Hotel Package Deals Get Visitors To Warm Up To Philly's Arty Side

To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

Several Philadelphia hotels are offering deals helping travelers warm up to the city's art scene. NY1's Valarie D'Elia filed the following report.

The city of Brotherly Love is no longer simply an understudy to the New York City art scene. With the recent addition of the Barnes Foundation to Philadelphia's formidable art trail, the borders between the urban art meccas are blending like the soft brush strokes of an Impressionist painting. Incidentally, most of Philly's 229 Renoirs are on display at the Barnes.

It's now easier for visitors to dodge the reservation requirement at the Barnes if they book a hotel package that offers a two-day general admission pass to six museums during a one- or two-night stay.

Like the Barnes, most of the museums are located on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the third largest art museum in the country, which is full of Renaissance, American, Impressionist and Modern artworks.

Nearby is the Rodin Museum, holding the most extensive public collection of Auguste Rodin's works outside Paris, including "The Thinker."

Off the Parkway is the Penn Museum, a collection of nearly a million archeological and anthropological objects curated by the University of Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) can't be missed, with its outdoor, 51-feet-tall paintbrush sculpture in front of a historic landmark building.

Consider staying over on a Friday night to get the most out of the museum pass, with extended hours both at the Barnes and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Keep in mind your favorite museum might be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

The "With Art, Philadelphia" hotel package is good at 10 Philly hotels, with rates starting between $205 to $469 a night, from now through the end of March. Amtrak leaves Penn station for Philadelphia regularly, taking under two hours. For more information, visit www.visitphilly.com/withart.

As is common practice in the travel industry, Travel With Val often receives complimentary travel or reduced "media" rates at hotels, resorts and attractions, including those that may be featured in these reports. Such consideration is not taken in exchange for any express or implied promise or understanding of any nature, particularly regarding the content of these reports. These reports only feature travel providers personally recommended by Valarie D’Elia in the exercise of her independent editorial judgment, and do not represent the endorsement of Time Warner Cable or any third party.