My daughter and I will be visiting the East Coast (from the San Francisco Bay Area) in February looking at potential colleges. What is be best way to get from the NYC/Boston area to Ithaca (Cornell), one way, since we will be flying home from Ithaca. Rental car? Train? Greyhound? Thanks for any suggestions.

how about posting Cornell to Boston, rental car, train, greyhound? Just a thought.

If you are not used to driving in snow and don't want to brave it, you may want to look into some form of mass transit, as Ithaca gets more than their fair share of snow!

Personally, I would make the drive to Ithaca from Boston and rent a car. I am not sure if a train even runs to Ithaca from Boston.

You need to drive...and we do have snowplows here...

Ithaca is a 6 hour drive from Boston, and a four hour drive from NYC...traffic and weather permitting.

If you or your daughter are baseball fans, Cooperstown and the Hall of Fame are nearby.

You could fly from NY. US Airways has non-stop service between La Guardia & Ithaca that takes just over an hour, but it's at least $300/person-even one way, according to what I see on Travelocity. There's no direct service from Boston. You'd have to change planes.

BTW, NYC and Boston are 2 separate areas to most easterners.

If you can get a cheaper flight to Syracuse or Rochester you can drive to Ithaca from there (1 hour and 2 hours respectively). But if you are planning on seeing Cornell in conjunction with other colleges, I recommend a car. I've also done the bus from NYC and it's not too bad.

Rent a car. It's the fastest and most economical to do your itinerary. It's 5-6 hours depending on traffic.

My son attended Cornell and the only time we ever put our SUV in 4 wheel drive was in Ithaca during January. Check the weather carefully, if you rent a car keep in mind the area and Ithaca itself are both very hilly. Unless the weather is very bad, I agree with previous posters you can drive. Just make sure you rent an adequate vehicle. Dress warmly!

Best way or cheapest/most efficient way?
One way car rental drop off charges in small towns can be hefty.

Rent a car - you will want to at least do a little exploring of environs around Ithaca.

Good luck on your college visits - we did that last year and are now awaiting responses from chosen colleges.

While Cornell is certainly a fine school, does your daughter have any idea how cold it is for how long in Ithaca?

I don't even know what schools you're looking at, but let me just make a travel related note. Going to a school in the Boston area as opposed to Ithaca will save you and your daughter thousands of dollars a year in travel cost.....