Anyone here from Philadelphia or nearby?

[Kim Mauch]

Anyone here from Philadelphia or nearby? Hubby and I will be spending several days in Philadelphia in June. We're looking for suggestions on must-see's, and good deals, too.

We will be staying close to City Hall, and will be relying on Public Transportation.
We're also thinking of day trips to Atlantic City and / or New York City. (We have been to NY once a few years back.)

Any info you could offer would be greatly appreciated!

[sarahbhb]

I used to live close to Philadelphia, finding a cheese steak and a trip to South Street are the first things I'd do if I went back. Should add that if you do go to South Street you don't want to go too far north...gets a bit seedy.

[scrap2day]

There's lots to do for free in Philly because of all of the historical sites (Liberty Bell, 1st Congress, Independence Hall) .

Here's a link to more info:
http://www.philadelphiausa.travel/visitors/things-to-do/attractions/free-philadelphia

If you want to go to NYC I would recommend taking the Amtrak from 30th Street Station. So easy to get from Philly to NYC and back. It lets out at Penn Station in NYC. Wear some good walking shoes and you can cruise around Manhattan by foot. If you want to go to other Boroughs, get a day pass for the subway and that's a good and easy deal too.

Have fun!!!

[jorgies5]

We spent a day there in August. It was at the tail end of our NYC trip and we took an Amtrak train from Penn Station to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia (not something I will ever attempt to do again with 4 young kids and luggage for 6, a car seat and stroller - using public transportation- but very doable for two adults on a day-trip). I think what did me in was my husband insisting we walk to our hotel from the subway system with all of that in tow. And it was a lot further than he claimed it to be. Anyways, I am getting off track here.

Once we got settled in our hotel, I really LOVED Philadelphia. We walked over to South Street and got ourselves a cheese steak sandwich and italian ice for dinner. The next morning we walked over to all of the historical sites and saw the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, etc. One thing I did want to mention is, there are certain buildings like Independence Hall that you need to get tickets in advance (free) in order to get in. If I remember right, they recommend you go to the National Convention Center first to get your tickets. We didn't really plan ahead so there were things we weren't able to see because we didn't get tickets, plus we were really limited on time. They also offer the Duck Tours. We saw lots of people doing that too. I really wished that we had at least one more day to explore and see things. Everyone was so friendly too.

Hope you have a great time!

[Kim Mauch]

Thanks ladies for the info! I will be checking out the site that scrap2day linked. I'm getting excited for our trip.