I need to go to a memorial service in Boston next month--any estimate about how long it would take to drive to boston from providence airport?

are you familiar with www.mapquest.com?

It depends on two things:

1. Where in Boston?
2. What time of day?

Without traffic, you're talking about 60-70 minutes +/- to the center of Boston. During peak traffic times, you could be talking 1 1/2 hours or more.

uconn's exactly right. It's a pretty straight shot up the 95 to the rte. 3.

Just a hint though, it's Green airport which is south of Providence in Warwick.

Another guess -are you asking because you are considering TF Green as an alternate to Logan (perhaps using SWA).

If this is the case, where exactly is your final destination - another option would be Manchester airport if you are going to be on northern part of Boston metro area.

So I hope you come back and give us all more info - even though it is fun to speculate.

Traffic of I-95 through Cranston and Providence can be very bad.

Get on I-95 North, then take the very next exit (Rte 37), go west and pick up I-295 North to bypass Providence.

thanks all of you--I am going to Belmont, which looks pretty much in the center of things, near cambridge. Manchester is of course another SWA option. I could get into either one at about 6-7 PM, so it seems I would miss most of the rush hour then--driving to Boston from 7-9.

That's about 70 miles. Perhaps 1:15 at that time of the night.

Stay on I-95 North when you get close to Boston (also signed as Rte 128 North), all the way round to Rte 2 (Concord Turnpike) and then head SE towards Boston.

TF Green airport is just off I95. Easy access. Take I95 North. Bear left at the merge with Rt 128 (the beltway around Boston--partway also I95). Take I95 to Trapelo Rd. The signage is to Belmont. This is a more central direct shot to Belmont than Rt 2 which is the next exit off 128/I95.
Where in Belmont are you going/
At 7pm it should take you just over an hour to get there.

No, no, no.
Get directions for I-295 North from the rental car company. Downtown Providence at the time you are arriving can be and often is a nightmare owing to construction.
Take 295 to 95, then follow 95 north to Trapelo Road as John suggests. Rely on Mapquest once you get to Belmont, but don't rely on it for the best route through Providence and Boston because it doesn't take traffic into account.

Hope we're not confusing you. Nix my rec. to go up rte. 3, as that will take you thru mid Boston.

Generally you won't have any problems with traffic at the times your going.

Is it really that good a deal to fly into Providence on SWA rather than into Logan on another carrier - check because this used to be a great way to save some money but is becoming less so recently (news story today, specifically about Manchester, but could also be applied to TF Green).

If you are driving on Rte 95 to Belmont, try to get a Massachusetts map - there is no way I can explain this so it makes sense without a visual. Rte 95 is in places the same as Route 128 (which is what locals call it even though signage calls it Route 95). There is a place on the route you could take where Rte 95 North is the same as Route 93 South and this merge and road split can be extremely confusing. At this point in the roadway system it is far better to follow destination signs than North/South signs.

With that warning, the trip from Providence is not really that bad - since Belmont is final destination, I would pick TF Green over Manchester, but still suggest you check Logan fares.

If it will work for you, you can also consider Amtrak from Providence to Boston which runs roughly every 1-2 hours in the evening. There is also bus service from the airport - it stops at the terminal then at the Providence bus station then on to Boston