Need a help to estimate my plans for two weeks in August. Appreciate any comments!!! We are good walkers. I should not drive more than 3-4 hours a day.
1. Fly from Washington, DC to Syracuse, NY - rent a car at the airport.
2. Drive to Richfield Spring - a week of relaxing life in friends house (will go to Cooperstown for a day and may be to Howe Caverns)
3. drive to Syracuse – drop car at the airport and take a train to the Canadian site of Niagara Falls (arrive around 4:00 pm)
? How to get to the Amtrak train station – is it wise to rent a car from airport?
? Should we stay overnight in Skaneatels area (Finger Lakes) or a few hours before train is ok?
4.Walk (? no car) around Niagara Falls area
5. Next day train to Toronto, CA around 4:00 pm)– will stay in friends house of 5 days.
6. Fly to DC from Toronto.

Rent a car in Niagara Falls Canada and dont miss visiting Niagara on the Lake..It is the best part of the area and then head to Toronto in the car . this will save you hours as i dont think there is a direct route train to Toronto???

there is a train from NY to Toronto
63 Maple Leaf and 2 tickets from Syracuse to Toronto will be $85 (we can stay overnight in Niagara)

In my opinion, it's a waste of time doing all that training.

I'd rent a car in Syracuse, drive to wherever you want to go, including Toronto, and then return it in Buffalo and fly back from there.

I cannot drive for a long time…

Not sure if I read your post correctly - are you wondering if you should rent a car from the Syracuse Airport to the Amtrak station? If so, there is no need to rent a car from the airport to the train station, it is only about 10 minutes away. Follow the ground transportation signs after landing at Syr, go to the taxi desk and tell them where you want to go, they will tell you the fare and get your cab.

If you do have a few hours to kill and want to drive to Skaneateles you can go through some of the shops, spend a few minutes in the park near the lake and grab a bite to eat in 3 or so hours, but you'll also have to factor in 30 minute drive time (each way) from Syracuse to Skan. and pick up/return of then rental car. If you can get a reservation you'll have a more relaxing visit by spending 1 night in the Village.

Enjoy your trip!

I am going to rent a car from the beginning of my trip and will off drop it at the airport before I live from Syracuse. I was not sure if I should come yearly in the morning or stay overnight to see Skan. before departure from Syracuse.

How long can you drive? Richfield Springs, NY to Niagara Falls, ON is about 4 hours. If you'll split the drive with a night in the Fingers Lake region, then you drive even less each day.

It's under two hours from Niagara Falls/Buffalo to Toronto.

So, we're not talking about very long distance here, and none of the drive is more than the 4 hour limit you posted in your original post.

The train is slow and they don't necessarily run on-time. Add the time you waste for returning rental car, go to train station, wait for train, go from train station to hotel in Niagara Falls and back, etc etc, driving is the much easier alternative.

Better and less expensive to take a taxi from the airport to the train station.

You don't need a car for Niagara Falls, everything is within walking distance and there are fabulous tours available if you have the time.

Try using www.greattravelclub.com to make all your flight, car rental and hotel arrangements. They have fly/drive packages too.

Kind of a shame you're travelling before our Dynastay site is up and running (this fall). You will be able to make all reservations through one site and get your complete itinerary online right there including flights, hotels, car rentals, airport transportation, train connections, attraction tickets and even reservations at unique restaurants or nightclubs for waypoints (like when you're waiting for the train).

God luck, have a wonderful time and take lots of videos and pictures. When you get back, look for Dynastay (.com) to upload your photos/videos of the most unique and memorable places that you visited so we can all see them - and maybe visit them ourselves!

? to rkkwan:
(I am completly lost with my plans)
have you ever ridden a train?
Your answer will help to make up my mind!

hope_t: I have ridden a lot of trains in the NE Corridor, but not the Maple Leaf to Syracuse/Niagara/Toronto. However, I love trains and read a lot about it. In general, trains between NYC and Albany are quite punctual, but after that who knows. Some days they may be on-time, others they may be hours late.

In general, they are not a good mode of transport for relatively short distance (3-4 hour trips) outside the California and Northeast Corridors. The low speed of the train, lack of puntuality, and relatively high cost, together means there are better way to travel.

rkkwan thank you for your tips. not decided yet...
I was trying to avoid unnecessary driving if I can spend 3-4 hours in the train (also it is easy with 10 y.old child)
Price for two tickets for Syracuse-Niagara(we can include 24 h stay)-Toronto is only $85
The car for a week will be about $240 + gas. If I would rent for 2 weeks with return in Buffalo it will be more than $600
Also I will not need a car in Toronto. For that money I can buy tickets from S to Toronto and do day trip with friends from Toronto. I was thinking it will be nice to ride a train and enjoy view from the window.
For this vacation I don't have to plan all my time: the main reason is to visit friends in RS and Toronto. To let my daughter to enjoy free play with other kids and to do some tours ( MUST for me

Have you priced out flights from Toronto back to NYC? It can be significantly more than flying back from Buffalo or Syracuse.

And you can save with the rental car if you return it from Syracuse. You're adding just a few hours of driving.

If you want to calculate exact cost, don't forget the price of transit between airport to train station, between train and hotel at Niagara Falls, and then other transportation cost in Toronto. [But of course, if you need to pay for parking in Toronto, then that'll go the other way.]

I start thinking about going by car from DC...

thanks a lot to rkkwan! for reasoning

The train is slow and they don't necessarily run on-time. Add the time you waste for returning rental car, go to train station, wait for train, go from train station to hotel in Niagara Falls and back, etc etc, driving is the much easier alternative.

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Also, there is a long time spent at the border so that the border patrol can check the train,we did it one year and that was the only thing we didn't like about the train. In Toronto, you really don't need a car, the subs are wonderful!