Welshgirl

Coming over from the UK at the end of June, staying in New York for 5 days then driving up to Boston stopping for 5 nights along the way.
As it's one way car hire I've been told I have to pick up the car in a New York airport. Which provides the easiest access to the roads going north toward Boston?
What's the most scenic route along the coast? I'll be staying in New London & Providence.
Thanks

Anonymous

You do NOT have to trek out to an airport to rent a car one-way between NYC and Boston. There are plenty of car rental offices in Manhattan and in downtown Boston.

J62

LaGuardia is lot easier to get to from Manhattan and usually just a little easier to exit the city and head north/east. Getting to the airport and cost will be your more important factors.

One way rentals are often very expensive in the US so definitely shop around and get input from others about the best way to do this. Who is telling you need pick up a car at the airport? If the rate is cheaper, then definitely, but there are numerous city offices for all the major rental car co's.

New London is right on I-95, which unfortunately is one of the worst roads anywhere.

Anonymous

A quick check on Travelocity for the OP's cities and approximate dates yielded 5 different companies willing to do this rental for a weekly rate under $250.

rkkwan

US1 and I-95 runs parallel along the coast. I-95 is congested freeway, US1 is congested non-freeway that goes through lots of towns. [Remember, from NYC to New Haven it's all built up, and towns tend to blend into one another.] Up to New Haven, you can also take the Merritt Parkway, which is a few miles inland, and is quite smooth and fast, but all you see are trees.

After New Haven traffic usually opens up. You choices remain I-95 (freeway) and US1 (non-freeway). US1 tends to stay closer to the coast. Finally, after Mystic, CT, I-95 goes more inland and cuts through central RI to Providence. US1 stays to the coast and is quite pretty.

nytraveler

The only scenic routes from NYC to Boston do not involve driving along the coast. (The coast is essentaily one massive city or industrial area - with more than 100 million people betwen Boston and DC.) There are some pretty areas right along the water - but these are generally privately owned clubs or houses - and are all local streets - not a coast road you could use to get anywhere.

Unless you're wedded to New London and Providence (not sure why when there's so much better to see/do in this area) I would take a different route.

For pleasant scenery you're better off taking the Merrirtt Parkway, then heading north past Hartford and east to Boston. This area is much less congested and has some pretty rolling hills.

clarkgriswold

Renting in manhattan is very expensive due to insurance regulations. Airport would be less expensive and you won't be able to drive it into Manhattan.

Anonymous

Not sure where you're getting your info -- as stated above, it's easy enough to do a reality check on the web.

Budget and Avis list the very same weekly rates whether the car is picked up at Laguardia or midtown Manhattan. True, the cheapest rate is from National at Laguardia ($227), but hardly worth it, especially considering that you can get a car from Alamo midtown for $232.

starrsville

I had no trouble picking up a rental (Hertz) in midtown and dropping it elsewhere. I didn't mind driving OFF the island - would not like driving AROUND Manhattan though!

mclaurie

I agree you don't need to go to an airport to pick up the car (although there may be more choice of car at an airport). If you do decide that's what you want to do, La Guardia would make the most sense of the 3 airports you have to choose from. It's closest to the city and to I-95, a pretty unattractive and heavily travelled hightway as others have said. (Use mapquest.com as guide for driving directions)

But an alternative route would be to head east on Long Island (in New York state) and take a ferry either at Port Jefferson to Bridgeport Ct. or at Orient Point to New London. If you have the time to stop, by going to Orient Point you could visit some of the vineyards on the North Fork of Long Island. Here's the website for the Orient Point/New London ferry

https://www.longislandferry.com/Default.asp

Here's the Port Jeff/Bridgeport ferry website
http://www.bpjferry.com/

Taking the ferry won't shorten the trip but it will save you some driving and on a nice day is a nice way to travel. If you decide to take either of the ferries, you could also pick up a car at JFK as you would be heading east from there. If you don't have much luggage, taking the AirTrain from Manhattan to JFK is pretty simple. Picking up a car at La Guardia, you'd be best taking a taxi.

As a gentle warning, don't be surprised if the insurance for the car doubles the cost of the rental. As you shop around for the best "deal" my experience was when insurance and taxes are added, they're all about the same (outrageously expensive) for a UK driver but we face the same problem when we visit you .

gail

expedia.com will generate a useful chart listing various cr companies and size car for either one-way or RT rental - and you could then compare and decide which is best.

We have found sometimes cheaper to rent at airport one-way, sometimes not. Have encountered issues of car availability and inconvenient hours at some in-town rental locations - but for NYC I would guess hours would be longer.

Second the reminder about insurance greatly adding to cost of rental.