I will be in Boston in late September for 4 days. I would like to drive down to NY City for a day trip to take a city tour as an overview for a more detailed trip later. I will have a rental car and was wondering how sensible this would be, directions, tips? Thanks in advance!

It's going to be a LONG day, but it is doable.
First I would look into taking Amtrak, or even flying. Sometimes you can get good deals on Delta Shuttle or USAIR shuttle.
If you want to drive, I would suggest driving to New Haven or Stamford (or any of the towns along the Metro North rail line) and take the train in from there. Try http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/mnr/ for info on the Metro North. Good luck!

I would definitely advise against driving down to NYC for the day from Boston. The drive is approximately 4 1/2 hours each way, but can easily turn into a lot longer depending on NYC traffic. If you are really determined to go, my opinion would be: Amtrak has decent train service - with trains leaving constantly throughout the day. Though the train ride is still 3.5 - 4 hours, you will not have any hassles of driving. Take a morning train, spend the day in the city, take an evening train back. There also are constant Shuttle flights between La Guardia and Boston. If you stay entails a weekend, they sometimes offer cheap fares over the weekend (when business travelers aren't flying).
I lived in NYC for several years and made many trips up to Boston, but always spent the night there. NYC is such a big city and can easily be overwhelming for visitors, that I think you'll end up being more stressed out from trying to cram in one day, than actually enjoying it.

At the risk of being the contrarian hereabouts, by all means use your trip to Boston to see New York for a day. These are the caveats:

1) Do it on a Saturday or Sunday. That way, the trip is a manageable 4 hours in each direction (it's 220 miles). On a weekday, you'll add at least an hour to that figure and so chew up most of your day sitting in traffic.

2) Leave as early as your schedule will allow. "Early" means being on the road by 6 a.m. At that hour, I've arrived in Manhattan at 9:30 a.m., with a full day to do things.

3) Park and walk or take the subway. Even weekend parking rates in Manhattan are obnoxious, but there are two garages that will at least allow you to self-park. The first is the one under the Metropolitan Museum of Art (entrance on 81st Street and 5th Avenue). The second is the park parking structure between 10th and 11th Avenue on the north side of 42nd Street. Allow $25-$30 for the day, but at least you know that your rented car wasn't dinged by an attendant. There's a third self-park garage under Lincoln Center, but the rate closes in on $40 a day.

4) Leave the city at your leisure. The Saturday or Sunday night traffic is all inbound as Manhattanites come home. I've found the northbound parkways very lightly traveled.

why not try bidding on the internet for an airline ticket. will come out much cheaper and easier for you. alot less stressful. you can really get good deals bidding on your ticket.

I would definitely take a train into the city and forget the driving hassle.

I would definitely not do the drive in one day. Getting up at 6 AM, spending 4 hours in a car. Walking around on my feet all day for 8 to 10 hours and then trying to stay awake for a 4 hour trip back. Never! Especially if you have never driven that route before. Fly on the shuttle if you must do NYC on this trip.

Thanks for all travel advice. This info confirms what I've been thinking anyway. I'm still tempted to take a train/plane into NYC as close as I am. Any other comments are welcomed. ~M

I've done it as a day trip on the train, and enjoyed that quite a bit. But:

train vs. plane: door-to-door, the time is likely to be approximately the same, because it's such a hassle to deal with Logan/LaGuardia etc., getting to and from and risking delays. At LaGuardia, you can pretty much count on a delay.

Train may not save you much money over plane, although remember to figure in the cost of transportation between airport and downtown. Acela is quickest but most expensive. Sept. weather isn't usually a problem, but trains go when planes are grounded for weather.

I MUCH prefer trains, even if there's a delay, because I can walk around, bring a snack or buy one, etc. etc. and no airport crap to deal with. The part of the trainride through Conn. runs along the shore at some points and is very pretty. And imagine the impact of emerging out of the station right into the middle of Manhattan!

We got a card in the mail from Delta within the past week advertising a crazy low boston/ny shuttle fare - $79 rt I believe. There were restrictions on travel days and times - leave Boston after a certain time on friday (6.30 pm I think...but not sure) and leave nyc no later than early afternoon on sunday - you ought to check with Delta for accurate details.

Let me toss my toupee in the ring on the side of DO NOT drive.

I remember back in 1986 a friend and I did the NY-Boston-NY day trip for one of the World Series games. In retrospect it was as close to torture as you could get without actually being strapped down and beaten. Take a train (at least you can sleep) or fly.

If you MUST go, and I strongly suggest you don't, take the high speed train (Acella?) from Boston to NYC's Penn Station. It's not cheap, but if you have AAA, ask for that rate; it cuts the price in half. There's a 6:00am train from Back Bay station, and you would arrive in NYC by 9:30ish. There are afternoon and evening trains back.

DON'T DO IT !!! (the car that is )
Amtrak is only 104 r/t ! 4 hours from downtown Beantown to Penn Station....

Here's another vote against driving down and back the same day. You just never know about traffic and CONSTRUCTION! If you really want to go, take the train. It takes longer than flying, but getting to the airport in Boston, checking in, getting from the airport into Manhattan, and doing it all over coming back is a time-consuming hassle, too. Or, you could always drive to Connecticut the night before and stay overnight within an hour of NYC. Then, drive into the city, spend the day, and drive back to Boston. Once in Manhattan, there are several hop on/hop off bus tours that loop with stops at all the major highlights.

Just another vote for taking the train, rather than driving or flying. The Acela Regional is a good compromise on cost and time, rather than the Acela Express. If you fly, you have to deal with the time, expense, and hassles of transferring to and from airports, whereas the trains are right downtown.

And as a final thought -- what else are you doing with that rental car? We hope you aren't planning on driving in the city of Boston, yikes!

Michael, I practiced what I preached this weekend and drove to New York from my home near Boston. My wife and I left at 6 a.m. and, even with an hourly stop to stretch and change drivers, we pulled into the garage underneath the Metropolitan Museum of Art at 9:25. Between then and 4 p.m. when we left the city, we had ample time to see two exhibits at the Met, load up on specialty foods at Zabars, bagels at H&H, enjoy a leisurely lunch on the west side, go shopping, take a walk through Central Park, and generally enjoy being in New York. Traffic going home was heavier but, by switching between WCBS (880) and WINS (1010), we were able to vary our route home and arrive at 7:45 p.m.

So, yes, you can make it there and back in a day. Will you be tired at the end of the day? Sure, but it's well worth it!

Okay, Neal, if nothing else, we know that you exceed the speed limit.
I would not suggest anyone follow Neal's example, as you stand a good chance of being stopped for speeding!
Michael, you're better off with the train or plane! There mere fact that you don't know the area will easily add at least a half-hour to an hour one you get into the city before you park.

Neal may have been speeding, but people in Mass, CT and NY Metro tend to drive 10-20 MPH over the speed limit as a general rule. I tend to make it from my home in Boston to Midtown in about 3 1/2-4 hrs. I go to NY on business from Boston several times a month and prefer the train. As far as the shuttle goes, the biggest hassles are getting in and out of Boston's Logan and NY's LaGuardia. I also stopped taking the shuttle because of the delays sitting on the plane at either airport (my personal favorite at LGA: "well, folks, we're 23rd in line for takeoff"). Although you're only in the air for about 30 minutes, if you factor in the time in traffic and on the runway, you're better off on the train-or driving.

Another vote for taking the shuttle... Amtrak is no bargain and trip is longer than you think..

DRIVE! It's only 200 miles. If you avoid rush hour, it'll take about 3.5 hours. Not too shabby. Parking in NYC is easy and it's FREE. Park on the streets. In NYC you can park on neighborhood streets (there are no meters or restrictions) for free. It may take about 15 minutes to find a spot, but that goes with the territory. In Boston you will not be able to park on the streets with a rental car, unless you park and pay for a meter.

To get to NYC take
I-90 (Mass Pike) West to I-84 West to Hartford. From there take I-91 South towards New Haven. Take I-95 South directly into NYC. Depending on what part of NYC, you will want to take a different bridge. If you take the 3rd ave bridge you avoid tolls! If you know the roads at all, you can take I-15 Merritt parkway exit off of I-91 and enter NYC that way. This allows you to avoid the Cross Bronx Expressway (the last section of I-95 before Manhattan)

I do this ALL THE TIME and it's very easy. If you're looking for parking near the touristy areas (like Midtown) you won't find parking except for an overpriced garage. You need to park where people actually live, like the Upper east or West sides. Most places on Manhattan below 96th street are totally safe to park your car, even in prior dumps like alphabet city.