Boston to Newport
July 12, 2011 3:03 PM   Subscribe

One-way transportation from Boston to Newport?

We're flying in to Logan on a redeye, and heading directly to Newport. I figured we could rent a car one-way, but it turns out there are only a few drop-off locations in Newport, and they aren't necessarily going to be open (this will be on a Saturday). Are there any other good options? Google suggests taking Amtrak to Kingston, then a bus (the 64) from there. Amtrak isn't a problem, but the bus seems like a real wildcard. Are there shuttle vans that run from Kingston, or would a cab be a viable option?
posted by bjrubble to Travel & Transportation (10 answers total)
 
Peter Pan Bus runs from Boston to Newport.
posted by illenion at 3:35 PM on July 12, 2011


Also, what are your concerns with the bus? I used to ride RIPTA when I lived in Newport, it got me where I needed to go. The 64 starts at the train station in Kingston, so you shouldn't have to worry about it leaving early or late (as you might at a stop in the middle of the route).
posted by illenion at 3:53 PM on July 12, 2011


Response by poster: Regarding the bus: I've been on nice ones, and I've been on rolling hellholes. If RIPTA has good service, I would certainly lean toward that option, but this is supposed to be a vacation, so I'm trying to minimize the likelihood of an experience we spend the next few days trying to forget.
posted by bjrubble at 4:06 PM on July 12, 2011


Best answer: I've been on the Peter Pan that goes from the Boston area to the Providence area and they are generally fine. Air conditioned, wifi, pretty decent. I haven't taken RIPTA but you can see the photos, they're decent buses and you'd only be on one for less than an hour. The big deal is that from the airport to Amtrak in Boston is already going to be a smallscale headache, they don't overlap as well as you'd like them to. There are a lot of private taxi services in that area who could take you the rest of the way but you might want to consider that Kingston is further from where you're landing and only about ten miles closer to Newport than Providence. In Providence you'd have a lot more transportation options to get there [bus, Amtrak train, commuter train] which might free up your schedule some, though it's about the same time to get from there to Newport.

I'm assuming that flying in to Providence is a non-option at this point.

Also, I'm not sure when you're going but I'm down in that part of the state quite a lot and if our schedules overlapped, I'd be happy to take you the last mile from Kingston to Newport, feel free to MeMail me with details.
posted by jessamyn at 5:35 PM on July 12, 2011


Best answer: Newport has a small airport, so if you're comfortable in small aircraft I'd be more than happy to fly you from Boston. Just drop me a line.
posted by backseatpilot at 5:48 PM on July 12, 2011 [2 favorites]


I've taken the Amtrak to Kingston station and gotten a cab.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 6:09 PM on July 12, 2011


Why are you trying to avoid a bus? How much hassle do you want to put up with? How are you going to get from Logan to the first point of your journey?

If you want to get creative, I think there are U-Haul and Pennske drop-offs in Newport, but even then how do you get from there to your destination? Get a rental van from a place like U-Haul or Pennske, and it might be cheaper than a rental car.

There are a number of ways to get to Providence -- I think there used to be a ferry that would go to Jamestown or Newport, but I can't seem to find anything about it online.

There are zipcars in Providence, but that doesn't really solve your one-way issue, but may be helpful if you are just trying to avoid going all the way back to Boston.

I would suggest going the route with the least hassle if this is a vacation, if there is a Peter Pan bus from Boston to Newport, I would do that. I have been on horrendous bus journeys before (an 18 hour stretch out west after which I swore I would never do that again), but a Peter Pan bus from Boston down to Newport is hardly brutal.
posted by This_Will_Be_Good at 6:57 PM on July 12, 2011


Best answer: Newport has a small airport, so if you're comfortable in small aircraft I'd be more than happy to fly you from Boston. Just drop me a line.

While small planes naturally involve some risk, I would just like to vouch for backseatpilot. I met him at a very small meetup in Seattle and spent a lot of time talking to him about airplanes. He's an aerospace engineer or consultant of some sort, and perhaps one of the most visibly careful, precise, intelligent and competent people I've ever met, and I'm a pretty good judge of character when someone is putting on airs about themselves, or not being genuine or otherwise hiding scary unpredictable behavior.

Despite the fact he came straight to the meetup wearing the sharpest and most expensive bespoke tailored suits I've ever personally seen he was quite gracious, humble and kind - if not apologetic for having to overdress. I only mention this part because usually I find that kind of thing offputting or even suspect, but he even won my paranoid self over.

Planes and flying in general scare me, but if I were you I'd take him up on his offer in a heartbeat. It would be a lovely flight at an altitude where you could actually see the countryside and have a nice time - with an interesting gentleman as a pilot.

I'm guessing the main restriction would be luggage weight and if the definition of "we" is more than two - but since backseatpilot is an aerospace engineer he's probably already thought of that.
posted by loquacious at 7:29 PM on July 12, 2011


Edit: Despite the fact he came straight to the meetup from a work meeting wearing...
posted by loquacious at 7:31 PM on July 12, 2011


Response by poster: Wow, backseatpilot, that's an amazing offer! We seriously considered it, but we're (possibly irrationally) nervous about small planes. (My wife has flown on some smallish turboprops in Alaska that really freaked her out.) In the end, it turned out that renting a car wasn't that much more expensive than the other options, and it gives us a lot of flexibility, so we are just going with that option.
posted by bjrubble at 6:11 PM on July 14, 2011


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