Taking exciting and low-budget trips every weekend isn’t reserved for NYU students spending the semester in Europe. With New York’s three bustling airports and abundant railway connections, Violets in the Washington Square campus and in Brooklyn can indulge their wanderlust too. Here are four of the best ways to escape the city for the weekend.

Portland, Maine

This quaint city is the perfect place for students looking for one last summer adventure. In addition to an abundance of fresh seafood, Portland also boasts beautiful beaches and rocky cliffs topped with lighthouses to explore. Take Concord Bus Lines from Penn Station to Portland for $150 round trip and rent a car once you arrive to explore freely. During your stay, be sure to set sail on Casco Bay Lines, explore the seaside ruins of an old fort in Fort Williams Park, shop Portland’s emerging art scene and stuff yourself with fresh lobster in Old Port district downtown.

Washington, D.C.

The high demand for business travel between our nation’s capital and New York City has made D.C. one of the easiest places on the Eastern seaboard to access without a car. Choose between a four-hour ride on a Greyhound bus for about $40 for a round trip or a one-hour flight on the Delta Northeast Shuttle for about $150 for a round trip. First time visitors shouldn’t miss exploring the Holocaust Museum, touring the Capitol building and snapping selfies in front of 1800 Pennsylvania Ave. But if this isn’t your first visit, check out lesser known attractions, such as testing out your spy skills during a simulation at the Spy Museum or wandering through Dumbarton Oaks Museum and Gardens. Regardless of past experience, no one should leave D.C. without taking a nighttime stroll around the Tidal Basin from the Jefferson Memorial to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial and Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, or a visit to the new Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture.  

Boston, Massachusetts

Although the Delta Northeast Shuttle also travels to Boston, this historic city is best reached by bus. After a four-and-a-half-hour Greyhound bus ride that will cost you about $60 for a round trip, explore the rest of Boston on foot, starting with the Freedom Trail — a 2.5 mile walking path that will take you by some of the city’s most famous landmarks. Later, take a cruise through the Boston harbor, explore the scenic Beacon Hill neighborhood or picnic in one of Boston’s many parks.

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago is by far one of more expensive weekend destinations from New York, but also one of the most exciting. Also accessible by a short flight on the Delta Northeast shuttle for approximately $130 for a round trip, Chicago is the perfect destination for students looking to explore a different type of city life. Stroll through Millennium Park, indulge in deep-dish pizza, take selfies with the Cloud Gate — also known as the Bean — and feel like you’re standing in mid-air at Skydeck Chicago.

Email Taylor Nicole Rogers at [email protected].