Need help quick .... a friend -- female, 30's -- is coming to visit from England and she's booking her flights in the next couple days. She's connecting through Philadelphia and wants to stopover for a couple days to visit the city. She'll be by herself and without a car. She wants to know where's the best place to stay location-wise, and whether she should allow one or two days to see the city? Also need recommendations for hotels in different price ranges.

THANKS!

We stayed at a Club Quarters in November that had the best rates of any centrally located hotel at that time. It was a few doors down from a wonderful gourmet food store where we could buy coffee and pastry in the morning, all kinds of prepared foods to go, and there was an actual restaurant upstairs.
You don't need a car in Philly. Walk everywhere, it's part of the fun. The Club Quarters was pretty convenient to the historic sights. When we were making our plans, friends who live there pointed out that the hotels on the river may have a nice view but were pretty far (walking) from anything of interest. Of course, you can always get a taxi.
I would think she could easily justify two nights. There's a lot to see. The Museum of Art is fantastic (and if she saw Rocky, she'll recognize the steps!) There's the train station which is now a huge food market with stalls selling an incredible array of foodstuffs (sorry, having a brain cramp on the name), the Liberty bell, etc. You don't say when she's arriving, but it's a very hot sticky climate in the summer; she should be prepared if she's coming from England.
Hope she enjoys it.

Welcome to Philadelphia for your friend!

The Center City area, anywhere from Old City to Rittenhouse Square, is the best bet for central location; that takes in dozens of hotels, a hostel, and I believe some B&B's. Philadelphia is indeed very walkable, and there's also an easy public transportation system

Two days would give her a lot more time to explore, and there's certainly enough to keep busy for that time. History? Art? Neighborhoods? Shopping? Eating?
Architecture? Just let us know her main interests and I'm sure we'll be able to come up with a good few days itinerary!

www.gophila.com is a great site with restaurants, events, hotels, etc. I like that it will map your hotel so you can see what neighborhood it's in.

Thanks very much for the info and links. My friend has booked the Alexander Inn. Any recent experiences with that one?

Reading Terminal Market is the one you mean, Gail. Fabulous place! Philadelphia is a great walking city, she should have a fabulous time. I just had a great meal at the Philadelphia Fish Company, which I believe should be reasonably convenient to her hotel. Their bar menu is a particularily nice deal.

Hi,
I live near Philly. I checked the details available for the Alexander Inn - it seems like a good choice for location and value.

As mentioned above, advise her of the gophila.com website for helpful info.

Also, I would suggest the shuttle train, available for $2, from right within the airport directly to center city. Anyone in the airport can direct her to it.

I hope she has two nights and that she enjoys our town.

We were there in Sept for 4 days. Three would have done it but 4 was fine.

We saw a lot of the city and I was very pleasntly surprised.

The National Park Service has done a great job with the historic areas.

Bring up my report from Sept. Also, you can see my photos at:

www.travelwalks.com

I live in the Philly suburbs, and just got back from a day of visiting the Phila. Art Museum. I saw the Frida Kahlo exhibit, which I enjoyed a lot. If your friend likes art, I would def recommend the art museum for her. Greg

The shuttle train from the airport is $6 to Center City, not $2.

Sorry, as someone who lived in Center City Philadelphia for nearly 20 years, please tell your friend when she arrives at the airport, she should follow the signs directing her to SEPTA Regional Rail - it's not called 'the shuttle train' - she needs to take the R1 rail line into Center City and she should get off at Market East Station stop and walk south about 6 blocks and she'll be right at Alexander's Inn. And it is definitely not $2.00 for a one way ticket on the R1. Prices, timetables, etc. for the R1 SEPTA line (as well as all city buses, subways and other regional rail lines) are at www.septa.org - R1 trains typically leave the airport every 20 minutes.

Alexander's Inn is located in a nice, fairly quiet section of the city - it's a small boutique hotel. Many excellent restaurants in the area that won't break her budget. Mercado is an excellent BYOB right near her hotel, and Reading Terminal Market (also an easy walk from her hotel) is excellent and not to be missed (especially for a great cheap lunch from any of the many vendors inside the Market's shed).

Easy walking from Alexander's Inn to many of the major historical sights. She can also take a SEPTA bus to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Frankin Institute or the Rodin Museum if she is interested in these sights.

If she likes to shop, I would suggest a walk around South Street (some funky, fun stores mixed in among bars, restaurants and some chain stores) or Old City (cool stores, lots of small art galleries, good restaurants and bars).

For nightlife (in your 30s), I would recommend she check out the many options in Old City, Rittenhouse Square or Northern Liberties section of the city. South Street's clubs tend to run more towards the early to mid 20s all-you-can-drink crowd.

Another good source of info is www.PhiladelphiaWeekly.com - this is the free weekly newspaper and I recommend she pick up a copy upon arrival in the city to take a quick look at the listings about what is happening in the city during her visit.

Bumping up as my friend is here now and will be in Philly next week. Thanks, Ceidleh, for the detailed info. She'll be in town there a couple days.