Day Tour of the Big Apple

The Route

Start: Penn Station, New York City   Amtrak Info

Route: Ride with your bike on Amtrak’s Vermonter from Washington, DC. Detrain at Penn Station and head to Hudson River Greenway, four blocks west.

Bike loop, 25 miles: (Following East Coast Greenway) head north on the Hudson River Greenway. Ride on to the George Washington Bridge and cross the Hudson River, then ride south on the New Jersey Palisades route to Jersey City, then back to Manhattan via ferry. Enjoy skyline views from the bridge and the New Jersey coast of the Hudson.

Map Directions

• Download turn by turn directions from Penn Station to Fort Lee across the GWB
• Download turn by turn directions from Fort Lee to Jersey City

Walking tour of High Line, 3 miles round-trip: Two blocks from the East Coast Greenway, this 1.45-mile greenway is hailed as an international model of innovative industrial reuse. The former elevated rail line now features more than 500 plant and tree species, art exhibits, an open-air food court, and great views of the Hudson River, Midtown, and more. Read more about the High Line.

From the Hudson River Greenway heading north, turn right towards Horatio Street, left on Jane Street, right on Horatio, left on Greenwich, left on Gansevoort Street to reach the southern end of the High Line.

Penn Station is less than a mile, to the east, for your train ride home.

Provisions

Enjoy an early lunch at Pier i Cafe on the greenway at West 70th St.

In the cafe car on train ride home, order a well-earned beer and snacks.

Pier i Cafe

Local Knowledge

As you ride the ferry back to the city, remember that this is how people primarily entered New York City — by boat — for hundreds of years, many of them seeking new lives in this country.

Photo opportunities abound: Battery Park, Ellis Island and Liberty Island, the Staten Island Ferry, and so many historic and beautiful bridges. The High Line offers unique vantage points as well as fun people watching.

Planning consultant Eric Weis is the East Coast Greenway’s former director of greenway development and a card-carrying cyclist. He lives in Providence, RI.