Washington to Philadelphia

Hi,

Are them some must sees when we drive from WashingtonDC to Philly ?

We will probably drive sat 7 oct to Philly. Any must sees on the route between these 2 cities ?

Any suggestions for the route between Lancaster/Gettysburg and WashingtonDC ?

Washington to Philadelphia

I wouldn%26#39;t say there are any ';must see%26#39;s'; but you could stop by in Baltimore maybe the Inner Harbor area. You don%26#39;t want to go too far into Baltimore and get lost or anything. It%26#39;s only a little over 2 hours to get to Philly from DC.

Gettysburg is in a different direction that Lancaster. But from Lancaster is about a little over 2 hours from DC:

-295

-95 North

-695 toward Towson (this is a left exit all others are on the right)

-83 North toward York, PA

-30 East

From there Lancaster is right there on the local roads just depending on where you were going in Lancaster. If its just to see the Amish countryside or stop at Sound and Sights Stage Theater you could exact directions from www.mapquest.com

To Gettysburg is only about 1.5 hours.

-495 North

-270 toward Frederick

-40 West then it turns into 15 North

and that will take you directly to Gettysburg. If you are going to the Battle of Gettysburg museum area, I don%26#39;t know the exact street maybe mapuest could help.

From Lancaster to Gettysburg or other way around, you would get on 30 West if coming from Lancaster and 30 East if coming from Gettysburg.

Washington to Philadelphia

It depends on your interest and how much time you want to spend. The Baltimore Inner Harbor is nice, but there%26#39;s not much to see just walking around. You may want to check the Baltimore attractions page on TA to see if anything of the top sites for Baltimore are of interest. There%26#39;s also Fort McHenry - http://www.nps.gov/fomc/

Further north, there%26#39;s Wilmington and the Brandywine area of PA. Longwood Gardens comes to mind. Wilmington has several museums too. Again, check the Wilmington attractions page to see if anything is worth your time - especially if you only have one day. Personally, I think it%26#39;s best spent in Philly. There%26#39;s so much history and good food there!

If you were doing a ';road trip'; (I love those!), there are, in fact, oodles of things to see along the way via any number of different routes. But, this particullar drive for you is essentially a ';commute'; between Philadelphia and DC. So, I think mopsydog%26#39;s idea of spending a bit more time in Philadelphia is a great one :-)

Have you scrolled through these Philadelphia web sites?

www.independencevisitorcenter.com/bookit.htm

http://www.gophila.com

www.frommers.com/destinations/philadelphia/

If you have the time once you%26#39;re in DC, consider making a day trip to Baltimore (perhaps via the commuter train on a weekday, which is cheaper than using Amtrak -- and less hassle than driving/parking in B-more) -- it%26#39;s a fun place to visit too!

Thanks, that%26#39;s really helpfull.

We will travel from Niagara Falls to Lancaster/Gettysburg to see the amish/history things.

Than we travel to Washington, find a hotel and stay 2 nights.

Maybe we book a hotel when we are in Lancaster via priceline or web.

We can spend one night in Philly and than travel to NYC.

Our trip takes 3 weeks and we have some spare nights so maybe we can stay somewhere longer.

thanks

You ARE doing a road trip, what fun! What%26#39;s especially nice about staying in the Lancaster area is the variety of accommodations -- not just chain hotels/motels where the rooms are like those anywhere.

A unique possibility is the Red Caboose Motel where you stay in your own (redone) train caboose car -- I%26#39;m willing to bet there%26#39;s nothing like that in The Netherlands :-)

http://www.redcaboosemotel.com

tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g53772-d113011-鈥?/a>

Or perhaps you%26#39;d like to stay on a farm? Lancaster County has more of those accommodations than I think anywhere else in the USA!

padutchcountry.com/lodging/working_farm.asp

As for Gettysburg, I can personally recommend the Gettysburg Motor Lodge (now part of the Quality Inn chain) -- not fancy, but reasonably priced, clean %26amp; comfortable accommodations, super convenient location AND both outdoor %26amp; indoor pools:

http://www.gettysburgqualityinn.com

Also, I suggest that you do hire the services of one of the specially trained, licensed Battlefield guides who will accompany you in your own car for ~3 hours -- personable %26amp; very knowledgeable, they add so much to your appreciation, and it%26#39;s better/easier than having your nose stuck in a guidebook! For more info, take a look at:

http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/pln-vst.htm

www.gettysburgtourguides.org/index.html

And here%26#39;s an informative post from the Gettysburg Forum re: the battlefield guides:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60798-i335-k68474鈥?/a>

I%26#39;m really impressed by the long reaction. Thanks !

We will really check out that motel, looks really nice and as I can see on the candid pictures you will probably feel like one of them.

Thanks a lot, I saved your reply to our word-doc-planning.

we%26#39;re leaving saturday with flight AMS-EWR

thnx

Just an FYI re: EWR, kevertje: most international flights arrive at/depart from Terminal B; Continental uses Terminal C which is far superior in terms of ';amenities'; (dining, shopping) and is a nicer terminal overall.

So, if you get off a plane at Terminal B, and after going through customs, would like to take a bit of a breather before tackling the next leg of your trip, hop on the monorail (it%26#39;s free) to Terminal C; e.g., a root beer ';float'; (ice cream %26amp; non-alcoholic root beer served in a frosty mug) from A%26amp;W could be the perfect pick-me-up after that airplane flight :-)

panynj.gov/CommutingTravel/鈥wr_shop.html

WISHING YOU A WONDERFUL THREE WEEKS