<p>I know this similar issue has been discussed enough, but perhaps not just enough for me. So your help will much be appreciated!</p>
<p>So I’m planning a short trip to Philadelphia to see my friend in sometime September, before the class starts. Right now I’m thinking of taking a bolt bus first to NYC and then to Philly since there’s no direct transportation from Boston to Philly. And I found that it usually works like this: Providence-> Boston South Station(1 hour)-> New York City(4 hours)-> Philly(2 hours). So in total it takes about 7 hours to get to Philly. I’ve never visited Providence before, but it seems that almost all armtracks and buses first go to Boston and then to NYC. Flight tickets are too expansive, so they are not the options. </p>
<p>But since Boston is far on the north, I wondered if there is a far faster(or cheaper) way to get to NYC without going to Boston South Station?</p>
<p>I do not know the specifics but the options you listed seem a little odd. I live in Boston and I have taken trains and buses to NYC from Boston and they both pass through and stop in Providence and pick up passengers … so I wondering why you have to backtrack to Boston and the start of the trip and can not join the trip in Providence?</p>
<p>Oh I see… so I don’t really need to go to Boston to take the train/bus in the first place, but only need to wait for it to come to Providence. </p>
<p>Thanks for the info. Then, where do I find out about the time and place the bus/train stops in providence?
I visited both sites below, but they don’t say at what time it stops in providence and pick up passengers. I’m wondering about both bolt-bus stops and armtrack stations.</p>
<p>When you’re on the Amtrak home page, just put in the departing station as PVD (Providence). It will give you all the trains that stop in Providence and the time it does so.</p>
<p>Oops, I think what I was trying to ask was a “cheaper, more affordable mode of transportation,” and of course there are many ways to visit Philly with airplanes and others, but I didn’t want to spend more than $100. Now Greyhound seems like a reasonable way to get there ($88 for a roundtrip, or $48 for one way). Thanks!</p>
<p>I just checked the greyhound site, and it looks like if you buy 21 days in advance, you can get round trip fare to philly for $65 during thanksgiving (it looks like it’s $10 cheaper on non-holidays, but I’m not sure, as I’m a WestCoaster, and so have never dealt with Greyhound). And if you had the student advantage card, only $59! (Only reason I’d buy it would be for American Air/Greyhound/Amtrak discounts).</p>
<p>Actually, Southwest.com has a 3 day sale (buy your ticket by Thursday) with a special Providence-Philly: a one-way during the first week in September is $59.60 including taxes, and on Southwest, it is really a one-way, meaning that you can actually bus it down and fly back up, or vice versa.
It’s a few dollars more than what you indicated as your budget, but it comes pretty close:-)</p>
<p>chsowlflax17, thanks so much. So far I know, it’s the least expensive way for the round trip. But I just realized that I need to be back on providence before the orientation begins, and 8~9 hours won’t get me to Brown before the afternoon of the orientation day. I’ll definitely try Greyhound when I visit Philly next time though. I’ll be visiting a couple of my friends living there anway </p>
<p>Grateful Mom, that really seems like a best way to get back to Providence! It’s only a third of time so I can get back to Brown before noon, and the fee is roughly $60(almost within the affordable range). I think I can cut the budget under $80 now. I really appreciate your help!</p>
<p>There is typically a free shuttle on high traffic days, like move in days, that runs something like 1 time every hour. There’s probably information on that in the orientation packet.</p>
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