Philadelphia Travel Forum

My husband and I will be traveling through PHL later this month and will have a 4 hour lay over going and a 6 hour layover coming back. I was wondering if someone could tell me if there are cheap options that would allow us to take a bus, train, etc. into Philadelphia central where we could take an hour or two to look at the Liberty Bell etc. The thought of hanging out that long at an airport between flights does not sound appealing. I would love to hear your opinions as to whether or not this would be feasible time wise or if the transportation system is good and efficent. Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi Cheri, hopefully the following link will be of help to you :
http://www.toandfromtheairport.com/philadelphia.html
Darren.

You can take SEPTA's R1 train (http://www.septa.com/service/sched/pdfs/R1Airport.pdf) to and from Market East station, which is in Center City Philadelphia, about a 15 minute walk from the Independence Hall/Liberty Bell complex. The trains run every half-hour and take about 30 minutes to do the trip between the terminals and Market East. So you can conceivably spend 2-3 hours downtown, assuming your inbound flight is on time.

I would leave it for the six hour layover.

It will take a couple of hours to get in to the city and a couple of hours back. And you can't just 'look at' the Liberty Bell anymore. It's inside a compound and there are lines and at least one security search. I think you have to have tickets too. So while you might be able to go someplace near the airport on the longer layover, I'd skip central city and I would stay put on the four hour layover.

Also, if you come from overseas on the way home, you will have to go through customs etc.

hmmm ... even if you cannot go in, you can see the bell from outside. I was in Philly for work and walked all around in the afternoon. Funny though, if the sun is hitting it the wrong way it's more difficult to see - when I was on my return trip it was much clearer.

The trains run every half hour so its no problem coming into center city on a 6 hour layover. The 3 hour layover I would skip because it isn't worth the effort unless you just want to get away from the airport. I use the train all the time and have never had any problems with lateness. The cost is $7 one way and tickets can be purchased onboard the train.
As mentioned before you can see the Liberty Bell from outside the building and might be able to get into the building if its not too crowded. There are other places to visit in the immediate area including the Constitution Center, Betsy Ross house, US Mint, Graff House (Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Ind. here), and various others. Some are free and some aren't. There is a vistor center at 6th & Market Sts and there is plenty of info there.
There isn't anything of interest near the airport.

1) it does NOT take a "couple hours" to get between the airport and Center City, either way. Heck, I've DRIVEN that distance in about twenty minutes (DISCLAIMER -- doing this by car is NOT recommended). The R1 train will be the best way, and takes thirty minutes. Once you exit from Surburban Station (NOT 30th Stree Station), you can either take the Blue Line subway down to the Fifth Street Exit, or walk the seven blocks or so east to Independence Hall.
2) seeing the Liberty Bell behind its window does NOT require you stand in line.
3) you do NOT need tickets to get inside to see the Liberty Bell, only to see the inside of Independence Hall. Amazingly, GM is correct that you will need to go through a security check, so make certain you have no knives of ANY length -- my cousin got questioned about a fold-out knife less than an inch long.

I must say that I have not been to see the Liberty Bell since 1969 and at that time the Bell was inside Independence Hall. We could walk up to it and touch it but certainly not see if from the outside.

But my oldest daughter took her son's Boy Scout troop to see it and she said it was a hassle. Maybe that was just that shepherding a bunch of kids was a hassle.

It would make me very nervous to leave the airport, even on such a long layover as 6 hours. I would only consider it if I was ticketed through so I didn't have to deal with shlepping luggage. Will you have carry-on bags, or will you be checking everything?

It isn't that the actual travel time is that great. It is how long it will take:

getting off the plane
getting a cab or transferring to the train station
waiting for the train
taking the train
walking or taking a cab to the desired venue

Even if the train trip takes only 20 minutes and they run every half hour, that is still almost an hour if you miss a train by a couple of minutes.

And on the way back, you have taking the train (perhaps at rush hour) and then getting from the train to airport. Then you have to go back through security at the airport - in some airports this can take quite a long time.

So when I said a couple of hours, I was building in a cushion of time for security of not feeling anxious about making the plane.

PS - the information that you all gave in response to my post was a lot more detailed and helpful - playing devils advocate is sometimes good I think.

Actually, GM, I would tend to agree that a four hour layover would be marginal for going to Center City, seeing the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall (outside ONLY), returning to the airport, and making the next flight. But for those who'd like to try, allow this Philly resident to give some estimates of how long it's going to take.

1) plane to R1 train stop -- ten to fifteen minute walk from the gate. You do not need to take a cab, as the R1 train stops at the airport, right next to baggage claim.
2) R1 train to Suburban Station -- according to this URL
www.septa.org/service/sched/r1_wk.html
it's 30 minutes from the airport to Market East Station (note -- I goofed when I said to get off at Suburban Station -- you actually want Market East), located at 11th and Market. Whether it's rush hour or not is irrelevant -- the advantage of rail travel is that it's immune to auto traffic.
3) train stop to Liberty Bell -- five to ten minute walk. Since Independence Hall is located just six blocks from the station, a cab would actually be a waste of time (not to mention money).

Given that it's an hour each way between PHL and Independence Hall, could it be done in a four hour layover? Probably. The two problems are:
(1) if you miss the R1 train either coming or going, it could be up to a 30 minute wait for the next one. Note the monitors at the airport, they tell how long till the next departure.
(2) on your return, you MAY have a problem getting back to your flight while going through security. PHL has improved on this lately, but I have spent 30 minutes just waiting in line to get through security (not to mention how long to actually to get through).

I'd recommend against trying to see Independence Hall on a four hour layover if (1) your flight is quite late on arriving or (2) you don't make the R1 line. On a six hour layover, you'd have to be VERY unlucky to not have enough time.