My sister and i will be travelling from France the last two weeks of August to NYC . We would like to have a break from the city in the middle of our stay, and discover the sea side, staying in a hotel for two days by a nice beach. Any recommendations for a place we could reach by public transport, that would not be too far away from the city ( 3 hours maybe?) , with a nice town and beach?

Many thanks for your help !

Marie

The Hamptons and Montauk have beautiful beaches and can be reached by bus - the Hampton Jitney - or train, the Long Island RR, in a couple of hours.

Montauk is probably the most practical - albeit the most touristy - because you won't need a car to get to the beach, as you will with the Hamptons.

Or you can try the Jersey Shore, which also has beautiful beaches and has hotels and restaurants right along the beach. I'm pretty sure it can also reached by public transport. Long Branch is a nice and convenient town to stay.

While it might be nice to go to the Hamptons on a summer weekend, a hotel there may cost you upwards of $400 or more, which is not generally within the budget a normal person.

More to the point, there are relatively few beachfront or beachside hotels in Long Island. Most people who go to the Hamptons stay in expensive B&Bs or in their own private homes or rentals.

The NJ Shore is much more modest and a much better choice, in my opinion. However, I don't know the shore well, so I hesitate to recommend a specific town or hotel. Several of the towns are reachable by public transit.

Another option would be Block Island, RI, which can be reached by ferry from the north shore of Long Island. It's an idyllic, small island that has somewhat more reasonably priced lodging than the Hamptons. It may take a bit more than 3 hours to get there, though.

Spring Lake NJ would be perfect for what you want. It can be reached by train. BTW, parts of Long Branch are nice, but not so others so I wouldn't recommend it.

www.springlake.org

www.njtransit.com

Agree that while the Hamptons are lovely - they are mostly very exclusive - meaning very hard to do without a car, since except for Montauk there are no hotels on/right near the beach (all private mansions or town beaches with car or bike access). You need to get a town permit and drive from the towns to the beach.

Also weekend rates are high. If one wanted to go on a Tues and Wed - and rent a car - they are doable but may be more than you ant to spend.

The Jersey Shore is more middle class and has quite a few towns right on the beach - but also not cheap if you want a weekend and many houses rent only by the week (or season).

I've never done the shore so can;t reco towns but if you search Jersey Shore on this forum you might find some good info.

The parts of Long Branch along the beach, where the OP will presumably be staying, are very nice, and there's no reason not to recommend it for two days at the beach.

There are lots of nice restaurants and shopping along the boardwalk, and a beautiful beach. I spent several weekends there last year when my bro & Sil rented a beach condo and really enjoyed it.

Spring Lake is also a pretty town that would fit the bill.

"The Jersey Shore is more middle class "

LOL!

BTW, if you went to Montauk, you could easily take the bus or train to the towns of the Hamptons - Amagansett and East Hampton are closest - about 20 minutes from Montauk.

They have lovely main streets, beautiful homes, galleries, shops, etc., and are easily walkable for some exploring.

Montauk has a nice lighthouse.

If you go out to the Hamptons in the middle of the week, NOT over a weekend, you can get some nice deals.

http://www.gurneysmontauk.com/

http://www.driftwoodmontauk.com/

(Montauk is a part of East Hampton and is the easternmost "Hampton.")

Doug, your post is offensive.

"While it might be nice to go to the Hamptons on a summer weekend, a hotel there may cost you upwards of $400 or more, which is not generally within the budget a normal person."

As a member of the fodor's staff, please define how fodor's defines a "normal" person.

ina...baby - stop trying to be so PC and finding "offense" where none was intended. Doug' post might have been poorly worded (probably due to his computer's auto correct feature and not careful proofreading rather than intentionally written) but he clearly wasn't talking about a person being "normal". He was saying $400/night is not something the average traveler likes to spend for a hotel room.

RoamsAround - stop trying to defend people who can defend themselves. Doug is a staff member and doesn't need you to make excuses for his assumptive post. The OP is spending 2 weeks in one of the most expensive cities for lodging, so going to a $400 a night getaway beach destination is not unrealistic. The OP never mentioned a budget. So Doug's conclusion that they were "normal" in his estimation and that would be over budget was simply ridiculous.

And yes the Jersey shore being more middle class is funny. More like the 2 per centers compared to the one per center hamptons.

Many thanks for taking the time to answer. These are great suggestions, i wish i could explore all of them ! I ll now look into all the options listed above, and check hotel availability before making our final choice.

I will report back.

Thanks again for the precious help .

Marie

While there is a train to the Hamptons - they run very rarely - a couple of times a day. Also the buses run very rarely - not like a city where one comes along every 5 minutes - may be an hour or even a couple between them.

I have been to the Hamptons umpteen times since I was a small child (we took a cottage for a couple of weeks in Sag Harbor then), in a shared house when a young adult and staying with friends for weekends (or borrowing their house when they are away) recently - and it has NEVER been convenient unless you have a car.

I certainly didn't mean to insult anyone by saying that the typical (what I often call "normal") person doesn't usually want to spend $500 or $600 for a B&B that's not even on the beach. If you're not a hedge fund millionaire, movie star with an unlimited budget, or member of a European royal family, there are increasingly few places in the Hamptons that are affordable on summer weekends in August. Plus, most are already booked. That doesn't mean the OP can't find a place, but I stand by my position that for a typical tourist, the Jersey Shore or Block Island present more and more varied summer weekend opportunities. But having said that, they are NOT going to be cheap. You can easily spend $400 a night on the Jersey Shore or Block Island.

There's also an interesting fast ferry service from the east side of Manhattan to Martha's Vineyard. Granted, this is not a 3-hour trip (more like 5), but the ferries are well timed to get one to the Vineyard on a Friday night and back on Sunday night. I've always been intrigued by this service but haven't ever taken it.

The Breakers-Ocean Ave., Spring Lake , NJ-across from the beach w/ restaurant
Madison Beach Hotel, Madison CT-on the beach

Spring Lake is one of my favorites. The Breakers Hotel is across the street from the beach and it has a pool and hot tub, along with poolside service from their restaurant. Next door to The Breakers is The Grand Victorian, which is less expensive than The Breakers. You can walk to Third Street and stroll in and out of the shops and get a bite to eat at one of the restaurants.

The Breakers and the Grand Victorian in Spring Lake have a great location, but the nicest hotel is the Hewitt Wellington.



www.thehewittwellington.com

in case OP checks back, and considers the Jersey Shore, I agree Spring Lake is nice. Another option is Island Beach State Park, exit 82 off the Garden State Parkway. The sand is very fine, the admission includes parking & is per carload, so for $15, you can park at the area with the bathrooms, showers and amenities. The only caveat is that you should plan to arrive by 10:30, before the park fills up and closes. For the first day, you could go to the regular public beaches in Seaside.

At the entrance to the State Park, is the Berkeley Fish Market. I recommend getting something from their casual take out and sitting at a picnic table with it.

There are plenty of hotels in the area of Seaside and Seaside Heights.

The LIRR station is just a couple of blocks from Main St. in both Amagansett and East Hampton. The two towns are so close together you can walk from one to the other. I have done it.

If someone is staying in Montauk and wants to spend a few hours in East Hampton, all she has to do is get a train schedule and plan which trains to catch in each direction.