Washington DC to New York via Chinatown Bus

I finally got to do something I've been wanting to do for some time. I took a Chinatown to Chinatown bus from Washington DC to New York. This is budget travel at its best.

There are several bus companies operating this route. I went with Apex Bus, as they have the most frequent departures.

My reason for taking the bus was purely economical, in terms of both time and money. Since I'd be stuck in Washington DC for some time, I had decided that I should take a trip or two to NYC. There's only so much to do in the Washington DC metro area, after all. And New York is a fun place to visit, though I'd never want to live there for an extended period of time.

I had thought about making the 4 hour drive up to Manhattan, parking the car and leaving it there for the weekend while I roamed the city by subway, and then driving back to DC the following day. After thinking things over, I realized the following:

• Gas would cost $60 round-trip
• Tolls would cost around $35 round-trip
• Parking would be free if I could find street parking in SoHo - otherwise it'll run $60 to park in a lot for two days
• Hotels in Manhattan are expensive this time of year

So we're talking in the neighborhood of $300-400 for a weekend in Manhattan all by myself. I finalized my plans to do a day trip, which was a no brainer from a financial standpoint:

• Gas to DC and back is $5
• Tolls on the Dulles Toll Road is $2.50
• Bus is $35 round trip
• Parking in DC is $20, though they initially told me $10. Whatever, still a bargain.
• Earliest bus leaves DC at 3:30am, arrives in Manhattan Chinatown by 7:30am
• Buses leave Manhattan Chinatown practically hourly through most of the day, so I opt for the 9:30pm bus, returning to DC by 12:30am

A grand total of $62.50 for a very full day in Manhattan. And I get to sleep on the bus both ways. And I could have as many cocktails as I wanted before returning home (as long as I sobered up before picking up my car). Not a bad day to spend a day, if you don't mind dragging your ass out of bed at 2:30am!

Some thoughts about the bus ride...

Since this was a Chinatown bus, I expected the bus to be dirty. Quite the contraty. The buses were fairly clean and well kept. Sure, there was a grease mark on the window from a previous passenger's greasy head, but otherwise all was well. There was no trash or litter anywhere, which could be attributed to the plastic garbage bags they place on the armrest of every row. The seats were in good condition. The toilet was pretty funky, but that's to be expected, especially when you have half-asleep, groggy old men using it while the bus is driving on city streets in stop-and-go traffic.

The bus stopped a couple of times (I have no idea where, maybe Baltimore?) to pick up more passengers. My biggest complaint was that the bus driver would stop at a parking lot, open the doors, and start yelling in Chinese to the boarding passengers while all of the other passengers were sound asleep. I have no idea what he was saying, probably something like "are you going to New York?" and what not. At one stop though, the driver got into an argument with a boarding passenger and the screaming went on for a good 4 to 5 minutes. The argument continued to intensify, and the boarding passenger got off the bus and the driver drove off. Great, just what I need at 5am!

As for parking, I think I was lucky that they allowed me to park there. Their parking lot is small, and can only fit a couple dozen cars. They seem to offer event parking for the Verizon center, so if you want to park there and take a bus departing during an event, you'd probably be SOL.

My alternative parking spot would have been Union Station in Washington DC, which is about a mile away from Chinatown on foot. Union Station has a parking lot open 24/7, and it costs $18 to park there for 24hrs. Not a bad deal, if you don't mind the walking. There are a few other parking lots in the vicinity of Chinatown, but I hadn't researched their rates.