Driving in Boston??

twinkletoes

Hi,
I'm flying to Boston in August and would like to rent a car to travel around Massachusetts -can anyone reccommend a town/district outside of Boston (on north side) to rent a car as I've read its a nightmare driving around the city.I am thinking of Medford just north of Boston? Has anyone ever done this or is it ok to drive out from Boston city???
Any advice apreciated.
cheers.

por

twinkletoes wrote:

Hi,
I'm flying to Boston in August and would like to rent a car to travel around Massachusetts -can anyone reccommend a town/district outside of Boston (on north side) to rent a car as I've read its a nightmare driving around the city.I am thinking of Medford just north of Boston? Has anyone ever done this or is it ok to drive out from Boston city???
Any advice apreciated.
cheers.

Most guide books will tell you that Boston is a tough place to drive, but don't believe them, it's fairly easy to get out of the airport and on to the interstates 93 and 90 that now run under the city and head out of town from there
But if you want to hire out of town places like Medford, Sommerville, Cambridge, Quincy, Braintree, Newton etc can be reached by subway and take it from there
Look at the rental companies websites for locations.

Rabies

Boston isn't that bad to drive in. The Boston subway system is very good, you don't really need a car for travelling around the city.

Kristok

he wants one to travel around Massachusetts which is more than just boston. thats like saying you dont need a car to travel around ireland dublin bus gos all over the city.

Billy Kovachy

Is that "big dig" still going. Supposedly they where putting the whole highway system underground. Its was three times over budget and 5 years behind schedule when i was there in 2003.

por

Billy Kovachy wrote:

Is that "big dig" still going. Supposedly they where putting the whole highway system underground. Its was three times over budget and 5 years behind schedule when i was there in 2003.

Main part of it i.e. putting I-93 underground and connecting I-90 to airport is done, however it's leaking !!!!

babaduck

I agree with Por, it's relatively easy to pick up the car at Logan & head off down the Interstate to wherever you want to go (we've done this before). Driving around the city itself is a pain in the ass - the traffic is almost as bad as Dublin because of the Big Dig etc. The public transport system is excellent & pretty cheap.

Whereabouts in Mass are you planning to go?

RyanfromNJ

ah, don't worry about driving around Boston... it's not bad at all!!! hell, I thought it was worse driving through Dublin!! then again, I wasn't used to driving on the wrong side of the car and road!!! if you were picking up a car in either LA or NYC, then I'd give you other advice, but don't trouble yourself working your way out of Boston to get a car... just pick one up at the airport, you'll be fine, trust me...

RyanfromNewJersey

twinkletoes

babaduck wrote:

Whereabouts in Mass are you planning to go?

Not exactly sure where in Mass I plan on going yet- probably will head west towards The Berkshire mts and will also head south probably to see a bit of cape cod-any suggestipons??

Will be heading to NY after Mass would it be complete madness to try and drive into Manhattan???Or should I dump the car somewhere maybe in Connecticut??

por

twinkletoes wrote:

Not exactly sure where in Mass I plan on going yet- probably will head west towards The Berkshire mts and will also head south probably to see a bit of cape cod-any suggestipons??

Will be heading to NY after Mass would it be complete madness to try and drive into Manhattan???Or should I dump the car somewhere maybe in Connecticut??

If going south give Cape Cod a miss and go to Newport, RI instead, much better.
In western Mass try Six Flags New England Theme Park if that's someting you might like.

As for driving into Manhattan it's not that bad if you have a good map and know your road number, and Manhattan is on a grid system so you are fine once you get there, the only problem is parking.

babaduck

The cost of parking in Manhattan would make your eyes water TBH - I'd probably dump the car en-route & either get the bus or train to NYC.

We spent part of our honeymoon in Cape Cod & while it's gorgeous, it's hideously overcrowded & expensive in August so I agree with Por's advice. New Hampshire is gorgeous if you have the time to drive up there.

FergusF

twinkletoes wrote:

Not exactly sure where in Mass I plan on going yet- probably will head west towards The Berkshire mts and will also head south probably to see a bit of cape cod-any suggestipons??

Western Mass is definitely worth a visit, nice mountain / forest scenery - you should get to see some of the fall colours at that time of year also. There are some lovely quaint small towns such as Williamstown and North Adams that are good places to stop. Prices for accommodation, food, etc are lower than Cape Cod also - the latter is packed in summer and is pretty expensive.

As far as driving in Boston - it is a lot easier than Dublin, I wouldn't worry about it. Compared to Ireland - everywhere is well signposted, plenty of parking and nice wide traffic lanes. Traffic can be heavy at rush hour, and it has a reputation for aggressive drivers, but neither are anywhere near as bad as Dublin!

RyanfromNJ

Twinkletoes,
Put it this way... I live about an hour and ten from NYC and have only driven there once in my life... I take the train up from New Jersey(besides the fact I ride for free with a badge in my wallet)... parking will cost you anywheres from 30-50 dollars... subways are the way to go... that's all i use when I'm up there unless I need to cab it somewhere.... tood luck!!

Haven't been in Boston for 2 yrs but the following more or less applies there too.

just back from new york. Lots of places with 24hr parking for €29 and theres lots of one hour parking spots,you just get a ticket from one of the munimeters.
Got parking for an hour in Time sq for instance no problem.You can park virtually anywhere for free from 7pm to 7am(and some places untill 8am) unless its in front of a fire hydrant or something.

As for driving,its no different to Dublin tbh as long as you dont mind left hand drives. As for hiring-hertz is a lot cheaper than you might think and if you go with them get their hertz never lost GPS-its brilliant, it talks to you and tells you where to go when to go right left or where ever once you give the destination and its got a little tv showing you where you are at any point and your progress.
If you click previous desitinations, it will calculate the route to get you back to where ever you were before including your hotel.

twinkletoes

Earthman wrote:

As for hiring-hertz is a lot cheaper than you might think and if you go with them get their hertz never lost GPS-its brilliant, it talks to you and tells you where to go when to go right left or where ever once you give the destination and its got a little tv showing you where you are at any point and your progress.
If you click previous desitinations, it will calculate the route to get you back to where ever you were before including your hotel.

Hi,Herzt and that GPS thingy is exactly what I was thinking of hiring-sounds great!!Cheers!

And many thanks everyone for your help.

RyanfromNJ

the whole GPS thing is absolutely wonderful!!! I just got one for my car, and have not been lost at all since!!! the whole eastern part of the US is very detailed on ALL GPS systems...