Laurel Hill Cemetery

Enjoyed a nice walk in this beautiful, well kept historical landmark. Very romantic cemetery.

This WONDERFUL place is more than just a cemetery. It is a sculpture garden set in a beautiful landscape. It’s a great place to take walks on nice days. I often walk along Kelly Drive and use the entrance there to enter Laurel Hill. It has added a nice change of pace to my exercise routine. The views of the river are excellent from up here. This is a Victorian relic which has remained virtually the same since the 1800’s. Its mesmerizing and awe inspiring to meander through the stones and monuments. You see what these people left behind to memorialize them long after they are gone! Great care and attention was taken to each and every plot. It may seem a little odd to walk through a cemetery, but this is one to see. Not to mention there are many historical and influential people of this time period buried here. I would definitely recommend seeing this great place. Oh yeah and Transformers 2 was shot here. I thought that was pretty cool too :)

I really can’t say enough about this place. It is incredibly beautiful and the events they have are so unique and interesting. Everyone is very friendly. I have completed the R.I.P. 5K here the last two years which for the fee includes the goodie bag and unlimited free beer and snacks at the end. Everyone dresses up for the run, through the grounds, which is so much fun!
Recently, I also did the Soul Crawl flashlight tour which was so informative, spooky, and fun at the same time! At the end was cider and snacks. Other activities include lectures, tours, yoga, music, etc. And all their proceeds goes towards preserving this historical landmark. Well worth it.

The museum has contacted me about the incident. They have amazing customer service! I also wanted to clarify that it was a private group tour, and not one of the set hourly tours. I will return and use one of their regular tour guides. Looking forward to it!

Very old, very cool historic cemetery that serves as the eternal resting place for the famous and everyday common folk alike. They offer special events throughout the year and the couple of times I’ve been here have been for their «cinema in the cemetery» evenings. I could roam this place for hours just exploring the names and graves. A great place for photography enthusiasts as well.

Wonderful visit to this cemetery where many of the east coast movers and shakers of the 19^th and 20^th centuries are interred. If you are a history lover just seeing the graves and monuments will get your heart aflutter. Walking around you see incredibly beautiful sculptures and it’s nice to marvel at these rare horticultural specimens.
You are within the city limits but you would be hard pressed to believe this. Birds happily fly about. Butterflies alight onto bushes and the trees provide shade and a feeling of being in a huge beautiful park. As day turned into night and we awaited the viewing of the movie for Cinema in the Cemetery night we were treated to the sounds of crickets and cicadas.
If you get a chance to go at dusk walk to the west side to watch the sun set. It was beautiful. We were lucky to visit this historical gem in the city.

This is a really cool place, and I urge all interested in a history lesson with beautiful views to visit. Back in the day, a noted Philadelphia historian used to give guided tours of the cemetery pointing out the significance of various monuments and styles, and the stories behind them. I have family buried here so have been visiting my entire life. Take the time to tour the oldest graves moved from Old City Philadelphia due to development; Revolutionary War era citizens are interred here. Current caretakers of the cemetery are offering novel events to encourage people to visit. Take the time… it’s worth it!

This may sound creepy, but I love running through Laurel Hill Cemetery. There are so many cool mausoleums and grave sites that I discover something new every time I visit. I generally run through it about twice a week and often visit Harry Ks monument, saying a little prayer for the hapless Phillies. Someday that may be helpful, but no dice as of yet.
Views of Philadelphia and the Schuylkill River from the top, above Kelly drive, are amazing and well worth a visit any time of year.
Near the main gate is the grave of Rocky’s fictional wife Adrian Balboa. As I exit, I often yell A-​a-​a-​a-​a-​a-​d-​r-​i-​i-​i-​i-​i-​i-​i-​i-​i-​a-​a-​a-​a-​a-​a-​n-​n-​n-​n-​n and get strange looks from other visitors.

Being both a history nerd AND a glutton for terrifying punishment, I decided to make my first ever visit to Laurel Hill via their Haunted History Tour.
Our tour guide, while lacking spooky qualities, was in fact oozing with knowledge about the cemetery’s rich history.
If you’ve ever nearly gotten into a car accident while driving on 76 because you were distracted by the steep green hills, & enormous white monuments that go on forever across the Schuylkill— you should really stop eyeballing the place so recklessly, and pay LHC a visit. (Be sure to say ‘Hi’ to Harry Kalas while you’re there!) It’s gorgeous, seemingly endless, spooky, and has a lot of interesting historical significance for Philly.
I’ll definitely be back in the daytime for a better look!

I’ve been dying (hahaha!) to get into Laurel Hill for some time now, and finally made it for the Soul Crawl last week. It was every bit as super cool as I thought it would be!
For someone who enjoys the macabre, art, and history like myself, it doesn’t get any better than this. Every grave has a story to tell, and our lovely tour guide really told them well. The detail and craftsmanship of the monuments are really indicative of a bygone era. Visiting laurel hill, you really feel like you’re traveling through time.
After the Soul Crawl we enjoyed hot apple cider and cookies by a bonfire… nice touch! I am definitely planning on visiting in the daylight and taking a self-​guided tour. Very cool place to visit for those with a morbid curiosity!

Laurel Hill is truly one of Philadelphia’s hidden treasures. If you have not visited, put it on your bucket list.
In addition to being beautiful, it is perhaps one of the most historically interesting places to visit. Laurel Hill’s permanent residents include many famous and noted individuals and their graves and mausoleums are stunning. For architectural buffs, this is a total must see. In addition, the nonprofit that runs Laurel Hill, presents an amazing variety of incredible programs. A great way to spend a day.

Absolutely beautiful grounds I often overlooked heading down (OK speeding down) Kelly Drive. Took advantage of this past weekend’s «What’s Out There» free tours throughout the city, and tour guide Tom could not have been cooler or more informative. The tour was timed perfectly (just under 90 minutes), though I will have to go back a couple of more times to even cover the land the cemetery occupies.
Though many «inhabitants» are unknown outside of Philadelphia history there are a few recent notables, including Harry Kala’s beautiful space overlooking the river.
Also … not to disappoint the previous reviewer but Rocky is not a true story and Adrian Balboa’s «grave» is a movie prop Laurel Hill kept. They should probably advertise it’s existence though, since people will seem to go anywhere for some memorabilia.
I will definitely be back to visit.

Beautiful place to drive through, the grounds are very well taken care of and the scenery and river overlook are amazing. Do the cell phone tour… it’s interesting to hear. Stop by Adrian Balboa’s grave too… I never knew Rocky was a true story.
The lady in the information office wasn’t very friendly or informative, but we didn’t really need anything from her so she wasn’t detrimental to our trip.

LOVE this place! Not only is it free but it’s also historic, beautiful and creepy. A great spot to take photos for fun.
Also, they always have random events to help raise money for the cemetery– Dinner and ghost stories amongst the graves… Yes please!

Went for the first ever tour for special/​memorable monuments which showcased about 15 spectacular sites.
Jerry was our tour guide and was very knowledgable of the grounds, history, monuments.
The tour was $ 10/​$ 12 for students/​adults and about two hours on a Sunday. Tour ends back at the office with cookies, coffee, juice, beer or wine! Yeah!
Definitely a great way to spend a couple of hours.

My wife and I attended a Science Week Astronomy event earlier this year and loved the event. We came armed with a bottle of wine and our camp chairs. They had a couple of telescopes set up and a a pair of fire pits for the slight chill in the air. Professionals from the Franklin Institute we on hand to point out the nighttime sky. Great event and we plan to return for the Ghosts among our graves events this October.

–1 star for lack of roving Victorian-​era zombies. C’mon Laurel Hill, step your game up.

Beautiful cemetery! Overlooking the river, great place to jog through on your way down to Kelly dr. I walk my dogs through there evaluate the time.
Do not fear that this is disrespectful in any way. If you read the mission statement for the cemetery, it says that it was created for a recreational area, back in the day families would even picnic there!
Very cool place! Just two months ago I found Adrian Balboa’s head stone! I’m going to look up more cool head stones.

It is a complete travesty that something this amazing has 6, count em SIX reviews! What is wrong with you people? Talk about underrated and undervalued. Lucky #7 it is.
It comes to no surprise that recovering goth chicks like me gravitate toward a good cemetery. Can you blame me? How can one pass up the opportunity to drape yourself over a stone, clad in greasy, black eyeliner? And it really does say Robert Smith. I dai.
Anyway, Laurel Hill is this huge cemetery perched on a hilltop overlooking the Schuylkill River. The view is breath taking and if you go at the right time of year, the photo opportunities are ENDLESS. Historically you will see dates as far as the 1700’s on some of the stones we saw. Old school, classic, Victorian.
This is just one of those things that you need to see for yourself in order to take it all in. One of the best I have seen in the world, bar none.

Though not as Gothic and dramatic as Père Lachaise in Paris (the only other historic graveyard I’ve visited), Laurel Hill Cemetery makes for an interesting diversion on a pretty day.
In the sunshine, this historic burial ground is not so much scary as park-​like. Stop in the gift shop to grab a mapped guide and find the red markers that correspond to the free cell-​phone tour. This aural enhancement to your walk around the oldest part of Laurel Hill elaborates on important individuals buried here, from nurses felled by the yellow fever epidemic to a whole platoon’s worth of Civil War Generals.
A plaque at the entrance notes Laurel Hill has been designated a National Historic Landmark, because it is both massive, really old and represents major periods of American architecture in its array of monuments. Pensive Victorian angels, winged faces, draped urns and broken columns mark the resting place of the deceased, each with their own specific meaning.
A more recent celebrity buried here is Harry Kalas, longtime and much-​loved announcer for the Phillies. His microphone-​sculpted grave marker overlooks Kelly Drive and the Schuylkill River, where you are free to enjoy a packed lunch, take in the beatific scenery and ponder your own eventual epitaph.