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United Airlines Flights from Chicago (ORD) to Philadelphia (PHL)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on United Airlines, which operates 8 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Chicago (ORD) to Philadelphia (PHL), departing between 7:15am and 8:53pm, and 7 additional non-stop flights, departing between 5:45am and 8:15pm on select days of the week. The average travel time from Chicago, IL to Philadelphia, PA is 2 hours.*
* Some flights must connect with additional service on any airline.
During your Philadelphia vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Elfreth's Alley
The modern Benjamin Franklin Bridge shadows Elfreth's Alley, the oldest continuously inhabited street in America. Most of Colonial Philadelphia looked like this: cobblestone lanes between the major thoroughfares; small two-story homes; and pent eaves over doors and windows, a local trademark. Note the busybody mirrors that let residents see who was at their door (or someone else's) from the second-story bedroom. In 1700, most of the resident artisans and tradesmen worked in shipping, but 50 years later haberdashers, bakers, printers, and house carpenters set up shop. Families moved in and out rapidly, for noisy, dusty 2nd Street was the major north-south route in Philadelphia. Jews, blacks, Welsh, and Germans made it a miniature melting pot in the 18th and 19th centuries. The destruction of the street was prevented in 1937, thanks to the vigilant Elfreth's Alley Association and a good deal of luck. The minuscule, sober facades hide some ultramodern interiors, and there are some restful shady benches under a Kentucky Coffee Bean tree on Bladen Court, off the north side of the street.Number 126, the 1755 Mantua Maker's House (cape maker), built by blacksmith Jeremiah Elfreth, now serves as a museum. An 18th-century garden in back has been restored, and the interior includes a dressmaker's shop and upstairs bedroom. You can also buy Colonial candy and gifts and peek into some of the open windows on the street. On the first weekend in June all the houses are open for touring -- don't miss this.
Edgar Allan Poe National Historical Site
The acclaimed American author, though more associated with Baltimore, Richmond, and New York City, lived here from 1843 to 1844. "The Black Cat," "The Gold Bug," and "The Tell-Tale Heart" were published while he was a resident. Just reopened following structural work, it's a simple place -- after all, Poe was poor most of his life -- and the National Park Service keeps it unfurnished. An adjoining building contains basic information on Poe's life and work, along with a reading room and slide presentation. The Park Service also runs intermittent discussions and candlelight tours on Saturday afternoon.
Mikveh Israel Cemetery
Philadelphia was an early center of American Jewish life, with the second-oldest synagogue (1740) organized by English and Sephardic Jews. While this congregation shifted location and is now adjacent to the Liberty Bell, the original cemetery -- well outside the city at the time -- was bought from the Penn family by Nathan Levy and later filled with the likes of Haym Solomon, a Polish immigrant who helped finance the revolutionary government, and Rebecca Gratz, the daughter of a fine local family, who provided the model for Sir Walter Scott's Rebecca in Ivanhoe.
Make your reservations for discount hotel rooms in the
Philadelphia area, including:
Crowne Plaza Philadelphia Center City
The Crowne Plaza offers solid, generic, primarily business-traveler-oriented accommodations. It's popular with conventioneers and relocating executives, and prices are competitive in an effort to maintain occupancy. The lobby, which dispenses coffee and apples all day, has entrances from both 18th Street and the garage. A parking garage and meeting halls occupy the next six floors, and rooms and several suites fill the next 17 floors. By Philadelphia standards, the rooms are large, and they were renovated in 2004. Furnishings include coffeemakers, telephones with dataports, and plush carpeting. Bathrooms are slightly shabby. Two floors are devoted to Executive Level suites, offering upgraded decor and complimentary breakfast. There is an espresso bar and a casual pub, the Elephant & Castle, on the lobby level.
Best Western Independence Park Hotel
This top choice for bed-and-breakfast-style lodging has a great location, 2 blocks from Independence Hall. Now a Best Western franchise, the inn is housed in a handsome 1856 former dry-goods store with renovated rooms and a renovated exterior.The guest rooms, on eight floors, are normal size, but the ceilings are nice and high. The bathrooms have big beveled mirrors, dropped ceilings, and hair dryers. Although all the windows are triple casement and double-glazed, specify an interior room if you're sensitive to noise, since some rooms face the traffic on Chestnut Street. A third bed can be wheeled into your room for a child at no additional charge. The hotel serves a generous continental breakfast with a make-your-own Belgian waffle bar in a glass-enclosed garden courtyard, with a complimentary afternoon tea.
Loews Philadelphia Hotel
The Loews, opened in spring 2000 in the former PSFS Bank tower, is the fine product of the marriage of an Art Deco architectural landmark and a prestigious hotel chain. The tower, located across from the Reading Terminal and the Convention Center, was the nation's first skyscraper of modern design and construction, with gleaming polished stone and clocks by Cartier. Loews Hotels turned the 1932 granite and glass building into a first-class property. The three-story entrance hall has been preserved, and rooms feature 10-foot ceilings, modern-Deco interiors, and miles of spectacular views. Business aids are extensive, but watch out for the surcharges levied on phone use. For convention travelers, the location is ideal, though this stretch of Market Street is a bit grittier than it is near Society Hill or Rittenhouse SquareSolefood is the hotel's seafood restaurant, and there is a pleasant lobby lounge off the restaurant; Channel 10, the local NBC affiliate, often uses the lobby as a set for interviews.
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