For spring break this year (early march) a girlfriend of mine and I are going to visit her home town of Philly, and not only are we doing Philly for a day or two we are going to go to New York City for a day and somewhere in Jersey as well. I have never been to any of these places and I’m wondering if you could all help me/answer some questions:
Philly: So aside from eating a cheesesteak what else should I do there? She said that we will probably go to the art museum which sounds awesome but are there any other museums there that I should see? I think we’re gonna drive by Lincoln Financial field, and see the Rocky statue (at a library? I think?) but what else is there? A history museum or science one? or a sight that’s fun or other food to eat or something fun to do? I think we are having a day and a half there
NYC: This is the biggest question mark I have. I have never been to NYC and we are only going to spend a day there…so what are the absolute can’t miss things? I’m pretty sure we are going to Times Square and I’ll want to see Central Park…but what else? NY is huge (I’m assuming) so I honestly have no idea if you even CAN get to the park from times square, or visit 30 rock, or Empire State, or Statue of Liberty, or anything like that.
Another NY question is this…what’s the best way to get there from Philly? Should we try and take a train there? or should we drive? CAN you even drive to NYC? I know that it’s gonna be a couple hour trip up and back either way, but from an efficiency standpoint how should we go about doing it? This is what I’m most excited about so any help would be appreciated on this one
Jersey: So we are apparently going to a beach she went to when she was younger, and I don’t exactly know where it is (hour and a half away she said) but if anyone knows of anything cool to do in Jersey by all means list it. Although it IS Jersey so…you know…(I keed! I keed!)
Last thing to keep in mind…I am by no means doing this super poor or without spending ANY money but I’m still in college and can’t just spend money out the wazoo so don’t think you have to give me suggestions only Scrooge would like, but don’t think I can spend a crapload either
Thanks so much for any help you can give. I’ve got a good 4 weeks before breaktime so if you have any questions for me we can help.
Philly: go to the Mutter Museum (if you’re not squeamish), and go to the Eastern State Pen and see Al Capone’s cell. Get a bite (or 10) at Reading Terminal Market. I had a day and a half in Philly a few years back and that’s what I did, FWIW.
The Rocky Statue is at the bottom of the steps at the Museum of Art.
Take the train, its easy, drops you off right in Manhatten and you don’t want to drive or have to park in the city. You can get off at Penn Station, walk through Times Square and by the Empire States Building on your way to Central Park. Walk through the park and along the east side are most of the “big name” museums: the natural history museum, the met, the guggenheim. If I were you I’d walk it but if you don’t want to (or the weathers bad), the subway is affordable, easy to navigate and takes you more or less from any place in Manhatten to any other place in 10-25 minutes. The Guggenheim only takes a few hours, the other two you could spend many days inside, so you should easily be able to kill the rest of the day there.
If those don’t appeal to you, The Intrepid is pretty cool. Its a WWII aircraft carrier that’s been turned into a museum. I also like the Cloisters, which is a museum of Medieval art up in the NW corner of the island built in a replica of a European Monastary. Its kind of out of the way, so you get to see a different part of the city, its on a nice park overlooking the river. Too far to walk from Penn Station, but again, the subway is pretty quick and easy.
I just want to second the suggestion of taking the train. There’s nothing between Philly and NYC that will make you wish you’d driven (at least when you only have a day), and the city driving and parking would be a pain. Plus, you have to deal with tunnels or bridges, which could be a nightmare depending on the day you go.
I can’t recall anything that great about my Philly visits. The market near downtown (Reading Terminal, apparently) was good for lunch. The next time I go to NYC, I want to spend a lot of time in Central Park. I loved it, but never felt like I got to see much of it. The Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building were great, too. It’s hard to say, “Skip Times Square,” but I wouldn’t make it a top priority.
The philly science museum (Franklin something maybe?) is good, though perhaps aimed a little more at kids than adults. Very hands-on experimental stuff, so if you’re an excited geeky kid at heart, you might like it.
To go from Philly to NYC, naturally you take NJ Transit. It’s basically commuter rail from NYC that goes all the way to Philly. Amtrack will generally be more expensive and have a sparser schedule. There’s probably some el cheapo bus as well, but the train really isn’t much and you may as well enjoy the train experience. Driving is a ridiculous idea if you’re just going in and coming back; you’ll spend more on parking than you will on train tickets, and have to deal with the hassle of traffic and navigating, instead of relaxing on the train.
(But you want to see Times Square and 30 Rock? Seriously? Have you never seen tourists from Iowa before? Because that, plus a boring building, is what you’ll see in those places. I mean, when I was a college kid, we wanted to go see Greenwich Village and tattoo parlors and catch a live Ramones show or something. Darn kids these days, too much respect I tell you. Hey, start mumbling and slouch a little bit! And get over here and trample my lawn! )
New York is large in population, but Manhattan is physically small (12 miles long at it’s longest point; 4 miles wide at its widest point). You can walk from Times Square to the southern edge of Central Park in about 10 minutes. They are about 10 blocks apart, basically half a mile.
You can’t get NJ Transit in Philly. You get SEPTA, which is a Philly-based commuter rail, and take it to Trenton, then change in Treton for NJ Transit, which will take you to Penn Station, the exact same place Amtrak would. It has a million stops so Amtrak is quite a bit faster. But SEPTA/NJT is usually cheaper.
If you want to see the Statue of Liberty but not spend lots of time standing in line or lots of money, take the Staten Island Ferry, roundtrip from the southern tip of Manhattan (a spot known creatively as “South Ferry”). It’s free and it passes fairly close to the Statue.
Parking is a pain in the ass and expensive and you may or may not get stuck in traffic, which could eat up a good chunk of your day. On the other hand, with the train you are stuck with their schedule, so may not get as much time to do stuff as you’d like.
2 clarifications: The (excellent) Museum of Natural History is on the west side of Central Park, almost directly across from the (excellent) Metropolitan Museum of Art. The (excellent) Cloisters is not just a replica, but was built out of several abbeys that were brought over in pieces from France. It’s especially atmospheric if the weather is cold and wet.
The Empire State Building and (especially) the Statue of Liberty are big time sinks. Not that they don’t have their own appeal, but you would have to be really interested to squeeze it into a day trip from Philly.
The buildings in Rockefeller Center are nice and all, but there are nice buildings all over the place. Times Square has a bunch of the same stores and restaurants that you have at home. There is much more interesting shopping and food elsewhere, but since you’re going to be in the area, it would be perfectly understandable to spend a few minutes looking at the pretty lights. I wouldn’t bother with Manhattan’s Chinatown and Little Italy, there’s really not much of interest.
In Philly, make sure to see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell (why hasn’t anyone mentioned that?)
Do you know the name of the beach that you’ll be going to? There’s a lot of different islands that are convenient to each other. For example, if you’re going to Stone Harbor then Cape May is nearby, with the decaying WW2 bunker, the 1800’s lighthouse (still in operation), and more.
I’ll suggest that too since I love the hands on stuff and am a big geek. And to clarify I don’t really have my heart set on 30 rock or (to a point) Times Square they were just things that I thought of.
So by your estimation how long of a train trip is that if I go to trenton then the NJ transit? Time isn’t a huge huge factor but it’s something. I also knew pretty much from the get go that we would train it up there, just didn’t know exactly how. I think the free ferry around is perfect! I wouldn’t want to really GO see the statue, but if it’s free and I get close enough to snap a photo and see her then I am good to go.
I really want to see the Natural History Museum, and the art ones I am interested in but not hugely. I think my interest in the Empire State Building is the same as my interest in Lady Liberty, I’d like to see them, but don’t necessarily need to get up close and personal.
I’m seeing a lot of “(insert thing here) in NY is ok but not too worth it.” which is good that I’m weeding stuff out, but aside from Nat History what IS worth it?
Also any suggestions for food? I want a hot dog from a cart and pizza…where should I eat pizza?
Which zoo? There’s a few. The Bronx Zoo and Brooklyn Aquarium are freakin’ awesome, but I don’t see how you could fit either in. The Central Park Zoo is quite nice, small enough to hit the highlights in an hour or so and conveniently located. I haven’t been to the Prospect Park Zoo or Queens Zoo in so long, I wouldn’t even hazard a guess what they are like but, again, they are outside of Manhattan.
Food? Get some knishes, or a pastrami (or corned beef) sandwich, or chicken livers, at a Kosher deli. It doesn’t have to be a famous one. Papaya King and Gray’s Papaya hot dogs are justifiably well known.
Unfortunately, it’s in Coney Island, which is about an hour away from midtown Manhattan, by subway. So, 2 hour round trip+several hours to see it=a lot of your total time.
(since the last time I did this trip, they seem to have unified the systems a little, but you will still have to change trains in Trenton).
For pizza in Manhattan, Lombardi’s claims to be the birthplace of New York Style pizza. The place is pretty small and its not the cheapest ($20 for a large basic pizza). I’ve been there and it is a good example of its type, especially for the being-right-in-manhattan convenience factor. John’s on Bleeker is also good. The difference is, Lombardi’s uses thin-sliced fresh mozzarella so it looks like this, while John’s uses grated standard mozz, and look like this. IMHO fresh mozz has a better flavor but can make the crust soggy as it sits, so its a tradeoff.
