Travel Advice--BWI (maryland) to Harrisburg?

[lady in red]

This is a question for east coast people: I can't rent a car (under 21) , so I was wondering if there is light rail or a metro (except for Amtrak that takes forever) going to Pittsburg?
I looked at the BWI site, but there are SO MANY different bus systems, I am confused...

thanks

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[oldman]

can't you fly into pittsburg? BWI is pretty far from that city.

 

[Coalboy]

I agree. BWI is a good 4 1/2 hour drive from Pittsburgh. If at all possible, fly to Pittsburgh.

 

[Dr. Kermit]

Having gone to school in Baltimore and a native of Pittsburgh, I can pretty much tell you you're going to need to fly into Pittsburgh or rent a car. BTW, why does the topic say Harrisburg if you need to get to Pittsburgh? Are you interviewing at Penn State or Pitt?

If you're going to Pittsburgh, the best thing to do is fly to Pittsburgh and then take the bus from the airport to Oakland where Pitt is located. You can usually fly USAir into Pittsburgh, we're a USAir Hub or find something cheaper on another airline. If you can't fly into Pittsburgh and insist on going to BWI, there really aren't too many options to get from BWI to Pittsburgh other than another flight (~$100 roundtrip) or an 8 hour bus that goes to DC first and then Pittsburgh. AMTRAK doesn't run from Baltimore to PIttsburgh.

If you're going to Harrisburg for Penn State, I think you can take a Super Shuttle from BWI to Penn Station of the bus station and either will take you up to Harrisburg. Greyhound will cost you about $45 round trip and the train maybe $20 more.

Good luck!

 

[panda01]

Did you mean Harrisburg or Pittsburgh? Harrisburg is about 10 miles from Penn State, and I guess Pittsburgh is where Pitt is?

If you're talking Pittsburgh, that's pretty far west. For Harrisburg, I don't think there's a light rail from BWI but I know Greyhound and Amtrak go there. I'm interviewing at Penn State in late March, but I'm flying into Harrisburg and renting a car. It's only $20 more to fly into Harrisburg over BWI, plus I can make an evening flight after my interview and save a day's worth of car rental. If you do fly into Harrisburg, there are cheap taxis to the med school.

Hope this helps!

 

[lady in red]

Sorry, I did mean Harrisburg--Penn state that is!
My ticket to BWI was $220, but to fly to Harrisburg--almost 800!

 

[mdhopeful]

Hey lady in red, it is notoriously more expensive to fly into Harrisburg. When I interviewed at Penn State I flew to Harrisburg only because I was coordinating another interview and both of my interviews said wow, that I must have paid a lot to fly there. I didn't know beforehand it was so expensive. Anyways, the other interviewees had either driven or taken a bus from BWI and that seemed to work out well for them. Have you already scheduled the interview? If you haven't, I recommend being in the 8:30 session because the interviews are conducted shortly after you get there. If you do the 11 am session, you first have lunch and a tour, and when I was leaving most of the 11 am people said they were very tired and hadn't even done their interviews yet. Good luck.

 

[lady in red]

yup, i am in the 8:30--they said i'll be done by 2pm. my return flight is at 4!!!!!!!

 

[panda01]

Your return flight is at 4 out of BWI?? That's going to be really close--it's 100 miles from Penn State to BWI. You'll probably have to leave the tour early, especially if you have to catch a bus. Maybe someone who's interviewing with you will be flying out of BWI that day too!

What date are you interviewing? I'll be there March 25th.