How to Get Around Connecticut

A car is the practical choice for everything except the coastal cities, which are genuinely well connected by rail.

Metro-North runs the shoreline from New Haven into Grand Central, and Amtrak's Northeast Corridor crosses the state with fast services to New York and Boston. Arriving by train and renting a car on arrival works well.

Interstate 95 along the coast is heavily congested and should be avoided at rush hour in either direction. The Merritt Parkway is the alternative for the southwest — 1930s, tree-lined, with Art Deco bridges, and closed to lorries — and it is a genuinely pleasant drive.

Bradley, north of Hartford near the Massachusetts line, is the state's own airport; many visitors use New York's or Boston's instead.

Ferries cross the Sound to Long Island from two points on the southeast coast, which saves a long drive around.