Hi, apologies if this belongs in a master-thread.

This August I'll be in Philadelphia for a conference which ends on a Thursday, and I'm flying back to Spain Sunday night from JFK, so I have at most 72 hours in between.
Not been to Philadelphia or NYC before.
What would be the opportunity cost/next best alternative to spending Fri-Sun in NYC? Would like to visit DC but 2 days would not be enough.
I can't drive.
Thank you!

Two days would not be enough for most large U.S. cities, but that should not deter you. The question is: what are you interested in seeing/doing for those two days? Museums? Sightseeing? Live theater?

Amtrak can get you from Philadelphia to DC, Baltimore, or New York pretty quickly. The budget transportation option would be bus companies like Megabus, Flixbus, etc.

Edited to add: Hotels are likely to be cheaper in Washington than in Manhattan. If you can catch a sale on IHG hotel points (when IHG offers a 100% point bonus), you could get some really good deals in the DC area by redeeming points.

Philadelphia is actually a really nice city to explore - there are a lot of great museums, historic sites, walkable neighborhoods, great bars and restaurants. Staying in Philly and exploring the city might be the easiest thing to do, especially if you don't get much free time during the conference. I live in NYC and really enjoy visiting Philly for a long weekend.

With regard to NYC, if you feel two days isn't enough for DC, then two days REALLY won't be enough for NYC. That said, you could definitely check out a couple of great museums in either city, plus restaurants and nightlife (although DC is far inferior in both of those categories to NYC and even to Philly).

What most interests you? The answer would certainly help narrow options down.

Two days is plenty in either New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore or Washington. You can’t see everything obviously but there is a huge amount you can see. Personally, in your circumstances I would take the train to New York but if you really want to go to Washington don’t worry about only having two days. You can have a great time there in that time.

I�ve lived in all three cities and they are all fantastic. If you want to see DC, take Amtrak down Thursday after the conference ends. It�s a short trip. Then spend Friday and Saturday visiting museums, walking around the mall, maybe catch a play one night. You can take Amtrak to NY on Sunday. If you went early Sunday morning, you could have time to choose one thing to visit in NY. Maybe a walk on the high line or visit a museum or possibly a play Sunday afternoon, depending what time your flight leaves that night. DC is very doable and I suggest going for it. If you listed your specific interests, I could make more specific recommendations.

assume you end thurs at 5 pm and flight out is around 9 pm Sunday.

wherr is the conference in Philadelphia? In downtown area? You have museums therr and get around via subway/ light rail and see museum of srt ( Rocky steps) and to thr historic part of Philadelphia on the south side ( liberty bell, independence hall, get a Philly cheesesteak)

you could easily take an evening train to Manhattan on Friday. Then have almost 2 days of seeing things. There are many museums, coukd see a shoe on Broadway Saturday night. Could go to 9/11 memorial. Hang out in crntral park. Therr are many things thst you can�t do it all.

you coukd take a train to DC snd see free museums on � thr mall�. Thr DC mall is a stretch of land gpfrom Lincoln mrmorial to thr US Capitol, about 2 miles in length. In thr middle is the Washington monument and the White House. Lincoln- monument area are memorials for people and wars fought.between Washington abs Capitol on each side are smithsonian museums thst are free except for special exibitd. On thr north side you have American history, natural history, sculpture garden, art museum south side is hirshorn, air snd space, Native American museum. Like in air and space you can see stuff for free but they have movies thry run thst cost extra for tickets. Innthr art museum thry can have special touring exhibits that cost a fee.

in all cities you have sports likely going on with baseball, soccer/ football,and other sports when you travel.

DC is one of my all time favorite cities and you can get alot done in 48 hours. So many Smithsonian museums to visit on the National Mall during the day (plus various monuments) and then dining in town. I think you'd have to really plan what you want to see.

I'll add that I think the Capitol building is open (again) for tours. I've done it and it was really interesting but you do get pushed through pretty quickly. You must plan ahead for tickets.

85 countries and 48 states and DC is still my favorite city in the world; so highly recommended.

But if I were planning this out, I'd be arriving in DC either late Thursday night or early Friday morning depending on what mode of transportation. I'd have most of Friday and all of Saturday to sightsee. If I were to arrive Friday morning, luggage may be a problem unless your hotel lets you check it early. Of course Sunday, you need to think about a reasonable time to get to JFK. I have no knowledge of how to get to JFK from DC via Amtrak. It is important to note that freight trains are prioritized over Amtrak, and while it usually is not a problem, delays do occur.

The Smithsonian museums are some of the best in the world, but have a plan. Some of the museums, while free, have continued the timed entry process that started during COVID.

With regards to hotels, DC hotels can be a bit less expensive on weekends. You are going to want to stay in a hotel in NW DC, or maybe at the SW Wharf area. The cheap hotels - those in SE, NE, and in Maryland where it borders DC are cheap for a reason - just don't. Another consideration is staying in a hotel in the Arlington, VA area that has a Metro station within walking distance. Metro is a quick method of getting into DC to most of the tourist areas. Metro can be paid for in a number of ways; see: Metro. Metro cannot be paid for with cash or a swipe of a credit card (to the best of my knowledge).

Also, should you take Amtrak to/from Union Station in DC, watch yourself and even more so at night unfortunately,

All that said, for that period of time, I agree with a previous post in that PHL has a lot to do and see; in fact I'll be making a weekend trip there myself later in the spring.