How To Get To Rochester

How to get around once you get here? See Public Transit or Taxi Services. Looking to get away? See Excursions or Day Trips.

By Car From Buffalo From Philadelphia From Toronto From New York City Route 1 (6 hours) Route 2 (7 hours) By Plane By Train By Boat Erie Canal By Bus Greyhound MegaBus Trailways NY Chinatown Bus Unconventional Means

By Car

From Buffalo

(about an hour trip)

• Take the NY Thruway (Interstate 90) East
  

• Merge into Interstate 490 East
  

• Exit at the major street of your choice (i.e.,. Goodman Street)

From Philadelphia

(about a 5 1/2 hour trip)

• Take the Schuylkill Expressway (I-76) west out of Philadelphia
  

• Take Exit 331B for I-476 N ("Blue Route")
  

• Follow I-476 N onto the PA Turnpike Northeast Extension
  

• At the end of the Turnpike, Exit 131 (Clarks Summit), follow Interstate 81 North
  

• North of Syracuse, take the exit for the NY Thruway (Interstate 90) West
  

• Follow the Thruway until Rochester Exit 45 - Interstate 490
  

• Exit at the major street of your choice (i.e., Monroe Avenue)

From Toronto

(about a 3 1/2 hour trip)

• Take the Gardiner Expressway West
  

• Merge onto the QEW
  

• Follow the QEW through St. Catherines to the US Border
  

• Take the Lewiston Bridge (that's the easiest bridge; although the Rainbow Bridge often has shorter waits)
  

• Take Interstate 190 South across Grand Island
  

• Pick up Interstate 290
  

• Get on the Thruway (Interstate 90) East headed towards Rochester
  

• Rochester area exits are 47 (Interstate 490 East), 46 (Interstate 390 North), and 45 (Interstate 490 West)

From New York City

Route 1 (6 hours)

• Exit Manhattan via the Holland Tunnel
  

• Take NJ-139 westbound to the Newark Turnpike
  

• Take the Newark Turnpike westbound to I-280 westbound
  

• Merge into I-80 westbound
  

• Take I-80 westbound to I-380 northbound (towards Scranton)
  

• Merge into I-81 northbound, take this all the way to Syracuse
  

• South of Syracuse, take the I-690 westbound to the Thruway (I-90) westbound
  

• Rochester area exits are 47 (Interstate 490 East), 46 (Interstate 390 North), and 45 (Interstate 490 West)

Route 2 (7 hours)

• Take I-87 northbound out of the Bronx (this is the Thruway)
  

• Cross the Tappan Zee bridge and continue on I-87 northbound to Albany
  

• Merge into I-90 westbound and continue to Rochester
  

• Rochester area exits are 47 (Interstate 490 East), 46 (Interstate 390 North), and 45 (Interstate 490 West)

By Plane

Rochester has a modest airport that goes by the rather grandiose title Greater Rochester International Airport, and its airport code, ROC, inspired the name of this Wiki. The advantage to being out here in the sticks is that the airport is small and generally uncrowded. The disadvantage is that to get here you'll generally have to fly through a larger hub.

The airport is served by Air Canada, American Eagle, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, United, and U.S. Airways. ROC is probably best connected to various airports in the New York City area:

• Air Canada flies to Toronto daily (why didn't we buy an airplane instead of a ferry?).
  

• American Eagle operates several daily non-stop flights between Chicago-O'Hare and Rochester on an Embraer RJ145 Amazon. The flight time is slightly less than two hours.
  

• Delta flies primarily to hubs at Atlanta and Detroit, but also Minneapolis, New York-JFK and New York-LaGuardia.
  

• Jetblue has several flights daily to their hub at New York-JFK. One class seating on an Airbus A320. The flight is roughly one hour.
  

• Southwest flies to their hubs at Baltimore and Chicago-Midway, as well as Orlando and Tampa.
  

• United flies primarily to their hubs at Chicago-O'Hare and Washington-Dulles (many flights are codeshared between U.S. Airways and United) but also Cleveland and Newark.
  

• U.S. Airways flies from Rochester to their hubs in Charlotte and Philadelphia, and also flies direct to Boston and Washington-National/Reagan.

Here is the Current list of non-stop destinations.

Up-to-the-minute information on ROC Arrivals and Departures.

The closest airports outside of Rochester are:

• Buffalo
  

• Syracuse
  

• Toronto (for direct flights to Europe and the West Coast)

By Train

Amtrak takes about 6 hours to New York's Penn Station. Rochester's Amtrak station is served on the following routes:

• Empire Service: New York City to Buffalo/Niagara Falls (2 trains daily each way)
  

• Maple Leaf: New York City to Toronto (once daily)
  

• Lakeshore Limited: New York City to Chicago (once daily). This train also has a connection in Albany to Boston.

The complete route of the Lakeshore Limited:

• Chicago, IL Union Station (CHI)
  

• South Bend, IN (SOB)
  

• Toledo, OH (TOL)
  

• Cleveland, OH (CLE)
  

• Buffalo-Depew, NY Depew (BUF)
  

• Rochester, NY (ROC)
  

• Syracuse, NY (SYR)
  

• Rome, NY (ROM)
  

• Utica, NY (UCA)
  

• Schenectady, NY (SDY)
  

• Albany-Rensselaer, NY (ALB)
  

• New York, NY Penn Station (NYP)

a travelogue: http://www.trainweb.org/amtrakpix/travelogues/50104A/50104A.html

By Boat

Erie Canal

• Erie Canal System

By Bus

Greyhound

Greyhound takes 6 to 7 hours to New York City (arriving in the basement of the Port Authority) and generally stops at Syracuse or Ithaca and Binghamton along the way. The station is located at 186 Cumberland Street, between the Inner Loop and the Amtrak station.

The route from NYC is as follows: Lincoln Tunnel->Rt 3->Rt 46->I-80W->I-81N->I-90W->I-490W. (The Ithaca route skips Syracuse and cuts across diagonally from just north of Binghamton).

MegaBus

MegaBus is a low-cost bus service that is a cross between a Greyhound coach and a double-decker sightseeing bus. The earlier you book, the cheaper the fare, which ranges from $1 - $50 (approx). The ride is about 7 hours long. Currently, there is only one trip available daily from Rochester to NYC and vice versa.

NYC bus stops are at Penn Station and the Port Authority.
The Rochester bus stop is on the northeast side of the RIT Inn and Conference Center in Henrietta.

MegaBus rides are also available in other Western NY cities, certain Northeast and Midwest states, and Canada.

Trailways NY

Trailways NY
Destinations are:

• Albany
  

• Buffalo
  

• New York City
  

• Syracuse
  

• Rochester

Note: Bus schedule is similar to that of Greyhound.

Chinatown Bus

A "Chinatown Bus" (GoNYCBus) to New York City picks at 733 Monroe Ave at 10:15AM every day. The trip is $40.

In New York City, the bus leaves at 9AM every day from 3 Allen Street (no longer under the Manhattan Bridge) heading through Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo.

The Chinatown Bus was awarded "Best Way to Get to NYC at 1 a.m." in City Newspaper's 'Best Of Rochester' Critics' Choice Awards in 2008.¹

BusJunction is a search engine for discount bus tickets with routes to/from Rochester. Its listings include tickets from Megabus, Bolt Bus, and several of the Chinatown bus lines.

Unconventional Means

• Hitchhiking
  

• Ride Board