Philadelphia · 20–27 December 2026

Christmas at Jabari's, then south.

Christmas at Jabari’s in West Philly, with him and his mom. Seven nights, nothing scheduled in them, and a flight south to Brasil on the 27th. The cards below are for the days that are not Christmas.

The shape of the week

Two fixed points. The rest is deliberately empty.

  1. Sun 20 Dec
    Into Philadelphia

    The Airport Line runs from every PHL terminal to 30th Street in about twenty minutes, then it is a short ride west. Cheaper than a cab and usually faster at that hour.

  2. Mon 21 to Thu 24
    Nothing in particular

    Four days with nothing in them. Jabari is at home and working some of it, so these are the days for the cards below, or for none of them.

  3. Fri 25 Dec
    Christmas, with Jabari and his mom

    The one fixed point in the week. Almost nothing in the city is open, SEPTA runs a Sunday timetable, and that is rather the point of spending it indoors.

  4. Sat 26 Dec
    Everything reopens

    Boxing Day is not a holiday in the US, so the 26th is an ordinary Saturday. Anything missed because of Christmas is open again, and busy with it.

  5. Sun 27 Dec
    South to Brasil

    A separate trip and a separate booking. Worth knowing the flight time before planning anything into the last morning.

If we leave the house

Jabari lives here. This is not a list to work through.

The stone front of John Bartram’s 18th century house behind a path lined with flower beds

Bartram's Garden

Free A couple of hours

Fifty acres on the Schuylkill at the bottom of West Philly, laid out by John Bartram from 1728, which makes it the oldest surviving botanic garden in the country. Free, almost empty in December, and a twenty minute walk or a short ride from the house.

  • Grounds are free and open daily, dawn to dusk
  • House tours are seasonal and limited, so worth checking before going
  • On the river, so it is colder and windier than the street
  • Bare in December, which makes the river and the skyline easier to see
bartramsgarden.org
A wall covered in mosaic made from bottles, mirrors, tiles and a bicycle wheel

Philadelphia's Magic Gardens

$15 adults, $12 students An hour

Isaiah Zagar spent fourteen years covering half a block of South Street in mosaic made of bottles, bicycle wheels, mirror and broken tile. Half of it is outdoors, so December is cold, but winter light on all that glass is the better version.

  • Closed Tuesdays, otherwise 11:00 to 18:00
  • Tickets regularly sell out, so book online rather than turning up
  • Largely outdoors and unheated
  • Zagar murals carry on for several blocks around, for free
phillymagicgardens.org

Eating

Three that came recommended. The rest is Jabari's call.

What needs a head start

Short list, because most of this week does not need one. Only the first item has a deadline attached.

  1. The flight south on the 27th The only hard deadline in the week, and the only thing here that cannot move. Everything else bends around it.
  2. Magic Gardens Timed tickets that do sell out. Closed Tuesdays, and 22 December is the only Tuesday in the week, so that day is out either way.
  3. A table for the 26th The Saturday after Christmas is one of the busiest restaurant nights of the year. Booker’s and Umami both want calling ahead for it.
  4. Somewhere to sleep Nothing to book. Jabari has the spare room, which is why this is the shortest list on the site.

Opening hours here were checked in September 2026, and holiday hours are the ones most likely to have moved since. Anything on the 24th, 25th or 26th is worth a phone call rather than a website.