From Philly you can fly directly to Tweed, New haven. If to pricy there is also Bradley in Hartford/Springfield about forty minutes to new haven there are buses but a car is easier. From New York you can take ct limo into long wharf I believe.

Oh also from JFK there is red dot. https://www.ridethedot.com/fares-and-schedules

You can fly in to Bradley and rent a car and drive to New Haven.

Or fly to New York and get am Amtrak train to New Haven.

What do you think about renting a car and driving from JFK to New Haven?

I should be able to leave New Haven by 3pm. The last flight out of Bradley is 5:40. Is that cutting it too close?

I'll take a look at reddot. Thanks for that!

You can also fly to HPN White Plains and it's an hour drive to new haven...about the same time as driving from BDL Hartford.

The philly layover into Tweed makes my trip about 6 hours. It would be 1 hour into JFK.

Is JFK the best NYC airport for this journey?

I'd get on Amtrak in NYC to NH. As for your return, it's hard to say because of traffic That can be a tough time traffic-wise in the NE. Safest is to return to NYC via Amtrak and hop a plane at JFK.

I live about 10 minutes north of new haven and have a 5:30 flight in Bradley on Friday, I am leaving around 2:30/2:45 but am traveling with kids and seniors so leaving a bit early to be safe. So 3:00 would be a bit rushed but possible without too much traffic.

Normally I wouldn't be too worried about a missed flight, but I have an appointment Saturday morning at 9 that would be brutal to miss. And I cannot move the 1pm appointment Friday in New Haven.

The HPN flight goes through Charlotte and is the last flight of the night. Charlotte is a 13 hour drive for me so I think that's too risky with December weather.

I'm thinking Tib's idea is a good one. I can get a car service from JFK to New Haven. You think the train back is safer than a car service?

I think you can't beat train travel in general. Comfortable, no traffic, on time...it's the way to go.

LGA would be a better airport to go to...the only time I haven't run into traffic into JFK is when I'm there at about 4:30 am.

The big question is if, once you get to NH, will you need to drive to get to where you're going...if so then renting a car and driving makes sense anyway.

For train, metro north is the way to go. But it's a pain to get from the airport to the train. (So much in NYC area just makes no sense.) And forget about islip or newark.

Traffic-wise, BDL is a lot safer choice if it's a possibility for you.

Tib, is there a fast/particular train I should look for?

A car service has always been easier than the train for me going to JFK. There is no direct train into jfk. You have to transfer to a bus or subway from Grand Central or Penn.

edited to add, I have the exact opposite experience as Annie, LGA has never taken me less than 3.5 hours from New Haven where as JFK is always under two hours even with traffic. So there really is not a perfect New York airport...

Design I'm terrible at-- travel- muuuuch better! Travel from NYC to New Haven is an absolute nightmare in a car. Check out pricing into PVD which is in Providence RI (it's actually Warwick,RI). Mileage wise looking at the same however having grown up in new haven county and currently living in RI, very familiar with traffic into NY and quickly learned that as "normal" it was to me it in fact was NOT normal. you may hit some traffic in the Warwick area and then New London, but NOTHING like the route to NY in the cross Bronx, especially on a Froday afternoon. I shiver thinking about it. If you don't fly into Bradley (HARTFORD) I would say that RI should absolutely be your next choice of Tweed right in new haven is too pricy or flight times aren't when you need them. It once took me 6 hours to get from New Haven through the New York traffic, it's only supposed to be 1.5 hours. If you choose NY, definitely go by train. Do NOT use a car service or rent a car.

Bradley, Green in providence and White plaines are easy little airports and not bad drives either. They would be my first choice and than rent a car.

Roarah, How is the traffic typically?

Annie, I think I'll just take taxi's in New Haven, no?

The last LGA flight out goes through Midway, which is cray cray. But I will remember that alternative for next time! Normally I'd like nothing better than to land in NYC for a few days. Just not this time.

Does Amtrack go right into JFK?

Just saw your post Amy. It it s absolutely imperative that I get out of New Haven Friday evening. I'm having second thoughts now about JFK. Let me see about PVD.

Roarah, Amy, what do you think about the Omni?

FYI- OMNI is beautiful and right downtown. Could be pricey so depends on if you or company are footing the bill and your budget. Here is the key about New Haven, and I hate saying it, but there isn't a super safe place downtown. It's been a few years since I've lived in CT but family still there (10 miles away from New Haven). All depending on what you're looking to do, may not be the best place to walk around after dark. There are some amazing restaurants though, I always loved it there, but take a cab after dark. That's my personal opinion and I'm sure some may disagree, but I am a super worry-wart.

I have not been to the Omni since hurricane Gloria when our power was down for weeks. I was in eighth grade and Weirld Al was staying there and invited my sister and me to his concert at Toads, my parents said no! I remember it as posh. For my wedding some English in laws stayed at the Farnam guest house and said it was lovely for a BnB. It has a Yale shuttle service too. Here is a link. http://www.webervations.com/magic-scripts/resbook.asp?memberid=farnamguesthouse616. If you do rent a car there are some quaint BnBs and hotels in Madison, Guilford and Branford.

Branford is where I lived for over 25 years, so I agree that there are some amazing places in that area and a little further into Madison as well! Not the "super luxurious" type but it's home to me so I am a bit bias! If you are planning on cabs for your main transportation around new haven though I would stick to staying downtown, and again depending on your budget the OMNI is gorgeous. Just don't walk after dark and take a cab.
Another thing to note is that traffic into and out of New Haven can be a bit of a nightmare during rush hour, especially with the changes on the Q bridge going on, no matter which direction but I do remember it being easier going North on 95 than South (NY). Roarah- maybe you can give an update if Traffic flow in and out has improved at all? I lived in Branford and worked in North Haven, 7 miles, yet took over an hour to and from work during the week. That was a few years back though. And BTW- Toads... Wow. Took me back a bit ;-) I don't even know it's there anymore??? Or if so if it's anything like it used to be!

Amy, you are playing my song lol. SWW here too, hence the post! You all made me rethink the JFK thing. The car service would be about $700 rt, and I would fret the whole time that I would miss my flight back.

I think I will drive up to New Haven this round. 7ish hours but at least I won't be at the mercy of NYC traffic for a last flight out!

I can't thank you enough for your insights, and am taking them under advisement for my next visit. I am looking forward to an un-rushed trip to scout out B&Bs and Madison. The Farnam looks lovely!

I so appreciate your help!

"Last flight of the night"

:shudder:

interesting, roarah...do you take the throgs neck? We take the whitestone so jfk is another 10 miles south and the van wyck is perpetually under construction so it always takes me longer than lga. The problem with lga is they don't have enough runways so you always get on the plane and they announce, "We're #22 in line for takeoff."

A lot of folks rave about Zinc...very interesting food. The Istanbul Cafe has good turkish food for a song. And of course NH is the heart of the world's best pizza, though some will argue Pepe's is not as good as Sally's, though I'd argue that Modern is the best. But those places are not within walking distance of downtown. If you like French, the Union League Cafe is very good.

If you're thinking of a more leisurely trip, do go to the Yale art museums...really nicely done...as is the Peabody.

Gardner, fastest train is the Amtrak Acela.

Annie , Modern is my favorite too! I too take Whitestone. I just meant that with either airport you might hit terrible traffic. My Jfk flights are usually international so leave later maybe that is why I hit less traffic and my lga flights are sometimes dinner time flight or early day... Time of flight matters more than airports in New York I think.

I would take a train from philly to new haven and not deal with jfk at all!!

I like Bradley just outside of Hartford. I dislike the major NYC airports -- too crowded. It will take just as long to drive from Bradley as from NYC (and sometimes less time due to traffic considerations) and it is more relaxing by far. And amazingly, TSA is even friendly at Bradley!

I third Modern. I lived in New Haven for 10 years and everyone from out of town always wanted to go to Pepe's and Sally's. Which I always discouraged. And my husband worked his way through college as a bouncer at Toads!

I can't imagine wanting to do JFK from New Haven. LGA, maybe, but we live in the NY suburbs and even we try to avoid JFK whenever possible because of the traffic.

Sounds like you have decided to drive but just wanted to throw out a different suggestion if you decided to fly into one of the "NYC" airports. If you fly into Newark instead, you can take the Amtrak from there. There is a monorail at the airport that takes you to the Newark Airport station. It's just a few minutes away and I believe it's free if you hold an Amtrak ticket. Enjoy New Haven!

Decor Hound, good to know! I just checked, and I can get a direct flight into Newark. I'll remember that for next time.

I considered JFK and LGA because they are direct flights for me. The smaller airports all connect through Philly, MDW or BWI. And all last flights of the night. But in the future when time is not of the essence, I will definitely defer to these suggestions! I really appreciate it!

Have to agree with Modern ;-) I heard they have a new competitor next door with unique yet untouchable pizza. Supposedly taking away business?! I can't imagine better than Modern!
I also like Newark airport, but if you take the train in I would highly recommend spending the extra $ for the Acela train. Much quicker with minimal (or no) stops!
Good luck on your trip!

Well - it's been 10 years since gardener first asked this question. I'm guessing someone has figured it out by now.

Im guessing there was a spammer who posted before Maire Cate.

Yes on the spammer. They were very active, several threads got resurrected early this morning.

Glad to see that the spammer was flagged and removed!