Boston Transportation Tips by zChris

'Mode': TO
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: Logan Airport is New England's largest and busiest, which is one of the country's most delayed and has the worst surface transportation system of any airport I've seen. Assuming you've successfully landed at Logan, the first thing you'll want to do is leave. This is horrifying for anyone in a car, so take a cab or limo.

Taxi: Boston cabbies are simply insane. Some try to take the longest route possible, preying on the ignorance of out of towners. Still others- well, they've done some crazy stuff. If your hotel is downtown, your best bet is to take the one of the two original city-airport tunnels, the Sumner. Unless there's a car fire in the Sumner, there's no sense in taking the newer (longer) Williams Tunnel. If you're staying in the Seaport Hotel or somewhere outside the city, the Williams might, however, be a good alternative. Best to pay attention to your surroundings and drive time to make sure the cabbie's not leading you astray, even in the worst traffic it shouldn't take more than 40 minutes to make it from the airport to a downtown hotel.

Transit: Taking public transport to and from the airport can be tricky, and isn't advisable if you have alot of bags to carry. To take the subway downtown you'll have to hop a Logan shuttle. I've never taken a Logan Shuttle myself, but I've read some bad stuff about how slow and inconvenient they are. Nevertheless, they're free, and do serve the entire airport. Once in the station, take the inbound Blue Line (toward Bowdoin). You can also take ferries across the harbour from Logan. Board Logan shuttle bus 66 to the ferry terminal, where a variety of water transportation options await.

Advantages to Logan? It's crowded, outdated, delay-prone, and a mess to navigate. It has its rewards, though- its propinquity to downtown, and second, your landing is likely to feature a spectacular panorama of the city skyline. If you like to fly, but realize that Logan is the pits of airports, try one of the regional airports instead, such as Manchester (NH) or TF Green (in RI).

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'Mode': TO
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: Driving in Boston can be a nightmare. Driving to here isn't that bad. New England roads radiate out of Boston like spokes on a wheel. Check out the highway routes below to plot your route to the city:

From Maine: Take I-95 south to I-93

From New Hampshire: Take I-95 south to I-93, take I-93 south, or take US 3 south

From Vermont: Take I-89 south to I-93 south

From Albany: Take I-90 (toll) east

From New York City: Take I-87 north to I-84 north to I-90 east (toll) or take I-95 north

Driving can be a rat race in Boston. Once you get to your hotel, I suggest you leave it there until exiting the metropolitan Boston area. You'll thank me later.

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'Mode': TO
Category: Ship/Boat
Getting TO/AROUND: Believe it or not, some cruise liners actually stop in Boston. You can catch boats to Bermuda, Canada, Miami, Maine...and many other places apparently. Cruises here dock at the Black Falcon Terminal in the soon-to-be-glamourous Seaport District. Since the area is somewhat industrial and blighted, your cruise will probably get some kind of bus to whisk you off to the city centre.

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'Mode': TO
Category: Train
Getting TO/AROUND: Fortunately, arriving at Boston by train does not require one to negotiate something as sinister as Logan Airport. It does, however, mean you'll have to negotiate the notorious (but, at least in the Northeast, improving tremendously) Amtrak. Unlike Logan Airport, South Station is a beautiful, turn of the century Boston landmark among the towers of the financial district. Some trains also stop at Back Bay Station, which will be your best bet if you're staying at a Back Bay hotel. You can walk to most hotels from either station, but with heavy bags I wouldn't recommend it. Additionally, Boston's huge construction project, the Big Dig, has besieged the station, and pedestrians must negotiate somewhat of a maze to leave. Both stations do, however, also serve simultaneously as subway stops, South Station on the Red Line and Back Bay on the Orange Line.

Acela Express service is now availible on the Northeast Corridor! You can travel to Boston in class on Amtrak's new high-speed train, at 150mph, from Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. European and Japanese innovations are finally reaching the United States! Discounts offered by Amtrak have lowered the fare to a mere $99.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: DO NOT drive in Boston. Massachusetts drivers are insane and will destroy you should you try to drive, sincerely or legally. Parking spaces are impossible to find on the street, where the city has issued resident parking tickets to make you out of towners don't edge residents out of their own neighbourhoods. Rates at parking ramps are ridiculous. What should you do? If you're arriving in Boston by car, leave your car at a suburban terminus for the MBTA (T) rapid transit network (like Alewife or Braintree) and ride the train in. Boston is a city designed for people, so you'll find much more enjoyment discovering it on foot (using the T as a backup) than by car. The T is one of the cheapest systems in the United States, only costing a dollar a ride used to be 85 cents...but inflation happens). All kinds of passes are availible to curb the costs if you're making frequent trips.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Bus

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Train

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Ship/Boat

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