Philadelphia lodging advice

I am going to Philadelphia for a conference on the Penn campus in a month. The hotel with the conference discount is full; City Center hotels seem awfully expensive, though some near the airport seem more reasonable, and I guess there's a frequent train? I don't know the city at all. Are there other outlying places where I could find a hotel at a reasonable price and have decent train/subway/streetcar service to near Penn's campus?

And while I'm in Philly, what railroad or transit sights should I definitely see? I've really only ever seen the yard at 30th St (from a train).

A friend from out of town always stays at the Microtel near the airport. It's a short walk from the Eastwick station on SEPTA's Airport line. Eastwick station is between the airport stations and the University City station, which is on Penn's campus.

Some of those airport hotels along Rt 291 rent by the "half day" and have "room service" if ya know what I mean.

Be careful down there......ya get what you pay for. And remember, the comforter and TV remote are the filthiest part of a sleazy hotel room.

If you are trying to Philly cheap. Stay outside of town in Conshohockin at the Marriott (2 blocks from the train station)

My advice. Buck up and stay in the city, enjoy some of the sights, bars, and restaurants.

During my annual trolley-riding trips to Philly I always stay at the Travelodge on Race Street behind the convention center. It's clean and relatively inexpensive and a five minute walk from Commercial Name Station at Market East.

That Travelodge on Race St. sounds like a good idea. You not only have 3 Regional Rail lines from The Station Formerly Known As Market East to University City station, but trolley routes 11, 13, 34, and 36 from City Hall have a 37th St. Station on the Penn Campus which may be very convenient once you find out which building the meetings are in. Conshohocken is OK, but there's only one train an hour off peak, and you may have to change at Jefferson or Suburban for University City, depending on the train.

On the SEPTA website (http://www.septa.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), if you click on Getting Around, then Philadelphia Street and Transit Map, blow it up to about 200%, and look at 16-G, there's a fairly detailed street map of the Penn campus area showing the locations of the 36th St. and 37th St. stations of the trolley subway, and the University City Regional Rail station, in relation to the campus.

Also refer to SEPTA's Center City Hotel Directory.

And my usual quasi-rant about SEPTA's treatment of visitors who're not familiar with the system: if you plan to ride more than once, make sure you look at various fare options that will give you a break on the full-cash "sucker fare" that many tourists unwittingly pay. If you're taking only the train ( = Regional Rail) be sure to either buy tickets in advance* or if you can't, be sure to get the surcharge refunded at any Center City ticket office. For buses, trolleys, and the subway (= Transit Division) you need to buy tokens** ahead of time to avoid a 45¢ extra charge. If you want to see more of the system, investigate an Independence Pass that will let you ride both parts of the system for a day, subject to some limits.

As far as things to see, you'll definitely want to see 30th Street Station*** where SEPTA and Amtrak meet, and try one of the Chestnut Hill lines to see the 19th-century heritage of the PRR or RDG. If you can make room for a traction-day, look at Route 15 which is equipped with renovated PCC cars. Also ride one of the subway-surface trolley lines from Center City out through West Philly. Take the Market-Frankford El to Upper Darby and visit 69th Street Terminal, where two of the original four suburban Red Arrow trolley lines still operate. The 101 to Media is fascinating as it goes through semi-wooded areas and ends up on State Street in Media, the only suburban town in the country that still has a trolley on its main street. Also try my favorite line, the Norristown High-Speed Line (still known to most of us as the P&W [Philadelphia and Western]), one of a tiny handful of interurban light-rail lines still operating.

(*) Or in SEPTA's dubious grammar, "advanced" (??)
(**) Another of SEPTA's homages to the 19th century
(***) 30th Street for now, but probably will be renamed by some corporate sponsor

Try the Rodeway Inn on Walnut near 12th

One peculiarity of 69th St. (who's going to buy that one?) is that if you go to the end of the first platform of the P&W you can observe 3 systems, with 3 means of current collection and 2 gauges, without moving your feet.
And if you ride the P&W, as JeffK suggests, maybe you can get out there, if the meetings end soon enough, in time to catch an express; timetables are available at SEPTA stations in Center City (Center City being Philadelphiaspeak for downtown). It's not everywhere you can ride what amounts to a light-rail line that blows by some intermediate stops at track speed.
And if you go to Media on the 101 at the end of the day, there are some nice restaurants on State St. with the trolley going by.

I've had family stay at the Fort Washington Holiday Inn with no complaints. Much cheaper than downtown or the Airport. Breakfast, Indoor pool, and five-minute walk to the train station. As others suggest you can spend the money you saved on delicious food & cocktails in Center City.

Google Transit should give you and idea of train time & frequency:

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Fort+Wa ... 422400!3e3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Depending on day of the week, use hotels.com or hotwire and expect to pay $100 to $120, plus taxes and fees, per night to stay in Old City. This is very transit friendly part of town, and that's an almost unbeatable rate. You can get to all the attractions by walking, and you can get to the Penn campus on the blue line with relative ease from Old City. Also on hotels.com, you may find the Sheraton on 17th Street to be in a good price range much of the time. From there, you can walk several blocks to the City Hall 15th Street station on the same blue line, or take certain regional rail lines such as Airport, Marcus Hook Wilmington, and Media Elwyn lines from SUBURBAN STATION at 16th & JFK Blvd.

Hotels.com gives Welcome Rewards members a 10% rebate towards a future stay after 10 valid nights. This is a great way to cash in on additional savings without even having to bid blindly on hotels just to save a dime here and there over time.

I would recommend taking a round trip ride all the way out and back on the west trenton line if you are able. It is part of the former CNJ/Reading main line between jersey city and the former reading terminal (also a good place to see) in philadelphia. It still retains some of that "olde tyme railroad" feel, and the view from the bridge over the delaware in october can be stunning if the leaves have started to change. Lots of freight action on that line (csx) as well.

25Hz wrote:I would recommend taking a round trip ride all the way out and back on the west trenton line if you are able. It is part of the former CNJ/Reading main line between jersey city and the former reading terminal (also a good place to see) in philadelphia. It still retains some of that "olde tyme railroad" feel, and the view from the bridge over the delaware in october can be stunning if the leaves have started to change. Lots of freight action on that line (csx) as well.

25HZ and Everyone: Good thought-just don't do it with a Independence Pass - the NJ $5 surcharge each way (total: $10) applies to West Trenton
travel...

Unfortunately unless you have ANY Weekly or Monthly SEPTA pass (All SEPTA passes are valid "Anywhere" on weekends) you won't get a break on
one way tickets to/from WT either...$9 each way...

What I would do is purchase at least one $3.50 Intermediate ticket ($7 round trip) if I had a I Pass and if I wanted to travel to West Trenton
badly enough...You can travel to Yardley on that same unlimited I Pass or purchase two Zone 4 tickets from CCP ($10 RT-Sat and Sun.)
which would be less expensive...Zone NJ is only Trenton (Trenton Line) and West Trenton only...

MACTRAXX

Thanks for all the suggestions. The conference actually came through with rooms on campus, but all your descriptions were great. I'm sifting through all the great railfan and fare advice to see what to do around the meetings. It's the Urban History Association, and I'm an urban historian, so I can justify skipping a panel or two to go look around, too.

Clearfield wrote:Try the Rodeway Inn on Walnut near 12th

I spent the night there once when I was up in Philly for 2 job interviews. I liked it.

I spent the night at the Quality Inn in Media PA and I liked it. You can take SEPTA from near it.

As for transit sites, I HIGHLY recommend a trip to South Street Bridge. You can see Amtrak, SEPTA, and CSX's Philadelphia Mainline as well as the CSX Harrisburg Highline. It's a very nice area too. I've never felt unsafe there and I'm VERY alert on those things.

Zoo Interlocking is another fun one to see, but it's a tricky one. On one side is the Philadelphia Zoo, on the other, a not so nice area.