first time to Philly

My friend and I are coming out to Philadelphia for the first time to see a Genesis concert. We are planning to spend 3 nights in Philly, 1 night in Cape May, and either 1 night in Gettsburg or Kennett square to visit Brandywine and Longwood gardens. Given the limited time, does anyone have advise as to which place we should go?

first time to Philly

Kennett Square is only about 45 minutes to an hour from Philadelphia. Gettysburg is much further. So if you are looking to stay close to the city and the airport, Kennett Square would be my suggestion.

Cape May is about an hour and a half east of Philadelphia.

If you do want to see some famous American history battle sites close to Philly, there is always Valley Forge park, and Washington Crossing on the Delaware River.

first time to Philly

Gettysburg is great, but is about 125 miles from Philly and not at all convenient to any of the other places you want to visit.

I grew up a few miles from Brandywine and, unless you are a real Revolutionary War buff, doubt that a visit to Brandywine Battlefield would take you more than two hours. On the other hand, if you really want to relive one of the war%26#39;s major and very important (but generally not so well-known) battles, you could spend an entire day doing that. It just depends on your level of interest and knowledge. [For a detailed and historically accurate description of that batttle check out ';The Philadelphia Campaign - Brandywine and the Fall of Philadelphia, Volume I by Thomas J. McGuire. He also has a smaller volume on the battle alone. Both, along with other works of his, are available on Amazon.]

Brandywine is a few miles north of Longwood Gardens. If you are driving from Philly, you would be going south on US 1 (Baltimore Pike) and come first to the Brandywine Battlefield, then to the commercial area of Chadds Ford (check out the Brandywine River Museum if you have time) and then on to Longwood. If you don%26#39;t plan to spend a lot of time at Brandywine, you could get an early start and do both Brandywine and Longwood in the same day. I highly recommend Longwood by the way.

You won%26#39;t have time, but another really worthwile attraction within 5 or 10 minutes drive from Longwood is Winterthur, a beautiful Dupont estate that is now a museum and is just over the state line in Delaware. All of the above have websites.

If Longwood is on your list, I would probably say stay in Brandywine, there is not much in the way of hotels in Kennett itself that are decent. There are some nice B+Bs down oxford way, thats about 20 mins PAST the gardens from Philly.

Gettysburg is a HAUL. Given your limited time frame, I%26#39;d probably say skip it, as there are actually a couple of things to do up there that you won%26#39;t have time for.

If you find yourself with a little bit of time on your hands, about 30-40 mins further down than Longwood Gardens is the Herr%26#39;s chip plant, which does a tour. Not worth a trip in itself, but if you find yourself finishing Longwood and Brandywine early, might want to give them a call.

Thanks for all the info! I will put it to good use! I had a funny feeling we were trying to do too much in so little time. Can%26#39;t wait to go...

wrinkles