My sister and I would like to visit the Philadelphia Flower Show this March. We are coming from Baltimore and wondering if it is possible to make it a day trip on a Sunday. Any advice? We are early risers, leaving from North Baltimore, so the drive shouldn't be too bad. We would avoid having to kennel the dog if we do a day trip and save money on a hotel (his dog walker will come while we are gone so he won't be alone all day) but will it be exhausting? Thanks for any insight from anyone who has been.

http://theflowershow.com/plan-your-visit/show-info
To avoid crazy traffic, you could take an early Amtrak train to 30th St. station (PHL) and take SEPTA from there.

I go every year and have found that the least crowded time on the weekend is in the evening but I have gone on Sunday morning. It won't be too horrible if you get there when it first opens.

Figure out where you want to park ahead of time:

http://www.philapark.org/locator/
Plug in Chinatown in Neighborhoods rather than Convention Center. It's better to walk a couple of blocks than it is to get caught in the traffic of cars lined up to get into closer lots plus the entrance to the show is at that end of the Center.

Buy your tickets online and print them out so you don't have to wait in the ticket line. If you're interested in the small exhibits in the dioramas, go directly to them in the enter back of the show. You have to stand in line to file past them and those lines get long. Look in the program or ask at the information desk if there will be any performances and where they will be. Some years they have them and some they don't but they're fun to watch.

Do shop in the vendor area. They usually offer some nice and different items.

Have fun!

tomfuller- We looked into Amtrak, but it is just so expensive; including an Uber to the station we would spend almost $200 round trip for what would be a 90 minute drive.

Birdie- Thanks for the concrete tips about getting the most out of the show! Great advice!

I never spend more than two hours at the show.

I do find all the geezers from the tour buses to be super annoying.

If you go to the flower show website you will get parking info.

Welcome to the Quaker City.

Thin

Hi Blueswimmer,

I visited the Flower Show a number of years ago from Baltimore with my mother. Admittedly, I lived in Charles Village in Baltimore (so not far from Penn Station) at the time and took the train, but we didn't find the day too exhausting at all. I would think even with the additional onus of driving, you should be fine. I concur with Thin that after about two hours, I've reached my flower-enjoyment saturation point.

Have a great time! Daniel

In case you want to be one of the "old geezers" on the bus.
http://www.perkiomentours.com/tours/...r-show-23.html
I just hate driving in big cities and paying big bucks for 4 hours of parking.
SEPTA has a station close to the Convention Center so I would not be looking for an Uber ride.

My DH and I drove from the Philly suburbs to DC during Cherry blossom festival and rented bikes for the day and returned back to PHL that p.m. No problem you will be fine it is a snap to do. We also visited family in Baltimore on daily trips. Go for it---as said staying there for 3 hours is pushing it. That is enough. Get there early if you can would be the best thing to do. Enjoy!

It's not that expensive for Amtrak, fares are only about $36 each way. So I guess that $200 estimate was for 2 people, depends how much you really want to go. Spending $100 for something I really wanted to do would be worth it to me. And I'm sure the parking there isn't free, not to mention the hassle.

You can take the bus, although I never have. Megabus is only $5 going up and $22 returning. The bus up isn't quite as early as Greyhound, but you get there by 10:30. Their bus stop in Philadelphia is the 30th St train station, in Baltimore it's White Marsh.

Travelzoo has a special for Amtrak from Baltimore $24.00 each way. Good from 16 Feb-10 March. That is not a bad price. If you see this look into it--easier then driving.

427 N Broad St. seems to be the cheapest parking ($7.50).
http://theflowershow.com/plan-your-v...ctions-parking
You might want to leave Baltimore before 5 AM if you are driving.

Blueswimmer, that drive usually takes about 2 hours, & normally on a Sunday traffic is not too bad (though you never know about I-95 in Delaware). I usually just go north on I-95, then west on I-676 to the Broad Street exit. Definitely doable for a day trip. The convention center is barely off the highway, so there is minimal in-town driving.

We go every yr from the Northern VA/DC area. We pay for membership to the PA Horticultural Society, and along with that we get 4 tickets good for one dmssion each to the member's only hours (and you can stay for rest of the day) for the 1st two days of the show. We use two of those tix to get in on the first day ( Fri. Afternoon ) of the member's only hours. Then we use the other to tix for getting into the member's only hrs Sat morning, and we stay for a few hrs after to visit the sales area booths.

The difference btwn the members only hrs and the general admission hrs is night and day. You can walk around and pretty much feel you have the place to yourselves during the members only hrs. And it is not pricey to join and get those members only hrs. Check it out on the website.

Thank you for all the great advice! We have decided to drive up for the day and pay for parking. It's nice to think about flowers with all the snow on the way today!