New York City Travel Forum

I am travelling to New York in early July this year to meet a good friend but two weeks is long enough to stay with even the best of friends. I was thinking about 4 days or so out of the city but I have no idea whats on offer, actually there is so much on offer I don't know where to start.

Boston looks lovely but costly and I'm on a bit of a budget and I would love to see something that isnt another city to break up my trip.

Also, what are my travel options? Driving on the wrong side I can handle but driving in NYC? Not a chance.

Any and all suggestions appreciated. I can't wait to go!

B

Two questions leap to mind: what is your daily budget, and what sorts of outdoor things do you like to do?

From NY you can very easily get to the beach or mountains. For the beach, you can go south, to the Jersey shore (take the train, NJ Transit) or north, to Long Island or the Connecticut coast. The former will be cheaper and more scrappy although plenty of fun, the latter more expensive. You can do all kinds of mountain stuff in Catskills, Shawagunks, etc., which are located to the northwest of NY within NY state. You can also head straight west to the Delaware Water Gap/Poconos area. For the mountain stuff, you're better off getting a rental car, but I strongly suggest you take the train or a bus from New York out as far as you can, and renting a car in the town you get off at--this is vastly cheaper and far less hassle than trying to rent it in NY and drive out of the city. (For example, if you are going to the Catskills you can get the train to Poughkeepsie and rent a car there.)

go to Philly and DC via bus or Amtrak.

oh, you don't want to go to another city. Sorry.

Wow very fast and really helpful replies, thanks!
As far as budget goes I'm really not sure, that depends on the exchange rate which isn't in my favour at the moment :op
I'm definitely up for some outdoors activity and one of the things I want to do while I'm there is take photos so nature, wildlife etc.
Could $100 a day see me through do you think?

Thanks again,
B

You could take a drive to the Delaware gap - there's a beautiful park there.

As the prev. poster mentioned, going south in NJ there are beautiful little towns, Avalon, and those little towns.

... for all suggestions, look on tripadvisor.com for places to stay that are within your budget.

If you want to drive a but farther, Martha's Vineyard is beautiful.

I have driven across Connecticut and New Hampshire - very scenic drives.
I hear that Vermont is great as well.

Google mega bus america. Recently I noticed you can travel from NY to Boston for $8 and $15 to Chicago one way. They have a variety of trips around that area, even to Canada. Considering the cost of UK transport, this is mega cheap.
If you like scenery, try 1000 islands from Watertown, NY state. It is beautiful!
p.s It's the same mega bus that we have in the UK

west of new york in pennsylvania, one can visit the Amish Country around Lancaster and then just west of there the Gettysburg Civil War National Park in Gettysburg, several unique days.
The suggestions for the New Jersey shore and New England, especially Vermont, mentioned by others are also terrific vacation spots for several days.

These are all brilliant ideas so thanks to everyone who has taken the time to reply!

Having checked online the prices of hotels in and around the Boston area seem really high. What is the norm for the smaller towns, motels? Are they pitch up and ask of book in advance places?

B

If $100/day is your total budget (for accommodation as well as everything else), you are going to have a tricky time doing much of anything beyond camping. July is high season around here, and any lodging that charges less than $80 a night is probably going to be pretty unpleasant. You might check out backpacker lodgings, hostels, hikers' hostels, etc--I haven't done this in about 20 years so I can't recommend anything, but Google is your friend.

Boston is quite expensive (although in a city you have the possibility of staying in hostels). Count yourself VERY lucky that you have a friend to stay with in NY, which is the most expensive city in the US for hotels.

I have been in Boston numerous times, but for work - and yes, it's expensive. Good thing is that public transportation is excellent.

How about if you check the subway and where it goes: http://www.mbta.com/
Then look at little towns around Boston, and check tripadvisor.com for accomodations. Post back first to make sure the town is not in a rough area as we have many Boston people in the forum, they may not have seen your post because it's for NY. Or re-post for the Boston forum after you've done some of the checking.

I would start with Cambridge - little university town very close to Boston. I visited my best friend's son when I was there. Not sure if it will be as expensive, but it's a nice little area with lots of character and a quick short ride in the metro from Boston.

near most expressway interchanges are chain motels like Motel 6, Super 8 and others. they offer totally acceptable if far from luxurious rooms and accomodations and often include simple continental breakfasts in the room rate.

I would make sure and check TripAdvisor reviews on any hotel - some chains have some OK properties and some bad ones.

Looking in Cambridge it has several B&B's - such as
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60890-d1062129-r22007644-Cambridge_Bed_and_Muffin-Cambridge_Massachusetts.html

Can't find where to book but I'm sure you can google - appears to be right around $100, maybe slightly over - good reviews. There are other B&B's too.