euclid

I am spending July 2-4 in Philadelphia with wife and kids and was wondering if someone could review our itinerary and advise as to the safety of the areas we will be in and where we will be staying.
Please understand I am in no way trying to insult any Philly natives...I would be asking this no matter what city I was visiting. There are plenty of unsavory areas in my own hometown of Boston.

Saturday July 2nd: arriving around 11am, visiting the Mutter Museum. After lunch planning on walking through Fairmount Park to see the bulk of the major sites, probably from 5pm to 8pm.
Sunday July 3rd: Phillies game at 1pm, cheesesteaks at Genos, and then the Lights of Liberty show at Independence Mall.
Monday July 4th: touring through Independence Mall, lunch/dinner at Pasion restaurant on south 15th street, and then the concert and fireworks at the museum of art.
We are staying at the Wyndham at Franklin Plaza all three nights and were planning on walking instead of driving whenever possible.
I would welcome any feedback or alternate suggestions.
Thank you in advance.

schmerl

The biggest problem you will probably face will be crowds. The 4th of July activities in the city are very popular and now they are talking about the "Live Eight" concert which will draw HUGE crowds.

PaulRabe

This resident of (near) Philly realizes no offense was intended and thus none was taken. There ARE parts of Philly I get nervous when I drive through them during the day. But the areas where tourists hang out are NOT amongst those areas. The only POSSIBLE problem would be Fairmount Park as it begins to get dark; just be certain you have a good map of the park so you don't take a wrong turn as you exit.

And, as noted, Philly will be jammed to the gills while you're here. Don't even think of driving a car; traffic will be a nightmare, the drivers are ALMOST as nasty as those in Boston, and parking will be non-existent. Take mass transit for all of your trips. Go to

www.Septa.Org

for more info

schmerl

Also, go to www.gophila.com for listings of all the activities and restaurant info.

pb_and_j

Your plans to walk through Fairmount Park on the 2nd will need to be changed. The massive and free Live 8 concert is going to be on the parkway so there are going to be people everywhere.

You should be fine all the places you'll be going. It's a very busy weekend in Philly and the crowds will be good protection too.

Walter

I think you will be fine! I am a Philly native, and the areas that you're visiting, are fine.

Keep in mind when visiting Fairmount Park, if you are planning to visit some of the historic homes, they are only open during the day time, most of them closing by 4 PM.

And I second that, on driving in Philly. Don't bother! While it won't compare to that of Boston's, I still advise people to take public transportation or from where you're staying, I would just walk to the Art Museum.

euclid

Thank you all for the suggestions. Do you think I would have a problem driving from the hotel to Citizens Bank ballpark for the Phillies game or should I plan on taking a cab, bus, or metro??
Also, any suggestions on the best places to try to view the concert from?

Thanks again for the info.

cheapbutnice

the subway to the baseball game would be best. Hope that you have a fireworks game!It's fine during peak periods.I would try to not drive for the weekend if possible.Live8 is expecting 1M people in a huge area.It's mostly open viewing but predicting the sound quality over such a huge area is hard.