Philadelphia: where to stay, when to go and how to get around

Overview

Philadelphia is a big, plain-spoken American city that wears its history on the surface — Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell sit a few blocks from working neighbourhoods and a serious restaurant scene — and it is far easier to visit than its size suggests. The part you came for, Center City, is a tight grid squeezed between two rivers, the Delaware to the east and the Schuylkill to the west, and almost all of it is walkable. William Penn’s 1682 plan still governs the map: numbered streets run north–south, rising as you head west from the Delaware, and named streets run east–west, with City Hall marking the centre at Broad (which is 14th) and Market. Get that grid straight and you rarely need a map again.

It is a cheaper, less frantic city than New York or Washington, both of which are close by train, and it makes a good base for that reason. The honest caveats: summers are hot and sticky, winters are grey and cold, and the city’s fortunes are uneven — a few neighbourhoods carry a visible opioid and poverty crisis, Kensington most of all, and they are not places to wander into by accident. Center City and the areas below are safe and rewarding.

Where to stay

The decision is mostly which side of the grid, because Center City is compact and the subway is simple. Two lines do the heavy lifting: the Broad Street Line runs north–south under Broad Street, and the Market–Frankford Line (locals call it “the El”) runs east–west under Market Street, out to Fishtown one way and University City the other. Between them you can skip most walks longer than 20 minutes. Choose your base by atmosphere and budget.

Rittenhouse Square

The polished heart of Center City, built around a leafy square in the west end of the grid. This is where the best restaurants, bars and shopping concentrate, and where you can walk out of the door into a good dinner without planning. Stay here if you want the city at its most refined and you are happy to pay for it. The trade-off is straightforwardly price — it is the most expensive part of town — and it is more corporate and less characterful than the historic side.

Old City & Society Hill

The historic core in the east of the grid, by the Delaware: Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, cobblestoned Elfreth’s Alley and the redbrick townhouses of Society Hill. Stay here if the founding-era sights are your priority and you want them on foot before the tour buses arrive. The two halves differ: Old City has a loud weekend bar scene, so light sleepers should ask about the block, while Society Hill just south is genteel and very quiet at night — pretty, but little is open after dinner.

Washington Square West & Midtown Village

Immediately east of Rittenhouse, centred on the blocks locals call Midtown Village and the Gayborhood. This is the liveliest central area for eating and going out, dense with restaurants and bars, well connected and a little cheaper than Rittenhouse. Stay here if you want nightlife within stumbling distance and a central base. The trade-off is the usual one: the busier streets carry noise, and it is more crowded on weekend evenings.

University City

Across the Schuylkill to the west, home to the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel, and built around 30th Street Station — the Amtrak and regional-rail hub. Stay here if you are arriving or leaving by train, doing day trips, or want lower rates. The trade-off is that it is student-dominated and institutional, thinner on the kind of streets you wander for pleasure, and a river-crossing away from the historic sights. Fine as a practical base, less so as the reason you came.

Fishtown & Northern Liberties

North of Center City along the El, this is the reinvented industrial belt — the city’s music venues, breweries and much of its buzziest food sit here. Stay here if you are here for nightlife and cooking rather than monuments, and want a younger, scruffier-hip neighbourhood. The trade-off is distance from the historic core: you will ride the El or take a car for the founding-era sights, and the transition between polished blocks and rough ones can be a single corner.

When to go

Spring (April–June) and autumn (September–October) are the clear best windows: warm, walkable days and the city’s parks and river paths at their best. Summer is hot and humid — the mid-Atlantic swelter is real, and July and August are heavy — though it is also festival season along the Delaware waterfront. Winter is cold and grey, with occasional snow that the city handles indifferently; the upside is low prices and quiet museums. Two dates worth knowing: the Mummers Parade takes over Broad Street on New Year’s Day, a raucous, feathered local institution, and the run-up to July 4th fills the historic district and the Parkway with crowds and events — a good time to see the city at full volume, a bad one if you want the Liberty Bell to yourself.

Getting there & around

From the airport, the easiest route in is the SEPTA Airport Line regional train, which runs from all terminals to 30th Street, Suburban and Jefferson stations in Center City in around 25 minutes — cheaper than a cab and dropping you in the middle of the grid. A taxi or rideshare is quicker door to door and worth it late at night or with luggage. Once you’re in, you don’t need a car: Center City is walkable, the two subway lines cover the long axes, and parking is expensive and pointless.

30th Street Station is a major stop on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, which is the real argument for Philadelphia as a base — New York is a little over an hour away and Washington around an hour and a half by fast train, both worth booking ahead for the fare. For the New Jersey shore and some suburbs, PATCO and regional rail extend the reach further. Within the city, SEPTA buses and the West Philadelphia trolleys fill the gaps the subway misses.

Practicalities

Center City and the neighbourhoods above are safe by normal city standards; the honest warning is to avoid drifting into Kensington and a few outlying areas, which are dealing with a severe drug crisis and are not for casual exploration. Cards work everywhere and ATMs are everywhere. For transit, SEPTA’s contactless fare system takes tap-to-pay cards and its own reloadable card; a day pass pays off quickly if you’re riding more than a few times.

On food, the cheesesteak is the cliché and it is genuinely a South Philadelphia thing — the famous rival counters sit at one intersection there — but locals will tell you the roast pork sandwich, piled with sharp provolone and garlicky broccoli rabe, is the better sandwich and the one to order. The Italian Market on 9th Street in South Philly and the covered Reading Terminal Market near the convention centre are where to eat broadly and cheaply in one stop; the latter is also where to find scrapple at breakfast and a proper soft pretzel. In summer, water ice (say it “wooder ice”) is the local frozen treat. A hoagie is what the rest of the country calls a sub. Tipping runs 18–20% in sit-down restaurants and is expected, not optional.