Mid-Atlantic - Hotel in NYC as base for visiting nearby locations?

Thanks for great forum and sorry if this is the wrong place to post:

Is Manhattan NYC a usable location for staying when doing daily visits to nearby locations, such as Atlantic City and Philadelphia? What will the traffic be in and out of city in june/july? Other recommentations?

Not for me, thats over 100 miles each way. and traffic is never great in NYC.

I would prefer to stay much closer to where i want to be!

Ok, so you suggest relocating to a new hotel every day?

There is a frequent bus service from the Port Authority Bus Terminal to Atlantic City (http://academybus.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=tHVKq9TELNw%3d&tabid=60&mid=448)- from memory the journey is about 2.5 hours and therefore can be a (long) day trip.

Philidelphia I wouldn't try and do in a day.

When living in New York I found it a good base for long weekends to Washington/Boston, but there is so much to do in New York itself that I wouldn't venture too far afield if I were you (I'm sure many tourists never get off the island except to go to the airport!).

Welcome to FT olan6. ^

There is a frequent bus service from the Port Authority Bus Terminal to Atlantic City (http://academybus.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=tHVKq9TELNw%3d&tabid=60&mid=448)- from memory the journey is about 2.5 hours and therefore can be a (long) day trip.

Philidelphia I wouldn't try and do in a day.

When living in New York I found it a good base for long weekends to Washington/Boston, but there is so much to do in New York itself that I wouldn't venture too far afield if I were you (I'm sure many tourists never get off the island except to go to the airport!).

Phillidelphia is well served by a train, so that would be the best option for a day trip.

I know New Yorkers are always shy about expressing an opinion ;), but I'm sure this forum http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/new-york-city-465/ would be a far better place to ask the question and get some local input!

FWIW, given the high cost of accommodation in New York, I'd have thought the last thing you'd want to do is overnight in Manhattan to then start commuting out to far cheaper places.

Ok, so you suggest relocating to a new hotel every day?

Yes for me I would. If you want to do Philly and atlantic city, you could get a hotel to do both of these in southern Jersey, or even central Philly. otherwise you are going to loose 4 hours each day commuting.

The train down the east coast is very good, I do use the route frequently and have found it a reliable service. Stay away from the Acela express as it is about 5-10 minutes quicker and can be 5 times the price of the standard Amtrak.

Ok, so then train to Philadelphia stay at hotel there in order to visit Philadelphia, Atlantic City, Six flags etc?

Depending on your time frames I would suggest a few nights in NYC then as others suggest the train to Philly. This is a great service (and yes stay away from the Acela Exp as it is over priced) but as with all US trains not really up to European efficiencies. (If money is tight you can also do the whole thing by commuter trains with a change at Trenton I think).

I would then I think book hotels in Philly and Atlantic City and use a car for this section of the journey. If flying out of NYC then take the train back.

Also if you need to save money, once you are done with NYC there are significantly cheaper hotels just over the water in NJ (check out Hilton website for hotels around Newark etc) but then you would more likely be needing a car to drive to Philly.

Thanks for great forum and sorry if this is the wrong place to post:

Is Manhattan NYC a usable location for staying when doing daily visits to nearby locations, such as Atlantic City and Philadelphia? What will the traffic be in and out of city in june/july? Other recommentations?

Is it a business trip?

I used to do this regularly about five years ago when I had to visit various cities that were within a couple of hours of NYC (by whichever means of transport made sense), and being based in London it was so much more convenient to fly to JFK, check in somewhere midtown and leave all my luggage there, and then do day trips from wherever (Penn Station, LGA, etc). Not the cheapest solution but probably the most time-effective and my company was happy to pay.

If nothing else, New York (well Manhattan at least) has some of the most expensive hotels in the US. unless you are staying with a relative or a friend, you would be better off minimising the time in a New York hotel if you can and move around.

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"(If money is tight you can also do the whole thing by commuter trains with a change at Trenton I think)."

If money is tight, take the bus -- to both Philadelphia and Atlantic City:

http://www.megabus.com

Competitor Bolt Bus http://www.boltbus.com also serves Philadelphia, but not A.C.

For travel between Philadelphia and A.C., there is both commuter rail service http://www.njtransit.com, and Greyhound's "Lucky Streak" bus service. Greyhound also provides N.Y.C.-A.C. service.

Both Megabus and Greyhound service to Atlantic City casinos offer casino-rebate bonuses. If one can book far enough in advance, Megabus will be significantly cheaper.

Thanks for all great replies. Trip is for fun, cost is not an issue but convenience is. According to Google Maps with a car there is only about 20-30 minutes to save each day in total, eg. staying in Philadelphia vs. Manhattan, but i guess it does not consider the terrible traffic..

Another vote for the OP to make the most use of the forums which are present on FT and make use of the NYC forum. It is one of the better destination forums and they'll be able to get into the specifics with you

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/new-york-city-465/

From a Manhattanite--

You could do a day trip to Philadelphia. If you take the Acela (you said money isn't an issue, and the Acela is considerably nicer than the commuter rail or regular Amtrak) you could be in Philadelphia in about 1hr 10minutes I believe. Take the earliest train there and the last train out and you could easily make a day trip out of it. That said, there is a lot to be seen in Philadelphia and several very nice hotels, so I wouldn't limit yourself to a day trip if you have several things you would like to do.

Per Atlantic City, don't try to do this as a day trip. I believe there is a light rail that runs on the weekends and takes about 3 hours. That is a long day if you do it round trip. I would go to Atlantic City after a few days in NY and plan on staying at a resort for at least a night.

You could also do Boston (or Providence) for a night. Both are pleasant cities, especially in the summer, and you won't be short of things to do.

From memory, there were buses that the major casino hotels organise from Manhattan to Atlantic City. Cost was around $25 return, but then they give you $25 in chips to gamble with - so basically the trip is a freebie.

Unless you have a real passion to gamble in casinos, I would give Atlantic City a miss.

As some others have suggested, Boston is a super city and well worth going to.

There are some nice hotels in New Jersey just opposite Manhattan. They are located near subway stations called PATH (this is different from the New York City subways).

Not only can you take PATH from the hotel into Manhattan - but you can also take PATH in opposite direction to Newark, where you can catch the train to Philadelphia.

The other place to consider visiting is Washington DC - same Amtrak train as the one that goes to Philadelphia, just a longer trip.

It's hard to recommend a particular strategy as there isn't quite enough information about the trip but given that, a couple of observations:

1) If you want to do Atlantic City + Philadelphia, I would highly recommend staying at either one for at least one night. Practically, I wouldn't try to commute to both of them for one day and doing two separate day trips from Manhattan to each of them would be very inefficient.

2) I would probably train one direction and do a rental car with drop the other. NYC-PHL, as others have noted, is an easy convenient train ride. Acela nicer but more than twice the price of the Keystone ($50 each way). Times are approximately the same as gating factor is traffic/rails not train type.
Getting to/from Atlantic City is probably easier with a car. One issue would be drop charges for a one-way. If that's a problem, you could just rent a car and do a loop NYC-AC-PHL-NYC.

Relative to order, one would have to know why those places are of interest. If AC is to see the beach/boardwalk, then you might not want to spend a night there. If it is to gamble/do "nightlife", then I'd recommend spending the night anyhow.

Finally, I do commute PHL/NYC quite a bit as I own an apartment in Manhattan and have a house in the Philly suburbs (Devon). I have driven it often (100 or so miles, 2 hours good but with traffic and construction it can stretch to 3+ - right now there is significant construction between exit 8 and 7 on the NJ turnpike) and I also take the train often. The train is more predictable. If I were to do it, I would take the train NY-PHL and then do the car for the return as the drive from AC back to NY would avoid a lot of the turnpike mess.

Ok, seems like the plan then is to train (even car sounds better considering luggage) to Philadelphia for three nights and use one day with car into Atlantic City to see the boardwalk (no gambling). After that drive to Washington and fly from there. Seems like there is no time for Boston unfortnately.

Ok, seems like the plan then is to train (even car sounds better considering luggage) to Philadelphia for three nights and use one day with car into Atlantic City to see the boardwalk (no gambling). After that drive to Washington and fly from there. Seems like there is no time for Boston unfortnately.

But presuming your 3 nights in PHL is two full days, one in Philly and one in AC, you might just want to look at the relative costs of accommodation. I'm guessing here but AC probably has midweek bargains whereas Philly is cheaper at the weekend.

As such depending on the trip dates you might want to base yourself in AC and go to Philly for the day, especially if you end up driving out of NYC.

Still puzzled that you're planning this trip on the BA board and not the New York one mind you...

Yes, should post in NYC, but now I am afraid of getting killed if i post it again there

Welcome to forums

AC is easily accessible from NYC by bus from Port Authority (Academy bus is $35 RT). The crowd tends to me quite colorful. It take about 2-2.5 hours depending on traffic. Traffic in/out NYC is always terrible.

Slightly longer (though no traffic), a bit more expensive, but much more comfortable is Aces Train from Penn Station. It runs on weekends only. I would highly recommend this option.

Do go to Philly. Either by bus, train or car. You can rent a car from across the river in Jersey City and save some money. There are some nice hotels there as well with great view of the city.

I don't agree that NYC hotels have to be expensive. There are plenty of Groupon offers online. You can also use hotel points from any major chain, e.g. Wyndham Wingate has a good property in the middle of midtown, close to all the touristy stuff, and you need very reasonable number of points to book it.

Yes, should post in NYC, but now I am afraid of getting killed if i post it again there

Just hit the little red triangle on your own post and send a note to a moderator - they'll happily relocate it for you.

Glad to see the plans are shaping up. It looks like you are now on the right track (pardon the pun). Just make sure you visit the Nodding Head Brewery on Sansom for a pint while you are in Philly.

Ok, seems like the plan then is to train (even car sounds better considering luggage) to Philadelphia for three nights and use one day with car into Atlantic City to see the boardwalk (no gambling). After that drive to Washington and fly from there. Seems like there is no time for Boston unfortnately.

Sounds like a plan.

If you are into art, they just opened the new Barnes Collection in Philly. While my heart breaks that they broke the Barnes will and moved it out of its home, at least it is now open and it is a fabulous collection. The # of Picasso blue period pieces is incredible (considering the low % of his work that came from that period). In hindsight, the collection is obvious; Barnes' foresight in assembling it was brilliant. Haven't been since the opening so I can't talk about the new digs but plan to soon to see how they did.

I am on the Acela to Ny from DC as I type this. I would start with AC, then head south, to Philly, after spending a few days in Philly head down to DC. Luggage on the Acela is no problem at all. I have 2 LARGE suitcases and my daughter has one large one. The porters help us take them into the train and out of the train. You can book a town car to pick you up in DC. Easy.

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Welcome to forums

AC is easily accessible from NYC by bus from Port Authority (Academy bus is $35 RT). The crowd tends to me quite colorful. It take about 2-2.5 hours depending on traffic. Traffic in/out NYC is always terrible.

Slightly longer (though no traffic), a bit more expensive, but much more comfortable is Aces Train from Penn Station. It runs on weekends only. I would highly recommend this option.

Do go to Philly. Either by bus, train or car. You can rent a car from across the river in Jersey City and save some money. There are some nice hotels there as well with great view of the city.

I don't agree that NYC hotels have to be expensive. There are plenty of Groupon offers online. You can also use hotel points from any major chain, e.g. Wyndham Wingate has a good property in the middle of midtown, close to all the touristy stuff, and you need very reasonable number of points to book it.

If you want to go to A.C. via Academy Bus from Port Authority, it is almost never a good idea to purchase the ticket from Academy. Megabus sells tickets on Academy's N.Y.C.-A.C. buses, and usually sells them for less -- sometimes much less.

The ACES train, which ran on weekends between Penn Station and A.C. has been discontinued. It was a perennial money-loser.

Greetings from Ithaca, BigRedBears. :)

Moving over to the USA: Mid Atlantic forum for further discussion. Here, this topic will have all options covered.

Prospero
Moderator: BAEC forum