I was planning on visiting Philly this weekend leaving from Washington dc. The weather forecast looks bad right now for Saturday when I planned to leave. We were going to drive.

In case we can come -- do the trolleys that tour around the historic sites operate in the winter? Are they open air or enclosed? I certainly would be nippy if it is the former.

Any suggestions? We want to take our college age son out for his birthday somewhere near UPenn or Center City. Any suggestions for a nice Italian place which is not extravagant but is very nice?

worf,

Yes, the trolley tours do operate in the winter and they are enclosed during the cold weather months. www.phillytour.com

Some good Italian restaurants to look into are Spasso at Front and Chestnut, Davios on 17th between Chestnut and Sansom, and Upstairs at Varalli at Broad and Locust.

http://www.spasso.citysearch.com/

http://www.davios.com/9.html

http://www.varalliusa.com/upstares.html


Also check out www.gophila.com for more on what to see and do in Philadelphia.

Have a great time in Philly.

Thanks, DavidDJ. I looked on the websites you recommended and got some great ideas. If we don't go this week, we'll go next. I'm really looking forward to it!

No problem. Glad you found some useful information on the websites.


Maybe next weekend will be better. I hear that the weather this weekend calls for snow, sleet, and rain.

Worf,

The weather forecasters are calling for 5-9 inches on Saturday and a foot for Sunday! I would come next weekend if I were you! But then again, Philadelphia forecasters have been wrong many times before!

I did the trolly in Oct when it was cold and wet, total waste of time! The plastic windows fog up and you can't see anything! Instead I would pick a few sites that you are interested in and just go. The Liberty Bell and surrounding buildings, Rodin museum, Museum of Art, etc.

We ate at Davio's and liked it although it seemed a bit overpriced. Our favorite meals were at Pasion! and Fork. Both are more comfortable, fun atmospheres (IMO) whereas Davio's is very serious and leaning toward the formal or business side of things. But food at all was excellent! But they aren't Italian so I'm comparing apples to oranges now aren't I? Ok to sum it up our meal for 2 with 2 glasses of wine was $100.

I'll top my Philly thread for you, it's just called Philadelphia.

Wendy