Philadelphia - Long Island Travel Question

Parent Cafe
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<p>I am hoping that someone from this area can please give me best possible recommendation. I’m sorry to seem to use this forum as a travel advisory, but I’ve studied the train and bus schedules, pretty much find them very confusing. </p>

<p>Flying to Philly this week, then I need to go to Garden City, which is in Long Island, and my return flight home is out of JFK. </p>

<p>I could rent a car and drive from Philly to my hotel at JFK, then drive into Long Island, then drive back to NYC, but, I don’t know the area or the roads at all; one wrong turn and I will be lost forever, and if it snows that might be difficult since I haven’t driven in snow in 20 years. </p>

<p>I tried to find a puddle jumper flight from Philly to JFK but they all seem to go to Boston first.</p>

<p>That leaves me with I could take an AMTRAK from Philly to NYC, and then take a taxi or bus or something to Long Island from NYC, then taxi back to the airport to fly back home. It seems like this is the best option, however, it’s still going to take a tangle of train, taxi.bus, etc. </p>

<p>Oh, and I will have laptop and luggage too, so, what should I do? This complicates things because I really don’t want to haul my luggage to my business meetings, which means factoring in time to get a taxi back to the hotel in Philly to collect luggage then the same scenario in NYC. And, the last time I was on the NYC subway it was packed, standing room only. Should I simply summon a lot of courage and rent a car in spite of my concerns with driving in this region? </p>

<p>Thanks in advance for any suggestions, I appreciate it.</p>

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<p>Rent a car and drive from Philly to Long Island. Plan your trip so you’re not driving during rush hour, get some good maps. JFK airport is well-marked. Snow is cleared quickly. No big deal. Believe me, trying to find your way around Houston or Dallas is a lot tougher than Long Island.</p>

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<p>I guess it depends on how dire your luggage situation is. If you can limit yourself to one carry-on and one standard suitcase–plus your laptop, it would make most sense to take Amtrak from 30th St. Station in Philadelphia to Penn Station in NYC. From Penn Station you get on the LIRR (Long Island Rail Road)–right in the same station-- and go to Garden City. Coming back, it would be easy to catch an airport limo from Garden City to JFK.</p>

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<p>Trying to drive through New Jersey is a LOT tougher than finding your way around Houston or Dallas.</p>

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<p>rent a car with Never Lost - you might still get off track but Never Lost will get you where you’re going.</p>

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<p>Take Amtrack to NYC. Get off at Penn Station. Take Long Island Railroad to Garden City. LIRR also comes into Penn Station, so while it may take you a few minutes to figure out how to get down to the LIRR tracks, you literally do not have to go outside the building to do it. If you have a lot of stuff, you can get a red cap to help. Here is a link for the LIRR: <a href=“http://mta.info/lirr/[/url]”>http://mta.info/lirr/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Cost is less than $10, even during peak times.</p>

<p>I do not understand some parts of your message…Do you need to stay in NYC? If not, there are some lovely hotels, including the Garden City Hotel, in Garden City. You can go directly to JFK Airport from there. No need to return to Manhattan to get to JFK Airport, as it is in Queens.</p>

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<p>I just did a plane/train/car/elephant thing with a suitcase, garmet bag, and laptop - and let me tell you, not fun! Sure, the suitcase is on wheels (and it was big), but still a pain. Too much for stairs; escalators are tough (I had visions of my suitcase sliding out of my hand and bowling over everyone below me), and suitcases don’t balance well with a laptop hanging off the front. </p>

<p>Can you ship things to the hotel and home? FedEx or whatever might be your best option - so you can at least reduce the amount of stuff you are carrying around.</p>

<p>You can take the bus (Greyhound) into NYC from Philly. </p>

<p>JFK to NYC via taxi is a flat rate of $45 (I think), so it’s about $55 with tip.</p>

<p>Some “limo” (not limos, but normal cars that people use for business travel) services are very reasonably priced and could be a great option. </p>

<p>Y’all will laugh at me… but if you don’t want to bring your suitcases to a meeting, just find a large hotel nearby. The bell hops will take your luggage for the day, even if you aren’t a hotel guest. The hotel people will even get a taxi for you. :wink:
Would also like clarification of where you need to be (Ex. Philly on Monday; staying overnight in LI on Wednesday, etc).</p>

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<p>I would do the Amtrak to LIRR or take a short flight from Philly to La Guardia (I doubt there are any to Kennedy). It is a short drive or cab from LaGuardia to Garden City.</p>

<p>The Garden City Hotel is a fine choice out there.</p>

<p>The drive would not really be all that bad if you are up for an adventure and prefer driving. You could tourist around Princeton on the way as it is would be a nice break about half way. I would look to go across Staten Island to Southern Long Island if you do decide to drive but avoiding rush hour would be very key. That would be NJ Turnpike to I278 Goethals and Verranzano Bridges) to the Belt Parkway to the Southern State. That would be about 2.5 hours. I think flying or the train might be somewhat shorter, maybe about 2 hours but I have not checked the schedules.</p>

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<p>Ariesathena, how did it go with the elephant LOL. </p>

<p>I think with what everyone has said, and especially since I’ll have luggage, laptop and will be in business dress including heels, I’ll brave it and rent a car and just hope for the best. I’m not crazy about driving in cities where I do not know the roads, however, it seems that that will be better than the alternative, and less expensive. </p>

<p>Driver, I’d prefer to do what you recommend, but, thinking about it, I’d still have to get from my morning meeting in Philly to the AMTRAK station, and still with luggage and laptop. Then, I’d have to check into my hotel in NYC, then, get to Long Island, then to my next morning meeting in Long Island, then to other appointments in NYC, then back to JFK. It seems like the stress of driving in strange cities will be less than the stress of the taxi/AMTRAK/subway situation.</p>

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<p>I just did the JFK - Philly trek (with a laptop, backpack and suitcase) and while it is very far from being fun, it is doable. If time consuming. It’s also A LOT easier to do when there isn’t a transit strike. I used the NJ transit train to save money, Amtrak is quicker and cuts out one change.</p>

<p>If you’re comfortable with luggage, it might be easier than having to deal with a car - finding (and paying for!) parking, not to mention the fact that less than half of the people in Philly who use cars seem to have any idea how to drive.</p>