Where to stay outside NYC for easy travel by train into the city?
 

Hello. We are a British mother and daughter (65 and 27) and will be staying in New England from late April to the beginning of May. After that we plan to drive from Rhode Island to a place outside New York City where we can easily travel by train into the city. Where is a nice town well outside New York City that we can either get a hotel for a couple nights and commute into the city to see friends, returning late evening each day, or else leave the car and travel in and stay for a couple of nights in a hotel in New York, then return to pick up the car and travel to Boston for the rest of our trip? All advice welcome.

What is the reason for your wanting to stay outside the city?

If you are flying in and out of Boston, you would not need to rent a car. You can use the Amtrak website to find hotels and or cars near their train stations. (left side of the website). There is a train station at the Newark airport (EWR). There are several hotels near that airport as well.
The Amtrak Northeast Corridor extends from Boston South station all the way to Washington DC.

I wouldn't recommend staying outside the city and traveling in/out for a few days. However, if you insist, you should check out the hotels in Long Island City; there are subways that provide a very convenient commute in/out of Manhattan and you wouldn't have to pay for daily parking.

If you change your mind and decide to stay in Manhattan, you can drive to New Haven train station from Rhode Island and pay the $25.00 a day parking fees at Union Station. From there, you can take the metro North commuter train into Grand Central Station if you decided to stay in the city and drive from New Haven to Boston after your NYC stay.

How far from Manhattan (is it Manhattan you want to visit or another borough in NYC?) would you be willing to stay? Long Island City would probably be your best bet all around.

Are you visiting someone in Rhode Island, or visting there? Providence? Newport? Somewhere else?

tomfullers message was a bit confusing to me (No idea why he mentions trains at Newark Airport, and hotels there are not a good idea anyway)but the idea that you don't need a car to get from parts of New England to NYC is true.

Towns outside NYC especially north and east are served by commuter trains not a cheaper subway system, so traveling into the city daily will really be a commute--tiring, fairly expensive, and crowded. Not really a vacation. Yes, you can leave your car in some stations for a few days.I've never done it but I've seen a few suggestions here.

So we're back to whether you need to drive at all, or can you take public transportation (train or bus) directly to NYC? If you need a car after NYC, you can get one then. But if you are just heading back to Boston, it will still be more convenient (and probably the same price or less) not to have a car for that part of the trip either. What is your actual budget for a hotel, as people can make specific recommendations in NYC that will make for a more enjoyable trip.

This information below came from a post on Trip Advisor and is reliable, imo. The hotels are listed from 'best' to 'worst' in terms of convenience into the city. Good luck!

"The usual Long Island City hotels that we recommend based on the convenience of their locations are the Verve, the Vetiver, the Country Inn and Suites, the Quality Inn on 40th Avenue, the Holiday Inn Manhattan View, the Fairfield Inn and Suites Queensboro Bridge, the 4 Points by Sheraton Queensboro Bridge, and the Comfort Inn on Crescent Street.


Not quite as convenient, but possible, are the Ramada, the Wyndham Manhattan View, the LaQuinta (which is really in Sunnyside, and not LIC, near the 40th Street station of the #7 subway), and the Quality Inn on Queens Boulevard (which is really in Woodside, near the 52nd Street station of the #7.)


The hotels with Long Island City addresses that are not as well located (either because of distance from transportation, or noisy/ugly/ inconvenient /questionable site) are the Days Inn on Queens Boulevard, the Z, the Best Western City View, the Fairfield Inn Manhattan View on Van Dam Street, and the Queensboro Hotel.

You'll see the Country Inn while not the nicest option in LIC (but certainly fine) is the best location of the ones you mention. It's safe to walk from the subway but may be a bit deserted late."

Specifically in L.Island City in Queens, have a look at the Country Inn & Suites, or the Verve...a lot cheaper than Manhattan hotels but only 2 subway stops away and included in your metrocard. Traveling from these hotels is inexpensive, convenient, and not at all tiring and can save you a ton of money, if that's what you're after.

Take Amtrak to Penn Station and stay in the city. The commuter trains from suburbs to the the city are expensive, crowded and finding parking at the stations is very difficult. Some train parking lots are limited to cars with a parking pass. You could leave your car farther out , around New Haven perhaps.

Metro North is half the cost of Amtrak. Parking at Union Station in New Haven is $25.00 for 24 hours. There is a parking garage along with an adjacent fenced and monitored parking lot and parking lots behind and next to the Police Station which is across the street. I never take Amtrak from Hartford and I despise the area around Penn. What's the benefit, HappyTrvlr?

Long Island City does NOT qualify as a nice town - it's a semi-industrial area - warehouses, auto body repair places, etc with budget motels in between.

Sorry - but your plan is really not a good one. Staying in a nice town on a train line will cost a lot in money and time getting to and fro NYC - and after regular commuting hours trains are not frequent. Much better to either dump the car - or park in a train station lot (Stamford or White Plains) and stay in the city for the days you will spend there.

If at all possible, stay in NYC. You will spend too much time and money traveling in and out of the city each day otherwise. If you are renting the car in Rhode Island, you could either return it there and take the train to NYC, or (for an extra fee) drive to the NYC area and return the car there. Driving in the city itself is very challenging and expensive to park so you are right to not bother with a car in NYC.

And by "NYC", msteacher means "Manhattan" (Long Island City is IN 'NYC')

We've stayed a couple of times at the Hampton Inn Carlstadt in the Meadowlands (NJ). You can catch an express bus into NYC (Port Authority/42nd Street) and leave your car at the Hampton.

We usually stay right on Manhattan, however.

Yes, thanks for the clarification, sf. To those of us who live in the area, NYC (or more commonly just "the city") refers strictly to Manhattan. An important point for visitors to keep in mind!

Will you necessarily need a car in Boston? If you are simply sightseeing in Boston I would advise you NOT to have a car in the city. Parking is very expensive and the driving is challenging, even for us locals.

Why not return your rental car in Providence and take Amtrak from Providence directly to NYC? Stay in Manhattan and then take Amtrak to Boston. No car needed for any of that and it's all very easy and low stress.

Alternatively, you can drive to New Haven and park either in the train station parking lot (almost certainly there won't be availability unless you get very lucky) or one of the surface lots near the train station and then either take Amtrak or the commuter rail, Metro North. Metro North will be MUCH cheaper. I would still stay in Manhattan though, especially for a short trip.

msteacher, I grew up in NY, and definitely referred only to Manhattan as "the city", but it IS confusing for out-of-towners.

I'm from New Dorp and we referred to ourselves as living in NYC when we went to university in Pennsylvania.

L.I.C. is a great place to commute from to get into Manhattan.

LIC is an easy commute - but is NOT a pleasant small town - and has few services, eateries etc. Reco'd only for people on very strict budgets who cannot afford Manhattan.

And yes, to New Yorkers "the City" means Manhattan, although the city in fact has 5 boroughs (counties) - but those outside Manhattan are primarily residential, although each has a few sights worth seeing.

Add me to the list of those who say dump the car and stay in the city.

We are all guessing and going off on tangents here since the OP has not come back to give more info.

We don't know if they must have a car and where they are driving to and from ("staying in New England from late April to the beginning of May. After that we plan to drive from Rhode Island "), They asked about a "nice town" so they can park a car somewhere or possibly commute into the city. We hav no idea of the desire to stay outside is based on budget, not wanting to drive into NYC but need to keep the car, splitting time between days in NYC and evenings or some of those days elsewhere outside NYC.

So no, LIC is not a nice small town, , but suggesting it makes sense if we think that the OP is worried about cost,though it isn't easy to get to if someone doesn't like driving busy roads. It's a much better option (most of us would agree) than staying in Yonkers or Bridgeport or some of the other places unknowing posters have thought of over the years!

holteli, if you tell us what's most important--price (and an actual dollar range), place to park, ease of transportation , time it would take to get to Manhattan etc. we can continue. Otherwise we're just debating each other.