Looking for Philadelphia info

[TxJasmine]

Hi everyone!

I’m planning a long weekend trip to Philadelphia in a few weeks with my DH, DD11, and DS10. We will probably have 1-2 days in town, and the rest will be spent seeing Lancaster, Gettysburg, Hershey, etc. We can pack a lot in to one day of sightseeing, so are there any “don’t miss” attractions you can recommend other than Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell? My DS is really into history so we want to see as much as we can. We also want to go to the Mutter Museum.

Also, how much is parking in the historic district, and would it be best to take public transportation from the airport? We don’t know where we’ll be staying, but probably near the airport since we’ll be arriving very late at night. How safe is it to take the train/subway to the airport in the evening (like around 8 or 9pm) after a day of sightseeing in town?

Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated! If you have any input on attractions away from town – I’d like to hear about those too!

 

[fireman17]

I am born and raised from Philly but live in Connecticut for my job. We are heading down this week for spring break to visit family that live in Lancaster County. In Philly you can park in the parking garage on 5th Street and walk over to Independence Hall. The U.S. Mint is right there on 5th St. as well. We are visiting that on Monday and heading to the Franklin Institute.
Also it's the Mummers Museum that you thinking of, that is on the corner of Two Street and Washington Ave. although the sign says 2nd St. the locals call it Two St. from there you can go up Washington Ave. to 9th St. park in the area and walk down 9th St. to either Pat's or Geno's steaks and get yourself and genuine Philly Cheese steak I, myself would go to Pat's. Remember you have to order correctly or it' back of the line for you.
If you want a cheese steak with onions you need to order"one wit, provolone" or whatever kind of cheese you want. If you don't want onions it's"one witout"
Have a great time in Philly, there is a lot to do and see there...

 

[LBAK]

My DD,11 loved the US Mint and the Betsy Ross House. She loved the Franklin Institute and the King Tut exhibit.

 

[mcco5543]

Born and raised 20 minutes outside of the city.

Please do take a horse drawn carriage ride AND/or a trolley ride or "duck tour" with your children, the drivers of these tours know SO much, and so many interesting historical facts about the city. Your children will just eat it up!

 

[Octoberbride03]

IAlso it's the Mummers Museum that you thinking of, that is on the corner of Two Street and Washington Ave. Have a great time in Philly, there is a lot to do and see there...

Ok so lets get this cleared up. I was born and raised right outside Philly too, so I know there is a Mutter Museum. And of course the MUMMER's Museum. I didn't see any specific location for the musuem form the OP. So if they are looking for cool and unusual science artifacts ( think kitten with 2 faces...yes its dead) then Mutter is what they want to see. If its the guys who play banjos while in crazy,colorful costumes on New Year's Day then the Mummer's museum is where they want to go. Of course they can do both. One of these days I'm gonna have to get back up there. Miss it sometimes. Any plan is a good 1, but if it were me I would NOT take SEPTA from the airport. But that's me.

Either way have a great time

 

[Tigger By The Tail]

Check out the Constitution Center which is in the Historic District near the Liberty Bell and Independence Mall.

Parking in that area will usually cost around $10 - $20 depending how long you stay. If you decide to take public transportation from the airport, the SEPTA R1 train will take you into Center City (8th & Market) and is about a 6 block walk to the sites mentioned above.

 

[fireman17]

Octoberbride03,
You are absolutely correct I had a brain fart in regards to that museum and totally forgot about that one and it's name.
It has been a long time since anyone has mentioned that one to me.

 

[TxJasmine]

Thanks for the info, and we do want to go to the medical Mutter Museum. It sounds so unusual, that I think it would be worth seeing.

What I really want to know is if it's safe to ride the train to the airport in the evening. One time in Chicago we took the train from town to O'Hare in the early evening. At first the train was filled with people going home from work, but the closer to the airport we got, the more people dropped off, until we were the only ones left on the train with some very unsavory people. We were sure that we would get robbed, and I think we almost were, until some other people got on the train and the "bad" guys got off. I don't want to go through that again.

 

[Tigger By The Tail]

I've been on some of the other SEPTA lines but not the Airport Line. They were relatively safe but i'm not sure about the R1 Airport line. Sorry I can't assist you

 

[Hannathy]

I have ridden the airport train several times and wouldn't be worried about riding it in the evening. I have always found the trains to be safe and I used to commute daily on them and when I lived in town I didn't have a car so I used everything, subway, bus, El,train and never had a problem, I think it still comes into 30th street station which is where I used to get on it.If you get off at 30th street take the train into center city. because 30th street area is an entirely different part of town from the historical end you want.You will want to take a bus or the subway down market street after you get off the train, Market street is a long walk. Public Transportation in Philly is very easy to understand because the city is laid out in a grid. The parking garage at Independence Square often fills up, was full at Christmas when we were down.

While you are in the liberty bell area don't forget to walk 2 blocks north and go to Christ Church. It is very interesting if you like history because they have the pews marked as to who sat there like Washington etc. The cemetery is very interesting to, my kids really liked looking at who all was buried there. Benjamin Franklin's printing shop is about 2 blocks west on Market street and is nice to see. Also Betsy Ross's house is a couple blocks north of the Liberty bell. My DD's teacher went last year and she said they have a bus or trolley that you pay one price for now and it takes you to all the highlights in town for one price and you can get off and on at your convenience all day she said it was great and very easy and convenient, so you may want to check it out. Easier than trying to drive and park or get different buses etc.

If you are driving out to Hershey,etc from the airport you'll be taking the Schuylkill Exp. to the turnpike so it would be very easy to stop off a Valley Forge for a couple of hours.

The Mutters museum is very intense and can be overwhelming because it has so much "weird" stuff close together. My DD went when she was about 9 or 10 and she is not a squeamish child at all- loves science and dissecting things etc wants to be a surgeon, and she said it got a little much after a while. She did bring home a neat book tho. And would like to go back now that she is 15. So just a by the way.

I would love a Pat's cheese witout,extra cheese,cherry coke and cheese fries about now, then a slice of chocolate cake from the Melrose Diner.

 

[ilovepooh]

We always go to the Academy of Natural Sciences museum for our class trip. Back in January it had a really neat live butterfly exhibit. I'm not sure how long it'll be there though.

 

[JKMastalski]

Hi! I live right here in the city (South Philly) and I would not take public transportation to/from the airport from Center City. Trust me, it would be confusing and probably a little scary for you. Definitely drive into Center City and park around 5th street where previous posters have mentioned. You will really enjoy the Mutters Museum. Totally wierd stuff. For some interesting shopping, take a stroll down South Street. Have a great trip!

P.S. Worst case, you could always take a taxi to and from town. Its about $20 round trip from the airport.

 

[JKMastalski]

I would love a Pat's cheese witout,extra cheese,cherry coke and cheese fries about now, then a slice of chocolate cake from the Melrose Diner.

Ahh....you can hold the Pat's, but I could go for a slice of cake from Melrose just about now! Yum!!!

 

[Octoberbride03]

Octoberbride03,
You are absolutely correct I had a brain fart in regards to that museum and totally forgot about that one and it's name.
It has been a long time since anyone has mentioned that one to me.

I nearly forgot about it myself but a few weeks ago I saw it mentioned in the Washington Post(I think) when they did a profile of a trip to Philly for the weekend. Otherwise I might not have remembered either. And I've only been gone about 3.5 years.

 

[Tiggeroo]

University of Pa. has a great museum of archaeology/anthropology and the fee is donation.