Bus Travel

Arriving by Bus

Greyhound has buses to Boston from all major cities in North America. Besides its main location at South Station, Greyhound has suburban terminals in Newton and Framingham. Peter Pan Bus Lines connects Boston with cities elsewhere in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Maryland; their buses now have Wi-Fi.

Concord Coach runs buses between Boston and Concord, New Hampshire; Portland, Maine; and Bangor, Maine. C&J sends Wi-Fi-equipped buses up the New Hampshire coast to Newburyport, Massachusetts; Dover, New Hampshire; Durham, New Hampshire; and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Concord and C&J both leave from South Station (which is connected to the Amtrak station) and Logan Airport.

BoltBus offers cheap fares in clean Wi-Fi-and-electrical-outlet-equipped buses between Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. (express service between Boston and New York is also offered). Megabus also offers low fares, and its Wi-Fi-equipped buses serve New York City (and many other points on the East Coast via New York). BoltBus and Megabus leave from South Station.

If you want to travel in style, the LimoLiner provides luxury bus service (with television, movies, high-speed Internet, and food-and-drink service) between Boston's Hilton Back Bay and Manhattan's Hilton New York for $89 each way. This service is open to the general public, not just guests of the Hilton. Reservations are a good idea.

Fares and schedules for all buses except LimoLiner are posted at South Station, at many of the tourist kiosks, and online.

Major credit cards are accepted for all buses. You can usually purchase your tickets online.

Bus Information

BoltBus (877/265-8287. www.boltbus.com.)

C&J (800/258-7111. www.ridecj.com.)

Concord Coach (800/639-3317. www.concordcoachlines.com.)

Greyhound (800/231-2222. www.greyhound.com.)

LimoLiner (888/546-5469 or 508/436-7425. www.limoliner.com.)

Megabus (877/462-6342. www.megabus.com.)

Peter Pan (800/343-9999. www.peterpanbus.com.)

Station Information

South Station (2 South Station, Atlantic Ave. and Summer St., Downtown, Boston, MA, 02110. South Station.)

Getting Around By Bus

Buses of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) crisscross the metropolitan area and travel farther into suburbia than subway and trolley lines. Buses run roughly from 5:30 am to 12:30 am.

At this writing, fares are $1.50 if paying in cash, $1.25 if paying with a prepurchased CharlieCard for trips within the city; you often pay an extra fare for longer lines that run to the suburbs. The SmarTraveler information line provides service updates.

CharlieCards (prepaid stored-value fare cards), sold at all subway terminals, can be purchased with cash or with debit or credit cards. To pay the bus fare, either tap your pass on the fare plate or pay in cash when you enter. Drivers accept dollar bills but don't have change.