mamapappas

What is the best and least stressful way to get from LaGuardia airport to New Haven, CT? My current plan is to rent a car but will be staying in NYC for the remainder of our trip so I don't plan on keeping the rental car for that. I'd rather travel by train but concerned that we may not be able to make it back to NYC by 4pm after our 9am-11am college tour at Yale on a Thursday. We have another tour at 4pm at Columbia on the same day. It may be a busy day but that's all part of the adventure! Any ideas or thoughts? I'll take any advice!

Michael

Going back to NYC, take the train and get off at 125th St. The M60 city bus stops right in front of Columbia on Broadway and 116th St. You should be able to do that even if the first tour runs a little late.

https://www.rome2rio.com/map/New-Hav...tation#r/Train

HappyTrvlr

When we lived in Connecticut I flew in and out of LGA frequently.
I used Connecticut Transit that had their own buses to and from LGA. cttransit.com Everyone I knew used them unless they hired a private limo driver!

J62

If you do need a car in CT for a few days, then you could rent @ LGA then drop off New Haven, Samford, Norwalk, or White Plains train stations - whichever had a rental car drop off closest to the station, then take either Amtrak (new Haven) or Metro North RR (the others) into Manhattan.

nycguy10002

As an addendum to Michael's response I am listing links to the M60 bus timetable (in heading to Columbia you'd would be looking at the "To Morningside Heights" section and the bus stop at 125th St & Lexington Av - which is 1 block away from the rail station) as well as the timetable for MetroNorth RR - New Haven line.

The trip on the railroad from New Haven to 125th St takes about 2 hours.


M60 bus timetable: MTA M60-SBS bus timetable 20220626.pdf

MetroNorth RR - New Haven line timetable: New Haven 2022-07-10 compressed.pdf

Note: the timetable files are w-i-d-e on a small screen.

Jean

What time do you land at LGA (and need to be at Yale no later than 9:00)? Google's drive time estimate is 2+ hours. What if the flight is delayed/cancelled?

mamapappas

We fly into LGA on a Wednesday afternoon and plan to rent a car to get to NewHaven, CT. We tour Yale at 9am Thursday and plan to **try** to make it to the Columbia Campus in Manhattan for a 4pm tour on the same day. I'd like to keep the car so we can hit Princeton, NJ on Friday morning. I'm hoping there's a convenient park-and-ride north/north side of NYC so we don't have to drive into the city for the Columbia tour on Thursday but we can pick it up again afterwards and find a hotel nearing the direction of Princeton for Friday. I'll probably get rid of the rental car for the rest of the weekend to take subways/busses in NYC and back to LGA to head back home. That's a lot - I know! Hopefully not too difficult to make happen! Thanks for everyone's input and I appreciate and welcome it all!!

J62

Columbia is about 1mi from the MetroNorth RR 125th st station. All MetroNorth RR trains inbound to Grand Central stop there on the Hudson, Harlem and Danbury lines.

For simplicity of driving you could park at the Tarrytown RR station and take a train into Manhattan. Tarrytown is right by the Tappan Zee Bridge (I-287) across the Hudson river

Parking north of NYC and taking the train in/out would give you a place you could lock up your luggage, and isn't too far out of the way. The train to/from Tarrytown to 125th st is probably 30-40min each way.

If you are traveling light enough to schlep luggage without a car, another option is to ditch your car north of NYC, somewhere along the MetroNorth RR route (eg Norwalk), train into 125th st, then after you are done at Columbia you could take either Amtrak, or maybe even NJ Transit train to Princeton.

You could stay in NYC closer to Penn Station after you visit Columbia, then get a morning train to Princeton.

williamscb13

Be aware that at LaGuardia, you have to take a bus from the terminal to the rental car terminal which is in front of the marine air terminal then take the rental car company shuttle bus to their specific locations. Budget at least an hour for this. It's a PITA and I wish they would allow individual rental car companies pick up at the terminals again. I am assuming it's still this way. I haven't done the trip since last summer but that's what the website still says.

You will need to get the plate pass or whatever it's called to get off the island and pay the tolls going over the Whitestone Bridge and go up I-95.

When you return to NYC you need to take the Cross Bronx Expressway. (I think that's right) and then drive down the West Side Highway to Columbia. Driving down the West Side Highway is very easy. No need to be worried about it. Use a parking app and find parking for your car somewhere near Columbia. Too much of a hassle to park the car and train into the city. Just drive. I swear it's not that bad. I'd rather drive in NYC any day than Houston.

I'd then drive out and spend the night near Princeton. It's supposed to be a really cute town. Then drive back into Manhattan and drop off your car near your hotel. Actually drop your group off at the hotel and have the driver go drop the car nearby. There are local rental car drop offs all over Manhattan. I like the Hertz one on 55th street.

Use auto slash to find a deal on your rental car and recently they've been directing me to Priceline for the best deal. You can put in your local address to find a spot to drop off the car. Make sure you sign up for which ever car rental company reward program for the rental car company.

I know there are lots of public transportation options, I've thought of them all. I make a trip to CT every summer and for a few years did it monthly. Renting a car in LGA is just the easiest. It's not far from LGA to the Whitestone Bridge and out of town. It's a smidge nerve wracking but if you've driven in any big city you can handle New York.

tom_mn

A note that these trips usually cause harm to the student. Unless you are in one of the big buckets: legacy, no financial aid requested, or a diversity candidate, take a hard look at your student's scores and unless in the top 0.1% you really shouldn't bother-- it's a waste of time and emotion. Did you know that Yale will pay for the airfare, rental car, and lodging for campus visits for students they are truly interested in? Maybe ask them to pay for this trip and get a preview of how your student's application will be received.

So reluctant to contribute advice to what is likely going to end up a harmful trip, but the fastest way out of LaGuardia is a taxi to the Enterprise on Astoria Blvd (10 minutes, $15), and it will be about half the price of renting at the remote airport rental car place that requires a double shuttle.

suze

Whoa! Well that's a lot of negative attitude from someone who has no idea of the situation with these people.

My concern is more that the timetable is kinda tight. But best to both of you.

williamscb13

So I just did this this weekend. There is not one bit of signage at the Delta terminal for the rental car shuttle. Not one. No mention of rental cars anywhere. If I hadn't done it before, I wouldn't have known what to do.

After that miserable experience, I definitely agree with the suggestion to get an Uber to a close off airport location. Way easier than the double shuttle.