Transportation from Newark to Midtown Hotel
 

My party of four will be visiting NYC in early December. We fly into Newark and our hotel is near the Empire State Bldg. I'd like suggestions for the best options getting from the airport to our hotel. Taxi is out, I read about the shared passenger vans and that doesn't appeal to me. How about public transportation?

Many thanks for your kind responses.

Why is taxi out? Because of cost?

If you can handle your own bags, then it's easy to take the Air Train + NJ Transit to Penn Station and walk a block or two to your hotel. This is actually my preferred option to EWR.

The actual location of your hotel and the time of arrival do matter because this is a very congested area, and I might make a different recommendation based on that information. There are actually only 1 or 2 hotels "near" the Empire State Building; there are dozens of hotels near Penn Station. If you have to take a taxi to your hotel from Penn Station, then the convenience and price of the train is greatly diminished.

I agree that a regular taxi isn't a good idea because of the cost. However, a car service for 4 people (you reserve in advance then meet the car after baggage claim) wouldn't really be that much more expensive than public transit. It's going to cost you about $16 per person for the train, or perhaps $20 per person for the car service, including the tip and tolls (which are considerable).

Your other option is the regular airport bus to a location near Penn Station, then you walk, but that's not really cheaper than the train and is a lot slower.

You can take the AirTrain from the airport terminal to Newark train station and from there, go to Penn Station. I have used this and found it to be easy and inexpensive, $13 if I remember correctly.

More like $15 per person and that only gets you to Penn Station NYC (NOT Penn station Newark).

If you can handle your luggage up and down stairs this is a realistic option - but if your hotel is more than a few blocks from Penn Station and you have to take a cab in the city - or even the subway - not sure this will cost much less than a car service (Dial 7 or Carmel) from EWR

Are you all able to pick up your luggage and carry up or down a couple of flights of stairs?

Have taken the train many times from Newark and actually enjoy it.

train beats the traffic! Car or taxi for 4 may be about the same amount of money but you are in traffic all the way. Pack light and you can manage the stairs unless there are small children involved. Once at Penn station take the subway if you can again to avoid traffic. I guess it depends on how much luggage you are hauling around......