The Art Museum neighborhood — parade country.
The Philadelphia St Patrick's Day Parade steps off from 16th & JFK and marches up the Ben Franklin Parkway to Eakins Oval, right in front of the Art Museum. Fairmount is where you watch it.
Family-friendly, neighborhood-bar quiet compared to Rittenhouse, best neighborhood for actual parade viewing.
Fairmount is the Philadelphia neighborhood that lines the parade route. If your plan is to actually see the parade — bagpipers, floats, Irish dance troupes — this is where you post up.
The best viewing is between 20th and 22nd Street on the Parkway. Local Fairmount bars like Bishop's Collar and The Trestle Inn make it easy to warm up (or wait out a rain shower) between parade waves.
This is also the family-friendliest neighborhood on the holiday. Bring the kids for the parade; head to Rittenhouse after they're in bed.
SEPTA: Fairmount stop on the Broad Street Line, then a short walk west. Street parking is a nightmare on parade day.
Philadelphia's longest-running St Patrick's Day bar crawl. 30+ bars, free cover, free t-shirts.