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Just wondering what the easiest way is to travel between the two cities. Maybe to Philly as well? I should hopefully be living in DC by Jan.(Unless I scored well on the DCFD test. Then I won't be there until later)
I like how East Coast cities are so close together. I know it is easy to get to Baltimore via MARC, but what about NYC or Philly? Are there trains or buses that are fairly cheap? Or is it easiest to drive?(which I wouldn't think since these are large cities with bad traffic. Thanks.
Amtrak services all of the cities. I would say it is probably the easiest (leave the driving to someone else) but it isn't necessarily the cheapest.
If you can get to Philly, you can take the SEPTA train to Trenton and then transfer to a NJT train to NY. Unfortunately the MARC commuter trains don't go all the way to Philly so you're going to need an Amtrak in there somewhere.
The cheapest is the Chinatown bus, though you get what you pay for. From DC to NY in about 4 and half hours though there is a mess of a line to get onboard. Think it runs between $20 and $30 roundtrip.
DC-Baltimore. MARC, Amtrak, Drive
DC-Philly. Amtrak, Drive (2:30)
DC-NY. Amtrak, Shuttle (airplanes, $400), Chinatown bus ($30) or drive (4:30 minutes + tolls tolls tolls & parking in NY).
I've had good luck with Bolt Bus. They list travel time as 4 hours, though with traffic, it might be more like 5. But it certainly beats driving and is cheaper than Amtrak. I've purchased tickets in the past for as low as $7.50 one-way, but lately, prices seem to be closer to about $20 one-way. That's still a great deal, in my opinion, especially when you consider how expensive Amtrak has become. Plus, Bolt Bus has free wi-fi so if you have a laptop, you can work or keep yourself entertained.
Driving to NYC and avoiding Philly is easy. Take 95 north 695 west up ti i-83 North to Harrisburg. Then take 81 east to 78 east and make your way to NYC from there. That way has far less traffic than 95 to the NJ turnpike and also fewer tolls. An altternate route is 270 to 15 to (forgot the number, but easy to find on a map) to 83 to 81 to 78.
That route is longer, but with the traffic and tolls on the other route, it can be less stressful, and takes as much or less time.
Since I have a car and am from there, I usually drive, but otherwise I'd advise Bolt Bus, Megabus, or one of the other buses from Chinatown. Greyhound runs up to Philly and NYC too. It's easier than driving yourself and cheaper than Amtrak. Actually, it's even sometimes cheaper than driving (~$35 for gas and tolls to Philly, closer to $50 for NYC, depending on the car, gas prices, and route). I'm a little biased against Amtrak because of some bad experiences I had in college, but it is faster than driving or a bus (usually).
Amtrak is really expensive but probably the best way to go if money isn't an issue. The buses are much, much better values.
I actually think Chinatown buses are fine, much more pleasant than Greyhound. The only problem is that boarding can be kind of chaotic and you're never 100% sure what's going on.
If you have a credit card, you can always rent a vehicle and get the weekend special.
Sometimes you can rent a car for the same price of a round trip Bus ticket.
first off, its not that expensive, and is BY FAR the best way to go. while i have never taken the china town buses, i would avoid them, unless i was flat broke. btw, a flight wouldn't be 400 dollars as someone else said, probably 200.
comparing the bus and amtrak though:
amtrak- comfortable, fun, fast, convienant, a little pricey
china town bus- slower, traffic, unreliable, cheap, very confusing
also, if you tell a cabbie you are going to penn station, they will obviously know what you are talking about. if you tell them the bolt bus, they might not know what you are talking about.
bottom line. unless you are flat broke, travelling on amtrak will be a much, much better experience.
I've found Amtrak rates to Philly to be fairly reasonable ($70 round trip last I went) but to NYC it seems to be much costlier. You can save a bit on their prices if you have some affinity discount, such as AAA membership.
I've taken the DC2NY bus twice between here and NYC and loved it. It's generally not as crowded as the Chinatown bus, not nearly as sketchy, clean, and the drivers are friendly. They also have free 802.11 on board, usually show a recent movie (by vote), and give you a free bottle of water upon boarding. The one caveat is that they have overbooked on some of the busier weekend days before, so you still need to make sure you're in line ahead of time. That being said, it's not anywhere close to the cluster$#%k that is waiting to get on the Chinatown bus. Then again, even that one isn't as bad as the infamous Fung Wah Bus:
[Amtrak:]first off, its not that expensive, and is BY FAR the best way to go. while i have never taken the china town buses, i would avoid them, unless i was flat broke. btw, a flight wouldn't be 400 dollars as someone else said, probably 200.
comparing the bus and amtrak though:
amtrak- comfortable, fun, fast, convienant, a little pricey
My bias against Amtrak is mainly from when I took it from Fredericksburg to Philly in college. From there, I think it was only on time once, and was often more than an hour late. I have several distinct memories of shivering in the dark on the outdoor platform because my 4:30 train didn't arrive until after 7:00pm (near when I should have been arriving at 30th Street). That said, once you're on the train it is fast and convenient. Also, taking the train from Union Station is different than Fredericksburg. First of all, you're inside, but also the trains stop for 30 minutes in DC to switch engines. If they're running late, this stop time is decreased, so the DC riders don't feel the delay as much as those from further south. There are also several trains that originate in DC, thus eliminating the delay problem, which was primarily due to the CSX freight trains near Richmond.
If I were taking a bus, I'd try for BoltBus or MegaBus first, then maybe go for something like New Century or another Chinatown bus. The main issue with driving yourself (especially to NYC) is the parking once you get there. A bus or train just drops you off and then picks you back up.
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