Determine your preferred mode of transportation: car, bus, train or airplane. Once in the Catskills, you will need a car to get around, so if you're coming by air, bus or train, be sure to arrange for a car at your point of arrival.
Use Google maps or Mapquest to determine driving directions from your starting point to your exact destination in the Catskills. Much of the Catskills is accessible from Interstate 87.
Catch a train in New York City. Amtrak trains leave Penn Station and stop in several towns within a few miles of the Catskill Mountains, including Rhinebeck and Hudson. The Metro-North commuter trains leave from Grand Central Station and take you as far as the upstate town of Poughkeepsie, where taxi and car rental services are available. Poughkeepsie is just across the river from southern end of the Catskill Mountains.
Check Web sites for bus schedules. Several bus lines, including Pine Hill Trailways and the Shortline Bus, transport passengers from New York City to such various points in the Catskills as Saugerties and Woodstock. The Greyhound and Peter Pan bus lines also go from various Northeast cities to Albany, N.Y.
Check into regional airports. The closest regional airports are in Albany, Binghamton and Newburgh. These airports are within a one-hour drive of the Catskills, and all have rental car facilities available. The New York City airports are about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from the Catskills.
