Jaunted

When: Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m, and weekends 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Every day of the year except for Christmas.

Cost: Free! Seriously.

How: Because there are so many school groups and family vacations hitting up the Bell on any given day, there's no secret time when you can have it all to yourself. Basically, it's always crowded. But what people don't realize is that it's actually super-simple to get to the Bell itself, even thought most tourist guides will tell you to leave a full day to tour the Bell and surrounding museums. Well yes, maybe if you're on a school field trip.

In addition to the room actually housing the Bell, there's the Liberty Bell Center detailing the bell's history, the Independence Visitors Center giving out maps, and Independence Hall where the Bell used to be, which still sucks in tourists even though there's really not much of interest in the actual building anymore. Honestly, if an elementary school teacher isn't actually making you take notes, we'd say skip the latter three.

All you wanna do is get your photo taken in front of the Bell and then head on to Philly's Belgian beer scene, right? So instead of wandering around Independence National Historical Park going into every one of the buildings until you get it right (trust us, we've been there), just head straight to the Liberty Bell entrance on 6th and Market Streets.

There's no ticket needed, just get on line and you can actually be in and out with cheesy pictures taken within an hour at almost any time of day. There you go—we just bought you an extra full day of drinking!

Related Stories:
· Liberty Bell [Official site]
· Jaunted How-To Guide: The Washington Monument [Jaunted]
· Philadelphia travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: wallyg]