One week in the United States: The Northeast Corridor
Boston to Washington by train, with a Philadelphia day trip and free Smithsonian museums at the finish.
Photo by Trent Erwin on Unsplash
A week is not enough for all of the United States
This route stays in The Northeast Corridor, the part we'd pick for a first trip. The other regions each need a week of their own; you'll find them after the route.
Interactive map of the route. The full stop list below works without it.
About 630 km as the crow flies
How do you spend a week in the United States?
A one-way week by train, southbound from Boston to Washington. Boston starts with the Freedom Trail, New York City takes the middle days, Philadelphia is a day trip to Independence Hall and Reading Terminal Market, and Washington closes it at Union Station with the Smithsonian's free museums along the National Mall. You sleep in Boston, New York, and Washington, and the only wheels you need are the subway and your feet.
- Days 1 to 2
Boston
Start where the Revolution did
Boston opens the week. The Wayside Downtown Freedom Trail Walk runs from Park Street Church past the Granary Burying Ground and King's Chapel to Faneuil Hall, and the North End to Bunker Hill route adds Paul Revere's house, the USS Constitution, and the 294 steps up to the Bunker Hill Monument. Beacon Hill's brick lanes and the swan boats on the Public Garden fill a second morning.
- TransitAmtrak's Northeast Regional runs Boston to New York in about four hours, with multiple departures daily and downtown-to-downtown stations; Acela is the faster, pricier option on the same line. Fares are lowest booked in advance.SourceAmtrakAmtrak
Boston one-day itineraryBoston walking tours
Next leg · 305.8 km
- Days 3 to 5
New York City
Manhattan and Brooklyn on foot
New York City is the hinge of the week. The Wayside Midtown walk runs from Grand Central Terminal to Central Park's Mall, the Lower Manhattan route ends on the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Brooklyn Heights and Williamsburg walks cover the other side of the East River. Harlem's jazz blocks and the Lower East Side's tenement streets fill whatever time is left. Plan by borough and let the subway close the gaps.
- CostHotel rooms are the big line in a New York stay: the cheapest central double averaged $338 a night in October 2025, and New York adds 14.75 percent in hotel taxes plus $3.50 per room per night.SourceCheapHotels.orgTake Travel Info
New York City one-day itineraryNew York City walking tours
Next leg · 129.6 km
- Day 5, day trip from New York City
Philadelphia
Wayside tour coming soonWhere the Declaration was signed
Philadelphia is the strongest day trip on the route: an early Amtrak train from New York, a morning at Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, lunch at Reading Terminal Market, and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway out to the Rocky Steps in the afternoon. Old City packs the whole day into one stretch of blocks. A Wayside walk in Philadelphia is coming soon.
- Getting thereAmtrak's Northeast Regional takes about 1 hour 40 minutes from New York to Philadelphia, and Acela about 1 hour 15 minutes. Saver fares can run about $35 each way when booked two to four weeks ahead.SourceNYC Itinerary
- TicketsIndependence Hall runs on free timed tickets and the Liberty Bell is free to walk up to; Reading Terminal Market has fed the city from its stalls since 1893.SourceNYC ItineraryRosotravel
Next leg · 199.2 km
- Days 6 to 8
Washington
Wayside tour coming soonFinish on the Mall
Washington closes the week, and it is the cheapest hotel city on the route. Amtrak ends at Union Station downtown, and the National Mall runs west from there past the memorials and monuments. Eleven Smithsonian museums line the Mall, and all of them are free, which helps the budget at the end of the trip. A Wayside walk in Washington is coming soon.
- Getting thereFrom New York, Amtrak's Northeast Regional reaches Washington in about three and a half to four and a half hours, and Acela in about two and a half to three.SourceAmtrak
- CostWashington is the cheapest hotel stop of the route: the cheapest central double averaged $227 a night in October 2025, against $375 in Boston and $338 in New York.SourceCheapHotels.org
- AccessThe Smithsonian museums are free, and eleven of them line the National Mall.SourceSmithsonian Institution
Other trips in the United States
California: San Francisco and Los Angeles
A California week splits between San Francisco and Los Angeles. San Francisco brings the Golden Gate Bridge walk from Crissy Field and the alleys of Chinatown; Los Angeles answers with Hollywood Boulevard, the Venice canals, and the Santa Monica Pier.
Florida: Miami and Orlando
Miami and Orlando fill a week between them. Start with Coral Gables, Little Havana, and the Art Deco beach, then Orlando for Lake Eola, the Morse Museum's Tiffany glass in Winter Park, and the Vietnamese kitchens of Mills 50.
Hawaiʻi: Oʻahu and Honolulu
Honolulu alone earns a week: the royal shoreline at Waikīkī, ʻIolani Palace and the Chinatown markets, the murals of Kakaʻako, and the Punchbowl memorials with their view to Diamond Head.
Less time?
If you have five nights, cut Boston and keep New York City (three nights) and Washington (two), with Philadelphia still an easy day trip from New York. With four, drop the day trip as well and split the nights between the two cities.
Planning your route
Should I book Amtrak tickets before I leave home?
Amtrak tickets on the Northeast Corridor are cheapest booked in advance, and Amtrak itself recommends booking early for the best chance at the best pricing. Trains between the four cities can sell out on peak days, so lock in every leg once your dates are set; Northeast Regional saver fares between New York and Philadelphia can run about $35 each way booked two to four weeks ahead.
SourceAmtrakNYC ItineraryIs Philadelphia worth a day trip from New York?
Philadelphia is the strongest day trip on this route. Acela covers the ride in about 1 hour 15 minutes and the Northeast Regional in about 1 hour 40 minutes, and Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and Reading Terminal Market all fit into one good day in Old City. Take an early train out and a later one back.
SourceNYC ItineraryRosotravelWhat should I book before I fly?
Three reservations carry the week: Amtrak tickets, hotels, and, for travelers from Visa Waiver Program countries, the ESTA. New York is the priciest hotel city on the route, so book rooms there first, and remember that the $40.27 ESTA fee is paid on the official government site.
SourceCheapHotels.orgOfficial ESTA Application WebsiteMore of the United States
- Walking toursWalking tours in the United StatesThe United States is a country the size of a continent, and it behaves like one. The contiguous states alone stretch roughly 3,000 miles, taking in Atlantic salt marsh, Appalachian hardwood, Gulf bayou, prairie, desert, and the granite peaks of the Rockies. Its National Park System holds 433 units across more than 85 million acres, including Yellowstone and the volcanoes of Hawai'i. Cities change character with the map: Miami runs on Cuban coffee, New Orleans cooks Creole, San Antonio keeps its Spanish colonial plaza, Seattle lives on its harbor. History here is recent enough to stand in: colonial meeting houses, the lunch counters of the civil rights movement. American food is regional by instinct, shaped by people who arrived from everywhere, often not by choice. And traveling here means wide skies, long light, and a diner counter at breakfast where nobody hurries you.
- Know before you gothe United States essentialsVisa and ESTA rules, dollars and tipping, intercity trains and flights, plug adapters, holiday closures, and the seasons that shape where you go when.
Do it yourself
Follow it in the app
Download Wayside for the Boston and New York City walking tours, with every stop mapped and narrated.
Provenance · last verified September 27, 2026
Researched and routed by Wayside, with inter-city detail checked against the source.
SourcesCheapHotels.orgAmtrakAmtrakAmtrakEngineTake Travel InfoNYC ItineraryRosotravelSmithsonian Institution
Photo by Trent Erwin on Unsplash