Long Island Railroad 9:42am

As a bi-coastal traveler you have to be savvy about getting from place to place. There are four options to get to what people colloquially call "The Hamps." You can take the jitney bus, take the Long Island Railroad, drive yourself, or fly out. The lucky few fly. The rest of us have to chose between the three other options. I usually take the Jitney, but that can run into traffic and it is hard to do much while driving. Today I am taking the train, and it is much better! 

But the train comes with its own problems. This was my first time taking the Long Island Railroad out to the Hamptons and it was quite the experience. The 9:42am train to the east end was packed. People literally had to sit on the floor! Looks like all of Manhattan got the memo to go to the east end on that train. The train from Penn Station to Southampton (where I got off) takes a total about 2 hours. It costs 26$ for a one way ticket. This is cheaper than taking the jitney which is about 30/40$ a way. The perks of the Long Island Railroad is that you will not experience traffic. The jitney can run into some traffic on the drive out. Overall I would recommend anyone coming from the city to the east end to take the train. It is an experience. You can see beautiful Long Island through the windows. And you can relax a bit more than on the bus. It's not style, but at least it's comfort.