The Best Weekend Trips from Philadelphia: River Towns, a Mountain Gorge, and Victorian Cape May

The best weekend trips from Philadelphia are Lambertville (1 hour, a Delaware River town of antiques), Jim Thorpe (1.5 hours, a Victorian coal town in the Lehigh Gorge), and Cape May (2 hours, the country's oldest seaside resort). Each is a whole-city historic district with a distinct season, and none requires more than a tank of gas.

Lambertville: the Delaware River town

Lambertville sits on the Pennsylvania line, joined to New Hope by a walkable free bridge over the Delaware. Its canal towpath runs straight through downtown.

The 48 hours. Saturday morning, walk the Delaware and Raritan Canal towpath from town, flat and shaded, then cross the bridge to New Hope's riverside main street and the historic Bucks County Playhouse. Afternoon, work the antiques-and-dining grid on Bridge Street: multi-dealer malls, galleries, and porch-front restaurants. Dinner at Hamilton's Grill Room or Anton's at the Swan, then a Sunday morning at the Lambertville station's farmers market before the hour's drive home.

Jim Thorpe: the Victorian gorge town

Jim Thorpe climbs a Lehigh Gorge mountainside in the southern Poconos, a coal-era town of Victorian storefronts that earned its Switzerland of America nickname the honest way: steep streets, stone churches, and a river running through the bottom of it all.

The 48 hours. Saturday, ride the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway from the stone depot in the center of town, then walk or bike the 26-mile D&L Trail along the gorge. Afternoon, tour the Asa Packer Mansion, the 1861 home of the railroad baron, and paddle the Lehigh if the whitewater releases are running. Sunday, browse the galleries on Race Street and eat a huge breakfast at Marie's Diner before the drive home.

When to go. October is peak, when the Lehigh Gorge foliage is the best in eastern Pennsylvania and the town's Fall Foliage Festival fills the streets.

Cape May: painted ladies at the point

Cape May sits where the Delaware River meets the Atlantic, and its entire city is a National Historic Landmark district: more than 600 preserved Victorian buildings, many with the gingerbread porches that gave the term painted lady its charm.

The 48 hours. Saturday morning, climb the 1859 Cape May Lighthouse, 199 steps over the Delaware Bay. Walk Washington Street Mall's three-block strip, then tour a Victorian house museum and the Emlen Physick Estate. Afternoon on the beach, evening on a porch with dinner at the Lobster House or the Blue Pig Tavern. Sunday, drive Ocean Drive past the concrete ship visible offshore at Sunset Beach, and catch the hawk migration if you come in fall.

When to go. October is the best month, combining the hawk migration, peak foliage on the river valleys, empty post-Labor Day beaches, and the season's lowest rates.

Which one should you pick?

History and antiques: Lambertville, and it is the easiest drive. Mountains and a scenic railway: Jim Thorpe. A beach town that is also a museum: Cape May. All three are fully planned in the Philadelphia escapes hub, with guides to Lambertville, Jim Thorpe, and Cape May.