Destination Experts - Can you review my Itinerary?

This might be the best Forum on Trip Advisor, Philly really is the City of Brotherly Love

Sept 10

Arrive 11 am

- Check in to hotel, drop off luggage if we can’t check in

- Lunch at Reading Terminal Market

- Site see around hotel – City Hall, Masonic Temple, Macy’s

- Check in and rest a bit

- Dinner before theater 6-8 Caribou Café or Friday,Sat, Sunday

- Theater- Show- State Fair

- Drinks in Old City or go back to hotel

Sep 11

- Breakfast at Reading Terminal

- Independence Mall area, Old City, Liberty Hall, Constituion Hall, US Mint, Wash Square

- Late Lunch at Gino’s, Pat’s- Explore Italian Market if time permits

- Phillies Game

- Drinks on South Street or Northern Liberties area

Sep 12

- Breakfast at Reading Terminal

- Site See possible things missed in Independence mall area

(Any Ideas if we see everything in Mall area day before- LOVE sign,Buildings?????)

- Nice Lunch around Rittenhouse Square , La Colmbre for Coffee

- Mutter Museum

- Logan Square

- See Rocky Statue at Philly Art Museum around 3ish, probably won’t go in

- Light Dinner at Jims Steaks or Tacconelli’s

- Options (Back to Philly Game – Favorite Team is Brewers and there in town) or explore town South Street, Helium Comdey Club, in Old City, Standard Tap

Sep 13

Flight Leaves at 11am, probably won’t get up early unless time permits

Destination Experts - Can you review my Itinerary?

Sorry, Forgot to add a couple things:

Staying at Downtown Mariott

Doing everything via foot,Bus or Subway and cab to bar areas

Will also fit Gelato in sometime

Destination Experts - Can you review my Itinerary?

Seems a bit packed, but do-able. I doubt you will be able to do Tacconelli%26#39;s. Most cab drivers probably can%26#39;t find it (even with GPS), and getting a cab coming back could be difficult- you would certainly need to call for one by phone (and don%26#39;t forget that you must reserve your pizza in advance). Besides, after having a Pat%26#39;s or Geno%26#39;s cheesesteak (Geno%26#39;s is better, BTW), you should get a _good_ cheesesteak at Jim%26#39;s for comparison.

If you head up to the Love sculpture (it%26#39;s not a sign), you can check out the amazing video wall at the new Comcast Center (world%26#39;s largest HD flat panel screen)- 17th %26amp; JFK Blvd. You can hit that between the Love statue and either the Mutter Museum or the Art Museum.

Don%26#39;t tie yourself down to La Colombre for coffee. There are many places around. Just stumble onto one. You can skip Helium unless you%26#39;ve never been to a comedy club before.

After the Phillies game, you will have to get back to town before cabbing up to NoLibs. NoLibs is a better option than South Street except that things are more spread out. 2nd street has the most options up there. Standard Tap is just another bar/restaurant. You can hit that during your NoLibs trip the first time. I would suggest exploring the bars in Old City instead.

You%26#39;re itinerary looks fabulous and you obviously put a lot of thought into it. My suggestions would be:

Sept 11: you have a lot planned for the historic area, so that it could take a whole day . I suggest you eliminate ';Late Lunch at Gino’s, Pat’s- Explore Italian Market'; in favor of lunch in the historic area or a walk over to Jim%26#39;s steaks on South st.

Sep 12

Rather than re-visit the historic area, I%26#39;d plan to spend the day more in the vicinity of the Centery City/Art Museum area. This could give you time to visit either the inside of the Art Museum, the Franklin Institute, the Eastern State Penitentiary, or take a walk along boathouse row, depending on your interests. As far as statues, the clothespin statute on 15th street and Market is iconic. I agree with Owlyn%26#39;s idea of putting the Comcast Video Wall on your itinerary. There is also a new foodcourt downstairs in the building as well as a very chic and trendy outdoor cafe (Table 31) on the plaza.

For your lunch also consider Marathon Grill at 19th and Market Sts if the weather is nice and you get there early enough (12 noon) to get a seat outdoors. This place is very reasonable but the food is wonderful, burgers, sandwiches, salads, soups... it is my favorite lunch place!!

http://www.marathongrill.com/index2.html

There is a great gelato place near Rittenhouse so save room for dessert after lunch

www.capogirogelato.com/wheretobuy.php?c=n

After lunch you may want to take a walk down Walnut stret to Broad St. for shopping

My thinking on the dinner choices is Caribou Cafe for the pre-theater, then skip the Phillies game (sorry!!) and do Friday Saturday Sunday on the second night.

Have a great trip.

I agree its a bit ambitious. Especially the 11th, your Indy mall is a full day for some people. I agree with taking Genos and Pats out of the equation, going to take you 2 or more hours for a mediocre at best sandwich.

On Sep 13 - You need to be at the airport by 9 AM, so you%26#39;ll be getting up early no matter what :)

Gelato?

Best place:

Capogiro

119 South 13th St

Philadelphia, PA 19107

(215) 351-0900

www.capogirogelato.com

Also, ';light'; and cheesesteak shouldn%26#39;t be used in the same sentence - they are heavy no matter the time of day!

Museum%26#39;s themselves take a few hours, liberty bell could have a line, independence hall tickets could be odd times. Factor in a lot of time for transportation - walking, cabs, etc. It looks good and busy but the small things will eat up a lot of the time.

I%26#39;d say skip south street unless you are going to Jim%26#39;s - even then, just do Campo%26#39;s and save yourself the trip all the way out there. Nothing of big importance or sites on South. Standard Tap is cool but factor that in to your other time in the Northern Libs to make best use of your time.

Get familiar with the subway stop locations ahead of time. I also suggest a ';Streetwise Philadelphia Map'; - it lists the major bus routes and gives all the subway stops. You%26#39;ll need it! :) Amazon or Barnes/Nobel is a good choice to find it.

Have fun, I think it%26#39;s doable if this is your one shot at Philly. More time would be great, but you do the best with what you have!

You could grab some cheesesteaks to-go for the plane ride home, too. I usually send people to Campo%26#39;s on the way out of town b/c it%26#39;s the best stop on the way to the airport! :)

Thank you for all your help on this trip.

One thing for sure, you%26#39;ll never run out of places to see, do and eat! Some other suggestions if you have time. If you do end up around the Art museum area the walk around the river is always nice, and the historical Eastern penintentiary in the fairmount area is worth a visit. If you need refreshments and libations plenty of eateries/bars around Fairmount. Back around Rittenhouse area, you will also find the second Capogiro gelatto on 20th and Sansom, Tinto(Basque region tapas), La colombe 19th/Sansom (go for the coffee and ambiance, it%26#39;s not starbucks), or Tria 18th/Sansom or 12th/spruce(wine,beer cafe)and a small byob Italian resto called Salento on 2216 Walnut. Enjoy your visit and come back soon!