Long Philadelphia weekend with kids by train?

[Anonymous]

Also want to chime in with a recommendation that Amtrak is one thousand percent a great way to travel with kids.

At the DC end, you'll be at the origin point of the train, and with kids you may get pulled from the line for priority boarding.

Coming home, you'll be getting onto a train that already has passengers. If the train is busy it might take you a moment to find seats together. I might suggest avoiding really busy times (like Monday PM after a holiday weekend, for example) if you are concerned about seating. You can also go sit in the cafe car, which has booth style seating with tables, but it doesn't have a spot for luggage.

You can get food and drink on the train. It's not excellent but you won't starve. Or you can bring something with you .

[Anonymous]

Benjamin Franklin stuff. Maybe read a child appropriate bio of him first.

If you stay at the Hyatt Centric, Vetri Pizza is across from the front door.

Oryoucould look for a hotel with a pool.

[Anonymous]

OP here- thanks everyone for the great ideas!! This all sounds like so much fun! I'm saving all these great ideas for the summer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I’d recommend this trip with kids that age. The train is very easy and there is lots to do for young kids in Philly. Franklin institute, please touch museum, liberty bell etc. you can also rent bike surreys along the river. Plenty of family-friendly restaurants, ice cream and water ice places. Have fun!

These are good suggestions.

In terms of walkability, Philly is very walkable and public transit friendly. William Gray III 30th Street Station is really beautiful.

The Please Touch Museum is quite isolated in its location in the park, so plan to take a cab to/from.

Franklin Institute is good for those ages. Getting a little shabby but it's very hands-on and interactive.

If you have kids who love dinosaurs, the Academy of Natural Sciences is right next door to Franklin Institute. It's kind of old-fashioned diorama-heavy museum, but they do have dinosaurs and a little nature center on the top floor. They have a pay-what-you-want event called Dinos After Dark on one Friday night a month, from 4-8 pm, with a beer garden and tacos.

Philly Art Museum is free on the first Sunday (and first Sat for Bank of America card holders) and has kids' programming:
https://philamuseum.org/calendar/event-series/art-kids

Penn Museum has sarcophagi, Roman stuff, mesmerizing crystal ball, etc.

There's also an interesting elevated park called Cira Green. NYC has the High Line, Philly has a public park on top of a parking garage, lol.

They might like going to the top of City Hall, which is free, I think. There are a bunch of other museums, like the Independence Seaport Museum and American Revolution museum.

You will all enjoy the hustle and bustle of eating at Reading Terminal Market. There are also some breweries with playgrounds in old city.

Downsides of philly:

1. all the museums are EXPENSIVE. There is a discount card, and some places have reciprocal admission with other places, but you might need to budget like 500 dollars for admissions, no joke.

2. Philly is definitely gritty, even in the downtown (center city and old city). Be aware of your surroundings. The subway can have a lot of unsavory activity (drugs, violence) compared the relatively placid DC metro, but the core of the city is so walkable and bussable and regional rail-able and cab-able that as a tourist you shouldn't have to use it.

Philly is far more gritty than DC…particularly the parts of dc most are familiar with.

If your kids haven’t already seen everything in dc, consider staying the city and enjoying the free museums.

[Anonymous]

Tip - get a $50 membership to the College Park Aviation Museum and you can get in for free at the Franklin Institute and Drexel Science Museum next door. It is a great investment with reciprocity at some great museums across the country.

Also, stay in Rittenhouse Square. Can walk to the 2 museums I mentioned plus great restaurants and nice shopping. It is also the safest area though there are still a lot of homeless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also want to chime in with a recommendation that Amtrak is one thousand percent a great way to travel with kids.

At the DC end, you'll be at the origin point of the train, and with kids you may get pulled from the line for priority boarding.

Coming home, you'll be getting onto a train that already has passengers. If the train is busy it might take you a moment to find seats together. I might suggest avoiding really busy times (like Monday PM after a holiday weekend, for example) if you are concerned about seating. You can also go sit in the cafe car, which has booth style seating with tables, but it doesn't have a spot for luggage.

You can get food and drink on the train. It's not excellent but you won't starve. Or you can bring something with you .

FYI that they are renovating 30th St station and there is no food available except Dunkin’ Donuts and one kiosk selling enormous bags of chips and candy. So if you are bringing food on the train home buy it before you get to 30th St. maybe they’ll be done by summer though.

I also wouldn’t trust Amtrak food. Cafe car randomly closes or runs out. I would buy a couple sandwiches at Wawa or some place and bring with for the train home.

[Anonymous]

add the Betsy Ross House

[Anonymous]

Watch out for the dirt bike riders on the sidewalks. They will seemingly appear out of nowhere and push you and your DC right off the sidewalk. Scary times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I’d recommend this trip with kids that age. The train is very easy and there is lots to do for young kids in Philly. Franklin institute, please touch museum, liberty bell etc. you can also rent bike surreys along the river. Plenty of family-friendly restaurants, ice cream and water ice places. Have fun!

These are good suggestions.

In terms of walkability, Philly is very walkable and public transit friendly. William Gray III 30th Street Station is really beautiful.

The Please Touch Museum is quite isolated in its location in the park, so plan to take a cab to/from.

Franklin Institute is good for those ages. Getting a little shabby but it's very hands-on and interactive.

If you have kids who love dinosaurs, the Academy of Natural Sciences is right next door to Franklin Institute. It's kind of old-fashioned diorama-heavy museum, but they do have dinosaurs and a little nature center on the top floor. They have a pay-what-you-want event called Dinos After Dark on one Friday night a month, from 4-8 pm, with a beer garden and tacos.

Philly Art Museum is free on the first Sunday (and first Sat for Bank of America card holders) and has kids' programming:
https://philamuseum.org/calendar/event-series/art-kids

Penn Museum has sarcophagi, Roman stuff, mesmerizing crystal ball, etc.

There's also an interesting elevated park called Cira Green. NYC has the High Line, Philly has a public park on top of a parking garage, lol.

They might like going to the top of City Hall, which is free, I think. There are a bunch of other museums, like the Independence Seaport Museum and American Revolution museum.

You will all enjoy the hustle and bustle of eating at Reading Terminal Market. There are also some breweries with playgrounds in old city.

Downsides of philly:

1. all the museums are EXPENSIVE. There is a discount card, and some places have reciprocal admission with other places, but you might need to budget like 500 dollars for admissions, no joke.

2. Philly is definitely gritty, even in the downtown (center city and old city). Be aware of your surroundings. The subway can have a lot of unsavory activity (drugs, violence) compared the relatively placid DC metro, but the core of the city is so walkable and bussable and regional rail-able and cab-able that as a tourist you shouldn't have to use it.

Philly is far more gritty than DC…particularly the parts of dc most are familiar with.

If your kids haven’t already seen everything in dc, consider staying the city and enjoying the free museums.

No it’s not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I’d recommend this trip with kids that age. The train is very easy and there is lots to do for young kids in Philly. Franklin institute, please touch museum, liberty bell etc. you can also rent bike surreys along the river. Plenty of family-friendly restaurants, ice cream and water ice places. Have fun!

These are good suggestions.

In terms of walkability, Philly is very walkable and public transit friendly. William Gray III 30th Street Station is really beautiful.

The Please Touch Museum is quite isolated in its location in the park, so plan to take a cab to/from.

Franklin Institute is good for those ages. Getting a little shabby but it's very hands-on and interactive.

If you have kids who love dinosaurs, the Academy of Natural Sciences is right next door to Franklin Institute. It's kind of old-fashioned diorama-heavy museum, but they do have dinosaurs and a little nature center on the top floor. They have a pay-what-you-want event called Dinos After Dark on one Friday night a month, from 4-8 pm, with a beer garden and tacos.

Philly Art Museum is free on the first Sunday (and first Sat for Bank of America card holders) and has kids' programming:
https://philamuseum.org/calendar/event-series/art-kids

Penn Museum has sarcophagi, Roman stuff, mesmerizing crystal ball, etc.

There's also an interesting elevated park called Cira Green. NYC has the High Line, Philly has a public park on top of a parking garage, lol.

They might like going to the top of City Hall, which is free, I think. There are a bunch of other museums, like the Independence Seaport Museum and American Revolution museum.

You will all enjoy the hustle and bustle of eating at Reading Terminal Market. There are also some breweries with playgrounds in old city.

Downsides of philly:

1. all the museums are EXPENSIVE. There is a discount card, and some places have reciprocal admission with other places, but you might need to budget like 500 dollars for admissions, no joke.

2. Philly is definitely gritty, even in the downtown (center city and old city). Be aware of your surroundings. The subway can have a lot of unsavory activity (drugs, violence) compared the relatively placid DC metro, but the core of the city is so walkable and bussable and regional rail-able and cab-able that as a tourist you shouldn't have to use it.

Philly is far more gritty than DC…particularly the parts of dc most are familiar with.

If your kids haven’t already seen everything in dc, consider staying the city and enjoying the free museums.

No it’s not.

Have lived in both and it really depends, IMO. I lived in Rittenhouse and regularly walked around there/Fitler Square/Graduate Hospital and over to University City, and it wasn’t gritty at all. I think the issue is that once you get east of Broad Street (which is still very much Center City) it can get kind of gross and gritty. It’s still safe enough, but definitely grittier than the nice parts of NWDC. I would not want to walk around with kids over there.

The other thing is that the homeless population in Philly is way up post-Covid. I was there recently and was shocked. They generally mind their business and aren’t menacing, but if you’re coming from Bethesda or somewhere like that you’ll definitely notice it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I’d recommend this trip with kids that age. The train is very easy and there is lots to do for young kids in Philly. Franklin institute, please touch museum, liberty bell etc. you can also rent bike surreys along the river. Plenty of family-friendly restaurants, ice cream and water ice places. Have fun!

These are good suggestions.

In terms of walkability, Philly is very walkable and public transit friendly. William Gray III 30th Street Station is really beautiful.

The Please Touch Museum is quite isolated in its location in the park, so plan to take a cab to/from.

Franklin Institute is good for those ages. Getting a little shabby but it's very hands-on and interactive.

If you have kids who love dinosaurs, the Academy of Natural Sciences is right next door to Franklin Institute. It's kind of old-fashioned diorama-heavy museum, but they do have dinosaurs and a little nature center on the top floor. They have a pay-what-you-want event called Dinos After Dark on one Friday night a month, from 4-8 pm, with a beer garden and tacos.

Philly Art Museum is free on the first Sunday (and first Sat for Bank of America card holders) and has kids' programming:
https://philamuseum.org/calendar/event-series/art-kids

Penn Museum has sarcophagi, Roman stuff, mesmerizing crystal ball, etc.

There's also an interesting elevated park called Cira Green. NYC has the High Line, Philly has a public park on top of a parking garage, lol.

They might like going to the top of City Hall, which is free, I think. There are a bunch of other museums, like the Independence Seaport Museum and American Revolution museum.

You will all enjoy the hustle and bustle of eating at Reading Terminal Market. There are also some breweries with playgrounds in old city.

Downsides of philly:

1. all the museums are EXPENSIVE. There is a discount card, and some places have reciprocal admission with other places, but you might need to budget like 500 dollars for admissions, no joke.

2. Philly is definitely gritty, even in the downtown (center city and old city). Be aware of your surroundings. The subway can have a lot of unsavory activity (drugs, violence) compared the relatively placid DC metro, but the core of the city is so walkable and bussable and regional rail-able and cab-able that as a tourist you shouldn't have to use it.

There is a bus that goes directly from near the Franklin Museum to the Please Touch museum. Should come up on google maps if you click on "transit"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I’d recommend this trip with kids that age. The train is very easy and there is lots to do for young kids in Philly. Franklin institute, please touch museum, liberty bell etc. you can also rent bike surreys along the river. Plenty of family-friendly restaurants, ice cream and water ice places. Have fun!

These are good suggestions.

In terms of walkability, Philly is very walkable and public transit friendly. William Gray III 30th Street Station is really beautiful.

The Please Touch Museum is quite isolated in its location in the park, so plan to take a cab to/from.

Franklin Institute is good for those ages. Getting a little shabby but it's very hands-on and interactive.

If you have kids who love dinosaurs, the Academy of Natural Sciences is right next door to Franklin Institute. It's kind of old-fashioned diorama-heavy museum, but they do have dinosaurs and a little nature center on the top floor. They have a pay-what-you-want event called Dinos After Dark on one Friday night a month, from 4-8 pm, with a beer garden and tacos.

Philly Art Museum is free on the first Sunday (and first Sat for Bank of America card holders) and has kids' programming:
https://philamuseum.org/calendar/event-series/art-kids

Penn Museum has sarcophagi, Roman stuff, mesmerizing crystal ball, etc.

There's also an interesting elevated park called Cira Green. NYC has the High Line, Philly has a public park on top of a parking garage, lol.

They might like going to the top of City Hall, which is free, I think. There are a bunch of other museums, like the Independence Seaport Museum and American Revolution museum.

You will all enjoy the hustle and bustle of eating at Reading Terminal Market. There are also some breweries with playgrounds in old city.

Downsides of philly:

1. all the museums are EXPENSIVE. There is a discount card, and some places have reciprocal admission with other places, but you might need to budget like 500 dollars for admissions, no joke.

2. Philly is definitely gritty, even in the downtown (center city and old city). Be aware of your surroundings. The subway can have a lot of unsavory activity (drugs, violence) compared the relatively placid DC metro, but the core of the city is so walkable and bussable and regional rail-able and cab-able that as a tourist you shouldn't have to use it.

Philly is far more gritty than DC…particularly the parts of dc most are familiar with.

If your kids haven’t already seen everything in dc, consider staying the city and enjoying the free museums.

No it’s not.

Have lived in both and it really depends, IMO. I lived in Rittenhouse and regularly walked around there/Fitler Square/Graduate Hospital and over to University City, and it wasn’t gritty at all. I think the issue is that once you get east of Broad Street (which is still very much Center City) it can get kind of gross and gritty. It’s still safe enough, but definitely grittier than the nice parts of NWDC. I would not want to walk around with kids over there.

The other thing is that the homeless population in Philly is way up post-Covid. I was there recently and was shocked. They generally mind their business and aren’t menacing, but if you’re coming from Bethesda or somewhere like that you’ll definitely notice it.

Well sure, but you’re describing most cities. There is a poster on this board who is afraid of cities and fear mongers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I’d recommend this trip with kids that age. The train is very easy and there is lots to do for young kids in Philly. Franklin institute, please touch museum, liberty bell etc. you can also rent bike surreys along the river. Plenty of family-friendly restaurants, ice cream and water ice places. Have fun!

These are good suggestions.

In terms of walkability, Philly is very walkable and public transit friendly. William Gray III 30th Street Station is really beautiful.

The Please Touch Museum is quite isolated in its location in the park, so plan to take a cab to/from.

Franklin Institute is good for those ages. Getting a little shabby but it's very hands-on and interactive.

If you have kids who love dinosaurs, the Academy of Natural Sciences is right next door to Franklin Institute. It's kind of old-fashioned diorama-heavy museum, but they do have dinosaurs and a little nature center on the top floor. They have a pay-what-you-want event called Dinos After Dark on one Friday night a month, from 4-8 pm, with a beer garden and tacos.

Philly Art Museum is free on the first Sunday (and first Sat for Bank of America card holders) and has kids' programming:
https://philamuseum.org/calendar/event-series/art-kids

Penn Museum has sarcophagi, Roman stuff, mesmerizing crystal ball, etc.

There's also an interesting elevated park called Cira Green. NYC has the High Line, Philly has a public park on top of a parking garage, lol.

They might like going to the top of City Hall, which is free, I think. There are a bunch of other museums, like the Independence Seaport Museum and American Revolution museum.

You will all enjoy the hustle and bustle of eating at Reading Terminal Market. There are also some breweries with playgrounds in old city.

Downsides of philly:

1. all the museums are EXPENSIVE. There is a discount card, and some places have reciprocal admission with other places, but you might need to budget like 500 dollars for admissions, no joke.

2. Philly is definitely gritty, even in the downtown (center city and old city). Be aware of your surroundings. The subway can have a lot of unsavory activity (drugs, violence) compared the relatively placid DC metro, but the core of the city is so walkable and bussable and regional rail-able and cab-able that as a tourist you shouldn't have to use it.

Philly is far more gritty than DC…particularly the parts of dc most are familiar with.

If your kids haven’t already seen everything in dc, consider staying the city and enjoying the free museums.

No it’s not.

Have lived in both and it really depends, IMO. I lived in Rittenhouse and regularly walked around there/Fitler Square/Graduate Hospital and over to University City, and it wasn’t gritty at all. I think the issue is that once you get east of Broad Street (which is still very much Center City) it can get kind of gross and gritty. It’s still safe enough, but definitely grittier than the nice parts of NWDC. I would not want to walk around with kids over there.

The other thing is that the homeless population in Philly is way up post-Covid. I was there recently and was shocked. They generally mind their business and aren’t menacing, but if you’re coming from Bethesda or somewhere like that you’ll definitely notice it.

I live in Philly. I don’t really think the homeless population here feels noticeably bigger -they were here pre-pandemic. Crime in general has gotten worse here, but it’s not so bad that I would say to avoid the city. If you are coming from Bethesda, you likely have seen the homeless population in DC. Philly will not cause you to clutch your pearls and faint…