East coast travel help - Washington DC/Princeton/Newark

jbusc · 07-09-2008, 06:10 PM

I'm trying to put together some travel plans all over the east coast and I was hoping maybe some parents have some advice

We start out in Los Angeles. The first day, we have to be in Washington DC (or more accurately, just across the river in Arlington, VA) around mid-day/early afternoon. Then, make our way up to Princeton by that night. After a couple days we return to LA.

Current options that I've thought of:
1. Fly into DC the night before, rent a car, drive up to princeton the next day. Sounds like a horribly long awful drive, though, and expensive also.
2. Fly into DC the night before, take cabs around, and take the Amtrak up to princeton. There's no checked baggage on the Amtrak, though.
3. Fly into Newark the night before and take the Amtrak down to DC, and return on the Amtrak the same day to Princeton.

Next leg:
1. We can either fly back to LAX from Newark ( $500 per person one-way, eeek)
2. Go up from princeton to New York and fly back from JFK (I've been told this is not easy)
3. Go back down to DC and fly back from Dulles.

Mainly, I have no clue how we should get from DC to Princeton, and from Princeton back to Los Angeles easily.

(if it matters, it would be nice to fly in/out either JFK or Dulles, since Jetblue flys from both into Long Beach - vastly less crowded than LAX)

Thanks!

bclintonk · 07-09-2008, 06:52 PM

Amtrak all the way. It's not so very cheap, but it's pretty hassle-free compared to renting a car and driving through all those congested cities that you're probably unfamiliar with. Travel time from DC should be around 2.5 hours.

I'd start by looking at where you can get the cheapest airfare. Besides JetBlue to IAD (Dulles), you might try Southwest from LAX (or Burbank, Orange County, or Ontario) to BWI (located between DC and Baltimore, right on the main Amtrak corridor, maybe 30 minutes by train to DC). Or, book an "open jaw" ticket on a major airline, e.g., LAX-IAD, return EWR(Newark)-LAX. Usually these are available for not much more than a straight roundtrip fare. By the time you figure in the cost of getting back to IAD, the open jaw returning from EWR is probably no more expensive than a JetBlue r/t, and a lot less hassle. EWR is also located right on the main Amtrak corridor, though from Princeton I'm pretty sure you can get a relatively inexpensive bus ticket to EWR.

Dulles is pretty far out from DC, a costly cab ride. I'd also check flights into Reagan National, which is on the DC metro, incredibly convenient to Arlington by metro or a short cab ride; or again, BWI. Either way your best bet DC-Princeton is Amtrak to Princeton Junction; there's a local shuttle there into Princeton, stops right next to the campus.

ucsd_ucla_dad · 07-09-2008, 06:58 PM

I have a related question -

On the map it looks to be about a 4 to 4.5 hour or so drive from DC to NYC. What's it really typically like during the week and then on a weekend with traffic - i.e. are weekends perhaps better with less traffic or worse?

latetoschool · 07-09-2008, 07:03 PM

I agree - DCA and Amtrak. Also, please feel free to PM me if you get here, and get stuck or need help. I live in Arlington.

KateLewis · 07-09-2008, 07:11 PM

I also agree with Amtrak to Princeton Junction. If your hotel is at the Nassau Inn in Princeton, or you are staying on campus, take the "Dinky" to Princeton. If you are staying on Rt 1 in Princeton (where most hotels are), you'll need to take a cab from Princeton Junction (then a cab to campus for the visit).

Traffic DC to NYC - terrible almost all the time. Do NOT try to get around DC in rush hour, or go into NYC in rush hour.

Also - Princeton to JFK is a mess. Avoid at all costs.

latetoschool · 07-09-2008, 07:20 PM

^totally agree.

cnp55 · 07-09-2008, 07:43 PM

I think the 4 - 4.5 hour estimate from DC to NYC is essentially correct. Except when there's traffic. Which can make the whole thing a total mess. The train is much easier on the nerves. It's hard to guess when the traffic might be bad ... rush hour is bad, Friday afternoons and Sunday afternoons are horrendous, and anytime there's an accident, just fuggetabudit.

interesteddad · 07-09-2008, 08:04 PM

You can get from Washington National to Arlington on the subway. You can get from Arlington to Union Station in DC on the Subway. You can get from Union Station to Princeton on Amtrak. You can get from Princeton to Newark or NY on the train (Amtrak or Jersey Transit). You also might want to check airfares (Southwest) into and out of Philadelphia, which is ALSO served by its own train station (from Princeton or NY or Washington).

jbusc · 07-09-2008, 08:08 PM

Thanks for everyone's advice!

After talking to Jetblue, apparently the flight on the day before into dulles was filling up, so I went ahead and booked round-trip into dulles from long beach - because of the way we're handling things in LA, going through LAX would be major hassle & more expensive as well.

It's really Arlington where we're going, so Reagan actually kind of is out of the way.

Now I just need to figure out the arrangements for everything else - namely, if we should stay in arlington overnight and figuring out how to get from DC to Princeton the next day.

It really seems like Amtrak is the best plan, the only problem being that there's no checked baggage (I don't know whether this means we can bring carry-on size luggage on the train, or if we can bring carry-on plus another smallish suitcase)

We're packing light anyway, but having only a small carry-on for about a week is tight.

Also, getting from Arlington to DC - cab ride, maybe? Subway might work, but with baggage?

Any other ideas?

interesteddad · 07-09-2008, 08:22 PM

Arlington to Amtrak: Orange line subway to Metro Center, transfer to red line two stops to Union Station.

There's a bus from Dulles that connects with the Orange line, taking you right to Arlington.

Here's the Washington subway system overlayed on a Google Map of DC so you can find where you are going in Arlington in relation to the stations.

Metro - Metro system map

interesteddad · 07-09-2008, 08:48 PM

DC to Princeton is Union Station in DC to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, then either Amtrak or New Jersey Transit trains to Princeton.

Regular Amtrak trains depart DC for Phila every hour on the hour (approximately) and take about an hour fifty mintues to Phila (about 2.5 hours to Princeton Junction) Acela Express trains leave on every hour on the half hour and take about an hour thirty minutes to Phila.

If you want to take Amtrak from Phila to Princeton, the evening trains appear to be the only Amtrak PHILA - NY trains that stop in Princeton Junction. For example, there's a 5 pm-ish train out of Washington that arrives in Princeton Junction at about 7:30. Or there's a 6pm ish train out of DC that gets to Princeton Junction at 8:40.

Or, you can simply take a Philadelphia SEPTA train from 30th Street Station in Phila to Trenton, then transfer to a NJ Transit train to Princeton Junction and the little mini train from there to Princeton. Those connection run all day everyday if the evening Amtrak from Washington doesn't suit your schedule.

I saw an Amtrak fare from DC to Princeton of $87 per person. Acela Express is usually a LOT more, probably not worth it to save 20 minutes.

mom in virginia · 07-09-2008, 09:29 PM

Could you check some of your luggage in DC--maybe at the hotel you're staying at or at the train station--then just take one bag up to NJ on the train? And yes, you can take the subway from Arlington to DC, but I would just take a cab. Finding your way around the subway, plus with luggage = more trouble than it's worth.

jbusc · 07-09-2008, 09:48 PM

Check in DC - as in leave the luggage there on the way up to princeton? That's a good idea, but I'm not sure how effective it would be. We're only staying the one night in VA/DC total, so that means most of the luggage is stuff for NJ - really it's only 1 night's worth of laundry to leave in DC.

Baggage nonwithstanding, here's one other problem. The Amtrak website says that the train from Princeton to DC doesn't run on Saturdays (the non-flexible day of flying back)

So that seems to mean, getting from Princeton back to DC would require either driving all the way (back to Dulles), or driving down to Philadelphia and hopping the train from Philly to DC, then getting a cab from DC to dulles. Neither of those look very attractive prior to boarding a 5 hour plane back to LA :/

EDIT: So it turns out that the amtrak from Trenton to DC does run on sat, and it's feasible to get from Princeton to Trenton.

So now my question is: easy no-hassle way to get from DC union station to Dulles? (Cab is the only one I can think of)

Singersmom07 · 07-09-2008, 09:55 PM

What day of the week are you going to be trying to go to Princeton? If you try to travel anytime near a weekend, I95 is a parking lot all up and down the east coast. That makes the other roads bad, too. Figure out the Amtrak routes. I have driven DC to Princeton in the winter when it was not as bad and it still was not easy getting around the cities. Need to time it just right. If you are traveling Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday you might be OK driving.

Agree do not take Metro with luggage. The cabs are not that bad. From Dulles use one of the other shuttles. If you stay in the same hotel before and after going to Princeton you can most likely leave luggage there and arrange the shuttles.. I have done that often.

Cross posted
You could try the Super Shuttle to se if they would do it cheaper.
Welcome to SuperShuttle.com

interesteddad · 07-09-2008, 10:12 PM

Quote:

EDIT: So it turns out that the amtrak from Trenton to DC does run on sat, and it's feasible to get from Princeton to Trenton.

Correct. NJ Transit train from Princeton to Trenton. Amtrak to Phila/DC.

Options to Dulles in addition to cab (it's a long way and a $50+ fare):

Metro - Using Metro to get to the airports

Express bus from downtown or Roselyn stations.