katk

Planning to visit University of New Haven-West Haven for a college visit for the forensics science program. We will be arriving the day before Easter from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to La Guardia so we will not need to get to West Haven until Monday. Plan to leave LaGuardia on Wednesday. Multiple questions so here goes: 1)do we need to rent a car? transportation suggestions to hotel in NYC, getting to West Haven, getting around West Haven and then back to LGA 2)Hotel recommendations for 1 or 2 nights in NYC-plan Empire state building, WTC area, Statue of Liberty,whatever else we can fit in probably sat. afternoon and sunday 3)Best to leave for West Haven on Sunday night or is it best to wait until Monday morning-traffic, hotel availability, cost 4)worthwhile trying to see something in NYC Wednesday morning before returning Wednesday afternoon 5)How much time necessary to arrive prior to departure at LGA? Thanks for any and all suggestions!! P.S. It will be a 17 year old and his mother travelling (haven't been to NYC in 25 years!)

mclaurie

Katk,

Sounds like an exciting trip! I'm not all that familiar with the West Haven area but will try to answer some of your questions.

-There's LOTS of options to get from the airport or New York city to NEW Haven. What you have to investigate are the prices. If it were me, I wouldn't try to drive to Connecticut because Easter Sunday traffic will be murder & Monday morning traffic (despite the fact you'd be going against the traffic) is not much better.

Metro North, which is a commuter train leaving from Grand Central Station (42 st & Lexington) takes 2 hrs to New Haven. Here's the website that shows schedules & they're very frequent.
http://as0.mta.nyc.ny.us/mnr/schedules/sched_results.cfm

Amtrak, which is a faster train & offers different classes of service (ie first, business etc.) leaves from Penn Station at 33rd st. & 7th ave. These trains take about 1 1/2 hrs. Here's the website

http://tickets.amtrak.com/Amtrak/sid=4D99DC2B980A4089345B7E790A542530/availability?storefront=1003&pageID=main

The issue is how to get around once you arrive in New Haven. I think this depends on where you're staying (ie if you're staying on campus, maybe taking cabs to & from the train station is a better option). Cabs from New Haven train station cost $6 to get to Yale campus according to the yale website.If you're staying away from the campus or you want to be able to explore the area, then renting a car in New Haven or West Haven is the answer.

If you find that the cost of train + car rental in Connecticut is more than just renting a car (which it might be) then you've got to decide whether it's worth the added convenience of not trying to fight traffic & find your way. I would allow more than 3 hours to get there by car. Whether you leave Sun or Mon depends on what time you have to be there.

What you don't want is a car in NYC on Easter weekend. Take a cab from La Guardia. It will cost about $20 for both of you

mclaurie

As to hotels, there are tons of good ones. I'd stay midtown (34-59th st.) People on this website have been getting great deals bidding on Priceline & Hotwire. If you don't want to be bothered with bidding, try Quikbooks.com or one of the other discount websites. I would book something QUICKLY. It's around the corner & Easter weekend will be busy.

As to the return from Connecticut, the Yale website lists some bus & shuttle services that go from New Haven direct to the airports. The prices quoted are all roundtrip but I would imagine you could get one way fares. The problem is they're expensive Here are the companies.

Red Dot Limousine Service (800) 673-3368, www.18006reddot.com, from Kennedy and LaGuardia, $86 round trip; drop off at the OMNI, Holiday Inn or Residence Inn, New Haven.

Prime Time Shuttle Service (800) 733-8267, www.primetimeshuttle.com, from Kennedy $86 round trip and LaGuardia $86 round trip (second person in party $58 round trip); drop off at all New Haven hotels.

CT Limo (800) 472-5466, www.ctlimo.com, from Kennedy and LaGuardia ($76 round trip); drop off at New Haven’s Long Wharf Terminal, a five-minute cab ride to hotels and campus; contact Metro Taxi 777-7777.

Ofcourse you could train back to NYC, spend a few hours in the city & then go out to the airport but you'll have your luggage to deal with. Speak to your airline about how long before the flight you should check in.

Hope it all goes well!

Bo

Here's a decent thread about your options for getting from LGA to your hotel:

http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?act=ST&f=254&t=247&s=32163ac9352e0dc0fdc 0e1f4a28993a9

I agree with Priceline/Hotwire for NYC hotels, which you can also get at the above website.

This board often recommends NOT going to the Statue of Liberty as the lines for the boat over there get LONG! An alternative is to take the Staten Island ferry (free) roundtrip and you'll get a very nice view of Lady Liberty from the ferry.

katk

Thanks for all the helpful hints! Keep those ideas coming!!

Loki

You'll probably want a car in West Haven. Enterprise tends to specialize in non-airport car rentals. Taking Connecticut Limo is probably the best combo of convenience and affordability to return to LGA. Depending on who you're flying, I'd say get to LGA 2 hours before to be safe. Try and visit downtown New Haven / Yale area as that's the hangout.

Loki

Something else. You HAVE to eat pizza on Wooster St. in New Haven (not far from Yale), it's possibly the most famous block of pizza joints in the country, the most popular being Pepe's and a few doors down, his nephew Sally's. Be prepared to wait in line for 1 hour to get in. You can debate forever as to whether or not it's the "best", but one thing is for sure, it's probably DIFFERENT than anything you've had outside of this area. You'll usually catch a lot of Yale kids there. Also, for lunch, Louis Lunch, another Yale hangout, claims to have made the first hamburger in the U.S. (others make this claim too). Just some of the local flavor (no pun intended).

rb_travelerxATyahoo

I agree with checking on Enterprise for local rentals ... they seem to have locations all over the place.

Are you traveling light? If so, and you do take MetroNorth, then upon your return, exit the train at 125th Street Station (last stop before Grand Central).. yes, it's Harlem, but I've found it safe. As you exit the station, look across the street and to your left for the bus shelter. Catch the M60 bus to LGA for only $1.50 each ($2 eff May). Find schedule at http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/nyct/service/bus/mhtnsch.htm

The bus drops you right at the terminal door. You could take same bus into NYC, but I would recommend the shuttle ( http://www.nyairportservice.com/ ) from LGA to Grand Central Terminal (GCT) non-stop. They have transfers to other hotels from there (GCT), but I'd consider some other form of transportation from GCT, as the shuttles seem to stop at every hotel, wasting your time.

katk

Thanks, I was wondering about the 125th station and it's safety. By travelling light-does that mean one medium suitcase on wheels? My son will probably do the 4 days with just a backpack but I'm sure I'll need a little more. Would that be still appropriate for the metronorth? Also wondering about the Stamford station? Would it be worthwhile to get off at Stamford , rent a car there and then continue on up to West Haven? Any suggestions hotels West Haven vs. New Haven? Thanks

rb_travelerxATyahoo

As long as you're not traveling at a peak travel time and still keep confined to 1 piece of luggage, I think you'll do ok on the M60. Even if you have three bags among the 2 of you you'll be ok on the MetroNorth. It has overhead luggage racks, while the bus has no racks at all. 125th is a busy area, and there's MTA police at the station, so pretty safe. I've never been panhandled, and those I've encountered have been either friendly or indifferent ... like most of the world, really. Just a bad reputation. If you want a car you'll probably do well by renting in Stamford, rather than the NY area. I think I've read that there's rentals near the train station. Fare to Stamford is $10 peak, $7.50 off-peak.

Elnbl

I cannot answer all your questions but I too would take Metro North from Grand Central to New Haven Union Station. Thereafter, take a cab to UNH. If you do decide to rent a car and drive to UNH, you will be driving the reverse of the heaviest traffic at rush hour but there is still a lot of heavy traffic.
Ellen