Best way to get into Boston from Ware,MA? (Worcester: how much, house)

[prima_donna87]

My husband and I are going to be in Ware,Ma next week and will be staying with family,watching their house while they are awhile. For two of those days we would like to go into Boston. So my question is,what is the best way to get to Boston? Neither of us are horrible comfortable with driving in Boston so we were looking into getting on the commuter rail on Worcester,but is that the best option? Someone else suggested going to Newton and getting on the Green Line,would traffic be pretty heavy in Newton? We would be going around 7:30 ish which is probably a bad time.
This is our first time to Boston and I am a little nervous about how to get there as we have been told several different things.

Also if we were to get a Week Link Pass for $15 it is just for Zone 1A,but I cannot figure out what Zone 1A is, would it be advantageous for me to get a Pass if I plan on visiting all of the tourist sites?

[NEUstudent]

The Riverside T Station in Newton is basically right off the exit, so I don't think traffic will be that much of a problem. It's a quick ride if you get on the pike in Palmer, it's less than an hour.

[gf2020]

Just drive in and park at the Boston Common garage. That will give you the most flexibility and you won't waste time on the train, etc.

[ogre]

Whether you parked at Riverside or in the Common garage, leaving at 7:30 you'd encounter some heavy traffic heading into Boston (assuming this was a weekday). I don't know Worcester very well, so I don't know how the parking is at the train station there, but here's some info to start with:

http://mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/r...s/?stopId=237;

http://mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/r...route=WORCSTER.

(The first link above is supposed to go to the page about the Worcester train station, including some info on parking, but it's malfunctioning and going to the wrong page. If you click on "Worcester/Union Station" to the lefthand side of the page in the second link, that should take you to the info on that train station.)

Considering the traffic you'd encounter if leaving at 7:30 on a weekday, you'd be better off getting info on how easy it is to find parking near the Worcester train station, and taking the train from there if the parking situation works, or going to Riverside, but leaving by 6:00, or else waiting until 8:30 or 9:00 to leave Ware.

According to the transit service website, the one-week pass is good for the subway and busses, and commuter rail out to zone 1A. 1A is right in the city, so you'd have to pay an additional fare for the train from Worcester, which is zone 8:

http://mbta.com/fares_and_passes/passes/; (broken link)

http://mbta.com/fares_and_passes/rail/.

[Mr. Joshua]

Leave a little earlier, go west on the pike until you get to I-95N (128) travel up to Rte 2 east and park at the Alewife T station in Cambridge. Jump on the Red Line T and you can start exploring the city in Harvard Square.

Make sure you have a map!

Also, It would be ashame for you to miss places on the North Shore like Marblehead, Salem, Gloucester, and Rockport. Or on the South Shore places like Cohasset, New Bedford, and Plymouth. Massachusetts has one of the most beautiful and historically important 100 mile sections of coastline in the country if not the world.

[missionhill]

Driving in is much faster but for reduced stress the train makes sense. From Ware I'd guess about 1 hour along Route 9 into Worcester but ask people locally how much traffic to expect. There aren't that many trains so plan accordingly.

[ogre]

Originally Posted by Mr. Joshua

Leave a little earlier, go west on the pike until you get to I-95N (128) travel up to Rte 2 east and park at the Alewife T station in Cambridge. Jump on the Red Line T and you can start exploring the city in Harvard Square.

Make sure you have a map!

Also, It would be ashame for you to miss places on the North Shore like Marblehead, Salem, Gloucester, and Rockport. Or on the South Shore places like Cohasset, New Bedford, and Plymouth. Massachusetts has one of the most beautiful and historically important 100 mile sections of coastline in the country if not the world.

The route suggested here doesn't work for the OP's trip from Ware. You don't go west to rt. 128 from Ware. Ware is out west of Worcester. You have to go EAST almost all the way to Boston before you hit 128. Even if you did take a hop north to rt. 2 at some point on the drive east from Ware, you're not going to escape traffic during rush hours. Rt. 2 inbound toward Boston is rough during the morning commute.

[Mr. Joshua]

Originally Posted by ogre

The route suggested here doesn't work for the OP's trip from Ware. You don't go west to rt. 128 from Ware. Ware is out west of Worcester. You have to go EAST almost all the way to Boston before you hit 128. Even if you did take a hop north to rt. 2 at some point on the drive east from Ware, you're not going to escape traffic during rush hours. Rt. 2 inbound toward Boston is rough during the morning commute.

Thanks. Hopefully the OP realized that I meant East. Apparently you didn't.