Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Inc Review

Place is interesting, but I believe that 1 hour is enough there to feel an atmosphere. All that facts can be found in Internet.
Service was really good. Nothing to complain about.

So much history! Definitely worth a visit during the day (but very fun for Terror Behind the Walls as well!).

This was my favorite part about visiting Philly; there is so much history and wonder in this place. I also loved how they highlighted a lot of the current injustices in our criminal justice system. Definitely do the audio tour, the experience is so much better with Steve Buscemi narrating it.

Prefect place for a huanted house which they do it at night for halloween. Creepy everything. The audio tour is well done.

Good history and well detailed with story boards and the audio players.

Would be helpful if the kids running the place had mandatory training or book history to read about the prison. Most kids know very little about prison history. Otherwise 4 stars.

Note to management: please train your workers because it would make it a better experience.

We went once for the audio guided tour in the day and once for the haunted house. Both were amazing! If you have the guts you can opt in to allow the actors to interact with you and pull you away.

I think this place is one of the coolest museums you may ever seen. They atmosphere is so cool including a lot of different aspects of daily life of a prisoner back in 1800s and 1900s.
Along with an awesome voice tour guide, you can visit every single room on your own and get lots of information in like 2 hours.
I believe it is awesome that they preserved the place and didn't demolish it after it was closed down. Lots of stories about famous prisoners and life styles back that time, and the architect of the place itself will amaze you. This is another MUST SEE place here at Philly.

Highly recommend visiting. Really got a sense of this prison where Al Capone did his time. Very informative displays and shows how prison was back pre-1970s.

Fascinating. Super educational. Did the self guided audio tour. It's narrated mostly by Steve Buscemi. It's awesome. Get there early. It's a lot to see.

Incredible history, dress warmly for this time of year. Well preserved and the presentation was very thought provoking.

Terrific tour - understated and under promoted - a must see when in Philly!

A little pricey so that is why 4 stars. Really interesting though. A lot of the prison is literally falling down. Definitely not a place for a curios 3 yr old. The tour is like half an hour and all done by little headsets they give you. They have guide led tours but I didn't do that. I didn't see any bathrooms and I guess I couldn't urinate down the pipes like the prisoners.

This was my favorite part of my trip to philly! I absolutely loved this eerie attraction. I went with my cousins that are very into spirits and such. They all loved it even as much as I did! When one of my cousins walked in a cell, she got some random spirt of chills. Very creepy vibes throughout the whole place. I would totally recommend going to this place!

Very interesting place. I learned a lot about the prison and everything that went on. I found the information about the women and children who were incarcerated to be fascinating (and sad). I wish I had opted for the audio tour! I'm sure I would have discovered more intriguing information about the place.

Interesting view and highly recommended, not only those interested in touring the different residences of Al Capone, but because this one, turns out to be the model on which then most state prisons are built.

Very impressive! Al Capone was detained there for a while! With the guides who explain the history of this prison which has become a penitentiary .. very instructive!

The guided tour was very interesting. After that the rest of the exhibits were well done.

This was the first thing I saw in Philly and I was pretty impressed. The audio tour (by Steve Buscemi) was very good and vivid. The place feels haunted even during the day and does take you back in time to the days when prisoner welfare was an afterthought. I felt the $14 entry fee was bit on the higher side, but on second thought its probably apt to maintain a place like this. Shouldn't miss it

It was my first time visiting and I had such a great time. All of the guides and employees were super friendly and educated about the prison. We went on a guide led tour and you have options of other tours included with your admission which isn't expensive at all. The gift shop is surprisingly cheaper than most as well. Also we were able to wander around and take pictures after the tour on our own and it was nice exploring by ourselves too. Love this place and the history! P. S. It really makes you think about the state of current prisons.

Well thought out tours, worth every dime. When we arrived we already had purchased our tickets online. Should proof at the front counter.. was instructed to walk to the communications desk where we were give MP3 players that would narrate the tour for us at our on pace. This allowed us to explore the facility giving us more time at locations of interest and less and locations that we didn't want to stay long at. Many sections or the prison and incomplete or are in on going renovations but don't let this detour you. So much to see here. One of the quotes even told us people get married here! Not sure about that, but to each there own.

Great adventure for families, it's a must visit when here!

Great tour with audio from Steve Buscemi. Didn't expect much upon arrival, but it was a very good and informative experience. You could knock a full day out of the tour, and for just $16, its one if the best value tours I have been on.

Bang on one of the coolest and most educational tours we did in Philadelphia. Definitely get the headset and listen along to the audio recording. We were here over a year ago when I was travelling with my 15 year old and we had a flight delay of one day back to Toronto Ontario, so after four days of sightseeing we were then hunting for more to do. We hopped on the Phlash - hop on and hop off tour bus deal and without any plan simply hopped off at Eastern State Penitentiary when the guide mentioned about Al Capone once having been incarcerated there. My teenage daughter and I were both blown away by the history of penitentiary system in the USA and the4 architecture of this building is also stunning. You can easily imagine what the situation might have been like for prisoners years ago before they closed. Such a worthy use of our time - we were ecstatic that we had the chance to visit.

Amazing experience full of terror, fun, and interaction! Loved every part of it. The makeup and costumes were crazy fantastic! I highly recommend this experience to everyone and can't wait to go again!

Seriously, a must see. We had so much fun here. We walked around for several hours. They issue you a MP3 Player and you can take a walking tour of the place with designated audio recordings you can listen to along the way. This tour only last 25 minutes or so but there is so much to look at beyond that. There will be signage with additional recordings you can listen to if you choose to.

Somehow fascinating to explore the dark side of human suffering.. if you are getting general admission, make yourself comfortable to visit random spots you find fascinating. Don't miss cell block #12, which is supposedly haunted and was featured on ghost hunters. Visiting this prison will change your mind set about living life, after learning how 1000s of prisoners might have lived in that prison.

Great Philadelphia attraction! They have special events all the time as well. We were here for Brewery Ommegang's Game of Thrones launch party. We got to tour a good amount of the prison while drinking beer, cant beat that!

Amazing experience for the price. Worth a half day at least. Very immersive and thought-provoking.

That's a great place. We visited there in 2014. You can take good pictures here.

Incredible ruin with surprising back story. Audio guide gets you started with a structured walkthrough then lets you roam with specific audio highlights along the way.

Did the audio tour by Steve Buscemi and really enjoyed it. This was a fascinating addition to our vacation in Philly.

You'll need about 2 hours here, maybe a bit more. The audio tour is great and included as part of the entry fee. The free guided tours run throughout the day and are repeated about once an hour or so, they are all about 10 min long.

Worth paying $16 to visit the most influential prison in the world where Al Capone was held.

Visited in April 2015. A must see when visiting Philly. Audio tour is a must! Lot's of interesting facts. Very cool atmosphere. A must for photographers as well. I hope to come back again!

Absolutely a great place to witness a prison in real life. Can't believe this architecture is housed in downtown Philadelphia.. the audio Tour was a well guided one, just that it would have been great if they could open up some of the other areas of the Penitentiary so that one can see the end to end process of bringing in an inmate to final release

Very educational experience. Highlights the prison system and it's shortcomings in America

Where to learn about the prisoners and at their selves and what they did for fun

Amazing place to visit! While in Philly its a must see, historic, iconic and creepy! See Al Capones cell and get a feel for the east coast version of Alcatraz!

very fun and eye opening! it was interesting walk through and listen to the audio tours.

would recommend to for any newcomers to Philly

This place is AWESOME. Don t have to worry about people guiding you around telling you where to go. You get a little headset that tells you everything about the area you re in. There are special tours you can take at certain times to areas that aren t available to walk through on your own, for free! (Just have to wait until certain set times) gift shop is affordable, tickets are affordable. Just go!

It wasn't as scary as expected, very much museum like.

Incredible as it may seem, abandoned the way it is much better than several penitentiaries here in Brazil.

Audio tour was informative and easy to follow. Staff was friendly and knowledgeable.

No wait time and the audio tour was very informative. Me and my wife really enjoyed it

Philadelphia Prison Site. There are various rumors, but it's worth going here. The inside is quite large, and we proceed while listening to the audio guide in English. It's not a happy place in history or atmosphere, but if you like ruin, you can enjoy it. It's quite cold despite being indoors. It feels like it's getting cold. There are many solitary cells, some released as art, some left untouched and piled with rubble. The famous one is the room of Alcapone, which tells that Alcapone lived a wealthy life as it was at that time. The cost is $ 14 for adults. It is $ 10 with a student discount.

Loved this! It s just a really cool and informative place, you can spend a couple of hours here. Just know that it s quite cold inside and you have to walk outside as well.

The audio tour by Steve Buscemi was amazing! The price was worth the vist! Audio tour is included. Bring your student ID for a discount.

The history and the work they have done to restore this place is amazing. The Dialogue is entertaining and keeps you enthralled/interested throughout the whole tour.

The facts that might seem boring fascinate and makes you want to learn more! The employees are helpful and cheerful. I would definitely do this again as I was short on time and did not thing it would be as good as it was!!!!!

Well worth the visit. The history behind this facility is amazing and the audio tour was perfect.

Amazing experience, a must see when in the Philly area

Visited here last spring with my daughter. It was a rainy day but we didn't mind we had our rain gear. We didn't do the guide, we did have our headphone and our audio guide. We visited for 4 hrs. We simply could not leave until we visited Al Capone's cell. My daughter really grew to enjoy it, originally she was recluant and scared but she ended up having a ball we both did.

It's creepy and scary and gives my parents to willies

You can't beat the admission price which includes an audio tour so you can browse at your own pace. So much to see and learn, it makes for a great day trip over the summer.

Al Capones cell..no others look this good! Went during covid so pretty much go on your own and listen as you go. I would like to go back at Halloween at night!

5+; Great experience - like traveling back in time, very haunting yet informative and fun. Could have spent hours there - great history and knowledgeable staff. Would return!

This is a solemn place where you truly see the progression of Pennsylvania's penitentiary system. You learn about the rooms that the inmates were placed for complete solitude to the stories of inmates making their own latters and escaping over the wall. A place to truly learn from the past.

a good place which can teach people how cold in jail.

10-10!!! If you are not into art in a conventional way, you must visit the ESP. I can complete a museum or gallery in 15 minutes but was in here for 3 hours listening to the audio tour at will and taking in the atmosphere with lots of camera clicks. I do recommend you arrive as it opens. The less busy the more rewarding. As we were closing our visit the masses who were not giving the prison the attention it deserved were catching, chatting and overtaking us which made the isolated start seem a luxury.

Very educational. Opens your eyes to the problems of our prison systems. The art installations in the various cells are worth it also.

Well I heard that Eastern State Penitentiary looks cool, but I never been there.

We stayed a block away and decided to give this relic a tour. Very glad we did as this is am amazing preserved Gothic ruin in the middle of the city.

Great tourist trap. Make sure to pay extra to see Al Capone's area. There is a structured tour, but after it's done just wander around to get a sense of the place. A hidden gem is the Jewish Synagogue inside of the prison.

Great place to stay.

Comfortable rooms and bedding.

Three square meals.

Free health care.

You can eat the paint chips and nobody will bother you.

Eastern State Penitentiary was the best site we visited during our trip to Philly.

We arrived at 4:10pm.. and the place closes at 5:00pm, so we had race through. It was still excellent and I want to go again. My tip is plan a solid 3 hours to take everything in.

The coolest part is that some of it is in ruins and some sections are restored. You can see what it looked like in operating condition... and what it looks like after decades of decay.

Definitely do the audio tour (it's included in the ticket price).

Bonus - when we left they were setting up for the haunted house evening. The costumes the actors had on where amazing.

Very disappointing experience! My husband and I walked from the 15th Street El stop. We arrived at 7:45. The website stated the hours were 5-8. We were told they weren't accepting any more people for the tour. The website should have stated that. I work 8-4:30 and can't make it 10a-5p. Such a disappointing night!!

Such an interesting place to visit as a Philly native or a visitor! Def learning experience

Great place for history enthusiasts. The self guided tour is a good choice for checking everything out at your own pace. Be prepared to spend around 2 hours here. Not much preservation/restoration efforts taken here but good site to see the ruins of what's known as "The most influential prison one the world".

It should be #1 on your to-do list in Philly. Can spend a whole day there. They have dozens of micro-tours around the ESP all day long.

First went to ESP over 20 years ago, no not as an inmate. Have returned several times, including the not to be missed Halloween extravaganza. The prison has been left in just the right state of disrepair. This is a great excursion for tourists and locals alike. Plenty of good places to eat in the vicinity.

Had a good time its something to do while out of town...interesting history but next time i wouldnt do the guided tour

This was one of the coolest tours I've ever taken. Take your camera! ...pay the extra for allowing a tripod! Do what i didn't, get the self guided tour with the remote. The decay is cool, but the history is cooler. You want to get as much out of a single trip as you can! Plan on spending the day.

Very fascinating place with a lot of information to take in and process. Love how you can tour at your own pace with the headsets they provide. Well worth the money.

Cool place to spend a couple hours exploring. Offers guided and self-guided tours.

many prisons modeled after this one. Very cool and great history.

The Eastern State Penitentiary is a standing glory. I went here for Terror Behind the Walls in 2018. And I can tell you this place feels very sinister. I encourage anyone who can to visit. I plan on returning again for a full tour outside of the Halloween Season.

Not that interesting. The best spots are closed. No access to many of the interesting historical spaces.

I visited on a very cold day so my suggestion is to visit on a day when weather is not extremely hot or cold. A portable device with an audio tour is included in the price and it is useful and informative, even my youngest child (elementary school age ) enjoyed the tour/visit. $10 for kids is little high of an entrance fee. Portable toilets available inside, so go before you enter the compound

It was fantastic. The crew was super helpful and cheery. The history and the reconstruction of areas s superb.

I absolutely loved exploring this place. I took the recorded guide tour. The history is stunning. It was designed to be a more ethical form of punishment and very modern. Charles Dickens visited it in the mid 1800s. Al Capone was an inmate here and his cell is crazy for a prison inmate. He definitely spent his time there in style. They're continuing to restore the site and it's very creepy seeing the dilapidated parts. It's supposed to be haunted, too. I'm hoping to go back again some day.

Absolutely excellent museum and well worth the visit. Parking was easy between parallel parking in front and a lot nearby. Prices were very reasonable given the huge amount of content.

I followed the audio tour (headset / keypad) which does an excellent job stepping you through the key parts in a very efficient manner. Took me about 1.5 hours to complete it. Once done with that (or at any time really) you can venture around freely. Many areas have additional audio content that you can read / listen to.

My favorite part was the variety. As its extremely old, its neat to see different sections set up to be period correct to a certain era. I was also worried it would just be a bunch of empty cells, but it's far from it. There are numerous exhibits within cells both historical and artistic to mix things up. Lastly, there is an excellent section on modern prisons and modern statistics that provides and interesting look at the current state of our system.

I'd certainly reccomend this to anyone!

Very nice place, I was not going with huge expectations but I was really amazed in the end. Great explanations about the place and its historical roots. I also loved all the explanations given by the audio guide. I definitely recommend to go there.

It is clearly not common to visit (voluntarily) a prison so take advantage of it when the opportunity arises.
This prison was the most expensive in its time ever built in the world and it welcomed famous criminals like Al Capone who made a short stay there.

The places are impressive, the atmosphere slightly heavy in some parts but it is also a very instructive visit.

Imperative audio guide (but from memory there is none in French).