While Philadelphians have convenient access to New York City and its cultural smorgasbord, Philadelphia boasts a rich offering of cultural attractions and leisure activities of its own: the world-renowned Philadelphia Orchestra, professional theater, dance, opera and ballet companies, a host of museums, colleges and universities offering enrichment opportunities as well as historic monuments and sight-seeing activities.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art, a massive Greco-Roman structure at the head of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, is one of the largest museums in the United States and houses what is acknowledged to be one of the finest collections of early Italian and American art and decorative arts, as well as a superb collection of French and American Impressionists. The Rodin Museum has one of the largest collections of Rodin sculptures, books and papers outside of Europe. The Franklin Institute, along with the Air and Space Museum, is a world-renowned scientific institution with rotating and permanent exhibitions, while the Academy of Natural Sciences, adjacent to the Franklin Institute, is a museum and educational center focusing on the natural sciences.
Art institutions abound in Philadelphia, including the celebrated Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts established in 1805, which is the nation's oldest art school and houses more then 3,500 works of art. One of the country's most famous schools of music, the Curtis Institute, is located on Rittenhouse Square. This private institution includes Leonard Bernstein and Anna Moffo among its noted graduates. The Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Orchestra, call the Academy of Music, built in 1853, their home.
Philadelphia offers a variety of leisure activities as well as a full complement of professional sports teams, bicycle and running trails in the country's largest city park, discotheques, and exceptional restaurants. Weekend escapes are convenient to the New Jersey seashore and the Pocono Mountains, both of which are less than two hours by car.