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When it comes to finding accommodation, always check TripAdvisor for its top-ranked hotels in your destination, which is a rough guide. Location is as important as price, as you usually want to be central so that you can walk around the city or go out at night, unless you are in transit and looking for a room near the airport. Then you can try online booking sites such as and hotels.com, or even bedandbreakfast.com/philadelphia.
Expect to pay at least R3 000 per night for a central hotel in Philadelphia.
A downtown hotel such as the Courtyard Marriott, right opposite the city hall, would cost you about R4 200 per person per night, while a smaller place such as the Alexander Inn, also conveniently situated, would cost you R2 621 a night. The Morris House Hotel would be R3 520.
As always, you need to book ahead to secure a room at a good price. You have left it a bit late, so your options may be limited.
If you’re wondering what to do in the city, a good thing to start with would be an open-top bus tour. The Philadelphia Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour will cost about R500 per person. It visits 27 top attractions including the Liberty Bell, Elfreth’s Alley (“Our nation’s oldest residential street,” dating to 1702) and Independence Hall, complete with a live on-board narration.
You can choose the “Today and Tomorrow” pass or a three-day pass.
To learn a bit more about the importance of the city in US history, take the Constitutional Walking Tour of Philadelphia, which costs just $19 (about R290) per adult and takes 75 minutes, starting from the National Constitution Centre.
Philadelphia is the birthplace of the US and was the nation’s capital from 1790 to 1800, and you will get to see over 20 historical sites including the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, New Hall Military Museum and Franklin Court.
You will visit Declaration House, where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, and the President’s House, where presidents George Washington and John Adams lived during their terms of office. The walk also takes in Benjamin Franklin’s house.
Book at expedia.com/things-todo/constitutional-walking-tour-ofphiladelphia.
We are planning to travel to Europe this year with our five-year-old son. I know we need an unabridged birth certificate for him to travel but do we need it to apply for his passport?
You do not need the unabridged certificate to apply for a child’s passport. You will, however, need his (abridged) birth certificate and both parents will have to be present at Home Affairs to apply, with your original ID books. The child must also be present. Do not bother to take passport photos with you as Home Affairs now takes their own.
As you will need the unabridged to travel, though, Home Affairs advises you to apply at the same time if you have not done so.
The cost of the passport is R400.