No car in Williamsburg- doable?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, for me it’s a safety issue. When you’re on foot in DC, SF, Chicago, and NYC you’re vulnerable to random attacks. In many countries only the poor and most vulnerable walk or take public transit. Have you traveled much?

OP- well we have different safety concerns. I live in DC and walk, bike, metro, and bus throughout the city daily with my whole family. You are statistically more likely to die in a car accident than from a random attack.

So I guess I’m curious if there is anyone out there who is not scared of riding the bus with lower income folks who have tried the bus from Williamsburg to Busch gardens. I imagine most of the people on the bus would be the employee’s of the park who you would not be scared of interacting with once you got there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Campus and CW would work but not BG.

And if you want to go to nearby restaurants or the Outlets or anything else offsite you'd have to Uber it.

Do you have small kids in tow?

It might just be easier and more cost (and
time!) efficient to rent a car and drive.

We will have an elementary school age kid with us who walks all over DC with us and who believes riding a bus is a great adventure -not a chore.

[Anonymous]

The privileged fear of buses makes me honestly see red. I live in the DC area and take buses all the time. I would not hesitate to take the bus in Williamsburg.

Now I will say that since the pandemic, I have not been keen on taking the buses in DC proper. I take them in Montgomery County without issue. And I let my 16-year-old do the same.

[Anonymous]

OP sounds like you're set on doing this, so have and it and please report back!

[Anonymous]

What you will probably miss out on is Jamestown and some of the non CW historic sites. But it sounds like Busch Gardens is the priority. Can you use google maps to see what the public transport options are from your hotel to BG?

[Anonymous]

if you want to do this primarily to make a point, great, but it will be very counter-cultural and you won't be able to get around Williamsburg very easily. In effect, it's an exurb. Your are doing an exurban vacation. Have you ever navigated an exurban environment in a bus? Prepare to spend most of your day on or waiting for buses. That's not my idea of a fun vacation, but if it's yours, well, great. At least an Uber to Busch Gardens before opening seems a must if you don't want to wait in quite so many lines.

[Anonymous]

The reason you can't find a lot of info on bus routes, Op, is because it's not a common way for tourists to get a round.

It seems like you're all about busses and mass transit (you're traveling there by train, for example) which is fine, but Williamsburg is not the place for that mentality. It's not NYC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thinking of a trip to Williamsburg in mid-April during the week. Is it doable to take the train from DC and use public transit. In particular can you get to Busch gardens via transit bus reliably? The website mentions the bus but doesn’t give details. Anywhere else worth going to that is transit accessible? My understanding is colonial Williamsburg is walkable from the Amtrak station. Is it worth trying to bring or rent bikes?

NOPE

Really bad idea

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The privileged fear of buses makes me honestly see red. I live in the DC area and take buses all the time. I would not hesitate to take the bus in Williamsburg.

Now I will say that since the pandemic, I have not been keen on taking the buses in DC proper. I take them in Montgomery County without issue. And I let my 16-year-old do the same.

I have zero fear of buses however this is a beyond dumb idea.

Williamsburg is not public transit friendly.

[Anonymous]

Here's the difference that many posters don't seem to understand. In places where all types of people use public transit on a regular basis (NY, DC, Boston, etc.) it feels normal and safe. In places where almost everyone has a car (even lower income people) the population of people who take busses is very different. I grew up in a suburban area of a mid-sized city. Any time they expanded the bus routes, massive upticks in crime immediately followed. It was like reverse-gentrifying. And nice, safe working class areas that used to be nice places to live, became unsafe for living. And it really stinks for everyone who was previous living/shopping/working in that area. I watched previously vibrant, safe, friendly working class and middle class shopping areas become dangerous and unusable within just a couple of years of the bus route expanding out to it. In areas where most everyone drives, even poor people, busses are really seedy.

[Anonymous]

In Williamsburg, other than the limited-route CW buses, the public bus service targets poor people. This means it both is unreliable and does not adhere to advertised timing.

Outside CW, one really needs a car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Frequent visitor to Williamsburg here. No way you can do it without a car if you want to go to Busch Gardens. They have some buses but nobody rides them. It is America you need a car.

I mean, my daughter is a W&M student and doesn’t have a car. Which isn’t unusually for students who live on campus, because parking is so hard to find, even if you can get a parking pass. Most underclassmen with cars pay for off campus parking— and some bus to their car. She bikes and takes the bus everywhere and says the Williamsburg bus system is clean, safe and efficient. She and half her dorm just walked to the AmTrak station to come home for spring break ($20 each way if buy tickets further out). When our 3rd family car frees up next year, we offered it to her and she declined. Said it was much more of a hassle than she wanted to deal with and she was taking the bus for shopping and eating out. In 2 years, she’s needed to Uber once— when she had an MD appointment scheduled very tightly after a class.

OP: I’d Amtrak and walk unless you are aged or infirm. But, I hate I95 with a passion, and once sat in traffic for six hours to get to WM when there was a semi overturned. If you stay in a Colonial Williamsburg Resort, you can walk, rent bikes and/or bus where you need to go. Just Uber to Busch Gardens. I bet you come out ahead once you pay for gas and parking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Williamsburg, other than the limited-route CW buses, the public bus service targets poor people. This means it both is unreliable and does not adhere to advertised timing.

Outside CW, one really needs a car.

Only if you count a decent percentage of WM students as The Poors. The bus system is actually pretty widespread, generally on time and nice. And if you are taking a route out of CW, you are more likely to ride with college kids going grocery shopping than the unwashed masses. (Plus- does WBurg even have unwashed masses? There is a really shortage of affordable housing and it’s has always seemed to me when I go to consist solely of retirees, college kids and tourists, none of whom are Poors). It’s fine OP. If my surprising street smart 100 pounds soaking wet DD feels safe on the bus system, one really is okay riding it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, for me it’s a safety issue. When you’re on foot in DC, SF, Chicago, and NYC you’re vulnerable to random attacks. In many countries only the poor and most vulnerable walk or take public transit. Have you traveled much?

You sound like my mother. Who makes this fact free assertion. And I know it’s fact free from because when she refuses to go to the Kennedy Center and Georgetown, because The Poors. She’s basing her fears on Fox News and not on having actually been into DC this decade. And, in fact, their rural Southern town has a lot more poors than NW DC and the federal core. Situational awareness is important. I let my kids metro into DC. It’s safer than driving, especially when adding MD drivers to the mix. That said, there are parts of DC they know to say out of.

I don’t know about every corner or Williamsburg. But CW, WM and the tourist parts? The bus is fine. And safe.

[Anonymous]

OP - easy walk from the train station. Check the times first, before you do any further with this, to make sure arrival/departure isn't at odd hours. Several hotel choices, walkable. A long walk to some. To Bush Gardens, can't help with that.