Philadelphia Travel Forum

I want to fly in, for the flower show. Been to Philadelphia before, but drove. As time is short, I'm flying in, it's cheaper than driving. If I stay near the airport, should I rent a car, or just take public transportation? I'll just be attending the Flower show, and going to Reading Terminal. As the flower show closes at 9:30, I'm concerned about public transportation, at night. I assume that the convention center has lots of public parking. I live near Detroit, so, I'm always aware of my surroundings. Thanks!!!

Are you staying out at the airport just to save money? Seems like you'll miss some of the experience of downtown Philly, which is a much nicer and livelier place than it was decades ago, as I guess you've noticed.

I guess the cheap hotels near Reading are all full, although I've put my wife and her mother in a hotel south of the convention center in not the most expensive hotel in the area (a couple of weeks ago, there seemed to be good availability still in many hotels).

I will be going to Philadelphia at the end of March for a different conference and will be staying in the Latham Hotel on Rittenhauer Square. It's about a 0.7 mile walk to Reading, but the area around Rittenhauer Square is lively with plenty of places to eat, and the walk isn't bad (if it doesn't snow ;-) )...

Bill

If you stay near the airport you can take the hotel shuttle back to the airport and then take the R1 Airport line in and out of the Market East Station which is connected to both the Convention Center and the Reading Terminal Market ($& each way). The train runs from 5am until 1am the next morning so time isn't a concern for you.
As the previous poster mentioned you should check out hotels in Center City that you can walk to and from the flower show. These days there may be some bargains to be had.

The R1 train goes from Suburban Station, which is directly connected to the Convention Center, to the Airport as late as 11:30 pm. During the Flower Show, the area around the Convention Center is about as safe an area as exists in Philly, and I say that as someone who doesn't recommend some areas of the city in a car in daytime.

Suburan Station does not directly connect to the convention center however it is very close, although not as close as the Market East Station.

In the space of five minutes, I twice posted recommendations to go to Suburban Station when, in fact, the correct one is Market East.