I am planning on going to new york in may and want to know what are the options to make a day trip(or 2)to boston.How long does a train ride take?And what kind of prices am I looking at for flying,trains,bus,etc?

At a distance of over 200 miles, Boston really isn't a day-trip tourist destination from New York, even by plane.

For trains, about 4 hours each way. Except for the hi-speed, which is quite pricey. If you fly, there's the airfare, plus transportation to/from airports, along with getting there to check in 2 hours or more ahead.

For prices, see Amtrak and the airline websites - and they vary ridiculously depending upon when you book and how.

Boston is truly not a "day trip" from NYC, and I cannot imagine why you would consider doing this twice.

There're always cheaper ways by bus:
Greyhound or PeterPan ($30 one-way), or Chinatown buses ($10 one-way) - which I don't recommend.

Your best bet is by Amtrak.

I've done Boston as a day trip for business several times - but it's a long haul: you take the 7 am shuttle (getting to the airport by 6 at the latest) and you should be in Boston by 9am, then you can spend the day and get a 7 or 8pm shuttle back.

If cost is your major concern the bus is cheaper but the trip will be at least 4 hours each way - leaving only a couple of hours to seen things - depending on the schedule.

However, it makes no sense to do this twice. Why not just spend a night there and have 2 reasonable days to see things.?

I wouldn't discount the Chinatown bus. It goes from NYC Chinatown to Chinatown in Boston for just $20 roundtrip. There are a few providers with scheduled trips all day long, making it quite convenient. I think that the ride is about 3.5 hours.

I second the comments that this is a long ride to make a daytrip, but if you are coming from a distance and don't know when you'll visit the northeast again, it is probably worthwhile. After all, you can rest on the ride back and forth!

There's also the "Limo Liner" http://www.limoliner.com/ a travel alternative between Boston and New York with seatside power outlets, unlimited Internet access, cell phone reception, an onboard attendant, and worktables for meetings. They are "full sized" motor coaches with only 28 larger seats (2 on one side of aisle, 1 on the other), the price is $69 each way. I've not used the service, only read (all favorable) about it.

Check Greyhound & Peter Pan Bus too. They're both matching the Chinatown buses from time to time ... someone wrote recently about favoring Peter Pan over the Dog, especially enjoying a movie shown enroute.

Great point made by rb_travelerxATyahoo!
Reminded me that there was a review in NYTimes Jan 20, 2004 where the writer went btw Boston & NY twice on 4 different carriers.
I have trouble getting the link to that article right now due to some problems on the NYT website. But do look for it.
I would say for $69 the Limoliner would be better than Amtrak.

You should also take into consideration how long you would be staying in NY for. If you're coming for a week, you can do 2 days in Boston and 5 days in NYC. However, anything less than that and it might not make much sense, as there's enough to keep you busy in either city!

Buses or trains will take 3-4 hrs. Flying will take about 2 hrs if you include waiting time and security.

Second what nytraveler posted - my husband makes this as a one-day business trip at least once/month. It doesn't sound like much fun to me.

My mother has been twice on a packaged Boston-NY day trip. They leave early AM, stop someplace for a little shopping, a show, dinner, and then the bus arrives back in Boston around midnight. People sleep on the bus.

If it were me, I'd get a hotel room.

"flying will take 2 hours with waiting time and security". after you add in time to get to the airport and from the airport into Boston, and add the hour and a half you need to be at the airport before the flight, we're now at about 5 hours. the train is quicker, but not necessarily cheaper.

Hi all,

Is there a website for the chinatown bus?

Kiki

Chinatown buses-
http://www.chinatown-bus.com/chinatown-bus-sitemap.htm

As I said, I don't recommend it. I have friends & family who had bad experiences with them.

There was an article in the Boston Globe some months back about the Boston version of the Chinatown bus - maybe it would show up on a search of the Globe website.

The author experienced crowds, disorganization, more tickets sold than seats existed for, etc. She said, if I remember, the ride itself was fine - but the time leading up to it was not. Acquaintances have reported much the same. My interpretation is that it works as a cheap bus ride if you know exactly where to stand, what to do to increase chances of getting on bus - but not something I would rely on for a day trip.

Gail - I read something somewhere too that said the Chinatown buses do NOT have a terminal, or waiting room, etc., and therefore just have a (somewhat) designated pickup point on a street.

The site I've bookmarked for the Chinatown buses is http://www.ivymedia.com/bus/ but I've not checked if it's still valid.

Limoliner vs Amtrak comparison:

http://www.boston.com/travel/boston/.../02/limo_tips/