Willow Grove, PA Outdoor Activities

Players at Lehigh Valley Paintball wage simulated war across a variety of battlefields, choosing from a variety of play styles on both speedball and woodsball fields. The staff can also customize markers with engravings or leather wristbands, useful for proudly showing team affiliations, graphic designs, or helping identify guns that have escaped.

The Philamazing Race’s BOO-tacular Halloween Race kicks off mere days before Halloween, and shares many hallmarks of CBS’s The Amazing Race. Contestants compete in teams (usually two to four people), and the event hinges on cryptic clues that lead to race checkpoints scattered throughout Philadelphia. Teams race between them on foot or public transit, using their wits, smartphones, and Skypes with the Sphinx to decode their clue packets. At each checkpoint, they tick an item off their scavenger hunt list, by snapping a photo or completing a dare. During the four-hour race, athletes typically cover three to four miles of terrain.

Sunlight and moonbeams glimmer on Philadelphia harbor, where The Ben Franklin Yacht glides silently to reveal a new perspective on the cradle of American democracy and replicate the freedom of the open ocean. Recently refurbished, the modern vessel hosts up to 300 guests in long, low decks whose mirrored ceilings flood the space with reflected light and expose pirates who have "Mom" tattoos hidden in their bald spots. A wooden dance floor and bar fuel parties, and knowledgeable guides propel discussion about the city's history from the breezy top deck. The port of departure is within walking distance of other famed sights, such as the Liberty Bell, Constitution Center, and the cherry tree from which George Washington famously crafted his wooden wig. Boarding begins approximately 30 minutes prior to each excursion.

Philadelphia's centuries-old cobblestone streets, monuments, and buildings are brimming with history—but it takes an expert to extract it. The knowledgeable guides at The Constitutional Walking Tour lead visitors on journeys through areas accessible only by foot, giving an up-close perspective of America's first planned city. A variety of tours wind through such sites as Independence Mall, taking groups past landmarks including Independence Hall, Christ Church, the National Constitution Center, Declaration House, and Old City Hall. At each site, experts weave together the details of landmark events such as Thomas Jefferson's drafting of the Declaration of Independence.

As darkness creeps across city streets, Grim Philly unearths Philadelphia's grisly past with a pair of highly researched, carefully developed twilight tours rife with sinister themes and risqué adult content. Professor Joe Wojie—a regular lecturer on historical and macabre topics at Rider University in New Jersey—leads each two-hour odyssey, peeling back the corners of local folklore with stories and facts drenched in blood or terrifying amounts of grape jelly. In addition to its original Vampires, Sex, and Ghosts! tour, Grim Philly serves up spooks with Cemetery, Serial Killers; Blood & Beer!, which whets appetites with gruesome tales of gangsters and psychopaths before stopping at Mexican Post Tavern for beer and snacks. No matter the tour, guests are ensured to pass a number of historic sites, such as Benjamin Franklin's grave and the street corner where Paul Revere ate an entire horse.

The founders of Philadelphia Sightseeing Tours have dedicated more than a quarter of a century to local tourism. They bring that expertise to hop-on hop-off bus and trolley tours of the city, which allow guests to design their own itineraries. Sightseers board a London-style double-decker bus or old-fashioned trolley at the Bourse building and journey to more than 20 historical sites, including Love Park and the steps Rocky punched in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Passengers can disembark and explore the Eastern State Penitentiary or pose by the Liberty Bell for as long as they like before boarding the next bus or trolley. Tickets grant unlimited access to the vehicles for 24 hours, letting discoveries last until the sun goes down or Ben Franklin’s ghost starts his night shift at the tollbooth.