I will be driving my son between camps located in New Haven (Yale) and Hoboken (Stevens Institute). Any suggestions on the best way to get there? I will be flying into CT on Thursday and will be driving into NJ Friday morning and back to CT Friday afternoon.

Unfortunately, the most direct way is also the most congested. When I read "back to CT Friday afternoon", all I could think was eeeww!!. (Sorry!) What time on Fri afternoon? You will be dealing with rush hour traffic leaving NYC, and if it's summer, additional weekender traffic up the CT coast.

As for specific driving directions from Point A to Point B, I have found that Expedia maps do a good job of covering this route. When I plugged in "search for a place" for "Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA" to "Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA", it gave me the directions I would have told you, going down I-95 South into NYC, then through the Lincoln Tunnel in midtown Manhattan.

However, given the likely traffic situation, I would suggest probably going over the GW Bridge instead of the tunnel, as it will keep you at least a little farther away from NYC traffic...

Here's a local driving tip: We get traffic reports every 10 minutes on two news radio stations: AM1010;1010WINS "on the ones" (i.e., 1:01, 1:11, etc.) and AM880/CBS "on the 8's". Unfortunately they have a lot of ground to cover in the tri-state area, but should be of help in the corridors you will be travelling.

You really don't have much of a choice. New Haven is on I-95 on one end and Hoboken is about 2miles from I-95 on the other.

Take I95 across the GW Bridge and don't take any route through Brooklyn/Queens or Manhattan would be my advice.

I wouldn't discount taking the Henry Hudson Parway, right before GW Bridge, into Manhattan and into 42nd Street and into Lincoln Tunnel. At the other end of the tunnel, you're in New Jersey, take the Willow Avenue exit to Hoboken. This may be the faster way.

The I-95 South/NJ Turnpike traffic from GW Bridge can be even worse and most often during the rush hour is one looooong parking lot.

Do you absolutely HAVE to drive? YOu are going to be stuck in traffic for HOURS.

I would suggest taking the train down from CT, on Amtrack to Penn Station and then the Path to Hoboken and a taxi to camp. Even with all the trains, it will probably be easier to take the train than drive.

The Merritt Parkway basically parallels I 95 and is a more pleasant, frequently less congested alternative in CT. You pick it up off I 95 in Milford about 5 miles outside NH. Or you pick it up as the Hutchinson River Parkway in NY.

If you do take I 95, I also find taking the Cross County Expressway (#287) across Westchester Cty. is a better route to/from the GWB than I 95 through the Bronx or the Cross Bronx Expressway.

wantsomesun has a great suggestion. The New Haven train station is a major stop for both Amtrak and Metro North. (Metro North is cheaper but won't bring you into the right station in NYC.) If you decide to do this, we can give you more specific instructions on how to get from the train to the PATH subway; it's very easy. How much luggage will you have?

If you do decide to drive, bill_boy's directions are exactly like the Expedia maps ones. (Though bill_boy, it sounds like the return trip will be at rush hour; I'm not sure if either crossing is any better than the other inbound on a Friday afternoon... but I try to avoid them at all costs at that time of day!)

There is one other driving route you could take: You could go waaayy up and around the city, taking the Merritt Parkway (cars only) west to I-287 and cross into NJ north of the city, following the Palisades Parkway back down along the Hudson. Look on a map, though, and you will see how far out of the way this takes you...

You can actually get Route 15 (what is the Merritt Parkway) right in north New Haven a short distance from campus, only at that point, the roadway's name is the Wilbur Cross Parkway.

ggreen. That is actually my preferred route too (as stated above). I think it is shorter in terms of time... always was for me (unless I was trying to get to the east side, and even then sometimes W79th St, was better!)

amaclise, I think I was typing as you were posting - I must have gotten e.s.p. from you when I suddenly remembered to add that route at the end of my post!

I do tend to take Route 15 (Wilbur Cross / Merritt / Hutchinson Parkways), but I didn't think of it initially because of the Hoboken destination!

I also suggest you take a TRAIN from New Haven to Hoboken. This way you will avoid paying for a rental car and gas, but mostly you will avoid driving altogether, which on a Friday in summer could potentially be awful no matter what route you take, not to mention having to drive around Hoboken and New Haven which I assume you don't know at all. Depending on which station you choose to go to (see below) going via train will take 2 to 2.5 hours, and the drive would take just over 1.5 hours, so the drive is a bit faster but ONLY if you encounter no traffic, accidents, construction, and that you don't get lost either leaving New Haven or trying to find the Steven's Institute once you get to Hoboken (and finding parking).

This assumes you don't need a car in New Haven or Hoboken and will not have an absolute ton of luggage which can be a pain on the trains admittedly. Assuming you are landing at Tweed New Haven airport, take a cab to your hotel in New Haven on Thursday. On Friday, take a cab to the train station in New Haven, which is about 5-6 blocks from the New Haven Green area. Then take an Amtrak train from New Haven to Penn Station in Newark New Jersey. This will take you about 2 hours. From Newark, take the PATH light rail train to Hoboken, about 25 minutes (you have to change once at Journal Square), where you can walk in about 5 minutes to the Stevens Institute or you could take a cab which would be quite cheap as the distance is really short.

(You can also take the train to Penn Station in New York and then the PATH directly to Hoboken with no changes, but to do this you have to walk a block from Penn Station in New York to get to the PATH station at 33rd Street and 6th Ave. I am not sure which is easier. Amtrak to New York only takes about 1.5 hours, and the train time to Hoken is then only 15 minutes so this route is actually a bit faster than going to Newark, but it involves getting up from the lower track levels, then out of NYC Penn Station and then a walk of one block the "long" way, i.e. between 6th and 7th Ave. If you have minimal luggage, this is probably the better way to go as this way the overall trip from New Haven would take about 2 hours versus 2.5 going via Newark.)

If you son is 16, he could actually get to the Stevens Institute by himself by taking the train, IMO.

If you don't need to go back to CT for anything other than the flight out, look into flying out of Newark airport, which you can get to from Hoboken via the PATH back to Newark and then the Air train to the airport. Would take maybe 45 minutes all in. Otherwise, just go back to Newark or NYC via the PATH and head up to CT. Alternatively, if you want to spend some time in Manhattan for an afternoon to yourself of shopping or sightseeing, you can take the PATH into Manhattan from Hoboken, do whatever, and then hop any Amtrak track north at Penn Station in mid-town and go back up to New Haven.

If your son does not need to be in Hoboken until later on Friday, you could both go into New York for the day, and then go out to Hoboken via the PATH from there. (If you are on Amtrak, you can store luggage at Penn Station.)

For Amtrak schedules to Amtrak.com
For PATH schedules, routes, etc go to http://www.panynj.gov/CommutingTravel/path/html/

Stevens is very easy to get to, right on the edge of the Hudson and with plenty of parking for people affiliated with the school (such as you will be). There's a large Stevens lot right on the water; I'm sure your camp literature would have a map, right?