The Germantown – Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia

This section of Philadelphia is northwest of Olney-Oak Lane, northeast of Wissahickon Valley Park and southeast of Flourtown. This is a culturally rich area of the city with many important and interesting sights for tourists to visit. Most people do not know, but Germantown-Chestnut Hill is actually not a neighborhood of Philadelphia, but a section, which is divided into smaller neighborhoods, all which will be introducing here. 

If you are not familiar with this area of the city, you are at the right place, because we will give you practical information about all 6 of its neighborhoods, so you can decide which ones you would like to explore when you come here. At the end we will also make you suggestions for a practical tour on how to explore the Germantown-Chestnut Hill section as a tourist.

But first let’s see the specifics about the neighborhoods which are located here:

Chestnut Hill

The borders of the Chestnut Hill neighborhood are Stenton Avenue, Cresheim Valley Drive and the Wissahickon Creek. This is known as a high income residential area. The local ZIP code is 19118. The public transportation of this area is pretty well organized, there are buses and trolleys serving the people living here. The Free Library of Philadelphia is also operating in this neighborhood. 

Cedarbrook

19150 is the local ZIP code of Cedarbrook. This neighborhood can be considered a part of Mount Airy, although the borders are not 100% clear. The Ivy Hill Cemetery is an important landmark of Cedarbrook. Not surprisingly the Cedarbrook Plaza is also located here, it is an important local shopping center. Ivy Hill Road can be considered one of the borders of Cedarbrook. The population of this area is approximately 25,000. 

Mount Airy

One of the natural borders of Mount Airy is Cresheim Valley, while Germantown and Stenton Avenue are the other borders of it. In case you want to send a letter to someone living here, the ZIP code is 19119. Most people agree that the Johnson Street is the border between Germantown and this neighborhood, but this is not carved in stone. The total population of Mount Airy is 27,000. The Arcadia University is active in this neighborhood, but other colleges and universities can also be found here. 

Germantown

This is a larger neighborhood of Philadelphia with a total population of 76,000. To be more precise, we can make the distinction between Germantown and East Germantown. The first settlers arrived here in the late 17th century and these townships merged with Philadelphia in 1854. The local ZIP codes are 19144 and 19138. Not surprisingly the Germantown Avenue is an important road of this neighborhood which also spreads to other partso Philadelphia. La Salle University is also operating in Germantown. Bill Cosby and Patti Smith are both from this part of Philadelphia. 

Morton

The borders of Morton are Providence road, Woodland Avenue and Baltimore Pike. This area is north of Rutledge, west of Wyndom and south of Springfield. The Robert Fulton School can be found in Morton. 

Wister

This is a smaller area in Philadelphia which can be considered a part of Germantown. The Wister Woods Park is located here, while the Clarkson-Watson House is also here. 

We hope you found some useful information above about the neighborhoods of Germantown-Chestnut Hill, so here below you will find a practical tour to discover them in a proper way. 

You will start this guided tour at the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania at 100 E Northwestern Ave and then drive southeast on Stenton Avenue until you get to Ivy Hill Cemetery and Crematory at 1201 Easton Rd.

After leaving the Ivy Hill Cemetery, you will drive southwest on Cresheim Valley Drive until you arrive at your next stop at Philadelphia Cricket Club at 415 W Willow Grove Avenue. 

Now it is time to eat something at Earth Bread + Brewery at 7136 Germantown Avenue. To get here, drive east on McCallum Street. 

We hope you enjoyed your lunch here, so let’s continue the tour at Cliveden of the National Trust at 6401 Germantown Avenue. Just drive southeast on Germwantown Avenue to get there. 

The next one will be a realxing stop so you can take some rest at Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books at 5445 Germantown Avenue. 

Now it is time to drive back to the west to Olney-Oak Lane, especially if you need mobile mechanic services. 

We have other guided tours prepared for you, you can also check out the one about Roxborough-Manayunk. 

And in case you are interested in Mobile Mechanic Pros Philadelphia, check out the home page.