US East Coast: New York, Philadelphia and Washington by Train

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in New York

   JFK, LaGuardia or Newark airport to your hotel in Midtown Manhattan

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : New York
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into New York: JFK, LaGuardia (LGA) or Newark (EWR). Our driver meets you in arrivals for the ride into Manhattan, usually 45 minutes to an hour and a half depending on the airport and the traffic, so plan to land by about 3 pm. Your hotel is in Midtown, central enough that most of the next three days start on foot or from a subway station a few blocks away. At about 6 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group in the hotel for a short briefing: how the subway works, what the security line for the Statue of Liberty is like, and how the trains between the cities run. Then we walk a few blocks together, through the main concourse of Grand Central Terminal under its painted ceiling of constellations or into the lights of Times Square, depending on where the hotel sits, and sit down to a welcome dinner at a local restaurant.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at JFK, LaGuardia (LGA) or Newark (EWR)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Short evening walk in Midtown
   • Welcome dinner

   Temps libre : Free until the evening briefing

2. Jour 2 : Statue of Liberty early, then Lower Manhattan

   Midtown by subway to Battery Park, ferry to Liberty Island and Ellis Island, then the Financial District

   • En train
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : New York
   Détail du jour 2

   Breakfast is early today: we leave the hotel at about 8 am and take the subway downtown to be in line at Battery Park for the first ferry of the day, around 9 am, before the queues for the security screening grow. Our tickets include the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, booked weeks ahead because numbers are limited. On Liberty Island, walk around the statue, climb into the pedestal for the view back to the Manhattan skyline, and see the original torch in the Statue of Liberty Museum. The same ferry goes on to Ellis Island, where more than 12 million immigrants were processed between 1892 and 1954; the National Museum of Immigration fills the restored main building, and many guests look up family names in the arrival records. Back in Manhattan, lunch is a sit-down meal in the Financial District. In the afternoon we walk past Wall Street and Trinity Church to the 9/11 Memorial, two pools set in the footprints of the Twin Towers, and spend about two hours in the museum below before its 5:30 pm last entry. We are back in Midtown by about 6 pm; the evening is free.

   Compris

   • Statue of Liberty with pedestal access, on the first ferry of the day
   • The Statue of Liberty Museum
   • Ellis Island and the National Museum of Immigration
   • Sit-down lunch in the Financial District
   • Wall Street, Trinity Church and the 9/11 Memorial with your guide
   • The 9/11 Memorial & Museum

   Option plus facile : Skip the 9/11 Museum and go back to the hotel after lunch; the memorial pools outside are open to everyone if you want to return another time.

   Option plus active : After the museum, walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to DUMBO, about 2 km, and take the subway back to Midtown.

   Temps libre : Evening free

   Activité : A full day, about 8 am to 6 pm: the Liberty and Ellis Island ferry loop takes 4 to 5 hours with security, and the 9/11 Museum about 2 hours. About 6 km on foot, with time standing in security lines and on the ferry deck. Small day bags only: the bag screening is like an airport's.

3. Jour 3 : Central Park and Brooklyn on foot

   Central Park on foot, the subway to Williamsburg, then the NYC Ferry back to Manhattan

   • En train
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : New York
   Détail du jour 3

   Today is about New York's neighbourhoods, seen on foot and from the subway rather than a bus window. We walk from the hotel into Central Park in the morning, when runners and dog walkers have it mostly to themselves: the Mall under its elms, Bethesda Terrace and its fountain, Bow Bridge over the Lake, and on north to the Reservoir and the cast-iron bridges along the bridle path. A subway ride then takes us under the East River to Williamsburg in Brooklyn, where old factories and warehouses now hold shops, cafés, bakeries and painted walls. Lunch is a sit-down meal in the neighbourhood, then we walk to Domino Park on the waterfront, laid out beside the old sugar refinery, for the view across the river to Manhattan. From the Williamsburg pier we ride the NYC Ferry down the East River back to Manhattan. The evening is yours; if you want a Broadway show, tell us when you book and we buy seats for the performance you choose.

   Compris

   • Central Park walk with your guide: the Mall, Bethesda Terrace, Bow Bridge and the Reservoir
   • Subway to Williamsburg, Brooklyn
   • Williamsburg neighbourhood walk and Domino Park
   • Sit-down lunch in Williamsburg
   • NYC Ferry down the East River to Manhattan

   Activités en option

   • A Broadway show in the evening, seats bought for you at the price of the show you choose

   Option plus facile : Leave the park at Bethesda Terrace by taxi to meet the group at the subway, cutting the morning walk to about 2 km.

   Option plus active : Walk back to Manhattan over the Williamsburg Bridge footpath, about 2 km above the river, instead of taking the ferry.

   Temps libre : Evening free

   Activité : The longest walking day in New York: about 9 km on park paths and pavements, with subway stairs.

   

4. Jour 4 : Amtrak to Philadelphia and Independence Hall

   New York Penn Station by Amtrak to Philadelphia 30th Street, then Old City on foot

   • En train
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Philadelphia
   Détail du jour 4

   After breakfast we make the short trip to Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station and board an Amtrak train to Philadelphia, about an hour and a half on reserved seats. A van meets the group at William H. Gray III 30th Street Station and takes the bags on to the hotel in the historic center. Lunch is at Reading Terminal Market, a covered market hall open since 1893, where you choose from the stalls: a cheesesteak, a roast pork sandwich or Pennsylvania Dutch cooking from the Amish-run counters on the days they open. In the afternoon we walk into Independence National Historical Park for our timed tour of Independence Hall, led by a park ranger, in the room where the Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776 and the Constitution was drafted in 1787. The Liberty Bell hangs in its glass pavilion across the street. We finish at the Museum of the American Revolution, a few minutes' walk away. The evening is free in Old City, where Elfreth's Alley, a lane of early 18th-century houses, is worth a short detour.

   Compris

   • Amtrak train from New York to Philadelphia, reserved seats
   • Luggage transfer from 30th Street Station to the hotel
   • Lunch at Reading Terminal Market
   • Independence Hall on a timed tour with a park ranger
   • The Liberty Bell
   • Museum of the American Revolution

   Option plus facile : Skip the Museum of the American Revolution and rest at the hotel after the Liberty Bell.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Old City

   Activité : About 5 km on foot on flat pavements and some brick and cobbles.

   

5. Jour 5 : A day in Lancaster County

   Philadelphia by Amtrak to Lancaster, the farmland around Bird-in-Hand and Intercourse, and back

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Philadelphia
   Détail du jour 5

   A morning Keystone train takes us west from 30th Street Station to Lancaster, about an hour and a quarter through the Main Line suburbs and into farm country. On the days it opens (Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays), we start at Lancaster Central Market, in its brick market house of 1889, where Amish and Mennonite farmers sell bread, cheese, whoopie pies and vegetables a short walk from the domed county courthouse. A local guide who lives in the county then takes us out in a van along the back roads east of town, through Bird-in-Hand and Intercourse, past farms worked with horses and mules and the one-room schoolhouses Amish children still attend. We stop at a farm to hear how families here live without a connection to the public electricity grid, and ride a horse-drawn buggy along the farm lanes. Lunch is a family-style Pennsylvania Dutch meal. We are back on the train in the late afternoon and in Philadelphia by early evening, free for dinner. Amish farms and most shops close on Sundays, so we set departures so that this day never falls on one.

   Compris

   • Amtrak Keystone train from Philadelphia to Lancaster and back
   • Lancaster Central Market (on market days)
   • Amish farmland with a local guide: Bird-in-Hand and Intercourse
   • A farm visit
   • Horse-drawn buggy ride
   • Family-style Pennsylvania Dutch lunch

   Option plus facile : Stay in Philadelphia for a free day: the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Rittenhouse Square or the Barnes Foundation.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Philadelphia

   Activité : An easy day: about 3 km on foot, and about 1.5 hours in the van on country roads.

   

6. Jour 6 : Amtrak to Washington and the Mall at dusk

   Philadelphia by Amtrak to Washington Union Station, then Capitol Hill and the National Mall on foot

   • En train
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Washington, DC
   Détail du jour 6

   We take a mid-morning Amtrak train south, about two hours through Wilmington and Baltimore, to Washington Union Station, and a van takes the bags on to the hotel near the National Mall. Lunch is a sit-down meal on Capitol Hill. In the afternoon we walk past the US Capitol and the Supreme Court to the Library of Congress, where the Thomas Jefferson Building holds the marble Great Hall and the domed Main Reading Room, seen from the gallery above. Later we walk down the Mall to the Washington Monument, where we hold timed tickets for the elevator to the top and the view along the Mall to the Lincoln Memorial and across the Potomac. As the light goes we walk on past the World War II Memorial and the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial, then to the Korean War Veterans Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, both quieter after the day visitors have left. Dinner tonight is your choice.

   Compris

   • Amtrak train from Philadelphia to Washington, reserved seats
   • Luggage transfer from Union Station to the hotel
   • Sit-down lunch on Capitol Hill
   • The US Capitol and the Supreme Court from outside, and the Library of Congress
   • Washington Monument on timed tickets
   • The memorials of the National Mall at dusk with your guide: World War II, Lincoln, Korean War and Vietnam Veterans

   Option plus facile : Take a taxi from the Library of Congress to the Washington Monument and from the Lincoln Memorial back to the hotel.

   Temps libre : Evening free after the memorials

   Activité : About 8 km on foot, mostly flat, on pavements and the gravel paths of the Mall.

7. Jour 7 : Arlington and the Smithsonian

   Washington by Metro to Arlington National Cemetery and back, then the Smithsonian museums

   • En train
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Washington, DC
   Détail du jour 7

   An early start: we leave the hotel at about 7:30 am and ride the Metro's Blue Line across the Potomac to Arlington National Cemetery as it opens at 8 am, ahead of the tour groups. Your guide walks you up between the rows of white headstones to the grave of President John F. Kennedy, marked by the eternal flame, and on to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for the Changing of the Guard, held every half hour from April to September and every hour in the colder months. Arlington House, once the home of Robert E. Lee, looks back over the river to the Lincoln Memorial. After lunch back in the city, the afternoon is for the Smithsonian. We hold timed passes for the National Museum of African American History and Culture, where the history galleries begin below ground with the transatlantic slave trade and rise floor by floor to the present day. If you prefer, spend the afternoon at the National Air and Space Museum or the National Museum of Natural History instead; all three are free. We meet again in the evening for a farewell dinner.

   Compris

   • Metro to Arlington National Cemetery and back
   • Arlington with your guide: the Kennedy graves, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Changing of the Guard, Arlington House
   • Sit-down lunch
   • The National Museum of African American History and Culture on timed passes, or another Smithsonian museum of your choice
   • Farewell dinner

   Option plus facile : Ride the cemetery's tram between the main sites (a small fare, paid on the day) instead of walking the hills.

   Temps libre : Late afternoon free before the farewell dinner

   Activité : About 6 km on foot; Arlington's paths climb steadily to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Arlington House.

8. Jour 8 : The founding documents and home

   The National Archives, then Reagan National (DCA), Dulles (IAD) or Union Station

   • Environ 45 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   Détail du jour 8

   A last morning in Washington. After breakfast we walk to the National Archives for its 10 am opening, when the line is short, to see the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in the Rotunda: the documents you heard argued over in Independence Hall four days earlier, under low light to protect the ink. From there it is a short walk back to the hotel to collect your bags, and around 12:30 pm our driver takes you to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), about 20 minutes away, or to Washington Dulles International (IAD), about 45 minutes to an hour. If you are going on by train, Union Station is a short ride away. Your guide sees you off and checks your onward plans before saying goodbye. Book a flight from DCA after about 3 pm or from Dulles after about 4 pm so there is no rush. With an earlier flight, skip the Archives and we take you to the airport straight after breakfast, or at whatever time suits you.

   Compris

   • The National Archives with your guide: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
   • Drop-off at Reagan National (DCA), Dulles (IAD) or Union Station

   Activité : Book a flight from DCA after about 3 pm or from IAD after about 4 pm to see the Archives. Road time is about 20 minutes to DCA or 45 to 60 minutes to IAD.

Faune et météo : Spring and autumn bring mild days for walking; July and August are hot and humid, so we move the longest walks to the morning. Washington's cherry blossom weeks in early spring are crowded, and hotel rooms are hard to find and dear.

• New York3 nuits
• Philadelphia2 nuits
• Washington, DC2 nuits