Getting Around, Albany Travel, Transport and Car Rental

(Albany, New York - NY, USA)

An established state capital with a solid transport infrastructure, Albany features all of the usual travel options, namely a public transit service, long-distance buses and coaches, hire cars, modern trains and plenty of taxis.

If you are planning to travel around New York's capital and also the Capital Region, how you choose to get about really depends upon where you are based. Hotels in and around the downtown district mean that you can often simply walk to your chosen restaurant or attraction, and for slightly longer distances, bus transport will be the next cheapest choice.

Albany International Airport is located on the northwesterly outskirts of the city, being a little under 9 miles / 14 km from the city center and connected by Central Avenue, Wolf Road and the Albany Shaker Road. Close to three million passengers travel in and out of this airport, onboard flights serviced by four concourses and airlines such as Air Canada, Cape Air, Delta, Southwest Airlines, United Express and US Airways.

Albany International Airport (ALB) / Arriving by Air

Address: 737 Albany Shaker Road, Albany, New York (NY), 12211, USA
Tel: +1 518 242 2200
Ground transport options at Albany's airport are comprehensive and include various bus and shuttle services, as well as long-distance Adirondack Trailways coaches, which travel to a host of destinations, such as Boston, Chestertown, Glens Falls, Lake Placid, Montreal, New York City, Plattsburgh, Syracuse and Warrensburg. Car rental transport is also on hand and provided by Alamo, Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Hertz and Thrifty, while taxi and limo companies operating here include Capital Region Limousine, Coxsackie Transport and Northeast Shuttle Service.

Car Rental

More and more visitors to Albany are choosing a rental car as their preferred mode of transport during their stay in New York's capital city. Even though Greater Albany is quite a metropolis in its own right, it is relatively straightforward to travel around by hire car and the traffic remains light all through the day, except for the very occasional traffic congestion at peak commuting times. However, finding a parking space around areas such as Center Square can prove somewhat challenging.

Having a rental car in Albany means that you can take full advantage of the surrounding interstates and highways. Interstate I-87 heads right through the city, crossing the Canadian border to the north and ultimately connecting Montreal. To the south, the I-87 provides a fast way to travel towards Manhattan, although driving in New York City is certainly not for the faint-hearted. Elsewhere, the I-88 runs to Binghamton, to the southwest, and the I-90 connects Syracuse (northwest) with Springfield and Worcester (southeast).

Book your Albany Car Rental here.

Buses

Tel: +1 518 482 8822
Bus transport in Albany is managed by the Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) and connects many places of interest around the downtown district, the city's principal neighborhoods and the surrounding suburbs. With fixed fares charged either per journey or per day, regardless of journey time, public buses can prove to be an extremely inexpensive way to travel to your chosen destination. CDTA buses are most plentiful during weekdays, traveling between the hours of 06:00 and midnight Monday to Friday, with shorter hours on Saturdays and only a few routes choosing to operate on Sundays.

Alternative public transport in Albany comes in the form of Greyhound coaches, with the Greyhound station being situated close to the Hudson River and the I-787 (exit 3B), on Hamilton Street. These coaches / buses travel to many popular destinations around New York State and across its state borders, such as Boston, Buffalo, Montreal and of course, the Big Apple itself, New York City. Also traveling between Albany and New York City is the budget-friendly Megabus, which is at its cheapest when booked ahead and based just off East Street.

Trains

Tel: +1 1 800 872 7245
An Amtrak train station is situated just across the Hudson River, in the neighboring town of Rensselaer. This busy train station is most easily reached by taxi cab, although this journey can prove to be a little on the expensive side for some travelers, who prefer to use bus transport - namely Route 214. Various different rail lines travel to destinations such as Buffalo, New York and Niagara Falls, as well as Montreal and Toronto, across the border in Canada. The following railway lines all stop off at Albany en route:

• Adirondack (New York to Montreal)
• Empire Service (New York to Niagara Falls)
• Ethan Allen Express (Rutland to New York)
• Maple Leaf (New York to Toronto)
• Lake Shore (Chicago to Boston)

Taxis

Getting around by taxi transport in Albany is a popular and affordable way to travel short distances, since cabs are not actually metered, but instead operate on a fixed-fare per zone basis. This means that it is easy to work out how much it is going to cost you if you opt for a taxi, although it is worth agreeing your fare first before you set off on your journey, since different drivers have different opinions of the zone boundaries, and whether or not the Colonie Center is considered to be located within Albany or the suburb of Colonie. Local cab companies include:

• Capitaland Taxi - tel: +1 518 641 1040
• Colonie Yellow Cab - tel: +1 518 579 8294
• Duffy's Taxi Incorporated - tel: +1 518 433 8400
• Yellow Cab Co. - tel: +1 518 434 2222