Philadelphia Travel Forum

My husband and I will be visiting philadelphia w/our 2yr old in May. We're not sure on renting a car or not.... is it better to rent a car and stay on the outskirts of the city to get a better price on hotels and drive in to take the city tours or are there some good family friendly hotels in the center of city?
We were also thinking about traveling to New York City for a day.... any tips or ideas on getting there??

Thanks in advance for any information!!

I'm also going to Phila. in May and will warn you that the weekend of May 15, 16 is just about sold out when it comes to hotel rooms. So I'd avoid that time! Staying on the outskirts (many places in New Jersey, right across the river from downtown), is definitely a cheaper and fine option. There is easy access by train and you could probably leave the car behind.

I'd take AMTRAK to NYC. It's a fast ride from Phila. and the easiest unless you want to take a bus, and that's possible but would eat up some of your available time. Driving takes about 2 1/2 hours but then you'll have the problem of parking in Manhattan.

There's lots to see in Phila., and I'm sure you'll enjoy my old hometown.

It's most likely less expensive to stay on the outskirts of Philly than to stay in Center City. However, to properly compare prices, you'll need to add not only the cost of a rental car (*NOT* recommended for visits to CC) but the cost of parking -- which can easily be $20 a day. Be aware that driving in Philly is a nightmare of jammed freeways, crowded streets, psychopathic drivers, and obscenely expensive parking. If you've never driven in an urban setting, Philly is NOT a place to learn.

Whether the added cost of staying in CC is worth avoiding the hassle of not having to get to CC is a matter of opinion.

I re-emphasize: if you do decide to rent a car, just pick a parking garage to gouge you, leave your car there for the entire day, and ride either the shuttles or mass transit. I can pretty much guarantee that you won't find a place to legally park your car all day outside of neighborhoods where you DON'T want to leave your car for several hours.

Doing a day trip to NYC from Philly is possible (I've even done it a couple of times) but not recommended unless you'd be satisfied just viewing a few highlights. Again, driving to and within NYC is a nightmare, and parking is even worse than in Philly. Amtrak is fast but very expensive; other mass transit is less expensive but not much faster than driving. Thus, you'll only have half a day to "visit" a city that requires two lifetimes to do so properly. If you'd be happy to view Times Square, Ground Zero, the Staten Island Ferry, and maybe a couple other places; it may indeed be worth it. But NYC is NOT a city you can truly "visit" on day-trips.

Thank you so much for the tips! Come to find out...we picked a wrong weekend to go... May 14-17th! We bought the airline tkts so we are going to have to make the best of it! :)
Definitely changed my mind about renting a car though! :)

You will do fine that weekend - don't worry. Most of the visitors are for the University of Pennsylvania graduation and reunion weekend. The museums will be fine and the historical places downtown.

My recommendation is to try and stay in center city rather than the suburbs. If it is Penn graduation weekend that might be a challenge but give it a try. Philly is very walkable so if you get a room in the city there is no need for a rental car.
As for going to NYC for the day it is doable but you will have to leave early and return late and I can imagine it being a problem with a 2yr. If you go you have two other options for getting there besides AMTRAK, the bus or going by local train. The latter means using SEPTA from Philly to Trenton and then getting the NJT train to NYC.

Sevsa, I had to get a room for that same weekend (high school graduation), and I know center city well. There are almost no rooms still available plus to find one under $200 or more a night is almost impossible unless it's in a more dodgy area. Of course, there could always be a cancellation, but those weekends are murder.. except for those who own the hotels. :-)

Yes, I know that's a tough weekend because there are so many people in town for the graduation. Perhaps there are some rooms available near the airport which means that they could take the train into center city. Otherwise it will be the suburbs (with rental car) and even that maybe a problem. If you find something and want to know the real driving time to center city just ask. Good luck.

Staying near the airport is a very good option!

Ok...you all were right...the cheapest hotel i've found so far is $249 a night. We really don't want to pay that much only b/c we plan to make the most of the few days we'll be there so spending so much on a room seems a little troubling! But I've found some hotels by the airport for $110 a night! Before booking, how much would and how would we get to city center?

Also, about the NYC day trip... there's a website called www.megabus.com..it states it's a two hour bus drive to NYC for a VERY CHEAP ticket price... any info on that company?

Philadelphia is one of the rare cities in the U.S. that has a direct transit connection to downtown, right from the airport. This page also has cab information. If you take the train, you'd probably want to get off at the 12th & Market station.. right in the middle of downtown and near most everything.

http://www.phl.org/taxis_trains.html

Your hotel will have a shuttle back to the airport where you can catch the R1 Airport line into center city. It costs $7 each way and the ticket can be bought on the train. There are three stations in center city, 30th St., Suburban Station and Market East. Market East is the closest to the historic area and is the third stop. (There are two stops before you get to center city, Eastwick and University City.)
There are some very cheap buses going to NYC. At least one leaves from Chinatown in Philly and goes to Chinatown in NYC. I've used this one and it's fine. Megabus is newer and picks up about a block from 30th St. and near Independence Mall. Tickets have to be bought online and yes sometimes they will give you a $1 ticket. The buses are new but the two hour drive time might be optimistic depending on time of day and other conditions.