I learned early on that there was no direct commercial flights from Hartford (BDL) to Boston (BOS)…read more Time to check other options.
The most feasible way to get from Hartford, CT to downtown Boston, MA was sitting on a private charter bus. I also checked Amtrak but they don't have a direct schedule between the two cities. And so, I initially found and booked FlixBus, but they cancelled my ticket 2 weeks before my arrival. I found Peter Pan Bus lines, which claimed to be the largest private charter bus in the New England area. Thought that was pretty cool and way more reliable than FlixBus. With that said, I was glad they had the same itinerary and provided a direct route to Boston without any stops. And of course, the price was pretty nice at $29, comparative to getting an Uber or Lyft. This is where these private bus companies shine over Uber and Lyft. Upon arrival that morning, I found the bus depot that was in the back of the Hartford Union Amtrak station. Thankfully my Uber drove past the area so I knew where to go instead of trying to find it. Only issue that we had was the fact that the initial bus we boarded had no functioning central air conditioning. So we sat in that warm hid thing for about 10 minutes before we switched buses, which made it way more comfortable the second time around. I had my electronic ticket out for the bus driver,
Whom had a scanner and just scanned my phone and it was easy. Too easy in fact.
The overall experience here at the Peter Pan Bus lines was pretty good and typical. They provided me with the basic ticket in which is what I paid for, physically transporting me from Hartford, CT to downtown Boston, MA. The trip took about 2 hours from departure to arrival. The driver was friendly as I boarded and exited the private charter bus. The seats were plush and definitely like a small private plane, with two seats per row. All rows came with an electric outlet, so you can charge your devices while riding the bus. I took full advantage of that and it was a good amenity to have on board. During my ride over, we took the main interstates and main thoroughfare straight into downtown Boston, arriving at the South station precisely on schedule. I chose the 9:30am departure and it arrived at 11:30am. The seats were pretty comfortable and had a good time just decompressing on what transpired over the last few days of getting up at 4am and putting out 26.2 miles over the course of 5 days in 5 different states. Now it was time to just chill out and enjoy the rest of my trip in Boston on a chill Saturday morning in May 2022. Other than the no air conditioning on the first bus, everything was smooth on this trip.
This Peter Pan Bus line ran from Hartford, CT to Boston MA. It's base in CT was the union station terminal and in Boston, the south station. They have an online reservation system, so you would need to book your travel ahead of time before departure. That means they accept major credit cards only. Although I'm not sure whether or not they have a ticket booth inside the building of Union Station Hartford, but possibly you can buy it with cash if you are in Hartford and need a coach bus to get you where you want to go out of Hartford, CT. I'm not sure if they have overnight parking or any parking here, because it's a bus terminal. I'm sure they have something here, like a park and ride facility nearby, so it makes sense to have parking for people who make trips in and out of Hartford and don't want to commute that far each way. For those of you that use public transportation, Hartford has its own local bus system to get you to union station and Amtrak station is located here as well. No matter how you travel in New England, consider the Peter Pan bus lines for your travel. It'll
Save money on everything and you can sleep on the bus. I did that and it was nice.
5.0 stars for the overall experience, even with the switch of the buses. Everything was on time. Prices was good too.
Support local!
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