Washington to NYC or vice versa

Question

Hi I’m arranging a holiday coming from Ireland with my son as a surprise, we both want to go to Washington DC, he would love to see Philadelphia too but it’s not a necessity as he wants to also see as much of NYC also and we only have 6 days. I was thinking 3 days in each or would 2 be enough in Washington and then fly from Washington to nyc. It works out the same price to come from here into Washington then onto nyc but stay in Brooklyn as it does to stay for the whole time in Manhattan. Is this doable or should I really rethink everything? I don’t have a big budget so I’m trying to do this as affordable as possible. Any suggestions or advice very much welcome

wren341 · Accepted Answer

I would take the train between your destinations. Once you factor in arriving early for security and getting to/from the airports on both ends, it's probably the faster and least expensive choice for the travel. The cities are well connected by train and the rates are cheaper if you book in advance.

I would probably just do 1 night in Philadelphia. You can hit the typical sites in that time but I don't know what is on your wishlist.

3-4 days in DC is great. Ditto NYC. But, we have taken shorter trips to both and you just see what you see. Make a list of must dos and enjoy what you can get to. Both are cities you could easily spend weeks in and still have more to see.

I am guessing you are thinking Brooklyn because you found an inexpensive Airbnb? Just an FYI that Brooklyn is one of the boroughs of NYC and Airbnbs are tightly restricted. Host has to use it as their primary dwelling and be present plus no more than 2 guests allowed. If you found something that fits those rules- and has a license number- then it's probably fine. Airbnbs are a bit less restricted in DC but you do need to look for ones that are licensed/ registered or you could find the listing pulled at the last minute if the host cancels.

IrishFan · Answer

6 days?

I’d pick one city or the other. And my pick would be New York City.

You really lose a day traveling from one city to another. Not literally. But packing up. Getting to the train station. Getting to your hotel on the other end of the journey. It’s hours out of a day you could otherwise soend enjoying your time.

Maybe a day trip to Philadelphia. Maybe.

nywhiz · Answer

If your son wants to see Washington and it's a surprise for him, do it. Where in Brooklyn would you stay? Train between NYC and Washington usually makes more sense.

blumebwaybaby · Answer

Whenever someone posts here wondering if they have enoughh time to do a trip,, I always suggest that you do a draft itinerary so that you have a good idea of what sort of time committment you're looking at.

CockleCove · Answer

So much of what most tourists want to see in Washington, DC is free. You wouldn’t have to spend a penny on museum admissions & other attractions during your 2-3 DC days 🙂

But some of the free sites do require an advance reservation & there may be a minor service fee.

Ruralgalrach · Answer

I’d do 4 days in NYC and 2 in DC. You can pack a lot into a 2 day trip if you plan well. I agree with taking the train between the 2 cities. I find it much more comfortable than a plane.

francineL m · Answer

Thank you all so much. We have been to New York before for 5 days but it was mainly just manhattan we explored. We don’t like sticking to tourist areas we like to explore but others with us on that trip just wanted to stay in Manhattan so we did. The travel agent I spoke to found a hotel just down from dumbo which he advised would be ok as we don’t intend to spend much time in hotel. But it is easily accessible to Manhattan if we want to go visit there. I’m currently think 2 days in Washington & then onto New York. I hadn’t considered time spent in airports so will look into rail as an option thank you for taking the time to reply to me.

Northern_Traveler00 · Answer

Let us know the hotel, we get too many folks who rely on travel agents who have very short rosters of hotels and some of them aren’t tops.

LaRue400 · Answer

If the Brooklyn hotel is in Dumbo or near Dumbo yes, it sounds like it would be easy to get into Manhattan, but it wouldn’t hurt to tell us the name of the hotel if your willing.

On your own, you can use Google Maps or Citymapper app to learn how to get into Manhattan from this or any hotel. Point-to-point directions easily learned.

It will show you modes, how long w number of transfers to exact Manhattan locales.

Edited: 1 year ago

rowanNottingham · Answer

Hi we did a week in New York this summer and caught the train to Washington for 3 days. We could have done with another day in Washington really. The train was great and so easy. I wouldn’t fly in between.

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Washington to NYC or vice versa

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