Towns outside NYC especially north and east are served by commuter trains not a cheaper subway syste

Hello. united kingdom embassy We are a British mother and daughter (65 and 27) and will be staying in New England from late April to the beginning united kingdom embassy 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 united kingdom embassy to pick up the car and travel to Boston united kingdom embassy for the rest of our trip? All advice welcome.
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.
I wouldn't recommend staying outside the city and traveling in/out united kingdom embassy 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.
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 united kingdom embassy 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.
"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, united kingdom embassy but possible, are the Ramada, the Wyndham Manhattan View, the LaQuinta (which is really in Sunnyside, and not LIC, near the 40th Street united kingdom embassy 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.
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. united kingdom embassy Traveling from these hotels is inexpensive, united kingdom embassy convenient, and not at all tiring and can save you a ton of money, if that's what you're after.
united kingdom embassy 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 united kingdom embassy 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?
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, united kingdom embassy 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 united kingdom embassy is very challenging and expensive to park so you are right to not bother with a car in NYC.
Will you necessarily need a car in Boston? united kingdom embassy 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 united kingdom embassy 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 united kingdom embassy 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.
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.
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 united kingdom embassy NYC.
So no, LIC is not a nice small town, , but suggesting it makes sense if we think that the OP is worried united kingdom embassy 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.
Nytraveller when was the last time you visited Long Island City. Yes the hotels are close to the industrial area, but there are plenty of eateries united kingdom embassy there. We stayed there for two weeks and there was an abundance of places to have a meal, especially along Broadway.
Have you been down to Hunters Point recently, it is being redeveloped and a nice place to visit. Plenty of cafes/restaurants along Vernon Boulevard. Stroll around the Gantry Plaza State Park, a great view of the city skyline, nice place to have a picnic and people watch. united kingdom embassy We enjoyed it in November united kingdom embassy it will be lovely in the summer.
Thanks for all this information. I suppose I am used to (and know well) a city like London UK but New York is clearly a different place in many many ways and I hardly know it. All in all I see that the best thing is to use Amtrak once we leave Providence and to stay in Manhattan and then go to Boston by Amtrak. Very kind of everyone to pitch in with their thoughts.
But holteli: why Amtrak? Seriously, consider metro North instead. Your idea to stay in Manhattan is a good one; check quikbook.com for discounted rates as it gets closer to your arrival dates. Don't be afraid of booking their secret sale hotels; they're truly a great value and all are at least 3* (Marriots, Hilton Garden Inns, etc.) Cheers!
If you can make advance reservations on Amtrak the price isn't too bad. They are a killer, however, if you wait until the last minute. (Metro North does not go to Providence. New Haven is the start/end of the line.)
Metro North can take about the same time - or as much as 75 minutes - depending on which train you take and how many stops it makes. Also, based on my MetroNorth experience the trains always seem to be 5 to 10 minutes late.
Horse feathers. I have never had a late train in 30 years of commuting. The metro North schedule is flexible and reliable. There is no need to purchase a ticket in advance; tickets are easily acquired at the train station the day (or the half hour before) of departure.
I rode it every weekday for almost 4 months - before I realized the futility and bought a car - and it was late (not a couple of minutes - but 10 or more, making united kingdom embassy me miss my bus connection at the station) at least 3 or 4 times a week. A couple of times it was around united kingdom embassy 30 minutes late getting into Grand Central - mostly sitting in the tunnels in Manhattan.
Frankly, it was just an extremely frustrating experience - not one I would suggest to anyone. Also, after rush hours trains are infrequent - so catching one back to the burbs after a show