Heading to Philadelphia for a visit in April to look at schools with high school junior son as well as visit the city for 3 days. Not sure what location is best .. Rittenhouse Square? City Center? Old City? Planning on not getting a car until we head out towards Maryland and DC to check out some other schools. So would have to pick up a rental car on a Friday morning. Flying out of DC and maybe I can even swing it to drop off the car upon arrival on DC so I wont have to pay to park a rental.

Any advice appreciated!!

Thanks!

I stayed at the Independent. Loved the location, beautiful rooms. Not a full service hotel, though, no pool or anything like that.

What schools is he looking at? UPenn, Drexel, Temple? If Drexel and UPenn, I'd stay in Univ City so he can get a taste of the flavor of that neighborhood. I loved the Inn at Penn, a Hilton, when I stayed there a few years ago. DD stayed at the Homewood Suites a couple of weeks ago and said it was fine. If you'd rather stay in center city, we'll need an idea of your budget. There are a lot of hotels covering all budgets spread over a number of neighborhoods.

Why don't you just take the train to DC?

Newbe - stopping in Baltimore to look at John Hopkins. Not sure if the train works for that stop.

Birdie....Taking the whole family on trip....and want to see the sites (I haven't been in Philly since I was a kid!) Budget around $200-$250 a night. Definitely looking at Penn, (Drexel if there is time)

Look at the Alexander Inn. It is between Rittenhouse and City Center. (12th & Spruce). It is a boutique hotel so it does not have all the amenities but I found it to be very conveniently located and reasonable priced. The rooms are small but how much room do you need to sleep.

Johns Hopkins (with an "s"). All of us alums are duty-bound to maintain our honor.

I would suggest staying in Rittenhouse area. The options around UPenn are meh. The Sheraton is OK if you can stay with award points. Inn at Penn is usually expensive and Homewood Suites is OK for access to the Penn campus but is not near any sites downtown.

I would suggest the Westin or the Warwick. Both are in walking distance to a few sites and lots of restaurants. And depending on what is happening in town, you can get either one on Hotwire at decent rates.

If you buy one adult full fare ticket the second is 50% off when doing college visits using Amtrak. https://www.amtrak.com/buy-one-get-o...e-campus-visit
You might want to check on the University of Delaware getting off in Wilmington.
The Baltimore station is not too far from Johns Hopkins.

Train is pricey... Maybe I'm looking at it wrong. There are 4 of us. Looks cheaper to rent the car for 1 night.

If you think the train is pricey, look into the cost of an Ivy League school for 4 years for only 1 child.
You didn't look at the Acela price did you?
While in Baltimore, check out the National Aquarium.

@tom...no kidding!!

Don't forget to budget for parking.

Going to see if I can pick up and drop off the car on the same day. No parking fees and some flexibility. The train is about $240 for 4 tickets on 2 legs - Philly - Baltimore and then Baltimore - DC and the car is about $100 (without parking) so even if I keep is for the night - its cheaper than the train (assuming parking is about $50 in the city.)

The college visit 50% off deal is blacked out for the date I need and student discount is only 15%.

I did a similar trip two years ago with my daughter. We flew to Philadelphia and took a train from the airport to the Inn at Penn and visited Penn, then we rented a car at an Enterprise that is a block from the Inn at Penn and we drove to Swarthmore (though I think we could have taken a train) and then we drove to Johns Hopkins. THe train station in Baltimore is not really walking distance to the undergraduate campus of Hopkins. We stayed at a Doubletree across the street from Hopkins. Then we drove to UVA, then to Duke and we returned the car at the Raleigh airport. Phew. I used to have energy!

You will be passing by the University of Delaware on the way if you drive so might want to look there as well. It is a fine school with excellent endowments so is more generous than many others with scholarship money. A lovely campus in a pleasant town.

Thanks for the feedback - any ideas on where to stay in DC close to GW?