Travel within the City - Philadelphia - TravBuddy

Transportation is important when visiting a city. Here are my opinions.

The Metro is Philly is weak in comparison to that of other cities. There are two major lines: the El (which runs basically along Market St.) and the Broad St. Line which, as you may have guessed, runs along Broad St. These lines intersect at City Hall at, wait for it.. Broad & Market. You can visit the SEPTA website (www.septa.org) for maps, stops, etc. If you are going to a Phillies/Eagles/Flyers/Sixers..(I know, I know, not many people are doing the last one), take the Broad St. Line, but make sure you have return tokens. Its a madhouse after the games if you need to purchase. If you drive to the game, park at FDR Park. It is really close and they don't charge. However, I have been recently informed from an inside source, that they now charge people to park their during Eagles games.

Buses are another option. I, myself, do not like buses. They stop too much, there are too many, they're loud, and they suck to drive behind. But, they do have a much broader range of places to go. The Bus stops in Philly are clearly marked with signs and list all the buses that stop at said point. Make sure you get on the right numbered bus, or you may end up in North Philly (not good). There are bus maps also available on the website, or at any SEPTA station.

SEPTA regional rails is another mode of transportation. The R1 runs to the airport, at about every half an hour from the center city stops. It is pretty cheap, like 6 bucks, and it drops off at all terminals. By far your best option to get to the airport, it takes about 20 minutes. A taxi will charge $26.25 flat rate to downtown. However, if you are traveling at a non-traffic type time, you can have the cab driver use a meter, this will land you a lower fare to most points downtown with minimal traffic.

Taxis are good if you are a)in a hurry b)rich or c)going out at night and won't want to walk because you may end up sweaty. They start off at $2.70 and are pretty much the same as taxi's wherever you go.

This leads me to my favorite mode of transportation: walking. Now, these are how long it takes me to walk from certain points. I am 24, in pretty good shape. I don't walk like I'm being chased, nor do I walk slow.

City blocks are 0.1 miles. I do not know what the cross street milage is. Maybe its available somewhere.
-Olde City to Center City is approximately 25 minutes, depending on the exact area. You can trust me on this one. I walked from 2nd & Arch to 17th & Market for the better part of 2 years.
-Center City to the Art Museum Area is about 15-20 minutes.
-Pen's Landing to the actual Art Museum is about 45-50 minutes.
-Market St. to South St. is about 10 minutes at any point.

That's most of the areas you will cover. These are just general tips. Using a map, you can estimate how long it will take you to walk to certain areas.