The best kept tourist secret in Philadelphia? Wilmington, Delaware!

Ever wonder where travelers from the cradle of American independence go when they want an authentic American heritage experience?  They drive forty-five minutes south on Interstate 95 to Delaware’s Brandywine Valley!

That’s because the Brandywine Valley, which stretches from southeastern Pennsylvania through Wilmington to the Delaware River, is home to more world class museums and historic sites per capita than any other region in the country. In less than 30 minutes from downtown Wilmington you can tour the largest collection of American furniture and decorative arts in the world; explore thousands of acres of historic gardens; peruse the largest collection of operating American steam cars on the globe; visit the home of legendary American artist, Andrew Wyeth; take the kids for a ride on a 100-year old steam train; sail on  America’s largest colonial Tall Ship; or just wile away the hours on “The Green” in historic New Castle, the centerpiece for Delaware’s proposed National Historic Park currently under consideration in the United States Congress.

History is everywhere in the Brandywine Valley.

The Delaware History Museum on the Wilmington Campus of the Delaware Historical Society is located in the Lower Market Street National Historic District, just five blocks from historic Amtrak Station. The Museum houses a permanent exhibition that traces the history of Delaware, as well as a special exhibition gallery. The campus also includes the 200 year-old Old Town Hall, a major research library and a picturesque urban courtyard.

Winterthur, which modestly bills itself as "An American Country Estate" is the former home of Henry Francis du Pont (1880-1969), an avid antiques collector and horticulturist, who amassed the largest collection of American decorative arts (antiques) in the world.  Much of the collection is on display in the 175-room mansion, which is attached to a large exhibition gallery on the 1,000-acre estate.  

 

Nemours is the 300-acre country estate of the late industrialist and philanthropist Alfred I. duPont. The 47,000 sq. ft. mansion was built from 1909 to 1910 and looms over massive formal gardens. It is furnished with fine antiques, famous works of art, beautiful tapestries, and other treasures. It is quite simply the grandest of the grand du Pont estates in the Brandywine Valley. The mansion and gardens are both open for tours between May and December, but tickets can be hard to come by so early!

The Marshall Steam Car Museum at Auburn Heights houses the largest collection of operating steam-powered cars in the world. On selected Sundays throughout the spring, summer and fall visitors can ride on a Stanley Steamer, a steam-powered bus or a 1/8th scale steam train.

Mention Longwood Gardens to gardener or a seasoned horticulturist and they begin to tremble. Just one of many historic du Pont family estates in the Brandywine Valley, Longwood Gardens is quite simply the premier public garden in America - exquisite flowers, majestic trees, dazzling fountains, extravagant conservatory, starlit theater, thunderous organ – nothing short of a living fantasy land!

Hagley is the ancestral home of the du Pont family in Delaware and the site of the first du Pont powder mills,.on the banks of the Brandywine River. The grounds are absolutely bucolic,  with several historic sites spread over hundreds of acres.

Wilmington is also home to the largest colonial tall ship in the world, the Kalmar Nyckel. The original Kalmar Nyckel was built in Holland and later sold to a Swedish company where it was put into service exploring the “New World,” which included the founding of Wilmington, Delaware by Captain Peter Minuit in 1638.  Wilmington’s authentic replica of the Kalmar Nyckel offers public sails on the Christina and Delaware Rivers when it’s not serving in its principal role as Delaware’s seagoing ambassador.

 

Of course, Wilmington has its own historic, steam-powered railroad, as well – the Wilmington & Western Railroad -- that ambles through the Brandywine Valley’s picturesque “Chateau Country” throughout the year. 

Historic New Castle, just a few miles south of Wilmington, was settled by the Dutch in 1651 as "Fort Casimir."  Today, the New Castle National Historic District is a living, breathing community where “The Past is Always Present.”  The New Castle Courthouse is one of the oldest surviving courthouses in the country and a National Landmark.  The Read House & Gardens on “The Strand” was built in 1801 by the son of one of Delaware's signers of the Declaration of Independence.  One of the most popular programs at the Read House is a series of Open Hearth Cooking workshops in February and March.  The New Castle Historical Society operates three historic sites as well – the Amstel House, the Dutch House, and the Old Library Museum. 

 

In addition Wilmington is just 40 minutes southeast of one of the nation’s premier aviation museum, the American Helicopter Museum in West Chester, PA.  On selected Saturdays throughout the year, the Museum offers public helicopter rides. And their ROTORFEST in October is the only all-helicopter air show in America.

And if you get tired of history, there are lots of other world-class attractions in Wilmington to make the visit even more exciting: the Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts within easy walking distance of several waterfront restaurants on the Christina Riverwalk; the Delaware Art Museum, known internationally for its Pre-Raphaelite and Howard Pyle collections; and the Delaware Museum of Nature History, a just to mention a few!  Not surprisingly, Wilmington is also home to a grand historic hotel – the Hotel Dupont on Rodney Square in the center of the city.

There’s literally no place easier to get to than Wilmington, Delaware. Drive south from Philadelphia or north from Baltimore and Washington on Interstate 95.  Take the New Jersey Turnpike south from New York City.  Cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and take Route 13 all the way up the scenic DelMarVa peninsula from Norfolk and points south. Fly into Philadelphia Airport (which is actually closer to downtown Wilmington than Philadelphia). Or better yet take AMTRAK to Wilmington’s historic railroad station, the seventh busiest station in America. You’ll be “IN the Middle of it All” no matter where you are in Wilmington, Delaware.