In June my family and I will be driving a rental car from Albany for a few days' visit to NYC. Nobody recommends bringing a car to the city so we would like to stay in a hotel in suburbia (Yonkers, Newark?) where we can leave the car in the hotel parking lot, walk to the train and head into the city each day, then return to our suburban hotel. Does this sound like a smart idea? Can we find a reasonable but nice hotel (Holiday Inn or similar) within walking distance of a nearby Amtrak station. Is there a flaw in our plan? Do trains run quite frequently? If we wanted to see a Broadway show and return late to our hotel, would we have a problem? Does anyone have any alternate suggestions? Like so many, we're trying to keep the costs down. Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated

I'd suggest not renting a car and take the train into the city. There are reasonable hotels and not having the car would offset the cost of the hotel.

You might try priceline for reservations or www.hotels.com.

Have a great trip.

I would recommend that a family should not use a car to get around in the city, but IMHO just arriving in a car, and then either parking it or turning in the rental, is a different matter. If you try to commute from the suburbs, you'll incur significant costs in hassles, time, and train fares.

An alternative approach would be to forego the car entirely, and take the Amtrak train from Albany into NYC.

If you do decide to stay outside Manhattan, try to find a hotel that's within close walking distance to a subway station rather than a commuter train, so that you'l pay a lower fare and have a much more flexible schedule especially at night.

Well, if I'd already had my coffee, I would have noticed travelbuff's recommendation about taking the train. Consider it seconded!

I agree that the train is a good suggestion. But if you do decide to drive, another alternative would be a hotel where you can park the car for the duration of your trip. It's been almost five years, but, as part of a longer trip, we drove into the city and stayed at the Super 8 Times Square. At that time, their rates were very good and they offered storage parking across the street at a reasonable rate.

Not a great idea. Hotels in the suburbs are typically not right on top of the train station - you would have to drive to the station (early to find a place before lots are full) and then deal with trains - and fares for everyone - back and forth each day.

It would be much simpler to take the train from Albany to the city and stay in Manhattan. The cost of the rental car for all those days you're not using it plus roundtrip train fares (RT Tarrytown to Grand Central is $20.50 per person) would probably make up for the difference in hotel costs. And you would save a lot of time trekking to and fro.

A few years ago I stayed in Secaucus, NJ. There was a bus that would stop at several hotels and go into the city daily. Also return in the evening.

I didn't use the service as I had to drive into the city daily for work. I stayed at the Red Roof Inn right across from Giants Stadium off Rt. 3. You could call them and get better details. Seems to me there was a bus station off Rt. 3 just before the Rt 1 & 9 where you could park and ride as well.

I agree that you dont want to drive around Manhattan on your vacation. Staying in suburbia may or may not be the best idea either, but it surely can be done.

NYTraveler is correct. The train options from the metro area suburbs would be the Long Island RailRoad, Metro North or New Jersey Transit, and each of them (depending on the distance) could easily amount to approximately $15-20 per person per day to get into the City, and would add probably 2+ hours per day of commuting, rather than sight seeing. Also, many suburban stations don't permit non-residents to park there, because they have insufficient parking for the residents. Since the suburban hotels wouldn't be right close to those stations, you would have to add on taxi to/from the station as as additional expense. Coming from Albany, I'd forget the car, and Amtrak into the City, stay in the City and have an urban vacation. The flaw in your plan is merely that you are accustomed to traveling by car, since you live where a car is necessary, but it is NOT NECESSARY here!

I live in Manhattan on the upper west side and do NOT have a car. It is more of a hindrance here and expensive, so much easier to take trains and buses and cabs.

I'd really suggest taking the train from Albany, so much easier and less expensive and there are lots of hotels in the city that are reasonably priced.

A car for a day will run you $50, plus gas plus parking of at least $25 a day.

I always tell tourists NOT to try and drive in the city. The traffic is already VERY BAD, so you will be sitting in traffic, wasting time and gas.

Forget the car. Stay in a family-friendly hotel in NYC and enjoy being in Manhattan.

Our family stayed at the Embassy Suites, by the Statue of Liberty and Wall Street. It's a good set-up for a family, with a large living room and pull out couch, with a mini-bar. Also a full hot/cold breakfast buffet included.
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I think jakepett needs to do some more research. Here are some things to consider:

1. Amtrak is VERY expensive. The round-trip from Albany is at least $80 per adult (kids less). However, you are totally wasting your money by paying for a car you will not be able to use, so check the costs vs. convenience issue there. If the different isn't huge, then and only then take the train.

2. The only reasonably priced daily commuting is on the LI Railroad, NJ Transit, or Metro North; Amtrak is ridiculous (over $20 per person per day). But to get the best prices you have to wait until after 9:30 or 10 to come into Manhattan and after 7 to return. Transit runs after Broadway shows; a lot of suburbanites take trains and buses home after shows.

3. It's probably going to be cheaper for you to stay in an inexpensive hotel in Queens (Comfort Inn Long Island City or similar) and take a quick subway ride into Manhattan. But you'd have to pay for parking there, and it would be expensive if you have the rental car.

4. Park and rides tend to be cheaper from NJ (check out Washingtonpost.com, which always seems to have good info. on the places to park and ride into Manhattan). Be sure to check if fares are going up on NJ Transit soon (I believe they are).

We just got back from NYC. We stayed on NJ side at Ft.Lee (inexpensive, basic hotel, but very convenient just off GW Bridge).

We drove to city and parked there for the day. We found good deals at/near our attractions (you can choose from drop down lists) from website www.bestparking.com (check daily specials and coupons). For inside city transportation we took mix of cab, pedi-cab and subway as suited.

About 5 years ago we took a car from Albany to NYC. I drove into the city and parked it at the lot next to the hotel. It was $30 a day. Since we only stayed 3 nites it was cheaper than the train, which was at that time about $90 RT each.

I think this makes the most sense. However, driving in NYC - even for a short time - is not for the faint of heart!

Yes, but the OP is RENTING the car. So - he would pay for car rental ($100 per day?) and not use the car. Pay to get back and forth from a hotel to a suburban train station. And pay about $20 a person (unless you want to limit yourself to off-peak hours) to get in and out of the city each day.

And neither Yonkers nor Newark is a suburb - they are both sizable cities - and neither is very salubrious.

So his plan would cost about $200 per day on top of a suburban hotel. For that much you can stay in Manhattan - and have essentially no transit costs once you get there.