Aerial view of campus

Bryn Mawr College's campus is set in Bryn Mawr, Pa., a century-old and varied suburb of 9,000 people, eleven miles west of Philadelphia, the country's sixth-largest city (Population Estimates, based on US Census Bureau for the 25 Largest U.S. Cities based on July 1, 2006 Population Estimates). Bryn Mawr's 135.5 acre campus has 14 undergraduate residences and one graduate residence hall. Ten buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the M. Carey Thomas Library, which is named for the college's first dean and second president. Bryn Mawr introduced to the United States the style of architecture known as "Collegiate Gothic." The campus was originally landscaped by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the designers of New York's Central Park.

The Bryn Mawr town center, which is a five-minute walk from campus, boasts a variety of restaurants, coffee bars, bookstores, retail and thrift and consignment shops, a movie theater and The Point, a haven for singer-songwriters that draws audiences from around the Philadelphia area. Bryn Mawr's immediate neighborhood is a called the Main Line because the communities in the rolling hills west of Philadelphia developed in the 1800s along the Pennsylvania Railroad's first commuter rail line. Many local businesses cater to the needs of students, as the area is home to a number of colleges and universities, including Bryn Mawr's close partner Haverford College as well as Villanova University, Rosemont College and St. Joseph's University. The Main Line's numerous cultural resources include the Barnes Foundation, which houses what The Philadelphia Inquirer calls "one of the world's most spectacular collections of Impressionist art."Philadelphia is a major urban center rich in history and culture, arts, industry and opportunities — and it's just a 20-minute train ride from Bryn Mawr. With more than 50 colleges and universities, metropolitan Philadelphia is an important educational hub, and nearly 220,000 students keep the city lively. For students in Bryn Mawr’s Graduate Group, companions, interlocutors, and extra resources are especially to be found at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University: with both of these, Bryn Mawr enjoys reciprocal arrangements for graduate supervision and mentoring. The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology of Anthropology is of particular interest; note especially its new Classical World galleries, launched in Spring 2003.

City Hall, Philadelphia

Both recent and well-established communities of immigrants from around the globe thrive in Philadelphia, and there's scarcely a world cuisine underrepresented in Philadelphia's array of restaurants. The history of these ethnic communities in the United States is the focus of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies, which houses the largest multiethnic archive in the country. It's rightaround the corner from Independence Hall, where, in 1776, representatives of 13 American colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence from Britain. A copy of that document, written in Thomas Jefferson's hand, is preserved at the American Philosophical Society, which was founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1743. Its library is a national research center in the history of science and technology and early US history, and its manuscript collection includes papers of Benjamin Franklin, Charles Darwin, Charles Willson Peale and Franz Boas as well as the journals of Lewis and Clark.

Philadelphia Museum of Art

More than 100 museums, including the Academy of Natural Sciences and the world-renowned Philadelphia Museum of Art, house collections ranging from art of all kinds to insect specimens to costumes and props used in Philadelphia's traditional Mummers Parade, a dazzling spectacle that has been called Mardi Gras North. A world-class symphony orchestra and several opera companies compete with a thriving local club scene for listeners. Dance aficionados can opt for performances by the Pennsylvania Ballet or by experimental companies in Old City, where art galleries open their doors for a special celebration on the first Friday of each month and the Painted Bride offers avant-garde performing arts. In the spring, summer and fall, Penn's Landing, the city's riverside entertainment complex, hosts a variety of festivals and concerts.

If a serious change of pace is in order, both New York and Washington, DC, are relatively close by — New York is 105 miles away and DC 130 — and are easily accessible by train from Philadelphia. The nearby New Jersey shore and the Pocono Mountains present the possibility of outdoor adventure.