Bostin' Boston and New York - July/Aug 2012

[tonymc]

Originally Posted by Tiggernut

The plan is for us to use public transport - and avoid parking fees - at both these places and hire a car in between to do a bit of a tour round New England.

Our plan is to get rid of the hire car somewhere near an Amtrak station (Providence RI is looking favourite at the moment!) and get the train into New York from there...and avoid driving into New York itself! The train comes into Penn Station and the hotel we have chosen is just a 5 mins walk from there.

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We used the subway and tour buses in NY, and the subway in Boston last August and found them very easy to use - if we looked a bit lost, somone would come and put us on the right track (excuse the pun! ), even in NY.

With regard to the journey between BOS and NY, we did a similar thing but in the opposite direction - we got the commuter train from Grand Central to Stamford (CT) - $9.25 each, no pre-booking required - then picked up a Hertz car to drive to Maine (Ogunquit), then 5 days later returned the car to a Hertz depot in central Boston. We then rented another car for the trip back from Boston to JFK.

Just to add we had a fantastic time, and even DD (who was 13 at the time) wants to go back to Maine as she enjoyed it so much.

[Tiggernut]

Originally Posted by tonymc

We used the subway and tour buses in NY, and the subway in Boston last August and found them very easy to use - if we looked a bit lost, somone would come and put us on the right track (excuse the pun! ), even in NY.

With regard to the journey between BOS and NY, we did a similar thing but in the opposite direction - we got the commuter train from Grand Central to Stamford (CT) - $9.25 each, no pre-booking required - then picked up a Hertz car to drive to Maine (Ogunquit), then 5 days later returned the car to a Hertz depot in central Boston. We then rented another car for the trip back from Boston to JFK.

Just to add we had a fantastic time, and even DD (who was 13 at the time) wants to go back to Maine as she enjoyed it so much.

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Hi Tony

Nice to see that the public transport is so user friendly...my sister and her DH went to Boston and NY last June and they didn't bother with a car at all so we knew it was doable.

Really enjoyed your trippie by the way. In fact we were looking for some nice coastal towns to visit in Maine and, after reading your trippie, we've decided to spend a few hours in Ogunquit as it sounds (and looks) lovely.

[tonymc]

Originally Posted by Tiggernut

In fact we were looking for some nice coastal towns to visit in Maine and, after reading your trippie, we've decided to spend a few hours in Ogunquit as it sounds (and looks) lovely.

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Have to say that Ogunquit was the highlight of our holiday - just like a British holiday resort many years ago. The towns of York and Kennbunkport also looked nice, but we couldn't really be bothered from moving from around the pool area!

Forgot to mention that the train we used was MTA North which ran three trains per hour from NY to Stamford.

[Tiggernut]

Well the planning continues...We've booked 2 more hotels for our trip leaving us with just one night left to sort out.

After 2 nights in Dover we're heading off into the White Mountains and, after looking at just about every hotel in the area we've settled on 2 nights at the Hampton Inn in Littleton, NH. It was a bit more expensive than we hoped - £80 a night - but the reviews on the cheaper hotels in the area were very mixed and this one scored highly on everything. The £80 includes a hot and cold breakfast buffet and the hotel has an Applebee's (result for DH!) in the parking lot and is across the street from a Walmart (result for ME!).

The following night we are heading up to Burlington VT and got a good deal on the Days Inn Colchester - £64 including a free breakfast. The hotels in Burlington were at least twice that so we decided to go for one outside the main areas to keep the costs down. As you have probably guessed from my previous posts we are trying to do this on a bit of a budget and don't mind having to travel into the cities rather than paying over the odds.

Anyway that leaves us with just one nights accommodation left to sort out. We have to get from Burlington VT to Providence RI with one over night stop. This is easily doable but we don't want to just get from one to the other as quickly as possible so we're currently investigating what sights/towns are worth seeing on the way... I'll let you know when we've sorted it out. I plan to post an itinerary once it is all confirmed...

[Queen of Herts]

We are doing a very similar trip to you in August too.

Flights into Toronto, 2 nights in Niagara booked then going to Finger Lakes and overnight in Syracuse. Then over to Springfield for 6 Flags theme park and then down to Old Sturbridge Village for a bit of culture. Then 2 nights in Sandwich close to the beach and from there up to Boston for 5 nights in a condo at the North End close to the harbour (really pleased with the location). From there we are going up to Kennebunkport, Maine and North Conway. Plus throw in Stowe and Ben and Jerry's and then weedle our way back to Toronto airport 16 nights later!

My 2 are 17 and 13 so I have also found some drive in movie theatres for them and 6 Flags was a must!

[anji]

Not long to go for you now! Today DH said for me to 'look into' NY for next year ... this is now NY, Boston and also New England if I have my way! Can't wait to read you trip report as this is exactly what I'm looking for

[Gill635]

Ooh so excited! This trip sounds absolutely amazing, I'm stealing ideas to hopefully do something similar some day

xx

[DIBBadmin]

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