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Disembark Cape Liberty - then a week to explore. Advice appreciated!


KayJay4
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Hi all

We are on a 9 day Bermuda/Caribbean cruise in June/July. When we disembark we have one week until we fly home from Newark. If anyone could chip in with any advice we would be very appreciative!

We fly into Newark and then board the ship the next day. So I am going to book an airport hotel if possible.

When we get off the ship, my ideas were to go to Boston for a couple of days, Washington for a couple and then back to NYC for the last 2 days. I'm looking at Amtrak to Boston, then flying from Boston to Washington, then Amtrak back to NYC. Is this doable? We were intending to hire a car as we usually do but a friend said driving to Boston is not recommended. Plus flying from Boston to Washington will cut about 8 hours out, it looks like.

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Hi all

We are on a 9 day Bermuda/Caribbean cruise in June/July. When we disembark we have one week until we fly home from Newark. If anyone could chip in with any advice we would be very appreciative!

We fly into Newark and then board the ship the next day. So I am going to book an airport hotel if possible.

When we get off the ship, my ideas were to go to Boston for a couple of days, Washington for a couple and then back to NYC for the last 2 days. I'm looking at Amtrak to Boston, then flying from Boston to Washington, then Amtrak back to NYC. Is this doable? We were intending to hire a car as we usually do but a friend said driving to Boston is not recommended. Plus flying from Boston to Washington will cut about 8 hours out, it looks like.

 

Sounds like a reasonable high level plan. It looks like you're from the UK. A car within any of these three cities is neither recommended nor necessary. My suggestion would be to first price and book hotels in all three cities for your dates before you make Amtrak train reservations.

 

Amtrak from Newark - book Newark Penn Station

Amtrak to Newark Airport - not necessary in your plan

New York to Newark Airport - use NJ Transit for $13/pp.

Boston - book South Station - you can get off at either Back Bay or South Station depending on your hotel location.

 

There is NO vehicle access to Newark Airport Station. Airtrain is the only way to get to and from the airport train station, so you would use this station only when you are flying home from Newark.

 

I can help with Boston hotels once you identify your dates.

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Thanks Carol for the quick reply! I shall look into hotels tomorrow :)

Hotwire in Boston is very good. For July 7-10 I'm seeing some good prices in Back Bay and the Seaport areas. The Seaport is well located on the Silver Line between South Station and Logan Airport and almost any Back Bay hotel would be within walking distance of the Back Bay train station.

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Hi all

We are on a 9 day Bermuda/Caribbean cruise in June/July. When we disembark we have one week until we fly home from Newark. If anyone could chip in with any advice we would be very appreciative!

We fly into Newark and then board the ship the next day. So I am going to book an airport hotel if possible.

When we get off the ship, my ideas were to go to Boston for a couple of days, Washington for a couple and then back to NYC for the last 2 days. I'm looking at Amtrak to Boston, then flying from Boston to Washington, then Amtrak back to NYC. Is this doable? We were intending to hire a car as we usually do but a friend said driving to Boston is not recommended. Plus flying from Boston to Washington will cut about 8 hours out, it looks like.

Honestly, it seems very ambitious. The first question I would ask is, have you ever been to NYC? If not, spend the week in Manhattan and explore Brooklyn as well. I would not ad Boston and DC in to the mix. If you have visited NYC before, then just pick one other city and split your time between NYC and that other city. Washington and Boston do not require cars and you can take the train to either easily from NYC. You can easily spend 3 days in each city and still have tons left you have not explored. Trying to visit three cities in 7 days is placing a lot of time on traveling, packing/unpacking, checking into hotels, etc. It will leave you exhausted. You also wont get any 'feel' of each city and they will blend together.

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I have to agree that'a a pretty ambitious agenda. Amtrak/Fly/Amtrak does make sense, but I'd really seriously look at what you want to do in your relatively short time and prioritize that. You're barely going to see anything at any location (Boston ironically may be easiest because the historic part of the city is very manageable). If your ultimate "top 3 must sees" are one in each location, then your plan will work. If the top thing to see in one of the locations is down at number 5 or 6, I'd seriously consider dropping that location for more time in the other two...

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Doing those three cities in such a short time you will feeel like your doing more traveling than enjoying the citys. Any of the three are outstanding vacation destination. If you go to NYC pick a section of the city to explore. You can’t go uptown, downtown or midtown all in one day. Washington DC is all concentrated in walking distance, just a lot of walking. Boston is my favorite city with all its history. The post that said not to drive to Boston is right. The trip is easy but the city is a nightmare to get around. There are winding streets all over. First time there I drove round and round until I got lucky and hit the highway I was looking for.

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Sounds like a good plan. For Washington, DC, I suggest flying into either DCA (Reagan Airport) or BWI (Baltimore Washington). DCA is the most convenient. It's physically located in Virginia (Arlington) but just over the river from DC. BWI is halfway between DC and Baltimore (about 25 miles north of DC), but you can get to DC either on Amtrak or MARC (Maryland rail system).

 

If you're staying in DC, that's great. Otherwise look for hotels in either Rosslyn or Alexandria (both just over the river from DC and with easy access to Metro (DC train system) or taxi/Uber. DC is a very easy city to get around.

 

Amtrak from DC is Union Station and it's about a 3-1/2 train ride from DC to NY (I make that trip on a fairly regular basis).

 

Sounds like a great trip!

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Thanks, I’ve changed it all again. I have now decided on:

Disembark Cape Liberty and take Amtrak to Washington DC

2 days in DC then fly to Buffalo.

Two days at Niagara Falls

Fly to NYC for last 3 days. We’ve been before but never get too much of NYC!

Thanks everyone for their input and advice :)

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Thanks, I’ve changed it all again. I have now decided on:

Disembark Cape Liberty and take Amtrak to Washington DC

2 days in DC then fly to Buffalo.

Two days at Niagara Falls

Fly to NYC for last 3 days. We’ve been before but never get too much of NYC!

Thanks everyone for their input and advice :)

 

I think your plan is still a bit ambitious (although 2 days at Niagara Falls is more than enough). Having lived near NY my whole life and been to all the locations my personal preference of where to visit if I had never been there:

 

1. New York (Manhattan, then Brooklyn)

2. Washington DC

3. Boston

4. Niagara Falls (Canadian side, probably would not bother with NY side)

With 2 days at Niagara falls a rental car might be useful. Make sure the rental company lets you cross the border, there is customs at the border. You can buy a multisite pass for Niagara falls that includes a shuttle bus.

5. Philadelphia

 

Cars are a complete waste of time in any of the other cities. Amtrak is a good option for the NY to Boston or NY to Philadelphia or NY to DC routes.

 

NY and DC have very good mass transit. Other decent options exist in Boston and Philadelphia

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