Travel from NYC to Boston (New York, York: hotels, schools, colleges)

[ViewFromHere]

Hey NYers,

I posted this in the Boston forum, but wanted to ask here since I value you guys opinion and experience so much.

My daughter is checking out colleges in Boston and in NYC and we plan to make a trip in Feb or late March to visit them. The problem we are encountering is transportation. We are coming up from South Carolina. We will spend just enough time in the Boston area to see the schools, then spend a few extra days in NY checking out the NYC schools as well as just enjoying the city a bit.

We are debating between driving or flying. We think driving would be best for getting around in Mass, as one of the schools is about 20/30 minutes outside of Boston. However, we do not want to deal with a car in NYC. So here are my questions:

1) what is the best, easiest, quickest, most comfortable way (mass transit) to get from NYC to Boston?

2) if we drive to mass, then to nyc, where would be the best place to park our car outside of the city and take a bus/train into the city?

Thanks for your help!

[Henna]

1. Train and bus are both good ways of getting between NYC and Boston. The Amtrak train is quite a bit more comfortable with more leg room, but there are fewer departures than the bus and if you take a regular non-Acela train, sometimes the total ride-time is actually longer than the bus. And it's expensive.

There are many bus lines competing for your business. There's Greyhound/Peter Pan, any number of Chinatown buses that generally travel between Boston's and NY Chinatowns --though I think there may sometimes be other stops as well, and there's the new Bolt bus which is getting good reviews so far. Bus is far cheaper than the train and you can get one pretty much any time of day.

2. I don't know the answer to this, though I think it has been asked and answered on the forum in the past.

Another option you might think about is driving to Boston, then parking in a long-term lot while you take public transportation to New York. There is something I just heard about called Park and fly packages at hotels. These enable you to stay at a Boston hotel, leave your car at the hotel parking lot while you fly to whatever other city you are going to, and then return to pick up the car. The package would include a free shuttle to the airport. It's possible they would allow you to use the package if you were taking a bus/train instead of a plane (just google Boston park and fly and see what comes up).

[hazeleyes86]

Alot of people use Boltbus. I've used them to go to DC, good experience, buses are decent and affordable.

[StinaTado]

I've done Bolt bus to Boston as well and found it to be a pleasant enough trip. Most of their buses have outlets and wi-fi, which is nice. The bus picks you up on 34th St. in Manhattan and drops you off at South Station in Boston. From there, you can get around fairly easily. The major Boston schools are all accessible by the T, although it can be a trek, especially if you're staying a little further out.

[Chava61]

I have used Peter Pan (Greyhound) bus and the service is good.

[user376]

I would also recommend Bolt Bus. I've taken it between DC and NYC and had a good experience. They were prompt, the bus had outlets and wifi, and the price is great.