Amtrack from NYC to Boston | Syracusefan.com

Amtrack from NYC to Boston

Guinness

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Family and I are headed up to NYC in June for a concert prior to spending a week in Maine. We were thinking of stopping in Boston for the weekend and taking the train from NYC to Boston before grabbing a rental car and driving up to Bar Harbor.

Feasible? Or we better off driving? We would have luggage, etc ..

Thanks!
 
Family and I are headed up to NYC in June for a concert prior to spending a week in Maine. We were thinking of stopping in Boston for the weekend and taking the train from NYC to Boston before grabbing a rental car and driving up to Bar Harbor.

Feasible? Or we better off driving? We would have luggage, etc ..

Thanks!
Drive. Its faster and cheaper. Definitely spend a weekend in Boston. Acadia and Bar harbor are some of my favorite places.
 
Drive. Its faster and cheaper. Definitely spend a weekend in Boston. Acadia and Bar harbor are some of my favorite places.

I've been thinking about this one for an hour or so. I hate 95 through CT, so I'm wondering if the train might be worth it, but there are lots of really cool things to see along the way if he's interested. That and it's still an almost 5 hour drive from Boston up to Bar Harbor in good traffic.
 
Family and I are headed up to NYC in June for a concert prior to spending a week in Maine. We were thinking of stopping in Boston for the weekend and taking the train from NYC to Boston before grabbing a rental car and driving up to Bar Harbor.

Feasible? Or we better off driving? We would have luggage, etc ..

Thanks!
Avoid driving out of Boston up to Maine on a Friday, traffic is god awful (same is true coming out of NYC to Connecticut though).
If you're a beer guy, driving up would allow you to hit Treehouse -> Trillium -> Maine Beer Co.
climb Cadillac Mountain, view is amazing.
IMG_0459.JPG
 
Avoid driving out of Boston up to Maine on a Friday, traffic is god awful (same is true coming out of NYC to Connecticut though).
If you're a beer guy, driving up would allow you to hit Treehouse -> Trillium -> Maine Beer Co.
climb Cadillac Mountain, view is amazing.
View attachment 125029
Yes. Be very careful of Friday after 4pm. You can literally sit in traffic for 3 hours to get from the Mass border to the 1st Maine tolls. Normally about a 30 minute ride. Parking lot from Maine Tolls, to NH tolls, that can extend into Mass.
Should you bypass that section, using rte 1, expect backup as well.(about an hour and half, and 100 lights). Rte 1A is a nice ride, along the ocean, but that takes forever, too.
Used to do this ride, all the time. NEVER on a Friday night, unless you budget up to 3 hours extra. And that's not even considering the NORMAL rush hour traffic outta Boston, that often turns 1 hour, into 2 or more.

If you fancy Amtrack, there is another option. There is the Nor'Easter outta Boston, to Portland Maine. It's not a Subway style train, it's nice. Also, you need to buy tickets for it, well in advance. It's the preffered method of travel for many that work in Boston. Sold out on the weekends, as well, because traffic can really suck. Not to mention the $30 plus Boston parking, pays for the ticket, and the train has a beer car.;-)
 
Absolutely! It seems the entirety of those visiting "Vacationland" are on that road Friday night. Some now opt for sat AM. The reverse is partially true on Sunday evening. Maine tolls back up on the south bound side, but it's not as bad as Friday.

Going north completely against the flow, on Sunday, is ideal. Pretty smooth sailing through Boston, as well. One minor nuisance. If it's a good beach day, you can get some traffic before noon, hitting the Maine/NH beaches. If you leave in the AM, any potential traffic coming off the Cape, is also irrelevant.

No one ever thinks Maine will have traffic. For the most part, they are right. I've made that Mass to Maine trip hundreds of times. We plan on hitting that section no later than 5Pm Friday, or after 8Pm. You still get caught sometimes. Before 4, after 9, is generally smooth sailing, and what we shoot for. I've been caught at least 10 times.

ANY time but those hours Friday night, and you are good to go. Save the $$ and drive.
 
I love these threads...

Guinness if you aren't set on Maine for a week...a trip to Nova Scotia is awesome.

You can leave out of Portland via Fast Ferry to Yarmouth, NS. and then loop back via car through New Brunswick and visit Bar Harbor on the backside. PEI is connected via bridge now and is an option.

Ferry to Nova Scotia from Maine Service | The CAT | Bay Ferries

My kids loved the variety and going on ferries and long bridges back in the day.

You could look at flying in/out of EWR and renting a car. I've flown into EWR before...taken the train into Manhattan and spent a few days doing stuff there without the hassle of parking a car...then subway back to EWR and rent a car during mid morning and doing the driving portion of the trip and return to EWR to fly back. With only a week...it might be too much though. My wife always tells me I try to do too much on vacation.
 
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Any Boston Hotel recommendations? Will only be there a Friday and Saturday night before heading to Maine. My daughter wants to stay somewhere right in the city so that we can tour it easily.
 
Any Boston Hotel recommendations? Will only be there a Friday and Saturday night before heading to Maine. My daughter wants to stay somewhere right in the city so that we can tour it easily.

Hilton Downtown-Faneuil Hall Boston Hotel

A little pricey, but it's in my favorite part of town these days. You can walk to most everything good from here, including some excellent Italian food in the North End.

Be sure to go around the corner to Mr. Dooley's and have a well-poured Guinness. They may have some traditional Irish music playing as well.
 
Hilton Downtown-Faneuil Hall Boston Hotel

A little pricey, but it's in my favorite part of town these days. You can walk to most everything good from here, including some excellent Italian food in the North End.

Be sure to go around the corner to Mr. Dooley's and have a well-poured Guinness. They may have some traditional Irish music playing as well.

Just following up on this now. Looks like 2 nights in Boston is going to cost more than I paid for a week of a rental house in Maine. Ouch!
 

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