My cousin unexpectedly announced that she is moving from Florida to Oneonta, NY. Since this is a lot closer to me, she says it will be a lot easier to come for a visit.
What’s the best way for my aunt and I to get there from Toronto, assuming we don’t have a car? Several possibilities come to mind:
Fly from Toronto to Albany, then bus/train/taxi to Oneonta.
Bus to Buffalo, then fly from Buffalo to Albany, then bus/train/taxi to Oneonta.
Bus to Buffalo, then another bus to Oneonta.
My cousin says Oneonta is a college town, which implies decent transit connections, bus at least. Does it have a rail station? Is it close enough to Albany to be within its regional commuter bus/train area?
Does your cousin drive? It might be better for her to come pick you up in Albany as it is 81 miles away instead of you and your aunt waiting hours for connections.
I just checked the Greyhound website. You can get a ticket from Toronto to Oneonta, but will need to transfer at Binghamton (not Buffalo) and the trip will take ten hours, starting at 6am.
If you can nfind anybody willing to drive her (maybe a college student), and the visit is only for a couple of days, a rental car might be the cheapest. In fact, UHaul advertises a truck rental for $19.95 a day.
There is no passenger rail service to Oneonta. I think the nearest Amtrak stations are in Amsterdam, Schenectady or Utica, which are about 1 to 1.25 hours’ drive away. Does your cousin have a car and is she willing to pick you up there?
Traveling on two different bus lines is risky because a delay on the first line may make you miss your connection to the second. That said, Megabus has routes from Toronto to the Walsh transportation center in Syracuse (fares range from $10 to $50 per person each way), and New York Trailways has routes from there to Oneonta (typically about $45 per person each way and requiring a transfer in Binghamton.) Another option is Megabus to the Buffalo Airport and NY Trailways from there to Oneonta (again requiring a transfer in Binghamton).
My cousin does drive, so maybe that would be best… I’m not sure my aunt would be up for some of these long bus journeys.
We are actually in Peterborough. The Peterborough airport is YPQ, and I there was some talk of scheduled service via a new small airline to Montreal and Kitchener this year, but information is scanty. Among other things, the linked website doesn’t have a simple timetable, but just has a search box, and won’t allow ‘fuzzy’ searches.
The cheapest flight in your link, PastTense, has two stops, in Montreal and Chicago. Talk about indirect… It looks like Albany is a regional airport with connections oriented towards New York City, and any trips going there need to connect. I was hoping for something direct from Buffalo, but no.
On the other hand, it looks like I can take a train from Toronto to Albany, for around the same price as the bus… but it’s around 9 hours.
A rental car might be a good bet, but just as a side note, watch out for U-Haul. They have cheap daily rates but really ding you on the mileage, at least around here. It can be a good deal for very short distances but otherwise it can be an outright scam.
I would definitely go by car. College town or no, Oneonta is small and out of the way in a region where distances between population centers are relatively large. There will be a lot of wasted time waiting for bus transfers, and a certain amount of time wasted going in the wrong direction (especially if you’re going to Albany). You could take a train directly to Albany/Rensselaer and then take a cab or a city bus to the bus station across the river (I have done this but not in the last decade)… But if renting a car is an option that would most definitely be my first pick.
I’ve been to the Buffalo airport, and know that it is small.
I’ve flown into and out of the Albany airport, and know that it is not exactly large.
My first impulse reading the title of the thread was definitely “drive”. Although, I have to admit, off the top of my head, I recognize the name Oneonta, but would be hard-pressed to place it on a map.
The closest stop to Oneonta made by the train that goes from Toronto to NYC through Albany is the station in Albany (actually in Rensselaer). Oneonta is eighty miles west of Albany.
The Amtrak Empire Service (PDF) stops in several upstate NY locations other than Albany (see also bibliophage’s poist.) As the crow flies, the closest station is actually Utica, 55 miles away. In terms of driving time, the stations in Utica, Amsterdam, and Schenectady take about the same amount of time — the distances are larger for the latter two, but the roads between Utica & Oneonta are smaller (two-lane highways rather than interstates.)
One of the “other routes” suggested was a six-hour car ride. I can’t imagine that flying to NYC, then taking the shuttle to the Port Authority, where she would get on a Trailways bus to Oneonta is going to be any better.
It looks like Albany is a regional airport with connections oriented towards New York City, and any trips going there need to connect. I was hoping for something direct from Buffalo, but no.