US Airways Flights from Minneapolis (MSP) to Philadelphia (PHL)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on US Airways, which operates a daily non-stop flight from Minneapolis (MSP) to Philadelphia (PHL) regularly scheduled to depart at 6:00am and arrive at 9:43am, and 5 additional non-stop flights, departing between 10:55am and 4:30pm on select days of the week. The average travel time from Minneapolis, MN to Philadelphia, PA is 2 hours and 38 minutes.
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During your Philadelphia vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Even on a hazy day you can see America's third-largest art museum from City Hall -- a resplendent, huge, beautifully proportioned Greco-Roman temple on a hill. Because the museum, established in the 1870s, has relied on donors of great wealth and idiosyncratic taste, the collection does not aim to present a comprehensive picture of Western or Eastern art. But its strengths are dazzling: It houses undoubtedly one of the finest groupings of art objects in America, and no visit to Philadelphia would be complete without at least a walk-through; allow 2 hours minimum. Late hours on Friday have become a city favorite, and there is a new bar open in summer in the elegant front courtyard overlooking the city skyline.The museum is designed simply, with L-shaped wings off the central court on two stories. A major rearrangement of the collections was recently completed, and paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts are grouped within set periods. The front entrance (facing City Hall) admits you to the first floor. Special exhibition galleries and American art are to the left; the collection emphasizes that Americans came from diverse cultures, which combined to create a new, distinctly national aesthetic. French- and English-inspired domestic objects, such as silver, predominate in the Colonial and Federal galleries, but don't neglect the fine rooms of Amish and sturdy Shaker crafts. The 19th-century gallery has many works by Philadelphia's Thomas Eakins, which evoke the spirit of the city in watercolors and oils.Originally controversial 19th- and 20th-century European and contemporary art galleries highlight Cézanne's monumental Bathers and Marcel Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase, which doesn't seem nearly as revolutionary as it did in 1913. The recent gift of the McIlhenny $300-million collection of paintings is one of the great donations of this type and adds strength in the French Impressionist area.Upstairs, spread over 83 galleries, is a chronological sweep of European arts from medieval times through about 1850. The John G. Johnson Collection, a Renaissance treasure trove, has been added to the museum's holdings. Roger van der Weyden's diptych Virgin and Saint John and Christ on the Cross, one of the Johnson Collection, is renowned for its exquisite sorrow and beauty. Another, Van Eyck's Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata, is unbelievably precise (borrow the guard's magnifying glass). Other masterpieces include Poussin's frothy Birth of Venus (the USSR sold this and numerous other canvases in the early 1930s, and many were snapped up by American collectors) and Rubens's sprawling Prometheus Bound. The remainder of the floor takes you far away -- to medieval Europe, 17th-century battlefields, Enlightenment salons, and Eastern temples.The museum has excellent dining facilities. A cafe, open Tuesday through Sunday from 10am to 4:30pm, dispenses simple and reasonable lunches and salads. The museum restaurant down the hall is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11:30am to 2:30pm, Sunday from 11am to 3:30pm. All main courses are under $20. There's also a lovely little Balcony Café just up the stairs as you enter the museum, for espresso, soups, sandwiches, and pastries.The PMA has brought millions into the economy over the past decade with blockbuster exhibits of works by Picasso, Cézanne, van Gogh, and Degas, plus mounted wonderful fashion exhibits of Schiaparelli. The Museum recently acquired a massive Art Deco former insurance headquarters a block away, though they are not sure what they will feature here.
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.
Rosenbach Museum and Library
The Rosenbach specializes in books: illuminated manuscripts, parchment, rough drafts, and first editions. If you love the variations and beauty of the printed word, they'll love your presence.The opulent town-house galleries contain 30,000 rare books and 270,000 documents. Some rooms preserve the Rosenbachs' elegant living quarters, with antique furniture and Sully paintings. Others are devoted to authors and illustrators: Marianne Moore's Greenwich Village study is reproduced in its entirety, and the Maurice Sendak drawings represent only the tip of his iceberg (or forest). Holdings include the original manuscript of Joyce's Ulysses and first editions of Melville, in the author's own bookcase. Small special exhibitions are tucked in throughout the house, and don't miss the shop behind the entrance for bargains in greeting cards and a superb collection of Sendak.You are welcome to wander around the rooms unaccompanied, but you are not allowed to sit down and leaf through the books. For access to the books, you need to call and arrange a special admission. For the most part, you will only be allowed to arrange to peruse the books if you are visiting with a specific scholarly purpose.An expansion and renovations for access for those with disabilities were recently completed.
Bank Street Hostel
This 140-year-old former factory and its two neighbors, located in a very convenient part of town, offer spartan (although newly repainted) accommodations for travelers on a budget. The dormitory-style rooms are spread over four floors of the complex. Extras include free coffee and tea, a pool table, and a lounge with a large-screen TV. Kitchen facilities and washer/dryer are available for use. Clean, dorm-style bathrooms are shared. Discounts on food and other items at area merchants are available.
Sheraton Rittenhouse Square
This attractive, renovated 1930s apartment building is spare and sleek, and one of the best values in its neighborhood, with its location right on urbane Rittenhouse Square. The hotel is marketed as the first "environmentally smart" hotel in the continental United States, with fresh filtered air, organic cotton bedding, bamboo plants and recycled granite in the lobby, energy efficient lighting, and no smoking anywhere. (You agree to pay $50 as a sanitizing fee if you smoke in the rooms.) Rooms are modern and very comfortable, with pretty striped wallpaper and deep chairs; a spacious 400 square feet on average, with 9 1/2-foot ceilings and state-of-the-art technology. The same standards of care and cleanliness apply to the large, marbled bathrooms. Many have separate sitting areas and balconies, and kitchenettes are available. I'd avoid the interior rooms, facing all-night airshaft lighting instead of Rittenhouse Square.Bleu is the hotel's low-key bistro and cafe with outdoor seating, while Potcheen Restaurant, facing Locust Street, is very casual, with American fare.
The Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia
The Ritz-Carlton, which opened in 2000, is the jewel of the Avenue of the Arts, set in a 1908 domed bank designed by McKim, Mead, and White, and an adjacent 30-story marble-clad neighboring building. The tower has been converted into the hotel rooms, and the soaring 140-foot-high lobby is a domed rotunda with rococo Versace furnishings, two restaurants, a clubby bar called the Vault, and a downstairs ballroom. Many architectural details have been preserved, including marble flooring and a bank teller desk.The hotel rooms occupy floors 4 to 29, with a spectacular concierge/club area in a paneled former boardroom on the 30th floor. (If you can upgrade to this level, you'll consider it money well spent -- the room is gorgeous, and the hors d'oeuvres, champagne, and lavish breakfast are the best club-floor spread we've ever seen.) In guest rooms, you'll find more space than normal allotted to generous bathrooms with opulent marble tub/shower alcoves, and less to the snug bedrooms, decorated with stippled paper in peach and warm ochers. The furnishings and amenities are lovely, from the old Philadelphia prints and engravings to plush terry robes to the high-speed Internet access for laptops.Pantheon, with its marble Ionic columns and 18-foot high windows, serves breakfast daily and weekend brunch. The Grill, a clubby space on the City Hall side, features an open kitchen, with former Striped Bass chef Terence Feury serving exceptional lunches and dinners. On weekends, a lavish 40-dessert buffet is served in the lobby.
