Philly to NYC questions

[arthur06]

We are taking a historical trip next week and are going from Philadelphia to NYC on Wednesday and returning to Philly the same day. We have a 2pm Crown tour of the Statue of Liberty.

I was looking in to public transportation and checked Amtrak. We are a group of 6. 4 adults and 2 kids (8 and 10). The price was $490 for the train.

Is there a cheap option that doesn't have me driving or any sort of promo codes for Amtrak?

TIA

 

[Daniela Rose]

Cheapest would be the bus. Look into greyhound or the bolt bus.

 

[wilkeliza]

Megabus or Boltbus. You can usually get 10-20 dollar tickets but you are on a bus for 90 minutes or longer and have to make sure you factor in traffic.

 

[miztressuz]

Check out Septa/NJ regional rail. Generally has the same routes but cheaper. Of course it's regional rail so for 1.5 hrs yer sitting on a plastic seat but I'll live over paying Amtrak prices.

You may have to change trains in Trenton coming from Septa, I'm not sure if it's just a stop or a train change. It's easier for us to just get on at Trenton Transit Center since we're in the suburbs so never done it from center city. The worst thing Septa.org ever did was switch to Google Transit for the route planning. They used to have their own tool, you gave them the start and stop station, depart or arrival time, and it would give you 3 of the best options with the fares! Google not so much. But NJ transit's not so bad, they do list "Philadelphia 30th Street Station" as an option then pick your destination (we hope off at NY Penn Station) and it'll give you the fare on this page http://www.njtransit.com/sf/sf_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=TrainTo

 

[jiminy14]

Another thing to keep in mind if using Amtrak or NJ Transit trains, is that there is major track work going on in Penn Station until September. You need to plan for delays and allow more time to travel to NYC.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Check out Septa/NJ regional rail. Generally has the same routes but cheaper. Of course it's regional rail so for 1.5 hrs yer sitting on a plastic seat but I'll live over paying Amtrak prices.

You may have to change trains in Trenton coming from Septa, I'm not sure if it's just a stop or a train change. It's easier for us to just get on at Trenton Transit Center since we're in the suburbs so never done it from center city. The worst thing Septa.org ever did was switch to Google Transit for the route planning. They used to have their own tool, you gave them the start and stop station, depart or arrival time, and it would give you 3 of the best options with the fares! Google not so much. But NJ transit's not so bad, they do list "Philadelphia 30th Street Station" as an option then pick your destination (we hope off at NY Penn Station) and it'll give you the fare on this page http://www.njtransit.com/sf/sf_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=TrainTo

This. We usually drive up 295 to the NJ Transit Hamilton station, 1 stop after Trenton. I work in Philly and believe my coworkers would take Septa from 30th St station and connect in Trenton onto NJ Transit.

We considered visiting the 9/11 memorial last weekend until I read about trackwork and their "contruction schedule". I didn't read the whole thing thoroughly but it sounded like some trains make people depart at Princeton Juction, and they shuttle passengers to another train station. It sounded like a headache and that's on a weekend. I really would allow a lot of extra time when traveling on a weekday with the rush hour crowd.

 

[Ava]

As others have said, I would not use the train right now due to the construction in Penn Station. Many of my coworkers commute into Manhattan through there and have said it's a big headache. The bus is probably a better option.

 

[mjkacmom]

I'd just drive, it's a straight shot, less than two hours.

 

[Lvsdisney]

I assume you're leaving from NYC and not NJ for the Statue of Liberty?

If you're not dong the city and only Ellis/island statue AND you have a car, I would recommend leaving from NJ. They have a beautiful memorial to 9/11 there and the historic train station. It's a closer drive as well from philly

 

[Miffy]

Definitely stay away from Penn Station and trains right now. BTW, You do have to change trains if you take SEPTA to Trenton. And the SEPTA schedule isn't coordinated with NJTransit, so the trip can take over 2.5 hours. Definitely not the way to do this.

If you have a car, consider driving, although the expense of parking in Manhattan is pretty steep. If you don't mind traveling by bus, that's probably the way to do it for convenience and a low price. Mega and Bolt both go from Philly to NY.

 

[lanejudy]

SEPTA and NJ Transit will be considerably less expensive than Amtrak, and NJ Transit follows the same route as Amtrak. If you take SEPTA, you'll have to try and coordinate schedules -- last I did this it didn't match up all that well and you may have a layover. However, my preference would be to drive; at least drive into northern Jersey and then catch mass transit if you don't want to drive in the metropolitan area. Bus may be another option but I haven't done that.

Enjoy your day!

 

[mjkacmom]

I assume you're leaving from NYC and not NJ for the Statue of Liberty?

If you're not dong the city and only Ellis/island statue AND you have a car, I would recommend leaving from NJ. They have a beautiful memorial to 9/11 there and the historic train station. It's a closer drive as well from philly

And the lines are shorter.

 

[Ngwira]

We are doing Amtrak PHL to NYC next weekend. I switched our train to 5:30am due to all the track work being done at Penn Station. We have a tour in NYC for 10:00am and didn't want to chance it.
You have to catch Amtrak on a sale. Use AA to save some money. Otherwise, Boltbus or Megabus.

Driving into NYC is a pain between the traffic, tolls and parking. Lots of $$.

 

[Daniela Rose]

Another thing to keep in mind if using Amtrak or NJ Transit trains, is that there is major track work going on in Penn Station until September. You need to plan for delays and allow more time to travel to NYC.

As others have said, I would not use the train right now due to the construction in Penn Station. Many of my coworkers commute into Manhattan through there and have said it's a big headache. The bus is probably a better option.

Dh commutes on the lirr every single day into penn and believe it or not since the "summer of hell" has started his commute has been better. Go figure.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I assume you're leaving from NYC and not NJ for the Statue of Liberty?

If you're not dong the city and only Ellis/island statue AND you have a car, I would recommend leaving from NJ. They have a beautiful memorial to 9/11 there and the historic train station. It's a closer drive as well from philly

We did this a few years ago and it was so easy. It was a few simple turns off the NJ Turnpike to Liberty State Park. We bought tickets online in advance and it was cheap parking and no bridge toll into NY either.
Tickets included ferry from LSP to Ellis Island and SoL.
You also have the option to return to Battery Park in NY if you like but your tour would conclude at that point whether you end up on the NY side or the NJ side.
I understand OP didn't want to do any driving but just chiming in if this might help others. The crown was closed to the public for rehab work at that time but I believe it's open now.
It's definitely something all Americans should see if given the opportunity. We had an extra bonus in that the Magic was sailing out of NY that summer and we did the 2-night cruise to nowhere, getting great pics of the SoL from the ship. Then on the day we toured the SoL we got great pics of the Magic as she sailed past.

 

[arthur06]

Thanks for everyone's responses. We are leaving from the NY Side. I decided to book MegaBus. It was under $140 Roundtrip, so that was much better.


We have the Crown Tour of the SOL that I book months ago for 2pm. We are on the 8am MegaBus with scheduled arrival at 10:10. Having never been to NYC, I prefer to gawk at things and not drive...

I'm just worried now that I won't get to go to Ellis Island with the 2pm Crown tour, but I book what was available for the day I could be there.

 

[wilkeliza]

Thanks for everyone's responses. We are leaving from the NY Side. I decided to book MegaBus. It was under $140 Roundtrip, so that was much better.


We have the Crown Tour of the SOL that I book months ago for 2pm. We are on the 8am MegaBus with scheduled arrival at 10:10. Having never been to NYC, I prefer to gawk at things and not drive...

I'm just worried now that I won't get to go to Ellis Island with the 2pm Crown tour, but I book what was available for the day I could be there.

You should have no time getting there by 2.

 

[Eureka]

Megabus or Boltbus. You can usually get 10-20 dollar tickets but you are on a bus for 90 minutes or longer and have to make sure you factor in traffic.

We were in NYC last week and they were loading Megabus fairly close to the waterfront where many of the boat tours operate. So if they drop you in the same area as they leave from, you should be fine. You'll be very close to Highline Park, which is cool.

 

[wilkeliza]

We were in NYC last week and they were loading Megabus fairly close to the waterfront where many of the boat tours operate. I remember seeing a sign for Philly.

I can never remember where the drop off and pick up is any more. When I did it they were near Madison Square Garden and Penn Station then more recently by my Vet's office but come to think of it I haven't seen the buses in those neighborhoods in a while now.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We did the Bolt Bus a few weeks ago for $24 round trip. We were there in 1.5 hours.