Best things to do in Jersey City

Enjoy outdoor fun in the green expanse of Liberty State Park. From its Upper North Bay location, you can see Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and the Manhattan skyline as you picnic, fish, or kayak. You can also walk, bike, or skate on the miles of paths. Take the Liberty Walk, which loops around the waterfront to the Statue of Liberty lookout point. Pay your respects at the Holocaust and 9/11 memorials. Don't miss the Liberty Science Center's interactive exhibits and the nation's largest IMAX dome theatre. The park is easy to reach from the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, which stops just west of the facility.

Barnes Foundation is known internationally for its collection of 19th- and 20th-century French paintings. Established in 1922, the museum houses extensive works by Post-Impressionist and Early Modern masters, such as Renoir, Matisse, and Picasso. It also exhibits American art, African sculptures, Native American crafts, and countless other international pieces. Honoring its founder Albert C. Barnes’s commitment to fine arts and horticulture, the Barnes Foundation also created the Barnes Arboretum, located on the Merion campus. Here you can round out your educational and cultural experience by viewing upwards of 2,000 species of trees and plants.

Spread across 20 city blocks in the city's historic district, Independence National Historical Park is the place to go for a better sense of the country's official birthplace. You're bound to wait in some lines; more than 3.5 million visitors come here each year, primarily to see the iconic Independence Hall and Liberty Bell, just two of the 30 sites. At Benjamin Franklin's Museum, take advantage of interactive exhibits to learn about this founding father. While greenspaces allow kids to burn off some energy, you might want to have something on hand to keep them (or you) occupied when it's time to get in line.

The third largest museum in the country, Philadelphia Museum of Art holds a collection of more than 220,000 pieces, including masterpieces by Picasso, Dali, El Greco, Rubens, van Gogh, and Renoir. With an exterior familiar to most from the "Rocky" movies, the museum preserves the creative accomplishments of the entire world, containing over 200 galleries and spanning nearly 2,000 years of art history. The museum holds important artworks from Asia, notably a collection of Persian and Turkish carpets, as well as recreations of a Chinese palace hall, Japanese teahouse, and Indian temple. The European collection encompasses works from the Middle Ages to the present day, while the American galleries survey three centuries of painting, sculpture, and decorative arts. Ease your exploration of the massive galleries by joining a guided tour of the exhibits.

Part of the Philadelphia Convention Center, Reading Terminal Market features more than 100 lively merchants selling fresh food, baked goods, flowers, and crafts in an antique setting reminiscent of early 19th-century Philadelphia markets. In 1859, popular outdoor markets in Philadelphia were dismantled because they were considered unhygienic. This prompted the opening of two indoor markets--the beginnings of the large market that exists today. At this center, where scenes from "Trading Places" and "National Treasure" were filmed, you can spend the day shopping for authentic goods, eating delicious ethnic food, or trying Bassett's Ice Cream, a favorite of Philadelphia locals. Though most merchants work at the market every day of the week, keep in mind that Amish or Mennonite vendors do not open shop on Sundays, Mondays, or Tuesdays.

Woodbury Common Premium Outlets is home to 220 stores. Shop for clothes, shoes, jewelry, luggage, home furnishings, and gifts items from well-known luxury brands at significantly reduced prices. Color-coded areas will help you orient yourself in this 72,000 sq m (800,000 sq ft) center. Tour buses and shuttles depart daily from New York City. Foreign visitors can make use of interpreters, currency exchange, and shipping services.

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Find out why Liberty Science Center is the fastest growing science museum in the nation. With hundreds of exhibits in 12 galleries and the largest planetarium outside of Asia, the average visit is 3-4 hours. Practice your robotic surgical skills with a real physician’s training simulator; get 35 feet above the floor on a climbing gym; and see animals like naked mole rats, tiny cotton-top monkeys, and a school of piranhas. Then conquer the pitch-black Touch Tunnel maze, conduct mini-experiments in a lab coat, and more. There's a daily fee for parking at the center.

Admire the impressive architecture and haunting atmosphere of one of the most famous and expensive prisons in the world, Eastern State Penitentiary. Once a thriving site of discipline and order, the prison has long since closed, and now you can take a tour of the building’s unique wagon-wheel design that inspired thousands of penitentiaries worldwide. Follow your guide through the cellblock rows, solitary confinement cells, and execution chambers. Don’t miss the chance to visit the original cell of Al Capone. If you’re interested in haunting tales, ask about the prison’s long history of paranormal activity and ghost sightings.

A celebration of all things sculptural, Grounds For Sculpture, features a beautifully landscaped park and museum located on the former New Jersey State Fairgrounds. Founded in 1992 by John Seward Johnson II, the park contains over 270 large-scale contemporary sculptures by Johnson and other international artists. Most notable is the 7.9 m (26 ft) tall sculpture of Marilyn Monroe in her famous white billowing dress from the film "The Seven Year Itch.” Rat’s restaurant is well worth a visit, designed by Johnson to make customers feel as if they are dining in Claude Monet’s beloved town of Giverny.