We are thinking of visiting Philly for a few days next May. One member of the group tires easily, thus we need to be relatively close to the hotel when out for the day. We are all experienced travelers but have not been to Philly often. We want to the Art Institute and the Jewish Museum and probably Independence Hall.

If we stay in City Center, say the Hyatt at the Bellevue, would that be easy access to transportation? I see that the Art Institute is within walking distance.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

"If we stay in City Center, say the Hyatt at the Bellevue, would that be easy access to transportation? I see that the Art Institute is within walking distance."

I guess it depends on how you define "easy walking distance" -- google map says it's about 1.7 miles from that hotel to the Museum of Art, a time frame that fits well with my memory. But you should have some reasonable options by public transportation, which you can see on google maps (if, IME, without full accuracy) or -- better -- on the SEPTA (regional transit) trip planner:
http://www.septa.org/maps/

BTW, when I lived in Philadelphia, my neighbors and coworkers all said that they disliked having people refer to their city as "Philly." Maybe things have changed.

Enjoy!

Thanks Kja. we will try not to incite the locals.

I suspect you mean Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts? How about the Barnes?

I'm in suburban Phila. but I don't think people object to "Philly".

The Barnes will possibly be on the list, depending on the stamina of one of the others. That is a separate institution from the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The baseball team is, after all, named the Philadelphia Phillies.


Thanks.

The locals are easily incited.

Two words: Eagles fans.

Look: these are the people who CONSTANTLY booed Mike Schmidt, who was the best third baseman in baseball history, won three MVPs, and led the sorry Phils (one pennant since 1915 when he arrived) to the playoffs 5 times and to their first World Series win (and he was the WS hero). More recently, they dumped all over Donovan McNabb, who is the best QB in Eagles' history (and it's not close).

Tread carefully.

BTW, the wife loved wandering around Philly last year when she took a weekender w/o the hobbits or the old man. So there's that.

Seriously, if one of you has a smart phone, download the Uber app and use it. We did when we were in Philly recently and it was great and inexpensive. I don't know where the Museum of Fine Arts is, but the Barnes is a long walk from Independence Hall.

As a life-long Ny'er I do not mind reminding Philly fans about the lack of recent success of the Flyers, Sixers, Eagles, and one WS in 2,000 years Phillies.

But we will be there for the sights and food, not to argue.

I have lived in the Philly area for fifteen years, and have referred to this area as "Philly" several times a week -- and I have NEVER had any negative feedback on using that term. Or at least less than I've gotten when I insisted someone going the wrong way on a street back up (a girl in the other car, couldn't have been more than six years old, flipped me off).

As for where things are, check out this map
http://i0.wp.com/phindie.com/wp-cont...5633498129.jpg

The Hyatt at the Bellvue (aka "Park Hyatt") is on Broad Street, two blocks south of Market. That makes it about twelve blocks from the National Museum of American Jewish History, which is right at Independence Hall.

You'll need to be SPECIFIC on what you mean by the "Art Institute."
The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts is on Broad Street four blocks north of the Hyatt. The Philadelphia Museum of Art is on Ben Franklin Parkway (sometimes called simply "The Parkway"), and is probably too far to walk for someone who tires easily.

The Market Frankford Line -- aka the "Blue Line" -- runs along Market Street from 2nd Street to 69th Street. The Broad Street Line -- aka the "Orange Line" -- runs several miles under (surprise!) Broad Street. If you're near Broad and/or Market, you're never far from anything available by mass transit.

Thank you Paul Rabe for all your information. It is extremely helpful

I incorrectly referred to the Philadelphia Museum. We will take a cab or public transportation, since it is too far to walk.

I will second the suggestion of uber to supplement your public transportation options.

I have really enjoyed my stays in Philadephia. I have stayed a few times at the Marriott Residence Inn (it's been a couple of years though) and really liked that
liked that location. Especially since I looked right out at city Hall. There are bunches of hotels on that block

Easy walk over to reading terminal,easy walk down broad. The Barnes is amazing, even though they are crazy odd about their rules

Are you going to take any food tours? Or do you mean enjoy food as in eating?

You might also check out what is going on in their vibrant theater scene, right down Broad. I have been to a few productions at The Wilma

I will sit back and see what else the local experts suggest! Lots of great Philly Fodorites.

For dinner, consider Paradiso -- outstanding!
http://paradisophilly.com

Thank you for your suggestions.

We will not go on a food tour, we like to sample local favorites and fare wherever we go. And like value dining. Although that is becoming harder and harder.

I don't find Philly a particularly pleasant city to walk around, for example between Broad St and Independence there seem's to be a constant stench of urine in addition, I saw and could smell human faeces on the pavemnent, I would assume from the large number of homeless people hanging around the area.

Geordie

That is what the Chamber of Commerce calls local flavor.

I just returned from Philadelphia yesterday. Get a Steetwise map that has the bus routes on it. We found that the bus system was more accessible than the subway system for the places that you want to see.

We do not have public transportation where I live so maybe I had unrealistic expectations but it seemed that buses ran far apart. I don't remember waiting less than 15 minutes for a bus during the day.

I don't remember any exceptionally horrible odors (it is a big city with lots of people and restaurants) but the sidewalks are old, uneven and lots of cellar doors to maneuver around. I also noticed a lot of pet feces and a lot of irresponsible pet owners that encouraged their pets to use the sidewalk to relieve themselves.

However, it is a beautiful city.

Philly is fine, Phili is a bit disconcerting.

Buses run more frequently during peak hours than non-peak, of course, and there is a Septa app for scheduled times, but I haven't used it so don't know how useful that is. The website, though, www.septa.org is quite helpful.

I really like the National Museum of American Jewish History, but just as a note it might be bit tiring for your easily tired group member, so you might not want to mix it with Independence Hall on the same outing, for instance, even though it's right there. If you're in that area on a weekday, do peek in at the Dream Garden Mosaic in the Curtis Building.

For the authentic local joints, there are a few that are either a subway ride (Max's Steaks at Broad and Erie) or a 20 minute or so 47 bus ride up 5th St. like Porky's Point http://www.hollyeats.com/PorkysPoint.htm or Tierra Colombiana. However, there's definitely enough right in Center City that you should be able to eat pretty well. I'm sure Reading Terminal is a given, although of course not all are created equal. My personal favorite there is the seared scallops on toasted quinoa at Pearl's Oyster Bar or the prosciutto, sharp prov, and roasted peppers on a hoagie roll at Salumeria.

My needs-to-be-updated, not-for-profit blog on Philadelphia is here if you want some fairly random ideas: missalg.tumblr.com

Thank you for your suggestions.

We travel with few preconceived notions.

If the Dream Garden Mosaic is the building absolutely covered in mosaics and other stuff, it's a hoot (although the no need imho to go inside - there's plenty to see from outside). We didn't notice a particularly bad homeless problem, but then we live in SF where it's so bad that anything might seem better.

Two different things, sf3707:


http://www.uwishunu.com/2009/07/the-dream-garden

http://www.phillymagicgardens.org