Driving NYC to Toronto
Discussion
Spending a week in NYC late November and would like to visit some friends in Toronto for a couple of days.
Distance is approx 500 mile each way, which is fine, but does driving make sense? cost for a car is less than return flight for two people and sounds fun, but is weather or Canada / US boarder control likely to cause any problems?
Distance is approx 500 mile each way, which is fine, but does driving make sense? cost for a car is less than return flight for two people and sounds fun, but is weather or Canada / US boarder control likely to cause any problems?
I did it some years back. It's ok, takes most of the day, and is pretty much just cruise control on the highway the whole way, occasional traffic jam excepted.
It's not terribly exciting, but then it is pretty easy, outside of the big cities, America doesn't generally have the traffic that we do, so roads are nice and quiet. You'll find trucks catching and overtaking you when you're slightly over the limit yourself, which is novel for a European to experience.
I would drive it again, but then I like doing things like that.
It's not terribly exciting, but then it is pretty easy, outside of the big cities, America doesn't generally have the traffic that we do, so roads are nice and quiet. You'll find trucks catching and overtaking you when you're slightly over the limit yourself, which is novel for a European to experience.
I would drive it again, but then I like doing things like that.
Yes, doable in a (long) day. I did this route 12 years ago whilst living in NYC - we hired a car and took a very long weekend visiting friends in Toronto. We stopped overnight in Niagara on the way up. I seem to recall we did the return leg, Toronto to NYC overnight - whilst this meant we maximised time in Toronto, I regretted the decision when we hit rush hour traffic coming back through the Lincoln tunnel on the Monday morning (unusually for an American hire car we had a 'stick' so my left leg was aching somewhat)! Not exciting driving, but better than flying/the bus as you have the flexibility to drop into places along the way (I recall there were some nice towns for coffee/tea and cake along the shores of Lake Toronto). Enjoy!
Alternative idea is to hop on a flight to Buffalo and then drive from Buffalo to Toronto. You're likely to find the flight is a lot cheaper to Buffalo than to Toronto and the drive from there to Toronto is less than 2 hours and gives you the option of stopping in Niagara (or the nicer Niagara-on-the-lake) and any other towns on the way to TO.
I lived in Toronto for a year and had friends in NYC that I visited a few times and toyed with the idea of the drive. In the end I thought the drive would take too long and I'd rather pay more for the convenience of the flight to be able to spend more time with friends. However, I did the TO to Buffalo by car and then fly to NYC option as it worked out way cheaper than a direct flight even when accounting for 3 days car rental, petrol and airport parking at Buffalo.
If money isnt a factor, then I'd advise the Porter flights into Toronto's city airport. The flight in over the lake and last minute turn onto the runway on the island is great. Plus your then already in the city and a short shuttle bus to the centre.
I lived in Toronto for a year and had friends in NYC that I visited a few times and toyed with the idea of the drive. In the end I thought the drive would take too long and I'd rather pay more for the convenience of the flight to be able to spend more time with friends. However, I did the TO to Buffalo by car and then fly to NYC option as it worked out way cheaper than a direct flight even when accounting for 3 days car rental, petrol and airport parking at Buffalo.
If money isnt a factor, then I'd advise the Porter flights into Toronto's city airport. The flight in over the lake and last minute turn onto the runway on the island is great. Plus your then already in the city and a short shuttle bus to the centre.
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