AIR
North-central Connecticut and south-central Massachusetts are served by Bradley International Airport (BDL) in Windsor Locks CT, 12 miles (19 km) north of Hartford.

For southeastern Connecticut, you may be better off flying into Providence's TF Green Airport.

CTTransit scheduled city buses shuttle passengers between the Bradley Airport and the center of Hartford CT. Many other bus and limousine services can take you anywhere in New England.

TRAIN
Three train services are available in Connecticut: Amtrak, Metro-North, and Shoreline East.

Amtrak
Amtrak runs trains daily from New York City to Boston along both the coastal route (via New Haven, Guilford, Old Saybrook, New London, Mystic, and Providence) and the inland route (via Hartford, Windsor Locks, and Springfield). About ten trains run every day.

Stopovers are allowed at no extra charge on most trains, so if you buy a ticket from New York to Boston, the stops in New Haven, New London, and Mystic, or New Haven and Hartford, need cost no more.

It is usually possible to catch a train from New York in the morning, be in Mystic by noon, tour Mystic Seaport in the afternoon, catch another train around 5 pm, arrive in Providence by about 6 pm and Boston by 8 pm.

The trip from New York to Hartford on Regional trains takes less than 3 hours; to New Haven, about 1-1/2 hours; to New London, about 2-3/4 hours; to Mystic, about 3 hours. Times are faster—but station stops fewer and fares higher—on the sleek Acela Express trains.

Metro-North
Besides the Amtrak trains, there are frequent and cheaper commuter trains operated on the New Haven Line by Metro-North Railroad. These trains depart New York City's Grand Central Terminal for New Haven hourly from about 7 am until after midnight on weekdays, with even more frequent runs during rush hours. Service on Saturday, Sunday, and holidays is almost as frequent, with trains at least every 2 hours.

The trip by Metro-North to New Haven takes 1 hour and 40 minutes.

The big advantages of the Metro-North trains over Amtrak on the trip to New Haven are the convenience of Grand Central Terminal (midtown NYC), and the great frequency of trains.

Shore Line East
Rail service east of New Haven is provided by Connecticut Commuter Rail's Shore Line East service connecting New Haven with New London via Branford, Guilford, Madison, Clinton, Westbrook and Old Saybrook. More...

BUS
Peter Pan Bus company's Bonanza Bus division and Greyhound Lines operate daily buses between New York City, New Haven, Hartford, Providence, and many other New England locations. The trip from New York City to Hartford takes about 3 to 4-3/4 hours, depending on the line and the number of stops en route.

The trip from New York City to New London takes about 3 or 3 1/2 hours, depending on stops. It's difficult to take a bus to Mystic Seaport—the train is the best way to get there.

From Hartford, Bonanza has buses to Providence and Hyannis; Greyhound operates buses to Vermont, New Hampshire, Montréal, and Québec City. All the large bus lines have buses between Hartford and Boston.

In Hartford, the bus stations and the Amtrak railroad station are all within a block of one another in the center at Union Plaza. The Peter Pan/Greyhound terminal is at 1 Union Plaza, Hartford CT 06103-1490 (map).

SEAT, the Southeast Area Transit system, operates regional buses connecting the southeastern Connecticut cities of New London, Groton, Niantic and Norwich with the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribal reservations and their gambling casinos, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods.

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