Road trip NE USA

blindman

rp8049 wrote: »

I did July 4th in NYC albeit 10 years ago. If I remember right, the fireworks are on or around one of the bridges?

Three locations IIRC. Two bridges and by the Statue of Liberty

I'll have a look for some discounts for Amtrak - any recomendations on where to start the search?

See below

I take the point about Washington and parking, so what we'll try to do I think is either get a car to go up to boston and around New England etc... and then dump it back at new york and take a train down to washington for a couple of days, or possibly train it up to Boston (if I can find a good fare) and then rent a car from there - cheers for the tips there Pssst.

That's a better plan

Amtrak discount code thread on Flyertalk

Another web-site for Amtrak codes

blindman

deadhac wrote: »

Why is niagra not reccommended? im surprised by the train fares, i thought it would be more than that..

NYC to Philly is by NJT and the SEPTA.

The onyl reason I'm not going by China Bus is that I land\leave at EWR so from there it's easier by NJT and SEPTA.:rolleyes:

ailuro2

Niagara is nice, and you can do it in a day,we stayed for 3 nights at the Sheraton nearest to the horseshoe falls (can be seen much better form the Canadian side) and hade time to do a helicopter ride, visit Nigara on the Lake etc. The nighttime fireworks twice a week are great too. The falls are lit up every night too.

There is an area in Niagara called Clifton Hill that is like Blackpool, but it's just one area. It's quite cheesy and entertaining though.Our Dd was 5 when we went and she loved that bit.:rolleyes:

rjh090384

niagara is pretty at teh falls part but yes the rest is like blackpol. and very gimmicky but u have to see the falls. amazing!

rp8049

blindman wrote: »

That's a better plan

Amtrak discount code thread on Flyertalk

Another web-site for Amtrak codes

Cheers for those, much appreciated!:T

jenny-wren

We went to NYC and Boston last year for our anniversary.

Stayed in the Affinia 50 in NYC. Hotel was fantastic, close to 5th Ave & Central Park, within easy reach of all the sights. Told them it was our anniversary and we got a free upgrade to a junior suite and a bottle of bubbly. Surely that would impress the lady wife?! Expedia sometimes have deals on the Affinia Hotels or check out the hotel group's own site: Affinia 50

Stayed in Jury's in the Back Bay area of Boston. Another fantastic hotel. Booked it through Skoosh
We got the hotel a lot cheaper than booking through the hotel's own website or anywhere else!

I'd recommend not bothering with a car in either city - you won't need it when you're in NYC or Boston - in fact it could end up costing you an arm and a leg in parking not to mention the added stress of driving (I love getting behind the wheel of those big US automatics but couldn't justify the need in either city). We flew from Boston to NYC one way for about £50 for the two of us. The train was about the same price (which in hindsight we should have taken given that the plane was delayed for 2 hours due to snow and rain .. well it was February!).

Hope you have a fantastic trip. Your wife is a lucky woman ... I had to wait over 10 years for my trip!!!

rp8049

jenny-wren wrote: »

We went to NYC and Boston last year for our anniversary.

Stayed in the Affinia 50 in NYC. Hotel was fantastic, close to 5th Ave & Central Park, within easy reach of all the sights. Told them it was our anniversary and we got a free upgrade to a junior suite and a bottle of bubbly. Surely that would impress the lady wife?! Expedia sometimes have deals on the Affinia Hotels or check out the hotel group's own site: Affinia 50

Stayed in Jury's in the Back Bay area of Boston. Another fantastic hotel. Booked it through Skoosh
We got the hotel a lot cheaper than booking through the hotel's own website or anywhere else!

I'd recommend not bothering with a car in either city - you won't need it when you're in NYC or Boston - in fact it could end up costing you an arm and a leg in parking not to mention the added stress of driving (I love getting behind the wheel of those big US automatics but couldn't justify the need in either city). We flew from Boston to NYC one way for about £50 for the two of us. The train was about the same price (which in hindsight we should have taken given that the plane was delayed for 2 hours due to snow and rain .. well it was February!).

Hope you have a fantastic trip. Your wife is a lucky woman ... I had to wait over 10 years for my trip!!!

Thanks for that - some great tips! I'll definitely look into those hotels.

The silly thing is, looking at the price of flights and trains, it seems at the moment that it works out cheaper with the car, even though we wouldn't be using it in the cities. Still looking to try to find a way to get some cheaper trains/flights.