vickib2

My daughter and I would like to take a two-day trip to New York City the week after Christmas. We will probably be using Mariott points and will stay at a Mariott downtown.

We are unsure as to the best way to get there, however. Should we take the Amtrak? Seems rather pricey at around $200 round-trip per person. Or should we drive since we will have a place to park (the hotel) -- or WILL we have a place to park? After reading some of the posts here, I have learned that not all hotels have parking.

I'm a a tad bit uneasy about this trip since neither of us have been to NYC before, but daughter sees to think we ought to go for it since we both will have that week off and we now live so close to NYC (between Bmore and D.C.)

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

Vicki

Anonymous

Yikes, those Amtrak prices are just crazy! It would definitely be cheaper to drive and park, even if you have to use public parking garages other than something your hotel would offer.

rkkwan

You can take the bus. There are cheaper "Chinatown buses" from DC, or you can take Greyhound from Silver Spring. $37 each way per person.

Driving into New York city means parking (at least ~$25 per day, no in-and-out, depending where you're staying; hotel parking generally cost more), tolls for MD, DE, Delaware Memorial Bridge (one-way), NJTP and the tunnel/bridge into NYC. Not insignificant. 400-miles roundtrip also means ~$50 of gas.

Still cheaper than AMTRAK, I guess.

E

Have you checked airfares, esp. from BWI? You must, must figure in parking charges and availibility in NYC--check with your hotel ASAP. you might find that with the price of gas and parking, flying beats driving and Amtrak.

May I ask why you're uneasy about the trip? Maybe someone here can allay your fears!

bardo1

vicki,

Welcome to the NEW AMTRAK. AMTRAK has a brand new pricing policy of increasing their fares during the most popular times (like the airlines).

Unfortunatly, the week after Christmas is about their most popular travel time and DC to NYC is their most popular route.

That said, you can't beat AMTRAK for a stress free, convenient trip. It's worth the extra $$, IMO. My next choice would be a Greyhound bus. I have driven to NYC many, many, times and would only sggest it if you are comfortable driving in such an environment. Have you driven in Rome or London, for example?

Is it just the transportation that you are uneasy about? The only things that worries me are the prices.

I assume you made hotel reservations long ago? If not make some RIGHT NOW!

Start with the hotels that have been vetted by the good people here at Fodor's:
http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgr...ur_section=lod

LadyOLeisure

When we lived in the MD suburbs of DC, I often went up to NYC for business and also to visit our daughter who lives there. I've flown, driven and taken the train. The advantages of Amtrak are that your arrive downtown. (It's also nice to be able to read and watch the scenery outside, especially if it is raining or snowing!) If you get a cheap airline flight, you have to deal with 1) parking at your home airport 2) getting into town from the airport -- estimate about $40 and 3) having to do the same return to fly home again.

Driving really isn't too bad. It's an easy straight shot up 95...although the first time you drive into the city is a bit unnerving. But it's pretty simple once you are there. Know where you are going and use a map that indicates which streets/avenues are one way. Frankly we didn't start driving until the last couple of years, although on our last trip I was going up for business on Amtrak anyway and so we just bought my DH a train ticket. (We always left/returned to BWI's Amtrak station which has great parking. ) Make sure whichever Marriott you are staying at has parking. Expect to pay between $20-40 per 24hr day.

If your daughter is a student you can probably get a discounted Amtrak ticket for her. She needs to sign up for some sort of membership, but I believe it is good for a year.

Have fun! It is a terrific mother/daughter trip. I took my daughter along on a business trip to when she was in high school. We had a great time, a couple of the younger folks in my NY office took us out to lunch and she got a real sense of what living and working in NYC was like (although the second day we were there was a Saturday which we spent SHOPPING and had a blast.) From that point she said she that after she graduated from college, she was going to work in NYC.

Over the years her friends teased her about that, but -- you guessed it -- she did just that!

Have a great trip!

Anonymous

If your daughter is a junior or senior in high school, you can get a form signed by her guidance counselor, good for a buy-one-get-one-free Amtrak ticket:

http://www.campusvisit.com/amtrak/

(When we used this, they didn't even ask for/look at the form.)

Suki

With those prices, I would be tempted to drive up 95, get off in NJ at Route 1 and take the NJ Transit train from Princeton Junction (plentiful, cheap, safe parking.) The roundtrip ticket is approx. $18, and the train takes about 1-1/4 hour. Let me know if you want more info.

flygirl

I prefer flying! you should be able to get there for less than the train.

vickib2

Thanks so much for your responses. My daughter and son-in-law have also heard about the Chinatown buses, so I guess I need to find out more about them.

Why am I uneasy about making the trip? Well, I am an easily-confused, easily-overwhelmed 52-year-old woman who actually has very limited travel experience. I also have a fairly significant hearing impairment which causes all kinds of communication problems.

Sometimes, for a lot of different reasons, it is just easier to stay at home and not do anything different.

Vicki

Anonymous

Search the boards for past discussions of the Chinatown buses. Cheap and fast, if you don't need a lot of service and are willing to take some risk about delays (though that can also be said of all the other options). Advantage for those of us with hearing problems: The Chinatown staff are used to communicating with lots of gestures rather than words! Consider the Chinatown Bus ride to be part of the adventure.

The more you travel, the less intimidating it is. After your first trip to NYC, you'll be looking forward to the next one.

BarryK

In response to Suki's post, parking at Princeton Jct. is only plentiful on weekends. During the week it's next to impossible to get a spot. Also, you can only park there for 24 hours. Not a good option.

rb_travelerxATyahoo

Greyhound often matches the prices of the Chinatown buses ... from my MARC train leaving DC's Union Station I saw a large banner at Greyhound promoting their $20 fares.

Another parking area for NJT is "Metropark" -- I think the actual city is something like Iselyn, NJ -- large parking garage with bus & rail service, just off GSPW.

mclaurie

I would take whatever transportation you'll find least stressful. Here's some info on the Chinatown buses

http://www.chinatown-bus.com/chinatown-bus-reviews.htm

In addition to those and Greyhound there's also limoliner.com

Here's a website that outlines all the options

http://www.independenttraveler.com/r...07&category=20

As to hotel, there are a number of Marriotts. The 2 big ones are the M Marquis in Times Square and the M. Financial Center which is all the way downtown near Wall St. One confusing issue for NYC is that "downtown" is not as central as it sounds in other cities. That location will be very quiet on weekends and is more likely to have decent parking than Times Square but won't be as centrally located. There are also 3 Courtyard by Marriotts that mostly get good reviews on tripadvisor.

You'll have a great time but I also urge you to make your hotel reservations ASAP.

Suki

Just to clarify: it is true that I have never parked at Princeton Junction on a weekday so I'm sure that what Barry says is true. However, I have parked there from Saturday morning until Monday evening so you must be able to park for more than 24 hours on a weekend.

vickib2

Thanks for all your kind replies. My husband got the reservations for us -- we are staying at the Mariott Marquis in Times Square (Wednesday and Thursday nights after Christmas).

I can't believe we are doing this.

I have an acquaintance who lives close to NYC, in Connecticut.... I'm wondering if I could drive to her house and park there and ride the train into the city and then return there and pick up the car when we leave. She's really just an acquaintance, though.

Vicki

Fraggle

Hi Vicki,
As a native Richmonder who now lives in NYC, I can totally sympathize with your travel dilemmas. I have done them all though--- so let me see how I can help.
Chinatown buses: To be honest, I would avoid. I have personally taken Apex Bus (www.apexbus.com). It doesn't take too long, but it adds some stress. You would definitely want someone to drop you off at the bus (it doesn't leave from a station). The bus drops you off in Chinatown (imagine that) in New York, which is a hike from Times Square. Depending on the time of day, hailing a cab here might be difficult. It's a confusing part of town if you've never been to New York. It is cheap though--- $35 roundtrip. You can buy tickets in advance on-line.
flying--- Dulles to Newark seems to have a large number of cheap options. Do not rule out Newark-- it is almost easier to get into New York from this airport. There are several car services that will take you directly into the city for $40 or you could just take the train (this isn't hard) into Penn Station, which is ten blocks south of your hotel... Pricing on travelocity.. it looks like you could leave Dulles at 1pm and land in Newark at 2pm for $141 a person.
Train- It's expensive and often late. Skip it unless you really like trains (like my mom). She came up recently on amtrak (took just over 7 hours!) and paid about $200 round trip.
Car- Driving would be the cheapest by far. Tolls are pricier than expected, but you shouldn't spend more than $50 each way (including gas). Parking at your hotel (the Marquis) is $45 a day. That's not a horrible rate by new york standards, though there are cheaper rates. You could also look into parking in Jersey (the metropark suggestion isn't a bad one), but if you're only here for 48 hours, you won't want to waste time schlepping around. Whatever you do, if you do drive to new york---- leave your car in the garage the entire trip. New York newbies (and most everyone else) shouldn't bother to drive. You'll miss the best bits being in the car.

Anonymous

A couple of the "chinatown" buses also stop midtown, near Penn Station; IIRC, these include Washington Deluxe, Vamoose, and Dragon Coach.

BarryK

Suki,
I'm not sure it's permitted to park all weekend at Pr. Jct., but I guess you got away with it. Did you pay $3.00 for the token, then punch in your number as if you were just day-parking?

Suki

Barry, I've done this on several occasions. I just buy 2 or 3 tokens, and put them in the machine. I've never seen any signs prohibiting parking for longer than 24 hours, and the machine accepts multiple tokens.