What to do in around Washington and Philadelphia...
Discussion
As per the title really – we are planning to hire a car as part of a 7 day trip touring between Washington and Philadelphia. Followed by a few days at the end to relax somewhere – golf, spa etc.
Any suggestions for an itinerary and then a final destination? (was considering this for the final part - http://www.chesapeakebay.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels-ch...
Thanks
Sidicks
Not a whole lot of excitement between Washington and Philly except Baltimore really, the harbour and aquarium is pretty good though. Chesapeake Bay is nice, I used to go sailing there.
Philly is quite small, having lived there for 4 years I recommend the Museum of Art and Fairmount park, Eastern State Penitentiary, 'Old City' for walking around, shops and square at Rittenhouse, a walk around South Street -shops and for a cheesesteak somewhere and a slice of pizza at Lorenzo's... A lot of the small restaurants in the centre Philly are also very good. Watch out driving in Centre City though- they're awful at driving there and the roads are sh*te.
Outside of town Plymouth Meeting and King of Prussia malls are good for discount shopping, much better than in-town. Further out you've got Lancaster county with the Amish and nice little towns.
What time of year are you going? If winter it gets bloody cold there with often a lot of snow. Spring and Autumn is great, summer boiling...
Philly is quite small, having lived there for 4 years I recommend the Museum of Art and Fairmount park, Eastern State Penitentiary, 'Old City' for walking around, shops and square at Rittenhouse, a walk around South Street -shops and for a cheesesteak somewhere and a slice of pizza at Lorenzo's... A lot of the small restaurants in the centre Philly are also very good. Watch out driving in Centre City though- they're awful at driving there and the roads are sh*te.
Outside of town Plymouth Meeting and King of Prussia malls are good for discount shopping, much better than in-town. Further out you've got Lancaster county with the Amish and nice little towns.
What time of year are you going? If winter it gets bloody cold there with often a lot of snow. Spring and Autumn is great, summer boiling...
Edited by chazola on Monday 22 October 15:05
chazola said:
Not a whole lot of excitement between Washington and Philly except Baltimore really, the harbour and aquarium is pretty good though. Chesapeake Bay is nice, I used to go sailing there.
Philly is quite small, having lived there for 4 years I recommend the Museum of Art and Fairmount park, Eastern State Penitentiary, 'Old City' for walking around, shops and square at Rittenhouse, a walk around South Street -shops and for a cheesesteak somewhere and a slice of pizza at Lorenzo's... A lot of the small restaurants in the centre Philly are also very good. Watch out driving in Centre City though- they're awful at driving there and the roads are sh*te.
Outside of town Plymouth Meeting and King of Prussia malls are good for discount shopping, much better than in-town. Further out you've got Lancaster county with the Amish and nice little towns.
What time of year are you going? If winter it gets bloody cold there with often a lot of snow. Spring and Autumn is great, summer boiling...
Thanks - likeky to be going end-August - expecting the weather to be 'fairly warm'!Philly is quite small, having lived there for 4 years I recommend the Museum of Art and Fairmount park, Eastern State Penitentiary, 'Old City' for walking around, shops and square at Rittenhouse, a walk around South Street -shops and for a cheesesteak somewhere and a slice of pizza at Lorenzo's... A lot of the small restaurants in the centre Philly are also very good. Watch out driving in Centre City though- they're awful at driving there and the roads are sh*te.
Outside of town Plymouth Meeting and King of Prussia malls are good for discount shopping, much better than in-town. Further out you've got Lancaster county with the Amish and nice little towns.
What time of year are you going? If winter it gets bloody cold there with often a lot of snow. Spring and Autumn is great, summer boiling...
sidicks said:
Thanks - likeky to be going end-August - expecting the weather to be 'fairly warm'!
Sweatier than satans jock strap.Pats for a cheesesteak (NOT ginos across the street), lorenzos and ritas cool ice- both on south st which is great for a wander.
Philadephia magic gardens (http://www.philadelphiasmagicgardens.org/ ) well worth a visit, and you will see his stuff dotted all around the place.
Be sure to go see the liberty bell.
As above, king of prussia mall worth a visit.
In dc most of the main attractions there are fairly obvious!
Edited by GCH on Monday 22 October 23:03
In Washington If you like aircraft the smithsonian institute is fantastic and if you have the time and inclination the extended part of it out by Dulles is even better - Enola Gay, Space shuttle, vietnam stuff, 'exotic' german WW2 stuff etc. easy to get a bus there and well worth it. If you don't like aircraft then then the constitution and declaration of independence documents are also interesting.
We did ten days around DC a few years ago, and hired a 4wd and headed out towards Virginia - as soon as you are 20 miles from the city it cools down and gets a lot less humid - we were there in August. The Blue Ridge mountains and surrounds are well worth a drive out to - ie the Shenandoah National Park - very pretty - we saw black bears there too. Lots of caves and stuff to explore around the base of the hills too if you like that sort of thing.
DC has been covered in other posts, but one thing not mentioned is it is well worth hiring a car one night after dark and having a tour around the monuments - they are much more atmospheric at night I found - especially the Korean one - not to be missed. If you can take it, the Holocaust Museum is outstanding, but not to everyones taste as it is quite harrowing.
Georgetown is nice in the evenings for food. Also take a picnic to the seating areas outside the botanic gardens one evening - lovely spot.
It's a great city - have fun.
(edited for shocking keyboard skills)
DC has been covered in other posts, but one thing not mentioned is it is well worth hiring a car one night after dark and having a tour around the monuments - they are much more atmospheric at night I found - especially the Korean one - not to be missed. If you can take it, the Holocaust Museum is outstanding, but not to everyones taste as it is quite harrowing.
Georgetown is nice in the evenings for food. Also take a picnic to the seating areas outside the botanic gardens one evening - lovely spot.
It's a great city - have fun.
(edited for shocking keyboard skills)
Watching hurricane Sandy news reports I remembered a few more places to visit near Philadelphia 
- if you like 'historic', Germantown is a nice suburb near Philly with shops/restaurants etc, Manayunk is quite vibey, Doylestown is pretty posh with nice restaurants and New Hope next to the river is a quaint little town with a historic railway etc... kinda place people from the city and car/bike meets go to hang out at the weekend.
- if you like 'historic', Germantown is a nice suburb near Philly with shops/restaurants etc, Manayunk is quite vibey, Doylestown is pretty posh with nice restaurants and New Hope next to the river is a quaint little town with a historic railway etc... kinda place people from the city and car/bike meets go to hang out at the weekend.Edited by chazola on Friday 2nd November 15:16
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