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Cheapest way to Providence, Hartford, and Montpelier from Boston?

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Cheapest way to Providence, Hartford, and Montpelier from Boston?

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Old Jun 12, 2012, 2:13 am
  #1  
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Cheapest way to Providence, Hartford, and Montpelier from Boston?

These are just a random list of places that I have in mind. My trip to Chicago didn't pan out and now I'll be heading to Boston (will also have to attend a funeral as well). I've been to Boston and the surrounding areas at least 11 times in my life. I heard that Boston is a good base to go to cities like Providence, Hartford, New Haven, Manchester, and etc. I know there are loads of places to go and I won't have time to go to them all.

I'm familiar with the Chinatown buses and I've taken them numerous times to New York City. Are there something of an equivalent that goes to the cities that I've mentioned?

Also, what is the cheapest way to get to Montpelier, VT? I know I can drive there, but I won't have a car.

Thanks guys!
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Old Jun 12, 2012, 4:35 am
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Originally Posted by lsquare
These are just a random list of places that I have in mind. My trip to Chicago didn't pan out and now I'll be heading to Boston (will also have to attend a funeral as well). I've been to Boston and the surrounding areas at least 11 times in my life. I heard that Boston is a good base to go to cities like Providence, Hartford, New Haven, Manchester, and etc. I know there are loads of places to go and I won't have time to go to them all.

I'm familiar with the Chinatown buses and I've taken them numerous times to New York City. Are there something of an equivalent that goes to the cities that I've mentioned?

Also, what is the cheapest way to get to Montpelier, VT? I know I can drive there, but I won't have a car.

Thanks guys!
First question: Why do you want to go to any of those places? Hartford is a dead city. Providence is dirty and disgusting. New Haven has nothing to offer other than Yale. Manchester (I assume you mean NH) is just plain average.

If you want to hit all of those cities, I'd recommend you RENT a car. The amount of time and money you'll spend on a bus will just not be worth it.

If you just wanted to do one or two places, there are buses from South Station in Boston that go to all of those places. Not sure the standard one-way fare, but it should be about $25-30.
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Old Jun 12, 2012, 4:44 am
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Assuming you have good reason to go to them, Peter Pan goes from Boston to all of those places except Montpelier (I think Greyhound might be your only reasonable option there), but I agree that none of them is really easy to get around or what I'd call exciting. Peter Pan is not exactly a Chinatown bus, but it's clean and decent, and fairly cheap.
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Old Jun 12, 2012, 10:22 am
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Megabus goes to Hartford, seats can be as low as $5 if you get them early enough. Not sure if they offer the dollar fares on that route or not.

Same thing for New Haven

The Boston Express Bus goes to Manchester for $25 round trip

The commuter train goes from Boston to Providence, believe it's $7.75 currently, going up to $10 on July 1 (pay an extra $3 if you buy on board after July 1)

Train Info - http://www.mbta.com/
Megabus - http://us.megabus.com/
Boston Express Bus - http://www.bostonexpressbus.com/
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Old Jun 12, 2012, 12:49 pm
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Go to Portsmouth or Portland rather than Hartford or Providence. Smaller cities, but vibrant...
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Old Jun 12, 2012, 2:10 pm
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Originally Posted by BostonFlyer1624
First question: Why do you want to go to any of those places? Hartford is a dead city. Providence is dirty and disgusting. New Haven has nothing to offer other than Yale. Manchester (I assume you mean NH) is just plain average.

If you want to hit all of those cities, I'd recommend you RENT a car. The amount of time and money you'll spend on a bus will just not be worth it.

If you just wanted to do one or two places, there are buses from South Station in Boston that go to all of those places. Not sure the standard one-way fare, but it should be about $25-30.
I got the idea from reading a travel guide a while ago. Where would you go instead? Yea, I would love to pay Yale a visit. Is it not worth going? Where in CT and RI would you consider going and it's accessible by bus or train?
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Old Jun 12, 2012, 2:12 pm
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Originally Posted by lo2e
Assuming you have good reason to go to them, Peter Pan goes from Boston to all of those places except Montpelier (I think Greyhound might be your only reasonable option there), but I agree that none of them is really easy to get around or what I'd call exciting. Peter Pan is not exactly a Chinatown bus, but it's clean and decent, and fairly cheap.
Oh? Where in Vermont would you go to that is easily accessible by bus or train?
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Old Jun 12, 2012, 2:12 pm
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Originally Posted by PWMFlyer19
Go to Portsmouth or Portland rather than Hartford or Providence. Smaller cities, but vibrant...
Ok! I will do some research of those two places!
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Old Jun 12, 2012, 2:25 pm
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Yale is certainly worth visiting in spite of New Haven. Personally I find Providence rather nice, with some historic buildings, neighborhoods, restaurants, the Rhode Island School of Design and its museum, and the Brown campus across the river from downtown and up the hill. There's a large new shopping mall, including F&B outlets, behind the Westin.

If you're interested in history, you might want to visit places like Salem and Plymouth Rock in addition to Boston. In CT, there's Sturbridge Village and Mystic, but watch out for crowds of tourists.

Toward Maine, Kennebunkport is well known but packed on summer weekends; Bethel is a pretty and classic New England town with a very nice but expensive inn. In NH, the area around "On Golden Pond" is pretty and it's nice to drive up into the mountains and see Bretton Woods (name?), which is now a combination hotel and free museum. However, all of this requires a car.
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Old Jun 12, 2012, 2:28 pm
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Portland Maine is a very nice city and worth the trip. You can also get to Cape Ann (Gloucester, Manchester-by-the Sea, Rockport), Ipswich, Salem, Concord (Mass), and Newburyport via commuter rail from Boston. If you do any of these, pay close attention to the train schedule, as it is limited.

I'm from CT, and while I like parts of the state very much, there isn't any place there I'd bother going to from Boston without a car.
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Old Jun 12, 2012, 2:52 pm
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Another vote for Portland, Maine here. Amtrak's Downeaster goes between Boston's North Station (TD Garden) and the Portland Transportation Center several times per day.

Also, there is service on the Concord and Peter Pan bus lines.

You can find tickets in the $20 range.

While in Portland, consider taking the Casco Bay Ferry http://www.cascobaylines.com/route_map.htm, a very scenic ride.
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Old Jun 12, 2012, 3:29 pm
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Originally Posted by BostonFlyer1624
First question: Why do you want to go to any of those places? Hartford is a dead city. Providence is dirty and disgusting. New Haven has nothing to offer other than Yale. Manchester (I assume you mean NH) is just plain average.
Another question: Why take travel advice from someone who holds nothing but contempt for these places?
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Old Jun 12, 2012, 5:18 pm
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist

If you're interested in history, you might want to visit places like Salem and Plymouth Rock in addition to Boston. In CT, there's Sturbridge Village
Sturbridge Village is just across the border in Sturbridge, Massachusetts
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Old Jun 12, 2012, 7:34 pm
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Originally Posted by BostonFlyer1624
First question: Why do you want to go to any of those places? Hartford is a dead city. Providence is dirty and disgusting. New Haven has nothing to offer other than Yale. Manchester (I assume you mean NH) is just plain average.

If you want to hit all of those cities, I'd recommend you RENT a car. The amount of time and money you'll spend on a bus will just not be worth it.

If you just wanted to do one or two places, there are buses from South Station in Boston that go to all of those places. Not sure the standard one-way fare, but it should be about $25-30.
OP this is why they used to say that if an atom bomb hit NYC the headline in the Boston newspaper would be "Hub man dies in blast" (with "the Hub" being Boston's self-bestowed nickname, because they view themselves as the Hub of the Universe).

Have you even been to Providence in the last 30 years? It's a great city.

Second the recc for commuter rail as the cheapest way to get there.
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Old Jun 13, 2012, 1:41 am
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
Yale is certainly worth visiting in spite of New Haven. Personally I find Providence rather nice, with some historic buildings, neighborhoods, restaurants, the Rhode Island School of Design and its museum, and the Brown campus across the river from downtown and up the hill. There's a large new shopping mall, including F&B outlets, behind the Westin.

If you're interested in history, you might want to visit places like Salem and Plymouth Rock in addition to Boston. In CT, there's Sturbridge Village and Mystic, but watch out for crowds of tourists.

Toward Maine, Kennebunkport is well known but packed on summer weekends; Bethel is a pretty and classic New England town with a very nice but expensive inn. In NH, the area around "On Golden Pond" is pretty and it's nice to drive up into the mountains and see Bretton Woods (name?), which is now a combination hotel and free museum. However, all of this requires a car.
Unfortunately I don't have the money to rent a car! My budget is pretty tight. I would love to rent a car and then go to those places!
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