Planning a trip for the second week in September 4-9. I was curious about any known shuttles in the area.
Thanks!
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Planning a trip for the second week in September 4-9. I was curious about any known shuttles in the area.
Thanks!
I would look into the cost of renting a car for the short time you will be hiking. Park it where you will finish and get a shuttle to your start point. It might be cost effective when considering total costs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ldsailor
to me-----that makes no sense to take a train to HF then a shuttle down to shenandoah....
DC to front royal part of shenadoah is a give or take an hour drive...
so is the drive from HF to shenadoah...
makes more sense to just shuttle from DC to front royal (or whatever part of the Park)..
but, yeah.....a rental car would be more efficient....
Take a bus from DC to Front Royal ($28.50)
https://virginiabreeze.org/
and get a shuttle from there into Shenandoah.
Hike back to Front Royal, and then take the bus back into DC ($28.50)
I can't imagine getting a shuttle from DC to Front Royal for even $30 one-way, and a car rental for five days will cost you about $200.
You'll pay for a shuttle from your end point to your start point no matter which choice you make.
5 days doesn't give you much time. The bus from DC to Front Royal is your best option. If you can make it to Waynesboro, you can get a shuttle over to Charlottesville for either a bus or train back to DC. Most shuttle drivers don't like to pick up/drop off in the Park as there are only a couple of ways in and out, plus they have to pay a fee to enter the park.
Okay, so I'm geographically challenged. I guess I should have looked at the map a little closer. My bad.Quote:
Originally Posted by TNhiker
The rental car would be cheaper than a shuttle from the airport. Shuttle drivers usually charge a minimum of $1 from their base to pickup point to destination. Assuming you found a driver in Front Royal, that would be $140. Then you need a shuttle back to the airport when done, so now you are getting close to $300 for a shuttle.
But, yeah a bus would be much cheaper if the schedule worked out. A round trip ticket for less than $30 is a deal. I could only find one bus that will do the trip from Washington, DC and that's Megabus as noted by a previous post. They have one departure on September 4 at 9:20 AM. Maybe someone knows of other bus companies that will do the trip. Greyhound doesn't as far as I can tell.
Last year, I took Amtrak to Charlottesville and it was easy to get an Uber to get to Rockfish Gap for around $30. I think the train was also around $30. Chances are other hikers will be trying to get to trail so it may be possible to split an Uber. I let another hiker ride with me but he was complaining about lack of funds so I didn’t ask him to split the fare. From Front Royal, the bus sounds like a good option although I’ve not used that myself.
Thanks for this information! I am trying to make lemonade out of an annual reunion hike that has seen people drop like flies. The plan was to split a rental car with a couple buddies. Since they have now bailed, I was looking for more creative options. Tempted to road trip from Texas...
"If people never quit when the going got tough, they would never have anything to regret the rest of their lives." (Lance Armstrong, Dodgeball) "The mountains are still calling, I'm still going to go." (adapting Jon Muir)