Travelling from New York to DC

[canucksfan]

I'm staying in Midtown (near Grand Central Terminal) Sept 23-30 and am thinking about visiting a friend in DC for the day while I'm there.

How long would it take to get there by train? Also, where does the train depart from? Any transfers? Where can I find info on schedules, rates, etc?

I would appreciate any help you can provide.

[thereuare]

I've done it (and i'd bet TravelGuy has too).

The train leaves from Penn Station and it's about 3 1/2 hours and in my opinion is a bit expensive unless you can get a good deal. Occaisionally you can get a good deal flying there which sometimes is even cheaper than the train! (and Amtrak doesn't understand why they can't turn a profit and need subsidies :) ) You can get fare and schedule info at AMTRAK.com

If you want to do this on the cheap (and users have mixed views on this... some would do it again in a heartbeat (me) and others say they wouldn't ever do it again (my wife)) you can take the bus. Travel time is just about the same as the train, about 4 hours (assuming no major traffic) and you can do it roundtrip for as cheap at $35!! There are busses that leave from Chinatown (CHINATOWN BUS INFO) and PETERPAN / GREYHOUND can be almost as cheap if you buy your tickets far enough in advance (click the "BIG CITY ROUNDTRIPS DISCOUNTS" on the prior link, or click here: DISCOUNT BUS FARE).

Chinatown busses leave from, well, Chinatown and the PeterPan/Greyhound busses leave from the Port Authority.

Let us know if we can be of further help.

[TravelGuy]

You might want to consider flying, particularly if you'll be traveling on the weekend, and your friend could pick you up from Dulles airport in Washington. Your best bet would be taking Independence Air and signing up for their frequent flyer iClub, which would give you $25 off your first round trip. You could get a $92 all in r/t from either Kennedy or Newark airports to Dulles if going down and back on Saturday, or about $135 leaving Saturday and returning on Sunday. Their latest departure is 9:45 p.m.

I have taken the Chinatown Bus several times and have had generally good experiences with it. The $35 r/t is a terrific value. The best of the lot IMO is Vamoose, unique among the "Chinatown" buses in that it's run by a group of Hasidic Jewish Americans. They have the most limited schedule of the various companies, however, although they appear to be slowly expanding it.

I believe the train would be about $150.

[lwitchel]

If you've got the extra money or get a good deal (look for the Amtrak discount codes at www.webflyer.com/blog or try V822 as a promotional code, it should be good for 20% off through December 16) I'd take the train. It's the most hasslefree way of going. Fewer preliminaries than the plane, far more space than the bus and you can get up and move around. For cheap though, it's hard to beat the bus, but expect it to be full and cramped.

[TravelGuy]

That Amtrak code really is a good deal, taking the fare down to as low as $118.40. Those unreserved trains (to which the discount code only applies) can be packed as well on the weekends, however, so one has to be careful of timing. The last Amtrak I took was from Penn Station to DC, leaving at 3:00 pm on Friday. It was standing room only all the way to Baltimore, with people lining the aisle the entire length of the train. (I overheard the conductor say that they average 300 standees every Friday on that train!) On the top of that, the air conditioning in the car I was in was broken.

With the Chinatown bus, timing is also important to avoid crowds. I've experienced packed conditions every time on Friday afternoons from DC, while on the returns, 1/3 full on Saturday at 6:00 pm; virtually empty on Sunday at 11:00 am. If you can get an uncrowded Chinatown bus with movies playing (not shown 1/2 the time - video broken or whatever), it rivals the average Amtrak experience, IMO.