Submitted by Westham2830 t3_10ognrr in newjersey
Hi all. Coming over to attend a wedding in South NJ in May. We don’t get to Newark from London until 10pm and don’t fancy doing the drive. Any suggestions for a shorter drive to somewhere decent we can spend our first full day. What is Long Branch like? All ideas and suggestions welcome!
We are travelling down to Cape May, just didn’t fancy doing it all that late at night with the twins. They are a pain in the arse travelling in cars as it is! Cheers
I would spend the extra hour driving directly to Cape May, better yet fly into Philadelphia which is about 1.5 hours from Cape May if possible
There's not much to do in Long Branch. Point Pleasant isn't too much further and has a boardwalk that your kids might like. There aren't many nice hotels on the Northern NJ shore though that I know of. Mostly people rent houses if they vacation there.
If it were me getting in at that time after an 8 hour fight I'd probably just crash in a hotel near the airport for one night and then start the drive to Cape May first thing in the morning. Cape May is by far the nicest shore town in NJ, at least in my opinion. I'd probably want to spend most of the time there.
10pm intl arrival means you won't clear immigration/customs until 2330-2400. you might be better off staying on airport grounds (i.e. Newark Liberty International Airpot Marriott) to sleep and get an early start. this is the only on site hotel. you need to take shuttles to surrounding hotels and they/neighborhoods are iffy (i.e. holiday inn and doubletree are next to the state prison). note, most, if not all car rental companies are outside of airport grounds, so you need to take their shuttle.
not much to see on the NJ Turnpike to south NJ. If you plan on taking the garden state parkway, you can detour to sandy hook national park for nyc views, seaside heights/boardwalk attractions, ocean city, wildwood/boardwalk attractions.
if you are staying around cape may, take a day ferry trip to delaware by dewey beach, bethany beach and rehoboth beach. stop by their roadside shacks for trays of steamed blue crabs.
This is the prudent thing to do. You will arrive late and will probably be jet lagged. So the best course of action is to sleep off that night and then pick up the rental car and hit the road next day when you are fresh.
You people drive on the wrong side of road, so you will need to factor that in as well :)
Best to stay at the Marriott at the airport when you arrive. Then the next morning get your rental car and make your way south.
South Jersey? It might be central, but they definitely call it Taylor ham and root for the giants and Yankees.
>most, if not all car rental companies are outside of airport grounds, so you need to take their shuttle.
This is incorrect. Most car rental companies can be reached via the P3 station on the AirTrain. The only ones I know of offsite are Ace/Drivo.
The new parking garage they are building for the new Terminal A is going to have a car rental center in it as well that all the on-site companies will be moving to.
They drive on the other side of the road. Not the wrong side.
[deleted]
HOBOKEN. Stay at the W , wake up, eat, walk around with kids get a zip car and head dts.
Long branch is south jersey for you?
Nah they call it pork roll there, they call it pork roll in middlesex county even
I second the Marriott. Shuttle runs for free to the hotel. Spend the night, grab your car in the morning.
Long Branch has 1 of 2 Meaderies in the state. It’s nice to check out. But otherwise the shore is dead this time of year.
Edit: “this time of year” referring to off season. Season usually meaning Memorial Day weekend forward to Labor Day.
This is not south Jersey.
Just be aware, the Marriott shuttle can be a little flakey. I drive Uber sometimes in the evenings, and on multiple occasions have gotten rides from the terminals to the Marriott and the riders tell me they had been waiting over 30 minutes for the shuttle.
That said, with a 2200 arrival, some of the off airport hotels (specifically the Wyndham Garden off the top of my head), will have already stopped their shuttle service for the night.
It’s a pretty short loop it makes around the airport. I’ve never had any issues. I’ve had more trouble with the airport shuttle that takes you around the terminals. Waited over an hour and a half to get from parking to AA, it’s literally A,B,C.
Asbury Park is fun this time of year.
If it were a one off thing, I wouldn't think much of it, but over the last year I've had around 10 rides from terminals to the Marriott, and everyone said they called after waiting for a while.
I've also seen some people trying to cross Hotel Rd. to get to it after walking thru the terminal B lot. Wouldn't recommend trying that now, as it's a lot busier since the new terminal A dumps out onto it.
> But otherwise the shore is dead this time of year.
They said they're coming in May.
us yanks also don't know the proper way of using roundabouts.
They said May. I wouldnt say it’s dead at that point
[deleted]
Stay near the airport, head out in the morning. Depending on how much time you have- On the way I would consider a stop at Sandy Hook (though it’s a little out of the way), beach towns along the way like Asbury Park and Ocean Grove, Point Pleasant has a small aquarium and boardwalk, then further south Wildwood for a classic NJ boardwalk, and Cape May Zoo is a fun day with kids. There’s no way to do all of that in a day but it will give you some ideas to look into. It will be a shorter drive if you fly into Philadelphia, but that’s a whole different drive.
Agree on get to bed as soon as you can at an airport hotel and then get up early in AM. Especially with kids who need rest! Anything you'd want to do in AM you can make it to by getting up early. NJ isn't that big that it would be a problem. Have fun!
Oh you're going to Cape May? Oh then totally go straight to bed at airport hotel when you land and then head down in AM and walk around Cape May. That will be fun. You could make a pitstop in Asbury Park and look at the boardwalk- kind of fun. But Cape May is really pretty - just head down there in AM. Welcome!
At that time of night it will be 15 minutes to the short hills Hilton
Seconding this
The hotels around Newark are all dumps filled with hookers
I've heard good things about it, but somehow never get down there. I really should since it's only a little over an hour away from me. When I was growing up it was falling apart and neglected but I've heard that it's totally different now and worth visiting. I just haven't yet so I don't know much about it.
Don't stay at the airport hotel. Its awful. Grab your rental and head 10 or 20 km away to something a lot nicer.
It's both.
South NJ isn't a small area, you should say where you're going.
i'd recommend newark/jersey city/NYC
Check if you can fly direct into Philly instead.
You could drive a little bit and stay in a hotel near New Brunswick for a night, and then drive further south the next morning
If you’re committed to doing a bit of driving the night you get in and spending a day somewhere on the way to Cape May, you could look into Princeton or Asbury Park. Princeton’s not a beach town but it has a nice downtown area, parks, restaurants, cafes etc.
That said, Cape May is beautiful and I would echo everyone else who suggests just crashing near the airport and getting a start first thing in the morning. Maybe stop at Princeton for breakfast (or lunch depending on how late you get on the road)
If you want to start making your way south, I would suggest Red Bank over Long Branch. If you are looking for something along the ocean, Long Branch probably isn't too bad. Everything along the ocean will be a little quieter this time of the year without the summer crowds (* just saw you are coming in May, things start to pick back up and will be hectic around Memorial Day, 26-29 May give or take). Where ever you choose between Long Branch to Point Pleasant will be pretty welcoming (except for Deal) but also very different. Asbury Park has a interesting boardwalk but might not be interesting for 7 yo. Belmar has a good down town but not much of a boardwalk. Spring Lake is a little more upscale but a nice family friendly town. Point Pleasant is good and has a boardwalk that might appeal more to children.
C'mon man...give my ladies a break
Cape May is really great in its own right. But my family grew up going to Wildwood Crest every year. On the Garden State Parkway, exits and mile markers are the same. Cape May is exit 0, Wildwood is exit 4. If you have time, check out the beach at WWC. I can’t wait to go back this summer.
Interesting how many people commenting know nothing about the Jersey Shore. Stay the night at the airport and stop in Pt. Pleasant Beach for the kids to enjoy the boardwalk, if on the weekend. If a weekday then Asbury Park/Ocean Grove. That part of Shore is open year round.
> Long Branch is in south NJ.
LMAO
Hahahahhaah
Stay over in Montclair, NJ. It’s safe, 20 minutes away by Uber/Lyft that time of night and there are good brunch places on church street for the following morn. “The George” is nice.
If you are set on doing an hour drive, check out “The asbury” in asbury park.
Great place! If you want to indulge, get a room at The Asbury Ocean Club. Expensive but amazing.
What about staying in the Woodbridge area? Not too bad getting out of the airport, there’s the APA hotel right off the parkway. It is near Metro Park train station as well.
Have you considered flying into Philly?
I would also advise staying at the hotel at the airport and then leaving early to drive down and maybe go to Cape May or somewhere along the shore
Cape may zoo is decent as well for what it is
depends on a number of factors actually. if they have global entry, they could be out of the airport very quickly...it took me three minutes last week from stepping off the plane to luggage claim.
​
i'm assuming you are not renting a car (big difference driving in London vs NJ...) Especially after a long flight I'm sure you don't want to sit any more but personally i'd bite the bullet and go down the shore and not have to deal with it the next day. not too many typical hotels by the shore, so I'd suggest an AirBNB or bed and breakfast. really anywhere except point pleasant would be a good option
Bright_Efficiency_82 t1_j6ejjq0 wrote
Long Branch is in south NJ. Honestly NJ isn’t that big but are you planning to be up near Newark or in south Jersey? There is so much you could do in May.