sabremike
Friend To All Giraffes And Lindy Ruff
I'd recommend the Models near City Hall to get jerseys/gear as you'll pay considerably less there for the same stuff. That's where I got my Wayne Simmonds shirt for $25 that would've cost $38 at WFC.
The Visiting Fan's Guide to Philadelphia; suggested books, publications, DVDs
- Thread starter letsgoflyers75
- Start date
Thanks!
I just looked it up on the map, and it's right around the corner from my hotel. Seems just right for a post-breakfast pre-game shopping trip on game day.
JCraw1
Registered User
- Jul 22, 2014
- 219
- 22
Thanks!
Just have to say...I lost my credit card last night in downtown Philly. A lady found it and went to a Bank of America and turned it in so they called me. So lucky. Just super stoke someone would take the time to do that.
MiamiScreamingEagles
Global Moderator
- Jan 17, 2004
- 71,256
- 48,224
You are welcome. That is a dose of good fortune. I have been told that some people choose to cut credit cards when found so that the holder doesn't incur any unnecessary burdens.
ellja3
Registered User
In Jan I'm going to visit US for the first time w my friend NJD fan, mostly to attend PHI-NJD game in Jan21. Since we're living in New Jersey, we're going to head to Philly only for gameday. I suppose bus travel is the most convenient way to get from NJ/NYC to PHI. Do you have any particular suggestions/comments - what is the best way to get to PHI by bus?
Depends where you are in New Jersey.
South Jersey = NJ transit bus to Philadelphia (City Hall). Get off at City Hall. Orange Line aka Broad Street line to stadium.
Central / Northern Jersey = Bus or Amtrak to Trenton station. Take the appropriate R line to 30th Street station Phiadelphia. Transfer to whatever gets you to Orange Line / Broad Street line. Could you Market line to City Hall, I suppose.
It's been awhile since I've done it, but that's how I'd start looking at your trip.
If you're in NYC and want to live dangerously (the drivers!), you can always take the Chinatown bus into Philadelphia from Chinatown Manhattan.
South Jersey = NJ transit bus to Philadelphia (City Hall). Get off at City Hall. Orange Line aka Broad Street line to stadium.
Central / Northern Jersey = Bus or Amtrak to Trenton station. Take the appropriate R line to 30th Street station Phiadelphia. Transfer to whatever gets you to Orange Line / Broad Street line. Could you Market line to City Hall, I suppose.
It's been awhile since I've done it, but that's how I'd start looking at your trip.
If you're in NYC and want to live dangerously (the drivers!), you can always take the Chinatown bus into Philadelphia from Chinatown Manhattan.
Hivemind
We're Touched
From NYC itself, there are numerous options to get to Philadelphia. Amtrak would be the quickest/most direct, but also the most expensive. MegaBus, Bolt Bus, Greyhound, and the various Chinatown bus lines are much more affordable, but subject to the whims of highway traffic. My personal preference among these is Mega Bus, but I've used all of them successfully in the past. You can also take NJ Transit trains from NYC to Trenton, and transfer to SEPTA Regional Rail, but that's time consuming (both trains make numerous local stops along the way).
From NJ itself, I'd recommend going to the NJ Transit, SEPTA, and/or Google Maps website to plot out the best connections of public transit to take. My assumption is you'll likely end up on your local regional rail stop, transfer to SEPTA regional rail, and ride in from there.
From NJ itself, I'd recommend going to the NJ Transit, SEPTA, and/or Google Maps website to plot out the best connections of public transit to take. My assumption is you'll likely end up on your local regional rail stop, transfer to SEPTA regional rail, and ride in from there.
sabremike
Friend To All Giraffes And Lindy Ruff
Only problem with Megabus and Bolt is that the last bus back to NY is at 9PM. Does anyone know if that Chinatown bus by the Wawa near the Greyhound station still runs?
For getting back to north Jersey after the game, I'd also recommend the SEPTA/NJ Transit option. The NJT Northeast Corridor Line runs into the early morning hours, and the SEPTA Trenton Line will operate plenty late enough on a Saturday night to allow you to make the connection.
I also recommend checking the Amtrak and Greyhound websites for schedule information. I'm typically traveling in the opposite direction (i.e. towards DC) when I use Amtrak late on a Saturday night from Philadelphia or New York, but I'm pretty sure without looking it up that the last Amtrak Northeast Corridor Regional train leaves DC at about 10 PM, meaning it will leave Philadelphia around 12 AM. Amtrak fares on Saturday late night trains are usually pretty reasonable (if still higher than buses or SEPTA/NJT) if you book far enough in advance.
RE: Chinatown buses, check the following site: http://www.gotobus.com/
I also recommend checking the Amtrak and Greyhound websites for schedule information. I'm typically traveling in the opposite direction (i.e. towards DC) when I use Amtrak late on a Saturday night from Philadelphia or New York, but I'm pretty sure without looking it up that the last Amtrak Northeast Corridor Regional train leaves DC at about 10 PM, meaning it will leave Philadelphia around 12 AM. Amtrak fares on Saturday late night trains are usually pretty reasonable (if still higher than buses or SEPTA/NJT) if you book far enough in advance.
RE: Chinatown buses, check the following site: http://www.gotobus.com/
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I really think the biggest issue with Philadelphia, especially outside of Center City, is a lack of public garbage cans.
Obviously this is too late to help you regarding your 12/3 plans, but I think the SEPTA BSL runs about every 10 minutes on Saturdays. The big issue is that I think SEPTA will hold up some trains at Pattison/AT&T Station prior to the end of an event at the stadium complex to ensure trains are there when an event ends and some of those trains can run as Sports Express trains with limited stops, particularly between Pattison and Walnut/Locust (which is a 2 track segment; the Sports Express trains don't stop at any intermediate stations). That also makes things a bit trickier to travel from an event at the stadium complex to Temple because Cecil B. Moore (Columbia)/Temple University is not an express stop on the SEPTA BSL; you have to use a local train that stops at Temple.
What you outlined above is the great thing about Philadelphia sports - single sport or multi-sport doubleheader or even tripleheader opportunities occur from time to time and are very doable. I just did a college basketball doubleheader this past Wednesday (Drexel/Penn and Cincinnati/Temple) and will do a college basketball/NBA doubleheader during my next trip to the city on Saturday 2/11 (Massachusetts/St. Joe's at 2:30 PM and Heat/76ers at 7:30 PM).
Incidentally, had Temple football not played in the AAC title game in Annapolis on Saturday 12/3 (that was a great game to attend, unlike the Military Bowl), I would have also done the latter two legs of the same tripleheader (Penn/Temple basketball, Celtics/76ers) on the same day after attending the Holy War (St. Joe's/Villanova) out at the Pavilion in the early afternoon to kick things off.
Sorry for the long post, but with a month to go until my trip to Philly, I'm right in the middle of planning. Hopefully, some of you who know the city well can help me with some info and suggestions. I'll be in Philly from February 1st-10th, going to four games in that time and in between I have time to fill with touristy things.
Subway. The tourist sites I looked at all said the subway as such was pretty safe. I'm planning to use it mainly to get to and from games (my hotel is near the Race-Vine station), so it'd be only a few stops on the Broad Street Line. Do a lot of fans use the subway to get to WFC? (And especially to get back, riding it alone at night is something I'd avoid if people say it's not really all that safe).
Wifi. Free Wifi hotspots are a necessity to me because my data plan does not cover the US. Starbucks is one of the usual suspects, and Reading Terminal Market claims on their homepage to be a free hotspot, but what about the WFC? I read somewhere that it was a free Wifi hotspot, can anyone confirm that?
Bookstores. I'll be checking out the Barnes & Noble on Rittenhouse Square for browsing for its size, but I'm a big fan of small independent bookstores. So if there's some great independent bookstores you can recommend, let me know.
Sights. So far, my touristy list of things to do include: Cheesesteak at Jim's, Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the Benjamin Franklin Museum, Rocky statue and steps, Eastern State Penitentiary, One Liberty Observation Deck, The Franklin Institute, maybe the Zoo or the Aquarium, maybe the Blue Cross River Rink Winterfest.
Any other recommendations? I'm open to all kinds of things except for art museums, especially the lesser well-known things that don't show up on every tourist site and in every guide book.
Thanks so much in advance, and Happy New Year everyone!
Subway. The tourist sites I looked at all said the subway as such was pretty safe. I'm planning to use it mainly to get to and from games (my hotel is near the Race-Vine station), so it'd be only a few stops on the Broad Street Line. Do a lot of fans use the subway to get to WFC? (And especially to get back, riding it alone at night is something I'd avoid if people say it's not really all that safe).
Wifi. Free Wifi hotspots are a necessity to me because my data plan does not cover the US. Starbucks is one of the usual suspects, and Reading Terminal Market claims on their homepage to be a free hotspot, but what about the WFC? I read somewhere that it was a free Wifi hotspot, can anyone confirm that?
Bookstores. I'll be checking out the Barnes & Noble on Rittenhouse Square for browsing for its size, but I'm a big fan of small independent bookstores. So if there's some great independent bookstores you can recommend, let me know.
Sights. So far, my touristy list of things to do include: Cheesesteak at Jim's, Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the Benjamin Franklin Museum, Rocky statue and steps, Eastern State Penitentiary, One Liberty Observation Deck, The Franklin Institute, maybe the Zoo or the Aquarium, maybe the Blue Cross River Rink Winterfest.
Any other recommendations? I'm open to all kinds of things except for art museums, especially the lesser well-known things that don't show up on every tourist site and in every guide book.
Thanks so much in advance, and Happy New Year everyone!
Sorry for the long post, but with a month to go until my trip to Philly, I'm right in the middle of planning. Hopefully, some of you who know the city well can help me with some info and suggestions. I'll be in Philly from February 1st-10th, going to four games in that time and in between I have time to fill with touristy things.
Subway. The tourist sites I looked at all said the subway as such was pretty safe. I'm planning to use it mainly to get to and from games (my hotel is near the Race-Vine station), so it'd be only a few stops on the Broad Street Line. Do a lot of fans use the subway to get to WFC? (And especially to get back, riding it alone at night is something I'd avoid if people say it's not really all that safe).
Wifi. Free Wifi hotspots are a necessity to me because my data plan does not cover the US. Starbucks is one of the usual suspects, and Reading Terminal Market claims on their homepage to be a free hotspot, but what about the WFC? I read somewhere that it was a free Wifi hotspot, can anyone confirm that?
Bookstores. I'll be checking out the Barnes & Noble on Rittenhouse Square for browsing for its size, but I'm a big fan of small independent bookstores. So if there's some great independent bookstores you can recommend, let me know.
Sights. So far, my touristy list of things to do include: Cheesesteak at Jim's, Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the Benjamin Franklin Museum, Rocky statue and steps, Eastern State Penitentiary, One Liberty Observation Deck, The Franklin Institute, maybe the Zoo or the Aquarium, maybe the Blue Cross River Rink Winterfest.
Any other recommendations? I'm open to all kinds of things except for art museums, especially the lesser well-known things that don't show up on every tourist site and in every guide book.
Thanks so much in advance, and Happy New Year everyone!
Regarding the Broad Street Line, you definitely won't have any problems riding it before or after games - many other fans use the subway to get to/from the stadium complex, so there will be a crowd. Your bigger issue with using the Broad Street Line and other SEPTA routes is payment; SEPTA is way, WAY behind the times when it comes to fare collection (still use tokens). (To be fair, SEPTA is currently in the process of updating their fare collection system; it has been partially implemented.) I think you may be able to get a week pass that is a little more modern.
As for sites to visit, I recommend the following for consideration:
1) 30th Street Station - a grand-looking train station, it has some interesting features, including a great hall (large waiting area for passengers with a high roof), a Spirit of Transportation wall sculpture in the north event area, and the Angel of Resurrection statue at the east end of the great hall honoring Pennsylvania Railroad employees who died during World War II.
2) Philadelphia History Museum (also known as the Atwater Kent Museum) - museum focused on Philadelphia history, it has a number of interesting artifacts, plus a giant floor map of Philadelphia.
3) Mitchell & Ness flagship store - the famed high-end sports retailer has a good amount of high-quality (though expensive) vintage apparel for sale; there is also a back room with some more reasonably priced items.
4) Reading Terminal Market - this enclosed farmer's market is worth visiting in its own right, regardless whether it has free Wi-Fi or not.
5) South Philadelphia Italian Market - walking through this neighborhood to check out the Italian flavor of south Philadelphia is worthwhile IMO.
6) U.S. Mint - located just off Independence Mall, you can get a sense of how U.S. coins are made.
7) Betsy Ross House - museum dedicated to woman who is alleged to have made the first U.S. flag.
8) Old City - located at the east end of Center City, you can get a sense of what Philadelphia's original development pattern looked like.
In addition to the above, if you like riding trains, I suggest buying a pass that allows you to check out much of SEPTA's regional rail system (and/or locations along the PATCO and NJ Transit RiverLINE in New Jersey). There are a number of nice towns worth checking out on foot that are accessible via rail, including Ardmore (plus other towns along the Main Line west of Philadelphia), Media, Doylestown, Chestnut Hill (actually a neighborhood in north Philadelphia), Palmyra (NJ), Burlington (NJ), and Collingswood (NJ) to name a few.
Broad Street Line is fine. Yes, it will have lots of Flyers fans in it.
Don't pass up the Mutter Museum. http://muttermuseum.org/
Don't pass up the Mutter Museum. http://muttermuseum.org/
Oh, it was definitely on the list already before I even read about the free Wifi. Food is a definite way to lure me in, and every site regarding Philly that I visited said that it's a must-see.
Thanks for all the other tips. I definitely didn't have the Mint, 30th Street Station or the Italian Market on my radar, but I added them to my ever-growing list. (Actually, I added your whole list to my list and am already sure that this is going to be a case of too much too see, too little time...)
As for SEPTA, thanks for the warning. I do plan on walking as much as I can and the weather allows, but still figuring out public transportation is on the top of my list for day one. I'll start with the staff at my hotel's reception desk and the tourist office, someone should be able to help me figure out how to best use the public transport system.
That...looks disturbingly like my exact kind of thing, thank you! And it's pretty much right around the corner from my hotel, too.
sabremike
Friend To All Giraffes And Lindy Ruff
Chip, how do I get to St Joes and LaSalle via public transportation? I come in via SEPTA from Trenton so is there a regional or subway line I can get at 30th or Suburban stations that would get me to either of those venues?
La Salle - closest rail stations are Olney Transportation Center (Broad Street Line) and Wister (Chestnut Hill East Regional Rail Line); both are a few blocks from La Salle. The best (i.e. shortest) way to get to La Salle from Trenton is to use the Trenton Line to North Philadelphia station, transfer to the Broad Street Line at either the North Philadelphia BSL or Allegheny BSL station (both are fairly close to the North Philadelphia Regional Rail station), ride the BSL north to Olney (second to last station), and walk about 6 blocks west on Olney Avenue from Olney Transportation Station to La Salle. The area near North Philadelphia station (and for that matter, on Olney Avenue between the Olney Transportation Center and La Salle's campus) isn't the best, so I would only make that trip during the day. An alternative would be to ride to Suburban Station and transfer to either the BSL to ride to Olney or the Chestnut Hill East Line to ride to Wister.
St. Joe's - closest rail stations are Overbrook (Paoli/Thorndale Regional Rail Line) and the 10 trolley route, though both are close to a mile from St. Joe's campus (and the 10 trolley is about a 5-10 minute walk beyond Overbrook station). The best way to get to St. Joe's is to take the Trenton Line to 30th Street Station and transfer to the Paoli/Thorndale Line. Overbrook is the first stop leaving 30th Street Station on the Paoli/Thorndale Line.
There may be SEPTA buses that operate between Olney TC and La Salle (on Olney Avenue) and Overbrook station and St. Joe's (on City Avenue), particularly the former, but I'm not sure.
EDIT: The Cynwyd Line's Bala station is actually closer to St. Joe's than Overbrook station, but service is limited on the Cynwyd Line (weekdays only, mostly during peak periods).
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+1 for the Mutter Museum. You won't find stuff like this everywhere (or almost anywhere).
Sorry for the long post, but with a month to go until my trip to Philly, I'm right in the middle of planning. Hopefully, some of you who know the city well can help me with some info and suggestions. I'll be in Philly from February 1st-10th, going to four games in that time and in between I have time to fill with touristy things.
Subway. The tourist sites I looked at all said the subway as such was pretty safe. I'm planning to use it mainly to get to and from games (my hotel is near the Race-Vine station), so it'd be only a few stops on the Broad Street Line. Do a lot of fans use the subway to get to WFC? (And especially to get back, riding it alone at night is something I'd avoid if people say it's not really all that safe).
Wifi. Free Wifi hotspots are a necessity to me because my data plan does not cover the US. Starbucks is one of the usual suspects, and Reading Terminal Market claims on their homepage to be a free hotspot, but what about the WFC? I read somewhere that it was a free Wifi hotspot, can anyone confirm that?
Bookstores. I'll be checking out the Barnes & Noble on Rittenhouse Square for browsing for its size, but I'm a big fan of small independent bookstores. So if there's some great independent bookstores you can recommend, let me know.
Sights. So far, my touristy list of things to do include: Cheesesteak at Jim's, Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the Benjamin Franklin Museum, Rocky statue and steps, Eastern State Penitentiary, One Liberty Observation Deck, The Franklin Institute, maybe the Zoo or the Aquarium, maybe the Blue Cross River Rink Winterfest.
Any other recommendations? I'm open to all kinds of things except for art museums, especially the lesser well-known things that don't show up on every tourist site and in every guide book.
Thanks so much in advance, and Happy New Year everyone!
If you're interested in naval/maritime history you might want to check out the USS Olympia, the oldest steel warship still afloat in the world, fought in the Spanish-American War:
http://www.phillyseaport.org/olympia
Thanks. That's definitely not something I'd have thought of on my own, but it sounds like something I'd enjoy.
Hivemind
We're Touched
Sorry for the long post, but with a month to go until my trip to Philly, I'm right in the middle of planning. Hopefully, some of you who know the city well can help me with some info and suggestions. I'll be in Philly from February 1st-10th, going to four games in that time and in between I have time to fill with touristy things.
Subway. The tourist sites I looked at all said the subway as such was pretty safe. I'm planning to use it mainly to get to and from games (my hotel is near the Race-Vine station), so it'd be only a few stops on the Broad Street Line. Do a lot of fans use the subway to get to WFC? (And especially to get back, riding it alone at night is something I'd avoid if people say it's not really all that safe).
Wifi. Free Wifi hotspots are a necessity to me because my data plan does not cover the US. Starbucks is one of the usual suspects, and Reading Terminal Market claims on their homepage to be a free hotspot, but what about the WFC? I read somewhere that it was a free Wifi hotspot, can anyone confirm that?
Bookstores. I'll be checking out the Barnes & Noble on Rittenhouse Square for browsing for its size, but I'm a big fan of small independent bookstores. So if there's some great independent bookstores you can recommend, let me know.
Sights. So far, my touristy list of things to do include: Cheesesteak at Jim's, Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the Benjamin Franklin Museum, Rocky statue and steps, Eastern State Penitentiary, One Liberty Observation Deck, The Franklin Institute, maybe the Zoo or the Aquarium, maybe the Blue Cross River Rink Winterfest.
Any other recommendations? I'm open to all kinds of things except for art museums, especially the lesser well-known things that don't show up on every tourist site and in every guide book.
Thanks so much in advance, and Happy New Year everyone!
The Last Word and Bindlestiff (both located in West Philly) are worth swinging by if you're into bookstores, but neither are so great that you'll regret skipping them if you don't trek across the Schuylkill.
Just a quick note of thanks to everyone here who had patience with my constant questions over the past weeks, and to everyone for their answers and suggestions.
I'm back in Germany now, and I'd label my trip to Philly a complete and utter success (well, except the 1-2-1 hockey results and the two shuthouts against the Flyers, of course). But just being at WFC and seeing them play live was awesome.
Philly is a great city, I had an absolute blast there even aside from going to see hockey games. And I got to meet Jay Greenberg who introduced me to Paul Holmgren, and I got to get a glimpse behind the scenes at WFC, so that was definitely a highlight of that trip.
So, thanks again everyone, you were all really a great help in planning this trip and making it such a great experience.
I'm back in Germany now, and I'd label my trip to Philly a complete and utter success (well, except the 1-2-1 hockey results and the two shuthouts against the Flyers, of course
). But just being at WFC and seeing them play live was awesome.Philly is a great city, I had an absolute blast there even aside from going to see hockey games. And I got to meet Jay Greenberg who introduced me to Paul Holmgren, and I got to get a glimpse behind the scenes at WFC, so that was definitely a highlight of that trip.
So, thanks again everyone, you were all really a great help in planning this trip and making it such a great experience.
CutOnDime97
Too Showman
- Mar 29, 2008
- 15,589
- 9,786
Just a quick note of thanks to everyone here who had patience with my constant questions over the past weeks, and to everyone for their answers and suggestions.
I'm back in Germany now, and I'd label my trip to Philly a complete and utter success (well, except the 1-2-1 hockey results and the two shuthouts against the Flyers, of course
Philly is a great city, I had an absolute blast there even aside from going to see hockey games. And I got to meet Jay Greenberg who introduced me to Paul Holmgren, and I got to get a glimpse behind the scenes at WFC, so that was definitely a highlight of that trip.
So, thanks again everyone, you were all really a great help in planning this trip and making it such a great experience.
That's awesome, glad to see you enjoyed Philly in spite of the Flyers play.
Danko
You have no marbles
- Jul 28, 2004
- 10,961
- 10,902
Going to see a concert at Union Transfer on Friday night...we decided we'd make the most of the night without having the baby and are going to stay at the residence inn near the reading terminal market...Parking is valet $50.
Does anyone know if there is a parking garage nearby?
Does anyone know if there is a parking garage nearby?
https://www.google.com/search?q=rea...tbs=lf_od:-1,lf_oh:-1,lf_pqs:EAE,lf:1,lf_ui:3
Not sure if this is what you meant, but:
There are parking garages all over the city.
Not sure if this is what you meant, but:
There are parking garages all over the city.
