suze1

We would like to take a trip to Boston, from there take the train to New York City and from New York City to Washington DC.

Is this the best way to get to New York or would it be better to rent a car for 1 day and then drop it off in New York when we get there. I'm sure it would be a lot cheaper to rent a car. Has anyone done this trip>

Also, is we do rent a car instead of taking the train is there anything worth seeing between Boston and New York?

rkkwan

"A lot cheaper"?

AMTRAK's regional service can be as low as $58/person on most days, and there are probably AAA or AARP discounts you can use.

How much will you need to pay for the one-way rental. And it's about 200 miles, so at least 8 gallons of gas for $25. Toll if you take the Tri-borough into Manhattan.

Now, if there are 4 or 5 of you, then the saving can be significantly. For 2 persons, I'll take the train.

kealalani

There are also a few buslines that may be affordable, but I personally would stay clear of the cheapest chinatown bus Fengwah.

escargot

Ways to get from Boston to NY:

Amtrak: regional and acela - acela is more of course, with no stops - not necessary if you want to buy the lesser priced regional ticket you will just put up with a few stops - the acela is a tad quicker than regional but not too much -

figure 4 hours from boston to ny

Now, if you rent a car and drive , with no traffic tie ups, you are also looking at about 4 hours in the car - same if you take one of the buses -

if you do bus, go with a name bus like greyhound/peter pan or take the Limoliner which runs from hilton boston to hilton ny and runs about $80 each way I believe - I think it is limoliner.com

I make the trip Boston to NY at least 5 plus times a year and usually take Amtrak - some will complain about it running late - I have never had it run late nor has my daughter who takes it reverse trip about 8 times a yr and usually at peak times such as coming home for the holidays, long summer wknd, etc -

What i like about the train is I am not affected if there is a traffic jam or accident tie up.

If I do drive, which i also do about 2-3 times a year, from Boston I do the Pike, 84, Merritt route b/c I hate 95 with all the trucks and find the Merritt route prettier, easier, plenty of stop off places.

If you want to drive nad stop somewhere, you would not go the Merritt, would go the other route and stop at Mystic perhaps if the sites at Mystic Seaport interest you.

If you plug into the search this forum box "driving boston to ny" and vice versa, with a few variations on wording and same with train, you will see lots of threads on this and lots of driving
directions

Stay away from the discount buses. not worth the risk. their driving records are horrendous.

hawksbill

Just to add a little to escargot's excellent information: the Amtrak regional is scheduled to take either four hours flat or 4:15, whereas the Acela takes 3:30. I believe that coach tickets in the regional train cost $78, whereas coach Acela tickets can cost as much as $109 if you don't buy them far in advance.

I've driven back and forth between Boston and New York several hundred times. The time that trip takes will vary a lot depending upon where in New York you go. For me it's about 3 hours and 15 minutes to get to Uptown Manhattan, if there's no traffic at all. Usually about 4:30 if I leave Boston at rush hour on Friday night. As I drive door-to-door, driving is almost always faster than the train, after factoring in getting to the train station, waiting for the train, etc. In fact, even flying would only save me an hour or less, after getting myself to and from the airports and waiting for the plane. However, if you have to go and pick up a car and drop it off at the rental place at the other end, driving might take longer.

The most famous of the "discount buses" is Fung Wah (http://www.fungwahbus.com/ticket/). They started the whole trend of ultracheap Chinatown-to-Chinatown buses, and they still only charge $15 one way. Sunshine is another company like that. They're really scary. I often see the drivers maniacally tailgating people at 90 MPH in the fast lane with a big huge tour bus. There was a period when the Fung Wah buses were spontaneously bursting into flames on the highway (I actually watched this happen once), and nobody was sure if it was due to poor manintenance, or sabotage on the part of competing companies, with which there is fierce, sometimes violent competition. I haven't heard of any explosions or violence lately, but I still wouldn't be too quick to hop on a super-discount bus.

A nice thing about the Fung Wah revolution is that it has driven the prices of some of the other bus lines down, and stimulated the birth of brand new bus companies that only go between NY and Boston. I think the Peter Pan bus is now about $35. I've heard that the Limoliner is really nice, and it costs $79. When pricing the different buses, you can take into account where they depart from and where they drop you off. For example, if the Fung Wah bus drops you off in Chinatown, but then you need to take a 40-minute, $20 cab ride back uptown, then you haven't saved much time or money.

suze1

There's no way I want to do a bus, it's either train or car. Right now the train sounds like my best bet.

Boston to NY, 4hours, I don't thing that's far at all.

hawksbill

Yeah, even as someone who drives back and forth all the time, I don't think I'd rent a car just to make the trip between cities. For the same or lower price than the train I might consider the Limoliner, though. Factoring in trips to South Station and from the Port Authority, the Limoliner might even be faster than the Acela. And it's got nice leather seats, snacks... I think maybe even a "flight attendant."

Of course, it's still a bus... maybe that's why I've never gotten around to taking it...

nytraveler

Assuming it's for 1 person the train will be chepaer than renting a car - given the drop -off charges in another city.

The trip takes 4 hours no matter how you do it - car, train, plane or bus so that's not much of a factor.

Car makes sense only if you want to stop along the way and see something - for instance spend some time in Newport or Mystic CT. Both are worth a couple of days - never mind a couple of hours - but it depends on your interests.

(I almost always drive - but already have a car and live on the upper west side - so for me driving is essentially free. If I didn't have a car I would probably do the train.)