vivi

Where would be a good place to drive to from Hartford, park the car, and then take Amrtak the rest of the way into Boston for a day of sightseeing. If I take Amtrak from Hartford to Boston I have to ride south to New Haven to change trains. Seems easier to drive north to a town with lots of station parking and hop on the train from there to Boston. (I do not want to drive into the maw of Boston proper.)

Anonymous

IMHO, your best bet is the "Route 128" station in Westwood, on Route 95. You can also pick up the MBTA Commuter Rail, which runs more frequently and probably costs less than taking Amtrak for such a short distance.

http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_ma...route=PROVSTOU

tchoiniere

You don't need to do this via Amtrak. Use www.mbta.com. I would drive to Riverside along the Green Line (its exit 14 off of the Mass Pike). Then take the subway into Boston. Or you can look into the Commuter train from Framingham.

msackton

The Route 128 station is definitely out of your way. I'd suggest one of the stops along the Worcester/Framingham commuter rail, or Brandeis/Roberts stop on the Fitchburg commuter rail, or Riverside on the Green Line. Riverside has the advantage that it is a subway rather than a commuter rail and therefore runs much more frequently. But it will take a longer to get into town.

I would be a little worried about the places with less than 100 parking spaces during the weekday rush, but I don't have any personal experience with the Worcester line.

Anonymous

It's true that the Route 128 station in Westwood is a few miles out of your way; it's 8 or 9 miles south of the intersection with the Mass Pike. But they never run out of parking spaces, and it's very easy to find.

Ackislander

Coming from Hartford, I like the Riverside T station a lot.

It is one exit south of the Massachusetts Turnpike, so it is easy to find, and that particular T line rides through a beautiful suburban landscape on the way into Boston, very peaceful and relaxing, and it takes you right to the heart of Boston -- Back Bay and the Common. You can change at Copley for the Museum of Fine Arts and Isabella Stewart Gardner or at Park Street to the Red Line for Cambridge or the JFK Museum.

Westwood/128 Station is on the commuter rail and will take you to South Station fairly quickly, but it is quite a distance (10-12 miles) south of the Masspike and you still have to get from South Station to the major sites.

Anonymous

The Amtrak and commuter rail trains that go from Route 128 to South Station also stop at the Back Bay station on Dartmouth Street.

As noted, some destinations (Harvard Square, JFK Museum) are on the Red Line, same as South Station.

I agree that the Green line is cheaper and more scenic, but it's also much slower, and I'd want to make sure that parking would be available.

msackton

The parking lot at Riverside is pretty big (I think it has about 1000 spots). I wouldn't be worried about parking there.

china_cat

if its a weekday, I would not try any of the commuter rail stations along the Worcester-Framingham line. Framingham station is a bit of a pain to get to (shorter distance, but probably just as much out of the way as the route 128 station), and it definitely fills up on weekdays. You're much better off driving to Riverside and taking the T in.

yk

If the Riverside station lot is full, you can always drive to the next stop which is Woodlands. That one is a garage and is rarely full (according to the garage attendants).

BTW, there are bus coaches that run between Hartford and Boston. I did a quick google search and it is $30 roundtrip. Have you considered that option?