I’m going to a wedding in Syracuse on a Saturday night, and flying out of EWR on Sunday morning at 9:30am. Yeah. Not the best planning, but that’s how it went down.
Since I don’t want to get up at 3am, I figure I’ll drive part of the way back Saturday night, then get up early and drive the rest. Looking for a recommendation that’s on the way, clean, reasonably priced, etc.
Thanks in advance!
Ouch. To be in Newark for a 9:30 am flight, you’re going to have to either stay somewhere in the NYC area (which will be expensive) or look at a really early wake-up and long drive.
You’re looking at a 5-hour drive from Syracuse to Newark. If you’re like me, you will want to do the majority of the driving before stopping at the hotel. Unfortunately, the best route from Syracuse to Newark runs through a lot of woods and cow country. You could stop in the Scranton, PA area and stay there, but would probably have a 2-2.5 hour drive remaining to Newark. Another possibility would be the Parsippany NJ area, though the rates might be higher there because of the proximity to NYC. Of course, there are hotels in the immediate airport area, too. Maybe the best bet would be to check Expedia or Travelocity for room rates and make the decision based on that vs. how early you are willing to get up on Saturday. for a 9:30 flight, you should be at the airport by 8:00 or so, earlier if your flight is international.
Evening wedding, reception lasting until whenever. A four-to-five hour drive. Airport arrival an hour or two early to check in for a 9:30 flight. Not much time for an overnight.
Maybe spend an hour or two after the reception someplace like a coffee shop, drive to Newark, and just hang out at the airport. Napping in-transit passengers are no novelty, and you’d have time for breakfast, etc.
Sorry, I misspoke. It’s an afternoon wedding, not an evening wedding. Which makes this much less terrible. I figure I can hit the road by, say, 8pm, drive for 3 hours, get a not-terrible night’s sleep, get up, drive another hour and a bit and make it.
Google claims the drive will be 4 hours. Is that too optimistic?
I guess I’m looking for something about an hour out from EWR along the 81? Hopefully that’s far enough away that I won’t have to pay NYC high prices…
This isn’t terrible, but plan your time. Scranton is too soon to stop; Parsippany is a pretty good stop hotel-wise. The non-stop route I’d suggest: cut south to 380 past Scranton, then take 80 East over/through the Delaware Water Gap (wave to the Face in the mountain).
From there, either take 80 straight to the GSP south and hook up with 78 Eastbound there to EWR… or…
Take 380 South to 80 East to 287 South to 78 East (stay out of the express lanes) and bee-line it that way. Actually, in a perfect world, catching a few hours sleep at a hotel in Bridgwater on/near 78 isn’t terrible. Then straight through to EWR…
I ended up staying at a Ramada Inn in Parsippany, which I wouldn’t recommend. It smelled weird.
Thanks for the recommendations.