Valley Forge in the morning and Longwood by afternoon, one loop from the terminal
These two sit on the same side of the city, and a single rental day covers both.
The rental, line by line
The $55 base is our assumption, matched to Discover Cars’ PHL “from” price on Oct 2, 2026 (no currency printed; we read it as US dollars); type the rate you’re quoted. Essington Avenue is the default pickup, with Pennsylvania’s 6%, Philadelphia’s 2%, the 2% rental tax and the $2 daily fee; switch to a Delaware County desk for 8%, or to PHL for its survey charge. Fuel covers about 84 miles at 30 mpg and $4.45, AAA’s Philadelphia average on Oct 3. Valley Forge charges no entrance, so its line is zero; the ticket line is Longwood’s adult price for each traveler.
The loop runs the terminal to Valley Forge, across to Longwood and back — about 84.5 miles and 2 hr 29 min of driving, our routing without traffic.
Two adults on a weekday come to about $145 with the car, the fuel and both Longwood tickets, our arithmetic. Close to half of that is the gardens, not the car.
The leg between the two stops is 27.9 miles, 46 minutes. Start at Valley Forge when its visitor center opens — you reach Longwood with the afternoon in hand.
Pick a Monday, Wednesday or Thursday if you can. Longwood is cheaper those days — and closed on Tuesdays, which breaks the plan outright.
Longwood Gardens at Kennett Square, with timed tickets and free parking
The gardens sit in the Brandywine Valley, the closest of these trips to the terminal, and the one with a ticket worth planning around.
Longwood Gardens, 1001 Longwood Road in Kennett Square, sells timed tickets: adults $35 on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and $38 Friday to Sunday, youth 5 to 15 $20 or $22, 4 and under free; Christmas season $45 to $52.
Open 10 to 6 Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 10 to 9 Friday to Sunday, closed Tuesdays.
Parking is free, and Longwood suggests three to four hours. The lot costs nothing — the clock is the real price here.
Alone, the trip is about 27.1 miles out and 28.7 back by our routing. Two adults on a Saturday come to about $147 with the car and their tickets, our arithmetic.
A weekend family of two adults and two children aged 5 to 15 pays $120 in tickets — before the car.
Longwood is the one Brandywine stop we priced. The valley’s other attractions we didn’t read — so no numbers for them.
Valley Forge without an entrance fee, and the costs the park leaves unpriced
Getting in costs nothing here, which leaves the rental as the only real cost.
Valley Forge National Historical Park needs no entrance pass; the grounds open daily 7 AM to dark, the visitor center 9:30 to 5 (closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day), at 1400 North Outer Line Drive, King of Prussia.
Trolley tours by the park’s partner, The Encampment Store, cost extra; the park’s page doesn’t print the price. The park names its visitor-center and Washington’s Headquarters lots but prints no parking price.
On its own the trip is about 27.8 miles out and 29.7 back, roughly 51 minutes each way by our routing. A car day for it comes to about $71, our arithmetic on a $55 base.
That’s a full day’s rental for a morning’s visit. Pair it with Longwood instead.
Lancaster County’s Amish farms by US 30, with no Turnpike toll
The farthest inland trip here, and the one most likely to outrun a desk’s closing time.
The Amish Farm and House, 2395 Covered Bridge Drive in Lancaster, is open daily 10 to 5; its Amish bus tour starts at $28.95, at 11, 1 and 3, and it recommends booking (717-394-6185).
Our routing takes US 30, not the Pennsylvania Turnpike, so no toll — about 61.2 miles and 1 hr 47 min to the farm, 64.2 miles back.
Two people on the bus tour with a car day come to about $139, our arithmetic — the tour starts at $28.95, so take that as the floor, not the bill.
Lancaster’s tourism site wouldn’t load for us, so we can’t point you to its listings or its parking.
Downtown Lancaster’s Penn Square is a little further, 67.5 miles by our routing. Leave early either way. Weekends are the trap — even the 11 AM tour puts you back in Philadelphia after the nearest desk’s 1 PM close.
Atlantic City and Cape May, toll-free over the bridge and $6 back
East across the Delaware, the tolls change direction, and so does the risk.
Atlantic City is about 65 miles and Cape May about 88 by our routing; we couldn’t read Cape May’s beach-tag prices or the Expressway and Parkway tolls.
Shore trips: no bridge toll going east, $6 coming back into Pennsylvania; the Expressway and Parkway tolls aren’t counted.
A day at Atlantic City comes to about $88 with the bridge toll and fuel, and Cape May about $96, our arithmetic before the Expressway and Parkway.
Cape May is the longer haul back, about 98 miles against 88 out — our routing comes home by the Expressway.
Skip the shore before a cruise — a slow Expressway home is the last thing you want with a ship waiting. Save it for after.
Every drive from Atlantic Avenue, and the desk that has to be open when you’re back
Free-flow times from the terminal, both ways. Traffic will add to every one of them.
| Day trip | Terminal to it | Back to the terminal | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Forge visitor center | 27.8 mi · 51 min | 29.7 mi · 50 min | Visitor center 9:30 to 5 |
| Longwood Gardens | 27.1 mi · 51 min | 28.7 mi · 52 min | Closed Tuesdays |
| Amish Farm and House | 61.2 mi · 1 hr 47 min | 64.2 mi · 1 hr 48 min | Open daily 10 to 5 |
| Lancaster, Penn Square | 67.5 mi · 1 hr 54 min | 71.0 mi · 1 hr 57 min | US 30, no Turnpike |
| Atlantic City | 65.2 mi · 1 hr 27 min | 65.4 mi · 1 hr 27 min | $6 bridge coming back |
| Cape May | 88.1 mi · 2 hr 03 min | 97.7 mi · 2 hr 05 min | $6 bridge coming back |
OpenStreetMap routing, no traffic, no stops; tolls are counted only where we checked the route’s roads and could read the toll. Read Oct 3, 2026. Our routing
Before a cruise, the return is what goes wrong, not the drive out. Every neighborhood desk shuts by 6 PM on weekdays, and the nearest closes at 1 on Saturday and Sunday.
So a weekend day trip ends at PHL, where the counters run late — the hub’s checker shows which desk is still open at your hour.
NCL suggests Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Elfreth’s Alley, the Betsy Ross House, Christ Church, Carpenters’ Hall, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Longwood Gardens. Of those, only Longwood sits out of town.
After the cruise the order flips. Collect the car the morning you dock, see Longwood or Valley Forge, and drop at PHL near your flight; the after-cruise page has the desks that open early enough.
One car for the countryside, booked around the desk that’s open when you return
Book the car for the day out, not the nights around it — a rental parked at a hotel overnight pays a day for nothing.
- Pick-up: PHL or a nearby desk
- One day, returned the same evening
- Taxes and fees shown before you pay
- Free cancellation up to 48 hrs before pickup
Day trips from the Philadelphia cruise port, answered
How far is Longwood Gardens from the Philadelphia cruise terminal?
About 27.1 miles and 51 minutes without traffic, by our routing from 4 Atlantic Avenue, and about 28.7 miles back. Parking is free, and Longwood suggests three to four hours.
Does Valley Forge National Historical Park charge admission?
No entrance pass is needed. The grounds open daily from 7 AM to dark and the visitor center from 9:30 to 5; trolley tours run by the park’s partner cost extra, at a price the park doesn’t print.
Is Longwood Gardens open on Tuesdays?
No, it’s closed Tuesdays. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday it opens 10 to 6, with adult tickets at $35; Friday to Sunday it opens 10 to 9, at $38.
How long is the drive from the Philadelphia cruise port to Amish country?
About 61.2 miles and 1 hr 47 min to the Amish Farm and House in Lancaster, by our routing without traffic, on US 30 with no Turnpike toll.
Is there a toll from Philadelphia to Atlantic City?
No bridge toll going east: the Delaware River Port Authority charges westbound only, $6 on the way back into Pennsylvania. The Atlantic City Expressway charges too, but we couldn’t read its amounts.
More on renting around a Philadelphia cruise
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