My piece of advice is that you say "screw it" to whatever school schedule you have at home, and to extend your trip by two days to allow 1 full day EACH to Harvard, BU, Columbia, and NYC. You will want to book your college tours in advance, and it's too much to see two big schools like that in one day, PLUS see the sites.

Well, there are some schools you could probably see together. Like MIT and Harvard. And Temple and Penn (if you were looking in Philly.) Because those schools are across the street from each other.

Since your secondary focus is visiting colleges, why not forget about that totally?

For example, you have only 1.5 days in Boston. Walking the Freedom Trail can easily take up all of your time on Sunday. That leaves Saturday to visit museums AND colleges. If you rush through the college visits - spending only one hour each visiting the campuses and neighborhoods of Harvard and BU - by the time you add in travel and eating lunch, half your day is gone. And what have you really learned about the colleges by doing that?

Alternatively, you can do more thorough college visits, but that leaves you essentially no time for museums.

(I suppose you could visit museums all day and go to the colleges after 5 PM just to look around, but I'm not sure that's the best idea.)

Save yourself some stress and focus on either sightseeing or college visits. I don't think you are allowing enough time to do both.

While ideally one would spend more time at each college, we all "shop" differently. Fortunately my 2nd of 2 kids is a college sophomore - I am done with the college search. You mention plan/willingness to return to area if daughter identifies one or more colleges as a stronger possibility for application. Reality is, you can't spend a full day at every school HS kids want to (or their parents want them to) look at if geography is an issue. Coast to coast flights are not that expensive these days - you will be back if she truly wants to head east.

So since you have a week (guessing schedule of school, sports, activities, jobs means that is all you have) - I don't have a problem with your 3-city plan. There is so much objective info available on college websites, that a few hours as a first pass-by can work. Just as long as you don't rule a college totally in or out based on that hour or so. And it is important that you also get a sense of each city as well - that may rule an entire region in or out.

College tours - they are all the same. You sit in a group and are told why that particular college is the best for everyone, see a Power Point presentation, and then get herded around by a student who shows you yet another classroom, dorm, library- and for some odd reason always a laundry room.

So enjoy your 3 city tour, time with your daughter - touring colleges is a bittersweet experience - especially 3000 miles away from home. Then take your time and digest the overview and plan your return attack.

Have a good trip.

One last thought - I hope it snows like crazy when you are here - not to ruin your trip but to let your daughter know what weather can be like here. Bring warm clothes - it could be cold - or it could be 65 degrees. (I am in boston)

Gail is right about the snow - Easter always seems to be cold here!

Thanks, Gail for your observations. I agree. We've been through several public and private college tours already with my daughter (and previously with my son who is a sophomore at college). This trip is really to give my daughter a feel for the East Coast, which my son had experienced already on several MUN trips for high school. And what sparks a high school girl's interest may not be what would attract us older and wiser adults. I think we'll save the intense college visit when she has narrowed down her choices.

And those of you familiar with the experience of trying to drag teenagers on tours will appreciate the timing of the latest "30 Rock" episode (see it for free on Hulu.com), which gently satirized the Freedom Trail tour. My daughter saw it and ran to my room laughing: "Mom, are we seriously going to do that?!"

Wow! I found a great deal at the Fairmont Copley for $149/night for two double beds (non-refundable one night stay) or $200/night for two double beds (refundable). Oh, and the hotel in No.Virginia in Rosslyn I was thinking of was the Palomar-Arlington Hotel (not the Rosslyn).

Thanks for the tip about the warm clothes---I always thought springtime back east--cherry blossoms. We'll dress in layers. Can't be worse than the record storms in So.Cal, that my guest from France and her 3 1/2 year old daughter just experienced (can it?).

Thanks for your great advice and good wishes, all. I'm sure we'll have a great time!

Yes, it could. We very well could get a lot of snow and be in the 20s. However, its just as likely to be in the 50s and 60s. Early April is hit or miss. For your sake, I hope its the latter but be prepared for cold and rainy.

The Fairmont Copley is at a great location. That's a fantastic rate.

P.S., the trees in Boston don't bloom until mid-late April. Don't expect much (if any) blossoms in early April here.

Thanks, all! Bad weather is another reason for taking rapid transit rather than trying to drive in unfamiliar territory. I'll be crossing my fingers and checking the weather forecast daily before we leave.

I remember once it snowed 8 inches over Easter. Two days later, it was 60 degrees.

That is early spring here and can get very cold - and snow if possible but not likely. Even in NYC the trees won;t bei n leaf yet - that's the end of April - and I think you're even kind of early for DC - although do check the dates of the Cherry Blossom festival.

Well, if we have to pack for snow and warm weather, so much for traveling light! Is it easier to handle luggage on the bus or the train? Thanks for sending me your blog and link for bus, YK. Also, will check out the nasturiums and dates of Cherry Blossom festival. Someone also recommended the W hotel in the West Village. Very nice, but very expensive.

Some of us in the northeast take this view of our weather - it may be cold and miserable for a good part of the year, but we usually do not get weather that kills us - hurricanes of significance, tornados, earthquakes, mudslides.

Do not be tempted to read a long-range forecast and try to pack accordingly - the forecast will be wrong, no matter what it says.

I used to hate buses, but have become a convert since taking the Bolt Bus twice to NYC. It was clean, quiet, cheap, on time, and departed and arrived right in the city centers. No rental costs, no tolls, no gas, no parking charges. Best of all, no driving in DC. The morning bus was less crowded than the afternoon bus when I did it.

I haven't taken the buses between DC and NYC but I have taken the train on multiple occasions, and I find the luggage issue on the trains kind of a pain, particularly when the trains are not at an "at grade" station and you have to schlep up and down with luggage. Plus, luggage storage areas on the train--at least in my experience--are often full. That said, the trains don't get stuck in traffic though they sometimes are slower than normal for unspecified reasons.

Bus is cheap - but is subject to traffic and bad weather. A trip can be 5 hours or can take 8 if you hit one or both. the train costs more, but IMHO is more comfy - is faster and is unlikley to be more than 15 minutes of so late.

Flights booked; first leg of trip in Boston booked at Fairmont Copley; second in NYC at Lucerne (thanks, Cyanna); third leg in D.C., still working on.

I'm looking at the train schedules. If I am staying in Copley, would I take the Boston Downtown or Backbay line to NY Penn? I input my routes on Amtrak from Boston Downtown to NY Penn Station to DC, using AAA discount. You are right, Acela is much more expensive than standard. It came out to about $300 on the regional northeast line. (4 hours 20 minutes from Boston to NY; NY to DC (3 hours 10 minutes) On Acela, it came out to $792 (3/5 hours from Boston to NY; NY to DC (2 hours 50 minutes).

Would you caution against arriving in the late evening at any of these stations? I assume we can get a taxi no matter how late the hour.

I will check the Bolt Bus and Mega train prices and schedules also, but am worried about delays if there is bad weather.

We in So Cal have weather too: drought season (which leads to) fire season (which leads to) mudslide season (which is spiced up) by earthquakes now and then.

Thanks!

Absolutely no reason to avoid arriving late at NY Penn Station. First, what's late elsewhere is not late in NY (which is truly a 24-hour city), second, yes, there will be taxis to take you to your hotel.

Since you're staying in Copley, you can check for MegaBus as MegaBus departs from Back Bay station, about a 2-min walk from the Fairmont. BoltBus departs from South Station, which is less convenient for you.

Unless there's a HUGE snowstorm coming in early April, there's no reason to worry about weather causing traffic delays. And if there IS a snowstorm, the Amtrak will be delayed just as the buses. If you're traveling on weekends (or early morning weekdays), the bus is fairly on time (4 to 4.5 hrs); but if you're traveling during the week, esp arriving NY around rush hour, the bus can take as long as 5 hours from Boston to NYC.

As for cost, I did a dummy booking for THIS SAT for Bos-NYC; then NYC-DC on Megabus. Even at this late stage, you can get 3 seats for a total of $51 (BOS-NYC) + $57 (NYC-DC). So, even a last-minute fare will only cost just over $100 for 3 of you for these 2 legs. Of course, whether it's worth saving $200 for a few less comfortable hours on the bus (relative to the train) is entirely up to you.