Is public transportation (bus, subway, train?) feasible or available to get to Longwood Gardens for a tourist visit this summer?

If so, what would the cost be, choices of transportation types and routes? We are staying in downtown Philly near the convention center.

Longwood is near Kennett Square but I'm not sure there are many options to reach that area by public transport.

There is no train service that I know of.

There may be a SEPTA bus..hopefully others will comment.

I would contact your hotel and see if they can help you. There is no direct bus route.

There is no feasible public transport to Longwood that I know of. Try contacting your hotel to see if someone in the city is running tours to Longwood. Or call Longwood directly, explain what you want to do, and see if they can give you some info.
Other than that, you're sorta stuck with renting a car and driving there.

Longwood is actually closer to Wilmington than downtown Philadelphia.

Yes, MikeT but the OP is staying in Philadelphia.

I understand. I was just trying to give the OP a framework for how far away Longwood was from Philadelphia.

Sorry..understood now.

Thanks for the information. I would love to go to Longwood, but hate to mess with a rental car for one day is there anything else in the area that would be worthwhile that we could do that day?

Maybe look into organized tours?

If you do like gardens, you will love Longwood. It's one of the best.

Well, of course there are a million things to do for a day in Phila. The question is what do you want to do?

My suggestions, since you mentioned Longwood, is to try the Morris Arboretum. It's run by the U.of Penn. and is on Northestern Ave. in the city.

Yes, the Morris Arboretum is very nice. Not on the scale of Longwood, but a very pleasant way to spent the afternoon.

I don't think there are any transportation options, though. If there is public transit to this area, I imagine it would be a long trip, whereas by car it would only take about 30 mins.

The point about Longwood being closer to Wilmington than Philadephia is worth looking into. A friend who used to live in Wilmington used to talk about excursions from Wilmington to Longwood, and you can certainly get public transportation from Philly to Wilmington. I don't know if they still have the excursions but as one poster mentioned, the staff at Longwood should know. It is certainly worth a visit.

Just up the road from Longwood Gardens is the Dupont home Winterthur and The Wyeth Museum.

TTT

Within Philly, you can consider Fairmont Park - inside is a Japanese Garden and also a Horticulture Center.
http://www.shofuso.com/index.html
http://www.fairmountpark.org/HortCenter.asp

If you like art, you should consider visiting the Barnes Foundation
http://www.barnesfoundation.org/

Another recommendation it you are an art lover is the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It's actually the second largest art museum after the Metropolitan Museum in NYC.