Philadelphia: how to get there and around
Airports, stations, ports, where the hotels are and what the numbers say, from public data rather than a brochure.
Philadelphia is a city of 1.6 million people in United States (Pennsylvania), 8 m (26 ft) above sea level. The nearest large airport is Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), 11 km (7 mi) from the centre. It has a dozen or more railway stations on record, including Suburban Station. Our booking partner lists 762 places to stay.
Key facts
Open Philadelphia in Google Maps
Daylight in Philadelphia runs from about 9 h 23 min a day in late December to 15 h 4 min in late June (computed for 39.95° latitude), which matters more than the forecast when a day is built around one flight or one crossing.
Getting there
Philadelphia is served by 6 airports with scheduled flights within 100 km. The closest large one is Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), 11 km (7 mi) from the centre, whose 12,000-ft runway is long enough for long-haul wide-body aircraft. The alternatives are Trenton Mercer Airport (TTN, 47 km), Wilmington Airport (ILG, 49 km), Atlantic City International Airport (ACY, 75 km), Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE, 81 km), Dover Civil Air Terminal/Dover Air Force Base (DOV, 95 km).
Flights to Philadelphia: every airport, routes and times
By rail: stations on record include Suburban Station, 30th Street Station, North Philadelphia station, Jefferson Station, Fern Rock Transportation Center, Penn Medicine station. Trains to Philadelphia
Buses to Philadelphia · Driving and car hire
Where to stay
Our booking partner lists 762 places to stay in Philadelphia. Of the 537 with a star rating, the largest group is 3-star (211), and 7 are five-star. Across 163 properties with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 8.1 out of 10. Guests have left 137,482 reviews in total.
Hotels in Philadelphia: the full picture, and book
What people come for
| Sight | Visitors a year | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Independence Hall | 3,042,598 | 2023 |
| Independence National Historical Park | 907,090 | 2020 |
| Philadelphia Museum of Art | 437,348 | 2021 |
| Independence Seaport Museum | 84,000 | — |
| Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial | 2,888 | 2010 |
| Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site | 2,418 | 2020 |
The busiest is Independence Hall at 3,042,598 visitors in 2023. At that volume, anything with a gate is worth a timed ticket or an early start.
UNESCO World Heritage in the city: Independence Hall.
Tours, tickets and day trips from Philadelphia
Nearby cities, and how to get between them
- New York City, 130 km — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Brooklyn, 129 km — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Queens, 139 km — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Manhattan, 137 km — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- The Bronx, 148 km — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Washington, 199 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Baltimore, 144 km — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Staten Island, 110 km — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Virginia Beach, 352 km — flights · buses · car rental
- Newark, 121 km — trains · buses · car rental · tours
Twin towns and sister cities: Mosul, Florence, Tel Aviv, Toruń, Tianjin, Incheon, Douala, Nizhny Novgorod, Abruzzo, Aix-en-Provence, Kobe, Salvador, Frankfurt.
Common questions
Which airport serves Philadelphia?
Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), 11 km (7 mi) from the centre, plus 5 other airports with scheduled flights within 100 km.
How big is Philadelphia?
About 1.6 million people live in Philadelphia, across 370 km² (GeoNames and Wikidata).
What time zone is Philadelphia in?
America/New_York, currently UTC-4.
What currency is used in Philadelphia?
The Dollar (USD). Traffic drives on the right.
How many hotels are there in Philadelphia?
Our booking partner lists 762 places to stay in Philadelphia, bookable on this site.
Which cities are near Philadelphia?
New York City (130 km), Brooklyn (129 km), Queens (139 km), Manhattan (137 km), The Bronx (148 km).
Where these facts come from
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
- Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
- OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
- Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines
Data compiled 13 September 2026. Hotel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.