V-Flyer

Advice please on the best way to travel from EWR into Manhattan. Have endured so many endless taxi trips from JFK, thought we would give EWR a go. Is it any better or is the train a good option?

Thanks

I do this run a lot - cab from EWR to the city is *way* better than the JFK to city.
Jump in a cab - its not fixed fare like the JFK run is, but its the same or less as a general rule of thumb.

Second the cab option. We took one look at the train and bailed.

We got the train once and it was brilliant, and much cheaper than a taxi.

It depends exactly where in Manhattan you need to be as to what is the best option transport wise.

tontybear wrote:It depends exactly where in Manhattan you need to be as to what is the best option transport wise.

What Tonty says. The last couple of times we've stayed down in Soho with the Williamburg Bridge at one end of the street and the Holland Tunnel at the other so from JFK and EWR it was a breeze in a car both times. Public transport on the other hand would have been a nightmare.

Paul
P.s. I am generally a fan of taking public transport wherever possible.

We are staying at the Hilton Garden Inn Times Square if that is any help?

If that's the one on 49th it's a straightforward walk up 8th Ave from Penn Station (for the train) or the Port Authority (for the express airport bus).

Both train & bus are pretty frequent so are viable options but a cab will always be easiest, though considerably more expensive if there are only one or two of you.

Turquoise wrote:We are staying at the Hilton Garden Inn Times Square if that is any help?

We've stayed there - great location. You might want to email the hotel and ask if you can have a river view room, the views are spectacular, especially if you are on a high floor.

Thanks for the tip, Marshy. I will email them straightaway! We have stayed there before but have always had a rather boring street view! However, as we are staying on Hilton points, I guess I can't expect too much!

Turquoise wrote:Thanks for the tip, Marshy. I will email them straightaway! We have stayed there before but have always had a rather boring street view! However, as we are staying on Hilton points, I guess I can't expect too much!

We let them know we were there for a special occasion. We were upgraded to their corner suite on the top floor. And, we had a lovely tray of personalised cupcakes! Nothing to be lost in dropping them an email.

Taxi.

Hmmn, I've visited JFK a couple of times, and used a taxi the first two, then, when by myself, I did public transport. It was quite refreshingly quickish and cheapish, compared to the likes of the HEX (Of course, i should have probably been comparing it to the tube, which is longer and cheap.

However, when finding out the details, I thought I had read that Newark was much easier to get to where I wanted to be (ie: Penn Station), by a quick and relatively ok priced train... Was I wrong? Or is it that my criteria of getting to Penn station is about the only time the train is useful (and it not being particularly cheap, I remember there was a faster option from JFK for a significant amount more).

Catching the train from Penn is pretty similar to both JFK and EWR in terms of price and convenience.

For EWR it's 25-30 minutes on New Jersey Transit then 5-10 minutes on the AirTrain. Fare $13.

For JFK it's 20 minutes on the Long Island Railroad to Jamaica, then 10-15 minutes on the AirTrain. Fare $15 peak, $12.25 off-peak, $9.25 weekends.

Both run at least three times an hour, often more.

(If Penn isn't convenient there's also the subway to JFK - the E train to Jamaica, convenient for the East Side, or the A train to Howard Beach, useful for Lower Manhattan. Fare £7.75 including the AirTrain but quite slow and not recommended with large luggage.)