to reserve your tickets ahead of time!

Where we ate:

Philadelphia Dog-Friendly Dining Options in Fall/Winter

Right when we got into Philadelphia we were starving, so we walked around the streets in Center City to see what we could find. We ended up passing countless places (cheasteak shops, fast food, pizza places, and other great looking restaurants). I choose a hot dog from Five Guys and Zach got a couple slices to go from Giovanni’s Pizza shop.

The first night in Philadelphia it was pouring rain, so we couldn’t travel far from our hotel. Thankfully, Aloft had an awesome happy hour filled with tasty appetizers drink specials, and pizza for us to chow down on. We stayed in the lobby lounge area with Navy to eat and listened to the music! It was definitely a fun night in.

The next day, we decided to walk around the city and the Christmas Village, they had several food stalls that had delicious food that we grabbed on the go as we were touring around.

There are plenty of dog-friendly patios in Philadelphia. However, the majority of them are closed for the winter months. One of our friends that we met at the dog park recommended Parcrestaurant across from Rittenhouse Square. Parc ended up having an outdoor seating area which is open all year-round. The outdoor area is heated AND dog-friendly! All of our food was incredibly delicious and our service was excellent (You must try the French Onion Soup). Our server even brought Navy a freshly baked dog treat, they have a chef that makes them!

One restaurant we didn’t get the chance to visit was Pizzeria Vetri. They have some of the best pizza in the US and you know how much we love pizza! We will definitely be heading back to Philadelphia this summer and you know our first stop will be to Pizzeria Vetri.

Have you ever visited Philadelphia with your dog? We’d love to hear about your experience!

If you liked this post be sure to read our previous travel blogs to Santa Barbara, Lynchburg, VAand the Outer Banks. We also updated Instagram highlights with more pictures and videos from our trip. Subscribe so you don’t miss out on more of our dog-friendly adventures and travel tips!