NYC to Boston

Would like to know how easy it is to travel by train from NYC to Boston - would like to spend a day there time permitting - would like to know approx journey time and from which station - Penn or Grand Central - any help appreciated

NYC to Boston

Hello

My boyfriend and I did this trip last year but we were just travelling from Boston to NYC for the second half of our trip. It took 4 hours 10 mins with the Amtrak cheap ticket (you can go express and its 3 hours but more expensive).

Pesonally I would want to spend a night in Boston or something to make the journey less strenuous - we stayed at Jurys and it was amazing so would recommend there if you do stay. The stations you want are Penn St (NYC) to Back Bay (Boston).

Hope that helps

NYC to Boston

If you have travelling with 2 or more people, Amtrak offers a couple of discounts for you. Don%26#39;t know which one would work best for you, so do your online reservations search twice, using promotion code V383 the first time and then H620 the second time.

You enter the code at the bottom of the ';Select Train'; page, which is the page which opens after you put your departure %26amp; arrival cities and dates of travel in the Fare Finder box%26#39;s on Amtrak%26#39;s home page.

http://www.amtrak.com

Another day trip to a destination historic interest -- but closer and less expensive than going to Boston -- would be Philadelphia. Those same promotion codes should work for that trip too.

For fraction of the cost you could try the Greyhound from Penn Station or the ';Chinatown buses'; Fung Wah Bus or Lucky Star bus. They are $15 each way ($30 RT). Can%26#39;t beat the price...less than gas. It will take about 4 to 5 hours with a rest stop depending on traffic.

I honestly can%26#39;t recommend taking a bus to Boston, especially one of the Chinatown-based ones, to vacationers who can afford another alternative -- be that Amtrak, flying via JetBlue or the Delta shuttle, or the Limoliner -- especially if you%26#39;re traveling with a child. But for a full airing of the topic, see this discussion on the Boston forum earlier this year:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60745-i48-k477091鈥?/a>

I honestly can%26#39;t recommend taking a bus to Boston, especially one of the Chinatown-based ones, to vacationers who can afford another alternative -- be that Amtrak, flying via JetBlue or the Delta shuttle, or the Limoliner -- especially if you%26#39;re traveling with a child. But for a full airing of the topic, see this discussion on the Boston forum earlier this year:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60745-i48-k477091鈥?/a>

I took the Acela from Boston to NYC last week and it took just over three hours. Amtrak goes into Penn Station in NYC and the South End station in Boston. The trip was extremely easy- just showed up a half hour before the train was to leave, someone was available to help me with my luggage, and even gave me a suggestion as to where to sit for the best view. Unless you leave on one of the early morning trains, you aren%26#39;t going to have a lot of time to look around. As another posted suggested, you might want to spend the night to have more time to enjoy the day.

CockelCove,

You are consistently very adamant with your recommendations against the bus, but have you had a personal experience riding the bus? I have travelled by all modes from NY to Boston, mostly by car. Recently I tried the Fung Wah and Lucky Star since my destinations are very near both stops (South End and Tribeca) and was very pleasantly surprised.

The feedback are overwhelmingly positive from all those that I know to have taken them and none of them are starving students nor ';wierd';. There is perhaps higher percentage of Asian passengers on the ';Chinatown'; buses.

Granted, it is not anywhere luxurious, but it%26#39;s clean (but I wouldn%26#39;t go into the bathroom), Fung Wah bus I was on was new, drivers were excellent, and the ride only took 30 minutes more than the Acela. Of course, you must time the travel well so that you don%26#39;t have to deal with packed bus and rush hour.

If money is no option, go with the more comfortable plane or Acela, but it%26#39;s a nice option for anyone who wants to save $150 bucks off the round trip Acela price. And for those who want to end in Penn Station, Greyhound has lowered its price to $15 as well.

All Amtrak trains (i.e., intercity as opposed to suburban commuters) to and from New York use Pennsylvania Station ONLY. Grand Central Terminal is now used only by the Metro North Railroad.

There are two different stations in Boston that you might use, depending on where in Boston you are going. Those two stations are Back Bay and South Station -- with South Station being the terminus of most trains that go to Boston, and Back Bay being the stop just before it.

bluesky, I%26#39;m glad you were pleased with your bus experiences even sans a bathroom visit and can fully appreciate why you%26#39;re happy to leave the driving of that trip to others, I-95 is a PIA. Having posted the link to the lively Boston Forum discussion so that people could see the wide variety of opinions -- pro and con -- voiced there, I%26#39;m not going to rehash here my reasons for why another mode of transportation is preferable for those on holiday.

I would like to note, however, I was *not* the one who opined in the Boston Forum that the Chinatown buses were full of ';starving students'; and ';weird'; people as your post could suggest to others I did.

While in NYC, we were thinking of taking a daytrip to Salem. We visited Salem year before last and absolutely fell in love. However, I%26#39;m find the rental car policies in NYC to be troublesome! They want to put a hold on $400 on my card and that%26#39;s just not something I%26#39;m willing to do as I need all the spending money I can get while in NYC. I don%26#39;t think the train would be a very good idea either. I remember you can take a little commuter train from Boston to Salem but once we get to Salem, how would we drive around and sightsee? Anyway, can anyone think of any ideas? Know why the policies are so much more strict in NYC? I wonder if taking the train to Boston and then renting a car in Boston would be better? I think that sounds too time consuming though.

good toner