where to overnight on the Adirondack

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Jim

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I am looking to go from WAS to Montreal in a few weeks, and doing the 4am regional straight to the Adirondack to Montreal might be too much in one day to be enjoyable. I am looking into 2 options. The less preferred is to sleep in a bit, 11am regional WAS NYP, Lake Shore Limited in a roomette to Schenectady, overnight, then next days Adirondack to Montreal. My preferred option is to get that 4am regional to connect in NYP to the Adirondack, and then spend 24 hrs at one of the stops between Saratoga and rouses Point, and continue to Montreal the next day. I'd really love to spend a day in a quiet snowy town where I won't need a car and can either get a hotel or B&B close to the station. My first thought is Ticonderoga. Does anybody know of a place to stay very close by the station? Can I visit the fort this time of year?

Anybody have any secrets or opinions on logistics or suggestions of any better places? A quiet snowy relaxing place in the Adirondacks along the lake............I'm getting old.

Thanks
 
Although I grew up in that area, I'm not sure about the Fort. (I don't think it is.) Your best bets are either Saratoga or Plattsburgh. I'm not certain of any hotels in SAR that offer pickup, but in PLG a few years ago the Best Western (I'm sure) Smithfield (I think) offered free pickup - even though it was on the other side of town and I-87. There was a restaurant at the hotel, one next to it and a mall right behind it.
 
I love questions like this. I would skip PLG and SAR and look at one of the small towns along Lake Champlain. I just Google mapped the route and clicked on the towns at the stations and did a hotel search.

Here's one in Westport which even said it has complementary pick up and drop off at the station.

http://www.thewestporthotel.com/index.html

And it looks like there are three restaurants in town, two right on the lake.

It'll be sleepy, cold, with nothing to do. Sounds nice, right?

I'm sure you could fine other towns/hotels. I would if it were my trip. Just make sure they're open in winter!

b

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Yea, I've gotta look into it more. I travel for a living, so I'm trying to avoid cities and chain hotels for this trip. Hopefully somebody here had a good experience on this route and can share.
 
I have another option. Spend the night in Rhinecliff, NY at either The Rhinecliff Hotel (right across from the train station which has a wonderful Hudson River view,plus you can watch the trains come and go) or the Beekman Arms in nearby Rhinebeck (the oldest inn in the USA, so they say). There are frequent trains from NYP to RHI, so you can still take a later Regional if you want, then you can catch The Adirondack the next day. Rhinebeck is a wonderful walkable village with tons of restaurants and shops. Saratoga is another good option; I recommend The Inn At Saratoga, which is right in town, and dinner at Hattie's restaurant (southern cooking!). Hope this helps.
 
I've done WAS-NYP-MTR a number of times and the trip generally isn't too long IMHO. With that said...

One thing to consider: There's a through-booking discount from a Regional to/from the Adirondack that you'll lose by splitting your ticket. WAS-MTR on 1/21 is $88. WAS-SAR on the 21st is also $88, and then you pay $45 more to go SAR-MTR the next day.
 
I would suggest that you have 3 viable choices. First is Rhinecliff/Rhinebeck, about 50 miles south of Albany. Very frequent Empire Service and a stop on the Adirondack. Town of Rhinebeck is about one mile from the station. Several choices for lodging and dinning, including the Beekman Arms a large, historic inn. Taxis are available at the station usually. A very nice, upscale small town, with a funky arts theatre.

Second is Saratoga, a lively little city with many choices for both lodging and dinning. Station is about a mile from the center of the town, taxis are available.

Third is Westport, which is a tiny little town on Lake Champlain. In the summer this is prime lakefront town, in winter a very quiet place that's largely shut down. The main part of the town is a little over 1/2 mile from station. There is a hotel very close to the train station (Westport Hotel) that, I believe, is open all winter and does offer dinning. I doubt there are any other options for either lodging or food, no taxis.

I would not suggest any of the other stops on the Adirondack, in Ticonderoga the station is quite far from the town, no taxis, not terribly interesting place. Plattsburgh is a dump, especially in the area near the station. Port Henry is a very poor town, don't think any place to stay is nearby, no taxis. My choice would be either Saratoga or Rhinecliff/Rhinebeck.
 
Thanks Anderson. I hadn't really taken notice to the through fare. It seems anything under 23 hrs on the ground will qualify and save me some money.

So now I'm thinking between Rhinecliff and Fort Edward. The Rhinecliff one right by the station looks nice. Any other suggestions for other places?
 
*******When I say between Rhinecliff and Fort Edward, I mean anywhere between, not just one or the other********
 
I'm pretty certain I'm going to do Rhinecliff. I think I've narrowed it down to there or Hudson. Thanks for the suggestions. I wasn't even considering this area. Now I can sleep in and save money.

Does anybody know if Hudson is staffed and I could leave my bag for an hour? I might want to stop there for an hour and run around quickly before the Adirondack.
 
Jim said:
I'm pretty certain I'm going to do Rhinecliff. I think I've narrowed it down to there or Hudson. Thanks for the suggestions. I wasn't even considering this area. Now I can sleep in and save money.

Does anybody know if Hudson is staffed and I could leave my bag for an hour? I might want to stop there for an hour and run around quickly before the Adirondack.
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Hudson is Staffed from 5:15am-10:15pm, no checked bags, it has a Quick Track and the Empire Service Trains, Vermonter, Maple Leaf and Adirondack stop there, but not the Lake Shore Ltd.
Google up USA Rail Guide, you can check out every Amtrak Station in the USA, it's part of Train Web and is Free!
 
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The Hudson station is in town; it's an uphill walk of several blocks to get to the main drag, Warren St. I stayed 2-3 nights at the St.Charles Hotel on Park Place facing a park through which a shortline RR runs. It was more than OK and not a chain. I found Hudson to be quite interesting, in early summer at least, and I even considered moving there. It reminded me of Venice!
 
If there was a lodge within the park at Ticonderoga that would be something special and close to the train. But, no. The closest actual place to stay is a Best Western about 1.5mi from the train station. The train arr/dep doesn't work well with park hours. It is really a crying shame because Ft Ticonderoga+train would be a wonderful combination. Instead, most of the attractions near that part of the Adirondack route are best reached by car.

I did train + connection to Lake Placid in 2014 and have to give that a big thumbs down, too. (There are some pretty okay hotels both indie and chain in Lake Placid, and plenty of outdoor sports, but the transportation situation if you're going car free is touch and go and the vibe in that place was not to my liking.)

The summer ferry to Burlington, VT, suggested here, was the absolute bomb, though.
 
Bus Nut said:
If there was a lodge within the park at Ticonderoga that would be something special and close to the train. But, no. The closest actual place to stay is a Best Western about 1.5mi from the train station. The train arr/dep doesn't work well with park hours. It is really a crying shame because Ft Ticonderoga+train would be a wonderful combination. Instead, most of the attractions near that part of the Adirondack route are best reached by car.

I did train + connection to Lake Placid in 2014 and have to give that a big thumbs down, too. (There are some pretty okay hotels both indie and chain in Lake Placid, and plenty of outdoor sports, but the transportation situation if you're going car free is touch and go and the vibe in that place was not to my liking.)

The summer ferry to Burlington, VT, suggested here, was the absolute bomb, though.
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Was the ferry trip undesirable? Your connotation seems negative.
 
Thank you, Professor Hudson, for the clarification! I have been on the Burlington ferry also and have made many a memorable camping trip to the Adirondacks and Vermont when I was a New Jersey resident.
 
BTW, the Adirondack schedule changed effective January 12. The southbound #68 shifts to a 50 minute later departure from MTR at 10:20 AM with arrival at NYP at 9:10 PM. The northbound #69 has a five minute shift at ALB with a 11:10 AM departure and a 7:11 PM arrival at MTR. #68 has had the poorer OTP with late arrivals at NYP. The schedule may have been moved later to reduce congestion at ALB due to the track work there and other late trains. The later arrival at NYP makes for an even later connection to Regionals.

Edit: word fix
 
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afigg said:
BTW, the Adirondack schedule changed effective January 12. The southbound #68 shifts to a 50 minute later departure from MTR at 10:20 AM with arrival at NYP at 9:10 PM. The northbound #69 has a five minute shift at ALB with a 11:10 AM departure and a 7:11 PM arrival at MTR. #68 has had the poorer OTP with late arrivals at NYP. The schedule may have been moved later to reduce congestion at ALB due to the track work there and other late trains. The later arrival at NYP makes for an even later connection to Regionals.

Edit: word fix
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Off-topic, but this makes connecting from VIA's Ocean to the Adirondack much more realistic. An hour is still really close, true, but it is now possible.
 
I have stayed over here before and its an easy walk, hotel not great though but the price was right.


Anchorage

164 Lake Street

Rouses Point, NY 12979
 
Blackwolf said:
afigg said:
BTW, the Adirondack schedule changed effective January 12. The southbound #68 shifts to a 50 minute later departure from MTR at 10:20 AM with arrival at NYP at 9:10 PM. The northbound #69 has a five minute shift at ALB with a 11:10 AM departure and a 7:11 PM arrival at MTR. #68 has had the poorer OTP with late arrivals at NYP. The schedule may have been moved later to reduce congestion at ALB due to the track work there and other late trains. The later arrival at NYP makes for an even later connection to Regionals.

Edit: word fix
Click to expand...
Off-topic, but this makes connecting from VIA's Ocean to the Adirondack much more realistic. An hour is still really close, true, but it is now possible.
Click to expand...
Connecting at SLQ is even more realistic, arriving in off the westbound Ocean at 8:56am, and connecting to the Adirondack at 10:35am. An hour and 40 minutes is certainly better than the very quick ~15 minute connection I had this summer.
 
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