need help with 1 day itinerary

will be driving into philly on an early saturday afternoon in october or november, leaving late sunday afternoon. would like advice on where to stay (good location, clean, relatively inexpensive), must-see things and best place for cheesesteaks. also reading about the trolley, is it true only runs til beginning of september? what%26#39;s best way to get around? definitely want to visit italian section of town. like historic sites, markets, etc. not big into large museums. sorry for so many questions. thanks for advise

need help with 1 day itinerary

I%26#39;ll answer one, maybe 2 -

The Phlash service stops labor day weekend. There is a hop on/hop off tour trolley that operates all year round but that is more expensive.

Reasonable hotels? - My vote would be the Holiday Inn Express Independence Mall - rates are usually reasonable and it s clean, close to all historic stuff.

need help with 1 day itinerary

loonbeam, thanks for info. do you know name of that hop on/off trolley so i can check it out?

There are 2 I think. I have only ever dealt with the Philadelphia Trolley works tours, which have several options. The site is phillytour dot com. When I planned events, we probably sent 200-300 people on them, got a few negatives here and there, but the vast majority of returns were positive.

They are also part of the CityPass program, but for one day thats not rally an options.

Cost appears to be $27 for a 24 hour ticket, with a discount for buying online, for either the double decker bus or the trolley (I don%26#39;t think they are interchangeable, you can ask). $10 for a kid. They also have carriage rides. I%26#39;m partial to the bus, because there is more room than the trolley%26#39;s which can fill up especially on weekends.

One note, the online brochure for Philly trollys still says Phlash runs till November. It doesn%26#39;t, they changed it, if you check the phlash site it will confirm they end Sept. 3...

For the hotel, you can check out Hotwire or Priceline. If you give me your date of stay, I can help you find a hotel. Only caveat is that your date needs to be firm - no cancellations with either website.

Cheesesteaks recommenations on this forum usually center around Jim%26#39;s Steaks (4th and South) or Campo%26#39;s (2nd and Market.) I%26#39;m a Jim%26#39;s fan, that being said, I haven%26#39;t ventured over to Campo%26#39;s yet to try one of their steaks, but everyone raves.

The Italian section of the city you are referring to is South Philly and the Italian Market on 9th street is a fun, open-air market. There are also a lot of very good Italian restaurants in South Philly if that is your thing - if you%26#39;d like, I can recommend a great place for dinner.

Hope this helps - good luck!

Suzanne

Philly has much to offer. What do you like to do?

There is a great debate on who has the best cheesesteak. I think you should visit Pat%26#39;s or Gino in the Italian section of town. It is a scene that should not be missed. They are across the street from each other.

Philadelphia Magazine just came out with the Best of Philly 2007 and you can find the results online. It has many ideas fon resturants.

thanks to all for great info. what%26#39;s the best way to get to south philly? i do have a car so is it better to just drive there, what%26#39;s parking like in south philly? are the historic sites of the city in walking distance? thanks again

The historical sites are mostly in one area and you can park and then walk to the individual sites. Parking in South Philly, the Italian section is crazy. There is not mjuch room to park but i do it.

thanks everyone

The only difference between the Philadelphia Trolleyworks tour and the Big Bus Tour is the type of vehicle used.

Regarding cheesesteaks, if you plan to focus on historic site the Campo%26#39;s (my favorite) will be closest. It%26#39;s on the 200 block of Market Street. Pat%26#39;s and Geno%26#39;s do not offer as good a product, but the are fun.

The top food market in Philly is the Reading Terminal Market (readingterminalmarket.org) at 12th and Filbert. Both it and the Italian Market have Saturday as their busiest days. Either place provides great fun and great eating.

Lynn