Visa Information
If you’re not an American citizen or resident, you might need to apply for a visa. These things take time, so we suggest you start this process as soon as possible! You can find information about visas here. If you need a letter for your visa application, contact Gary Bernstein.
Getting to Philadelphia
The Philadelphia International Airport is the closest airport to the meeting venue and the recommended hotels. To get from the airport to the city, there are many options, from taxis and ride-share services (eg. Uber, Lyft) to public transport, with a train line running from the airport to University City (very close to the meeting venue!) and Center City (close to Rittenhouse Square). Taxis and ride-shares will cost up to $40, while the train is $6.75 to the areas near the venue. For those traveling internationally, the Newark Airport might also be an option. To get from Newark to Philadelphia, there’s a train line with Amtrak (about $50 ticket if booked in advance) and NJ Transit (about $26, requires changing trains in Trenton) trains that connect to Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station. A less recommended option is New York City’s JFK Airport. From this airport, the Airtrain leads to the subway and train lines of New York City, with the closest interstate train station being New York’s Penn Station, where the same train lines as the ones from Newark run. Note that this is a very long trip, often taking more than 3 hours!
Hotels & AirBnBs
We have reserved blocks of 30 rooms each at two convenient hotels: the Sheraton (near the meeting venue) and the Warwick (near Rittenhouse square). The room rate is close to $200 at each of these hotels. You can ask for the U Penn rate when you call, and let them know you are attending the Dark Energy Survey Collaboration Conference. The following hotels have also been used by our visitors in the past and appear to have reasonable rooms at this time: Club Quarters, The Study and the Sonesta Philadelphia Rittenhouse Square.
Philly has several good options for hotels or airbnb rooms, and you are encouraged to find better deals. By way of guidance on location, we would suggest staying within 1km of David Rittenhouse Lab (our department and the location of the meeting). In addition, we recommend the Rittenhouse Square Area, to the east and a bit more than a 1km walk away. This part of the city is lively and an easy walk or bus ride to Penn.
Here one can find a map with some recommendations for bars and restaurants around the city, short distance from the University. It also includes a layer called ‘Housing’, which displays the areas we recommend people to look for AirBnBs, if one prefers that to a hotel. Boundaries are just approximate, of course, and if anyone has questions about a specific area feel free to contact Eric Baxter, Carles Sánchez, or any other local.