Philadelphia Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Philadelphia International Airport (215-937-6800, 800-745-4283; www.phl.org; 8000 Essington Ave), 7 miles south of Center City, is served by direct flights from Europe, the Caribbean, Mexico and Canada; and offers connections to Asia, Africa and South America. Domestically, it has flights to over 100 destinations in the USA.

Greyhound (800-229-9424; www.greyhound.com; 1001 Filbert St) and Peter Pan Bus Lines (800-237-8747; www.peterpanbus.com; 1001 Filbert St) are the major bus carriers. Greyhound connects Philadelphia with hundreds of cities nationwide, while Peter Pan concentrates on the Northeast. A return fare to New York City is about $42 (2½ hours one way), to Atlantic City $18 (1½ hours) and to Washington, DC, $43 (3½ hours). Capitol Trailways (800-444-2877; www.capitoltrailways.com) makes connections to Lancaster, Reading, New York City, and Washington, DC. NJ Transit (215-569-3752 within Philadelphia, 800-772-2222 within NJ, 973-762-5100 from out of state; www.njtransit.com) carries you from Philly to points in New Jersey.

Beautiful 30th St Station (215-349-3196; www.30thstreetstation.com) is one of the biggest train hubs in the country. Amtrak (800-872-7245; www.amtrak.com) provides service from here to Boston (regional and Acela express service $97-206 one way, 5-5¾ hours) and Pittsburgh (regional service $45, 7¼ hours). A cheaper but longer (adult/child $19/13; 2½ hours) way to get to NYC is to take the SEPTA R7 suburban train to Trenton in New Jersey. There you connect with NJ Transit (215-569-3752 in Philadelphia, 800-772-2222 from NJ, 973-762-5100 from out of state; www.njtransit.com) to Newark’s Penn Station, then continue on NJ Transit to New York City’s Penn Station.

Several interstate highways lead through and around Philadelphia. From the north and south, I-95 (Delaware Expressway) follows the eastern edge of the city beside the Delaware River, with several exits for Center City. I-276 (Pennsylvania Turnpike) runs east across the northern part of the city and over the river to connect with the New Jersey Turnpike.