First time to NYC and trying to find out the best way to get to where I need to go. Done several searches and come up with different info. I’m so lost 😞
9/2/2023 - LGA to Grand Central Terminal in the evening
9/5/2023 - Grand Central Terminal to JFK evening
9/18/2023 - JFK to LGA evening
3-day city transportation to explore city
Really?
You post is confusing.
Where are you staying in NYC? Hotel? Hostel? With family? With friends?
You’ve got airports and train stations listed.
What is your destination ? Whats with the dates?
Sorry, above is exactly the transportation I need on those dates and times. But for those who need my whole itinerary, here it is.
Flying into LGA on 9/2/2023 staying at hotel near Grand Central
Staying for 3 nights
9/5/2023 flying to Croatia 10:30pm from JFK
9/5 - 9/18 Croatia/Slovenia/Montenegro
9/18/2023 head from JFK to LGA to fly home the next day
We fly in and out of LGA because we are using pts and companion pass on SW from Oregon.
Our tour departs to Croatia from JFK
Hope this makes it clearer. I thought just giving the the exact dates and locations I needed transportation would make it simpler. 😝
I haven't used LaGuardia in years. But from Grand Central to JFK, take the Long Island Rail Road from Grand Central to Jamaica then transfer to the Airtrain to JFK. I did this last month.
For transportation in Manhattan, a combination of subway, busses or Uber depending on where you are going.
Airlink Shuttle offers service between JFK and LGA.
Frank II, thank you so much! This is so helpful! 😁
If you go to the LGA and JFK websites, they give detailed ground transportation information with all the options. Considerations are number of people, amount of luggage, time of day, cost. Here are pages to start with:
https://laguardiaairport.com/to-from-airport/by-taxi
https://laguardiaairport.com/to-from-airport/public-transportation
https://www.jfkairport.com/to-from-airport/taxi-car-and-van-service
https://www.jfkairport.com/to-from-airport/public-transportation
Since you will be dealing with two separate tickets and airlines at two different airports on your return to the US, you need to build in a really long layover as there is no telling if your first flight will be on time, how long it will take to get through passport control and customs and to collect luggage, and most importantly, how long it will take to drive between the airports. Depending on the hour, the traffic between the airports can be terrible. And of course, you will need to clear security again. The airlines generally recommend arriving at the airport at least two hours before your flight. Personally I would only attempt this if I stayed overnight at a hotel near the second airport.
For transportation within Manhattan while sightseeing, use the subway, buses and taxis. You buy a Metrocard for the subway (or bus) at a machine inside each subway station. The first card will have a surcharge to issue it. After that you can reload the card with more dollars as you need it. Apparently you now can also just tap a credit/debit card to pay your fare (this is new!). Here is info on fares:
Here’s more info on how to ride the subway or bus:
Have a fun trip!
Renee - thank you! I will check those sites.
We have booked hotels near both airports so that we are already nearby for our flights. We typically do that when we travel overseas. Much less stressful!!
Thanks again!!
a few things....
--you can use contactless payment on all NYC subways and buses. No need for a metrocard. However, you will need one for the Airtrain. It does not accept contactless. I use a combination of metrocard and my phone depending on how much is left on my metrocard.
--get a metrocard for the fare on the Airtrain when you are going to JFK before you leave Manhattan. You can get one at any subway station. Why? The line at the Airtrain machines can be very long.
If you are staying at a hotel near JFK, the hotel airport shuttles can only pick up at Federal Circle. However, they can drop you off at the terminals. Federal Circle is the first stop after Jamaica. Exit the station on the side of Hertz and Avis. Turn right and follow the awnings to the pickup location.
The LIRR at Grand Central is in the northern part of the station. There is even an elevator entrance on 48th St. Buy your ticket from the machines before you take the steep escalator down to the tracks as there are no ticket machines at the bottom. (It reminded me of some of the escalators found for the Piccadilly line in central London.) There are senior fares if you are over 65.
Unless best means cheapest to you, we've had no problems taking cabs from the queue at LGA to midtown Manhattan. As recently as last summer.
And despite all the stories, we rode the subway all over the city. The traffic looked too daunting to use cabs or buses to get around town. Oh, and the Citymapper app worked great for NYC, including telling you how many minutes before each subway train, and which corner entrance to use at each subway stop.
Frank and Stan, thank you!! Not quite 65, (both just hit the 60 milestone this month) and we’ll only be staying st a hotel by LaGuardia. We have all day to make our way to JFK 😁
Again, so, so helpful!!!
Kind of looking forward to navigating the subway. Not sure if there are a lot of similarities, but have navigated subways in London, Paris and Chicago, just seemed NYC had so many more options.
Hi halfdozmom, Come share your upcoming travel plans with the Portland area Rick Steves Travel group. We meet every third Saturday at 10am Panera Bread in Tigard off Nyberg Rd. We’re such a fun group, Rick himself has even been known to join us 😉. We have a couple in the Balkans right now and another scheduled for Croatia in September. I come from the Washington side of the river every month to the meet up and find it well worth the trek.
That sounds fun! Might give it a go 😁
LGA-GCT would be a bus to 125th St, then the 4-5-6 train down to GCT. Honestly, I'd get a cab.
GCT-JFK is best done as above, LIRR from the Grand Central Madison station, change to the AirTrain at Jamaica. When you get your MetroCard in Manhattan, as mentioned above, you can get one card (they cost $1), then put on $8.25 X number-of-people. You don't need separate cards.
LGA-JFK may have busses, but I've only ever heard of people taking cabs. I'm sure there are reasons for this.
Oh! Are you spenidng a night at JFK before Croatia and a night at LGA when you get back?
If that's the case, Airtrain really only works for the TWA hotel. Any other hotels would be more complicated. And from JFK to a hotel near LGA would certainly be a cab.
Shudder - we will be staying near Grand Central the night before our flight. We don’t fly out until 10:30pm 😝
The night before we head home from LGA will be a local hotel with airport shuttle.
Ah- Staying near JFK for what I assumed was an evening flight sounded odd.
So, yea. Airtrain to JFK and I really would just take a cab from JFK to your LGA hotel.
Scudded, thank you!!
Transferring from JFK to LGA can be a nightmare & a real stressor with bumper-to-bumper traffic. There is no easy way to do it. I would consider changing your return ticket home to be from JFK instead of LGA so you can avoid that transfer. That you’re using points may not be too difficult to accomplish.
Continental - thanks for the info. Unfortunately we are using points and companion pass with SW and they only fly in and out of LGA. We have a hotel the night before our flight of LGA, so we can deal with the traffic, etc., then sleep 😴
I'm a little late here - but for LGA to Grand Central, definitely take a cab or an Uber. There is no efficient way to get there on public transit, and the "shuttles" stop all over. Quicker and easier to get an Uber/cab.
