East coast travel help - Washington DC/Princeton/Newark

[interesteddad]

OK. If you do the train thing, then you are going to have to get from Union Station in downtown Washington out to Dulles Airport for your return flight. Here are three options:

a) Subway from Union Station to West Falls Church station (32 minutes - $3.50 each). Washington Flyer express bus (big coach bus) to Dulles (20 - 30 minutes - $10). This is a fairly predictable schedule because the bus part is all on the Dulles toll-road. Bus departs every half hour.

b) Subway from Union Station to Rosslyn Station (20 minutes $1.50). City express bus to Dulles (40 minutes $3). Bus departs every hour.

c) SuperShuttle Van. Pre-booked pickup at Union Station. Up to 7 people. $27 for the first person. $10 for each additional passenger. Time? Your guess is as good as mine.

d) Washington Flyer taxi. Pre book. (Or any taxi). Figure $60 or so from Union Station.

[kathiep]

The other horrible traffic mess is beach traffic on weekends anywhere within a two hour drive of PA and Delaware beaches. Just the stretch from NJ bridges through northern Delaware/ SE Pennsylvania can back up and come to a stand still.

[johnshade]

From Arlington to Princeton is about 200 miles, so "a couple of hours" is pushing it even in the best of circumstances. Give yourself at least 3.5.

[JustAMomOf4]

I would consider driving - fly into BWI - it's smaller and a really nice airport.

[ec1234]

I would say that its ~3.5 hours from arlington (south of DC) to princeton. But the drive isn't bad- just 495-95-295 right to the campus. The problem is that you really need a car once you are in princeton, as there is very very little public transportation around the area. Plus, trains, when I last looked, are much more than $87 between trenton and DC, as they averaged that when I used to take the train between trenton and baltimore a year ago. If you leave around 7 you should be fine, alternatively you could leave earlier and just get off the highway when it gets trafficy for dinner. I wouldn't stop in baltimore, though, as everywhere you would want to go there is sort of out of the way. Just don't leave too early on saturday morning or you will hit the shore traffic, but if you leave at 11-12 you should be fine.

[electronblue]

One hint if you do drive, you want to stay on I-95 and go up through Philadelphia, do not go over the bridge and onto the NJ Turnpike no matter what google maps or mapquest says. The only caveat to that would be if you are trying to get through Philly at 5pm. I think you'll be fine if you leave Arlington at 7pm. The traffic on 95 usually moves, aside from accidents. What makes this drive stressful to me is that it is a lot of cars moving at a high rate of speed. It's white knuckle, defensive driving at its finest.

[laurstar07]

fyi, you do NOT NOT NOT NOT want to drive on the beltway (I-95) during the week. think of your typical traffic, and then multiply that horrible experience by 100. beltway+jersey turnpike on a weekday= torture on 4 wheels

[ucsd_ucla_dad]

All of a sudden traffic around here doesn't seem so bad.

[johnshade]

Oh, for heaven's sake, the beltway's not that bad. It's a piece of cake for someone who drives in LA a lot.

[sewbusy]

We live in Richmond, S1 attends P'ton and all of our family is in NY. If there are a bunch of people involved, I would definitely rent a minivan and drive. As long as you leave the DC area by 3 or after 6:30-7 p.m., it's really not that bad and would probably wind up being alot cheaper and much less hassle than Amtrak. We used to take the Baltimore Washington Pkwy years ago, but now find it much quicker to just take 95 straight up (due to 65 vs 55mph speed limits on the two roads) to 295 which you get on just after the Delaware Memorial Bridge (keep to the posted speed limit on the bridge, they like to ticket as you come down the hill). Don't take the Jersey turnpike, there's no need to pay tolls when you can do that part for free. I95 can also get you to Rte 1 near Princeton, but it goes around Philly and can be a bit more crowded (but you get to see the Philly skyline).

Oh yes, be prepared to pay a few tolls, ie have cash or an EZ pass with you.

If you take the train, definitely take it to Trenton and then switch to NJ transit (New Jersey Transit - Home) to Princeton Junction and then the dinky from there. During the day, the dinky runs about every 10 minutes, but at night only about every 30 minutes. Also, the only really close hotel to the dinky and campus is the Nassau Inn, but it's an uphill hike from the dinky station and would not be fun with luggage, so I'd get a cab.

As others have said, most of the hotels are north of the campus and you'd need a car or taxi. There is Hampton Inn, Marriott, Courtyard, Homewood Suites, etc and many give discounts if you're there to visit campus.

Another thought would be to stay in Arlington that night and leave at 5 a.m. the next morning. Traffic flies at that hour. I think if you drive you should plan on a minimum of four hours. The quickest we've ever made it was five hours from here, at five in the morning, with no stops and we're about 75 minutes from Arlington. Oh and gas is cheapest in Jersey and then next would be VA.

Feel free to pm me if you have more questions.

[laurstar07]

ucsd_ucla_dad, its because its summer and people are on vacation now. even the metro trains arent as crowded. but come back in the middle of the year...

[ucsd_ucla_dad]

^^ I know. Traffic's generally bad around any heavily populated area. I've traveled in that area before but it's been quite a few years. I may head back there this summer and drive from DC to points north but I'll likely stop at a few points in between so it shouldn't be so bad. If possible, I'll try to avoid the peak rush hour times.

[VeryHappy]

But here's the real question:

We all assume you're going to Princeton to visit Princeton University.

What's in Arlington?

[cartera45]

I don't think the drive would be that bad either. We drove from Baltimore to Princeton for auditions/visits to Westminster Choir College several times and it was a very easy drive. I never take 295 between DC and Baltimore - unless I know I95 is a parking lot. Where are you staying in Princeton?

[latetoschool]

The slugg lines might be riotously interesting lolol Slug-Lines.com - Slugging and Slug Lines Information For Washington DC

The Pentagon is in Arlington-ish.