New York to Washington DC
May 8th, 2010, 05:49 PM
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New York to Washington DC
Train, bus or tour to Washington and surrounds????
We arrive in NY on 1st July, leave for home on 11th as part of total 7 weeks in Canada-USA. Our NY hotel is in Avenue of Americas, but we have booked only the first few nights at this stage so can stay in other places too. We thought a few days in Washington would be very interesting.
Is it easy to catch a train from NY city to Washington with luggage or are there good bus services available? 3 or 4 day bus tours would also be OK if they went to Philadelphia, Washington & Amish country. (We will have visited Niagara beforehand)
With Amtrak, do we need to book ahead or can we purchase tickets on the day of travel? Is the train likely to be crowded during the period 5th to 11th July?
We would love some input to guide us in final planning. We love the cultural aspects and history but especially love the natural environment so our interests are quite broad. One of the best parts is chatting to the local residents, so leisurely walks around places (especially the very old areas) are also great. We are 'seniors' but active ones who like to walk. Not interested in hire cars in NY or Washington, but would hire in small towns.
We arrive in NY on 1st July, leave for home on 11th as part of total 7 weeks in Canada-USA. Our NY hotel is in Avenue of Americas, but we have booked only the first few nights at this stage so can stay in other places too. We thought a few days in Washington would be very interesting.
Is it easy to catch a train from NY city to Washington with luggage or are there good bus services available? 3 or 4 day bus tours would also be OK if they went to Philadelphia, Washington & Amish country. (We will have visited Niagara beforehand)
With Amtrak, do we need to book ahead or can we purchase tickets on the day of travel? Is the train likely to be crowded during the period 5th to 11th July?
We would love some input to guide us in final planning. We love the cultural aspects and history but especially love the natural environment so our interests are quite broad. One of the best parts is chatting to the local residents, so leisurely walks around places (especially the very old areas) are also great. We are 'seniors' but active ones who like to walk. Not interested in hire cars in NY or Washington, but would hire in small towns.
May 8th, 2010, 06:22 PM
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Amtrak offers service from NY Penn Station to Washington, D.C.
http://www.amtrak.com/
Cheaper and pretty good alternate transport are Megabus and Bolt Bus.
http://us.megabus.com/
https://www.boltbus.com/
These suggestions are transportation only, not tours. For all of these you can try to purchase on the day of travel if there are still seats available--trains and buses do sell out. For the bus services, the earlier you purchase, the cheaper the ticket. Amtrak tickets vary in price based on type of train--the fewer the stops, the higher the cost.
http://www.amtrak.com/
Cheaper and pretty good alternate transport are Megabus and Bolt Bus.
http://us.megabus.com/
https://www.boltbus.com/
These suggestions are transportation only, not tours. For all of these you can try to purchase on the day of travel if there are still seats available--trains and buses do sell out. For the bus services, the earlier you purchase, the cheaper the ticket. Amtrak tickets vary in price based on type of train--the fewer the stops, the higher the cost.
May 9th, 2010, 05:13 AM
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Amtrak to DC is not fast (we don;'t have high speed trains) but is reliable and there are frequent trains. The only really crowded ones (sometimes people have to stand) are the onls late Fri/early Sat and the the holiday weekend late on the 5th or early on the 6th. Except for those few trains you can buy tickets the day of. But trains to DC usually come in from Boston - so you need to be ready to board quickly if you want to get seats together. Food is awful, so if it's over a mealtime I would bring food onboard with you.
Another option is el cehap bus (Bolt bus et al) which can have very low fares - $10 or so - but prices depend on when you buy tickets. But can take much longer if there is traffic - possible on a holiday weekend. Also, DC will be mobbed on a holiday weekend, esp the 5th.
Know nothing about tours - and frankly if you want to cover several areas I would just rent a car to see the various areas, drop in DC and take the train or bus back. But do so as soon as possible, since companies run out of cars over the big holiday weekend.
Another option is el cehap bus (Bolt bus et al) which can have very low fares - $10 or so - but prices depend on when you buy tickets. But can take much longer if there is traffic - possible on a holiday weekend. Also, DC will be mobbed on a holiday weekend, esp the 5th.
Know nothing about tours - and frankly if you want to cover several areas I would just rent a car to see the various areas, drop in DC and take the train or bus back. But do so as soon as possible, since companies run out of cars over the big holiday weekend.
May 11th, 2010, 04:28 AM
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If you want to visit the Amish country, rent a car for a couple of days. You can take Amtrak to Lancaster or simply go to Philadelphia and rent a car there (it's infinitely cheaper than renting in NYC, for example). Then you could continue on to DC from Philly. That would be my recommendation. Or you could see what it would cost to drop off the car in DC after visiting the Amish country. That might be a viable alternative.
May 11th, 2010, 04:46 AM
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There are no really decent multi day tours. Phil. is an easy daytrip from NYC by train or bus. If you use the train, definitely book in advance as prices will be cheaper. Actually, same with the bus. There are bus tours from Phil. to Amish Country if you want to avoid driving.
May 11th, 2010, 04:51 AM
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PS You might want to consider applying for a Big Apple Greeter in NYC. bigapplegreeter.org I'm a bit worried by your comment that you've only booked the first few nights in NYC. You're coming over a holiday period (4th of July) and hotels can get booked up quickly. Walking in off the street to a hotel is not likely to get you as good a rate as booking in advance online or by phone. Also, locals don't call Ave. of the Americas by that name. It's 6th ave. to us. Also just saying 6th ave. doesn't tell much about the location since it goes for miles. A better way to say it would be -we're staying ON 6th ave. in the 50's (or the 40's) or we're staying in midtown west (if you are).
