Philadelphia

By bus

Philadelphia is served by the Greyhound, Trailways, Bieber, and Peter Pan bus routes to cities across the U.S. The city is also served by a Chinatown Bus service, which began as a way to shuttle Chinese immigrant workers between various Chinatowns, but are now low-cost bus options for anyone looking to get in to Philadelphia from New York City or Washington, D.C. Although the buses are a bargain compared to corporate competitors like Greyhound, they are far from luxurious; they also use small terminals in both Chinatown districts, and have a poor reputation for safety, which can be daunting for less adventurous visitors.

To compete against the Chinatown buses in the low-cost, low-frills bus market, corporate bus companies have started Megabus and BoltBus services. In Philadelphia, these buses will arrive near 30th Street Station.

Apex Bus

The NYC stop is at 88 E Broadway. The stop for Philadelphia is on 121 N 11th St. The ride is about 1 1/2 hr.

New Century Travel

Offers service from both NYC and D.C. The NYC stop is at 88 E Broadway. The stop for Philadelphia is at 1015 Arch St. This bus is commonly called the "Chinatown Bus" because the pick up/drop off spot in Philadelphia is located in the outskirts of Chinatown and the likewise location in NYC is also in Chinatown.

Megabus

Provides service from NYC, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Pittsburgh, State College, Harrisburg, Toronto, Buffalo, Syracuse, Boston, Richmond, and Hampton; fares start at $1 when ordered far enough in advance. Buses arrive and depart from the north side of John F. Kennedy Blvd., just west of 30th St. near 30th St. Station.

BoltBus

Provides service from NYC, Newark, and Boston; fares start at $1 when ordered far enough in advance. Free wifi. Buses arrive and depart from 30th and Market Sts., near 30th St. Station.

Bieber Tours

Provides roundtrip service from Philadelphia Bus Terminal to Allentown and other eastern Pennsylvania locations.

By bus

If you buy tickets online, be sure to get on the right bus. Some companies trick you into taking the wrong bus and then charge you again.

By plane

Philadelphia International Airport IATA: PHL, ICAO: KPHL (http://www.phl.org/index.html) is the largest airport in the Delaware Valley, just minutes from the city and is served by taxis and the SEPTA R1 Regional Rail Line. Taxis offer a flat rate of $28.50 from the airport to Center City. The R1 railway line serves each terminal throughout the day until approximately midnight and takes about twenty minutes to travel between the airport and center city Philadelphia, making stops at all major commuter tunnel stations: 30th Street Station Amtrak, Suburban Station Penn Center, City Hall and Market East Station East Market Street, The Gallery, Pennsylvania Convention Center, Reading Terminal. Tickets for the R1 train can be purchased on-board the train, cash-only, for $7. Tickets purchased at ticket windows at stations in Center City cost $6. You can also buy a day pass for $11 valid on all regional rail trains after 9:30 a.m. except into New Jersey either on-board the train or at a ticket office. However, if you buy on-board the train be advised that to use your pass on SEPTA services other than Regional Rail, you will have to trade in your pass for an Independence Pass at a ticket office in the city center. A family pass is available for $25; the same restrictions apply. Alternately, the #37 SEPTA bus stops at all terminals Directly outside baggage claim and goes into South Philadelphia, terminating at the Broad Street Line subway station "Snyder." The trip costs $2 cash, payable to the driver.

The predominant carrier at PHL is US Airways (http://www.usairways.com), which offers flights to destinations throughout the U.S. and Europe, as well as a handful to Latin America. Southwest (http://www.southwest.com) has become US Airways' main domestic competitor at PHL, and the two airlines constantly attempt to outbid each others fares on many trunk routes.

Alternatively, you can fly to Newark International Airport IATA: EWR, ICAO: KEWR or Baltimore-Washington International Airport IATA: BWI, ICAO: KBWI, each of which has a more or less direct connection by Amtrak to 30th Street Station 1 hr from EWR; 80 min from BWI. Other New York and Washington-area airports are much less convenient.

Philadelphia proper also has the Northeast Philadelphia Airport IATA: PNE, ICAO: KPNE. PNE is Pennsylvania's 6th busiest airport. It opened in 1945, which was a great relief to the city, in which PHL then called the Philadelphia Municipal Airport was shut down. Currently, it operates as the city's general aviation airport and does not have scheduled commercial airline service.

By ship

The RiverLink and Freedom Ferry services (http://riverlinkferry.org) provide travel from Philadelphia to neighboring Camden, NJ between April and September. The service provides direct service to Camden's Susquehanna Bank Center on the Waterfront, a popular concert venue for the Philadelphia area. Access to the other waterfront attractions, including an aquarium, is also provided by the ferry service.

By train

The city is a major hub along Amtrak's (http://www.amtrak.com) Northeast Corridor and Keystone lines, with frequent trains at least once an hour during the day from some of the nation's largest cities. Inbound trains from Washington and New York arrive at least once an hour during the day; 30th Street Station is also part of Amtrak's Acela High Speed Corridor which allows for faster travel times between the major Northeast Corridor cities. The Keystone and Pennsylvanian trains arrive in Philadelphia many times throughout the day, with Keystone service between Harrisburg and Philadelphia arriving between 10-14 times daily and Pennsylvanian service between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia arriving once each day. Additionally, Amtrak provides service to Vermont, Virginia, Charlotte, and overnight service to Florida and New Orleans.

It's also possible to get to Philadelphia from NYC via commuter rail. Using this method, one would take New Jersey Transit from Penn Station to Trenton and then transfer to SEPTA's R7 regional rail. While this is about a third the price of Amtrak service from NYC, it is more than an hour slower.

All SEPTA regional commuter lines stop at the SEPTA Platform at 30th Street Station. Commuter rail is an efficient way to see the scenic Philadelphia suburbs and enjoy the shopping that the city's 'burbs have to offer. New Jersey transit to and from Atlantic City makes stops around the clock at the station. SEPTA's Market-Frankford Elevated Line Subway stops just one block outside the station at a newly-renovated station and is efficient for travel between 30th Street, Old City, and West Philadelphia.

As a last resort, and most costly depending on destination, 30th Street Station has a taxi platform just outside the main entrance that is served by all major Philadelphia taxi companies. Several rental car agencies have cars at 30th St Station.

By car

Philadelphia is located at the crossroads of many of the region's and the nation's most vital Interstates. Interstate 95 runs along the Eastern edge of Philadelphia as it traverses the East coast from Maine to Miami. In addition, Philadelphia is linked to the Pennsylvania Turnpike which traverses the state from east to west. The Northeast Extension of the Turnpike connects Philadelphia to the Poconos and Wilkes-Barre-Scranton. It is also served by I-76 and I-676, which connect directly to the New Jersey Turnpike and Atlantic City Expressway, and indirectly to the Garden State Parkway. Within the city, Route 1 also called the Roosevelt Expressway as well as Roosevelt Boulevard serves as a connector for Northeast Philadelphia and Center City.There are also bridges across the Delaware River that link Philadelphia to New Jersey. Of these bridges are Tacony Palmyra Bridge Route 73, Betsy Ross Bridge Route 90, Benjamin Franklin Bridge US 30 and Walt Whitman Bridge I-76.

Parking — You can park at the ends of the subway lines for very little. It is important to consider that Philadelphia is a city of 1.4 million and the center of a metro area of 6 million, and as such, the roads are congested round-the-clock and the parking is far from cheap. Should you choose to bring a car, check with your hotel about parking in the city. Legal street parking is available but is very difficult to find close to Center City attractions or hotels. Secured parking garages can cost $10-35 per day or higher in some cases. In the historic district, there were several parking options under $20. Visitors should also be aware that the Philadelphia Parking Authority is renowned even notorious for its efficiency and PPA parking enforcement personnel are as quick to write tickets as they are unlikely to yield to a violator's plea for leniency. Tickets that are not paid promptly quickly accumulate additional penalty fees. It is also worth mentioning that the only coins that the meters accept are dollar coins and quarters. Putting other coins in the meter will not give you extra time. Fortunately, depending on where you are in the city, a quarter can give you up to a half hour of parking. However, in such busy places such as Chinatown and Center City, a quarter can get you a measly eight minutes of parking. Recently, a new parking method has been brought about in the city. Although there are still parking meters throughout the city, some areas have a kiosk in which patrons can use bills not just quarters! to print a ticket which they leave on the dashboard.You can park and ride for $1.00 at AT&T station Orange line Mon-Fri.until 7:00pm but you must get there before 12:00pm.

Traffic — In terms of congestion Center City Philadelphia compares favorably to most large U.S. cities. Gridlock does occur, however, particularly during rush hour. Traffic generally moves at the slowest pace in the Chinatown neighborhood, on the numbered streets west of Broad and in the South St. and Old City areas on weekend evenings. Broad St. is "nicely" congested. The most heavily-travelled roads in the area are I-95, I-676/I-76 The Schuylkill Expressway aka "The Surekill", which connects Center City to the various suburbs west of the city, and I-476, the "Blue Route," which curves from the south to the west of Philadelphia, connecting I-95 with I-76 and, beyond that, the PA Turnpike. Rush-hour delays are common on all these roadways: During the morning rush-hour I-95 south-bound typically backs up between the Bridge St. and Girard Ave. exits and eastbound Rt. 76 The Schuylkill Expresswaytypically jams from Gladwynne to 30th St. During the evening rush-hour, I-95 usually slows from the Bridge Street to Academy Road exits. On I-676 and the west-bound Schuylkill traffic can be stop-and-go from roughly Broad St. potentially all the way to the so-called "Conshohocken Curve," just east of the town of the same name, effectively doubling the time it normally takes to drive from Center City to the PA Turnpike entrance at King of Prussia. Anyone planning to drive through Philadelphia during either rush hours would do well to anticipate traffic conditions and plan accordingly. In 2009, there has been roadwork in the late evening/early morning hours on I-76 and I-95, thus intensifying the traffic on those main routes.