Suggestions for April 2015, please

[BereniceUK]

It's looking like I'll next be visiting the US in April 2015 and will be staying in both Philadelphia and New York, too early to say for how long in each city. I've put in for my holiday dates from work and, all being well, would fly in to the US on Saturday, April 11th, and can stay until approximately Sunday, April 26th. The one place I really want to go to is Gettysburg; can anyone suggest other places or events I can think about going to between April 12th and 26th, 2015? I can cover an area which would include most of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York, and would be happy to stay overnight somewhere that's worthwhile visiting.

Ideally I don't want to rent a car but I will if I really need to.

 

[Frederick14Va]

Outside of the inner structure of a metro city.... having ones own transportation source would typically be necessary... Public transportation here in the US is far less efficient or even non-existing in most areas as compared to most of Europe... Just have to keep reminding yourself which side of the road to drive on.....

 

[BereniceUK]

Outside of the inner structure of a metro city.... having ones own transportation source would typically be necessary... Public transportation here in the US is far less efficient or even non-existing in most areas as compared to most of Europe... Just have to keep reminding yourself which side of the road to drive on.....

I'm okay driving in the US but I'm finding as I get older that I'm getting less keen to get behind the wheel. Once I'm out of the city I'm fine and I do rent a car during most of my US holidays.

 

[Drew]

Grand Army Plaza at the gate to Prospect Park is neat to see. It's walking distance from there to both the Brooklyn Museum and Brookly Botanical Gardens. Easily accessible by bus or subway train (you don't want a rental car in New York City).

Gettysburg can actually be done without a car. You'd have to get yourself to Harrisburg, where http://www.rabbittransit.org/Schedules/rabbitEXPRESS.aspx operates bus service to G'burg. The town itself is very walkable and there are shuttles to the battelfields and other attractions. You would definitely need a car to visit the MD and VA battlefields.

 

[BereniceUK]

Thanks for the reminder about Grand Army Plaza - I did photograph that on my first visit to New York without being aware of what it was so a return visit is definitely called for.

The info on Harrisburg/Gettysburg has led me to find that if I made Gettysburg my last visit in the US and stayed overnight in Harrisburg I could then fly direct to Toronto for the last couple of days of my holiday. Great!

 

[kel1985]

Antietam, South Mountain, and Harper's Ferry are about an hour's drive from Gettysburg...both worth checking out...Antietam is much better preserved IMHO, both very doable with Gettysburg as a base of operations...a little further south is Monacacy.
If you get the chance to do DC for a day I strongly recommend it...the American History Museum of the Smithsonian Institute has some great ACW relics on display.

 

[BereniceUK]

So maybe stay in Harrisburg for a couple of nights and have a car rental one of the days. Sounds good.

Yes, I had it in mind to have at least one day in DC as I haven't been there yet (+13 states to go for all 50 visited). Lots to research now, thanks for the suggestions, guys.

 

[Ed McCaul]

Take a bus up to West Point, visit the museum there and walk the grounds. You can also walk up (it is a long uphill walk) to Fort Putnam and have a terrific view of the Hudson River and valley. While in Philadelphia make sure that you visit the USS Olympia, Dewey's flagship at the Battle of Manila Bay. As others have stated you will need to rent a car to see a lot of the battlefields. The two items I have mentioned you can see without renting a car.

 

[BereniceUK]

Thanks! Constitution Island also looks to be worth visiting, on a nice day.

 

[Ed McCaul]

Another suggestion for when you are in DC is to take a boat ride down the Potomac and visit Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. You may also want to take the train down to Fredericksburg ( I believe that the train from DC goes there) and visit the National Park there.

 

[BereniceUK]

Waiting to hear if my holiday dates will get an unofficial OK from work and then I can really start to look at schedules and flights. Lynchburg and Appomattox are possible too and I do want to revisit Roanoke VA as I really enjoyed the brief visit I made there a few years ago.

 

[lelliott19]

It's looking like I'll next be visiting the US in April 2015 and will be staying in both Philadelphia and New York, too early to say for how long in each city. I've put in for my holiday dates from work and, all being well, would fly in to the US on Saturday, April 11th, and can stay until approximately Sunday, April 26th. The one place I really want to go to is Gettysburg; can anyone suggest other places or events I can think about going to between April 12th and 26th, 2015? I can cover an area which would include most of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York, and would be happy to stay overnight somewhere that's worthwhile visiting.

Ideally I don't want to rent a car but I will if I really need to.

If you are going to be in the States during April 2015 you really shouldn't miss the 150th Commemoration of the Surrender at Appomattox IMHO. There will be a reenactment of the surrender with portrayal of Lee and Grant's famous meeting as well as reenactment of the paroling of the Confederate soldiers and the stacking of arms. We were there for the Anniversary in 2013 and it was very moving.

 

[E_just_E]

If you are looking to go to Gettysburg and other sites, I would suggest that you make Hagerstown, MD your overnight stop instead of Harrisburg. It is about an hour and 15 minutes drive from Harrisburg, so you can use that airport, but certainly close to Philadelphia to not to have to deal with extra connections. Hagerstown will give you access to many battlefields in the MD area, plus Harper's Ferry, and hotel rooms are less expensive than both Harrisburg and Gettysburg.

If I were you, I'd fly to PHL. You can get the train from the airport to downtown (aka Center City) for your Philadelphia stay and there is plenty of public transportation. Get a weekly everywhere pass for $52. You will not regret that. Then you can get the train to NYC and back. You can then rent a car from PHL for your battlefield trip and drop it back there fairly easily on your way back. PHL to Hagerstown is 2.5 hrs all highway drive. This way you just have to do one single direct fly to PHL, which is a decent international hub.

 

[Nathanb1]

Baltimore is also a great place to fly into for Hagerstown. Just zip down the interstate--and you can make a stop at Frederick, too. I see you can fly in from London--and also fly to Canada--from BIA. http://www.bwiairport.com/files/pdfs/FLIGHTS_November2014.pdf

Easy access to Gettysburg (I suspect there's a shuttle or tour company that goes there), Antietam, Harpers Ferry, etc.

And it's close to Washington, which means you can go to Arlington National Cemetery, see Lee's home, visit the graves of civil war notables (and folks like John F. Kennedy), and still make it easily around Washington on the Metro. (The view from Arlington is second to none).

Best of all--they have great crab cakes in the airport.

 

[Karen Lips]

It's looking like I'll next be visiting the US in April 2015 and will be staying in both Philadelphia and New York, too early to say for how long in each city. I've put in for my holiday dates from work and, all being well, would fly in to the US on Saturday, April 11th, and can stay until approximately Sunday, April 26th. The one place I really want to go to is Gettysburg; can anyone suggest other places or events I can think about going to between April 12th and 26th, 2015? I can cover an area which would include most of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York, and would be happy to stay overnight somewhere that's worthwhile visiting.

Ideally I don't want to rent a car but I will if I really need to.

Will this be your first visit to The USA?

 

[BereniceUK]

Will this be your first visit to The USA?

No, I've been over once or twice a year since 2006. Occasionally rent a car and I actually do more driving in the US than in the UK.

Thank you, everyone, for your great suggestions. Apologies for not responding sooner but as I'd already put in for holiday dates from April 11th and Appotamattox on the 12th was recommended I've been trying to see if I could add an extra day on to the start of my holiday so that I could arrive in the US on the 10th. Not as yet.

 

[MRB1863]

Berenice,
The above suggestions are wonderful. here's another: Saturday, April 18, 2015 is the first scheduled living history weekend on the Gettysburg Battlefield. Included will be living history, campfire programs, ranger talks and walks, and much more. Here's a link to Destination Gettysburg that provides more details: http://www.destinationgettysburg.com/visitor/event_day.asp?date_view=4/25/2015
Enjoy your visit to the Colonies!

 

[St Albans Raid]

Well there is a Reenactment of Appomattox/Sailor's Creek In VA on the 12th