How to Get From LaGuardia to Manhattan
LaGuardia is the closest airport to Midtown and the only one with no train. Here is what each option costs in 2026, and which one suits your arrival.
Take the free Q70 LaGuardia Link bus to the subway at Jackson Heights, then ride into Manhattan for USD 3.00. That is the whole fare: the Q70 costs nothing, so USD 3.00 gets you from the terminal into the city.
As answers to how to get from LaGuardia to Manhattan go, it is the cheapest airport journey in New York by a distance, and it is genuinely good: the Q70 runs nonstop from the terminals every eight to ten minutes and drops you at Jackson Heights Roosevelt Avenue and 74th Street Broadway, where the E, F, M, R and 7 all meet.
The catch is that it is still a bus to a subway, with a change and a platform. LaGuardia is also the closest airport to Midtown, roughly 8 miles as the crow flies and 10 to 14 by road, which makes a car more attractive here than at JFK or Newark: the distance is short, so the fare is lower, and the time saved is a larger share of the journey. Below is every option with what it really costs.
Every Option at a Glance
| Option | Cost | Typical time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q70 bus plus subway | USD 3.00 | 45 to 70 min | The cheapest route in New York. The Q70 itself is free; you pay only the subway fare. |
| M60 bus | USD 3.00 | 50 to 80 min | Direct to 125th Street in Harlem, useful for upper Manhattan and Columbia. |
| Yellow taxi | Metered plus a USD 5 surcharge | 20 to 50 min | Short trip, so the meter stays reasonable outside peak hours. |
| Uber or Lyft | Roughly USD 45 to 80, more when surging | 20 to 50 min | Shortest of the three airports, so usually the cheapest rideshare of the three. |
| Private car service | Flat rate quoted before you travel | 20 to 50 min | Meets you inside, tracks the flight, one price for the whole vehicle. |
CEO of Digital Fawz and an SEO practitioner of more than seven years. He researches and maintains the New York airport transfer guides on this site, and checks every published fare against the operator before each update.
Get a Flat Rate for This Route
If you decide a car is the right call, this gives you a fixed price before you travel. Tolls, parking, meet and greet and gratuity are already inside it.
The Free Q70 Bus, and Why LaGuardia Has No Train

LaGuardia is the only major New York airport with no rail link of its own, which sounds like a disadvantage and mostly is not, because the Q70 LaGuardia Link does the job of one. It is free, it runs nonstop from the terminals every eight to ten minutes, and it delivers you to the subway at Jackson Heights Roosevelt Avenue and 74th Street Broadway.
From there the E and F run express into Midtown, the 7 runs to Grand Central and Times Square, and the M and R fill in the rest. The subway fare is USD 3.00 as of 4 January 2026, so the entire journey from terminal to Manhattan costs three dollars. Ride one stop further to Woodside and you can pick up the Long Island Rail Road instead.
The M60 is the alternative and it is worth knowing about for one specific case. It runs to 125th Street in Harlem for USD 3.00, which makes it the obvious choice for upper Manhattan, Columbia and anywhere along the 125th Street corridor. For Midtown it is slower than the Q70 route and there is no reason to prefer it.
Is the Q70 really free?
Yes, genuinely. The LaGuardia Link Q70 charges nothing between the airport terminals and the subway at Jackson Heights, so the only money you spend is the USD 3.00 subway fare. It is the cheapest airport to city journey in New York, and by a wide margin.
Which subway should I change to?
The 7 for Times Square and Grand Central, the E or F to run express into Midtown, and the M or R for the rest. All of them meet at Jackson Heights Roosevelt Avenue and 74th Street Broadway, which is where the Q70 drops you. Ride the Q70 one stop further to Woodside if you want the Long Island Rail Road instead.
LaGuardia to Manhattan Taxi Cost
There is no flat fare from LaGuardia. The Taxi and Limousine Commission sets trips to LaGuardia at the standard metered fare plus a USD 5 surcharge, with the usual congestion surcharges on top for trips into Manhattan south of 96th Street.
Because this is the shortest of the three airport runs, the meter is kinder here than at JFK or Newark. Off peak, a LaGuardia to Midtown taxi is usually the least expensive cab ride of the three airports. The exception is the Grand Central Parkway and the bridges, which can turn a twenty-minute drive into fifty and take the fare with them. On the meter, that difference is yours to pay.

Why is LaGuardia the cheapest cab of the three airports?
Because the meter is measuring the shortest trip. At ten to fourteen road miles, LaGuardia is four to six miles closer to Midtown than JFK or Newark, and there is no USD 20 Newark surcharge and no USD 70 floor. Only the standard USD 5 airport surcharge and the usual congestion charges apply.
Uber and Lyft From LaGuardia
Rideshare from LaGuardia is typically the cheapest of the three airports for the same reason a taxi is: the trip is short. Expect something in the forties to the eighties into Midtown, with the usual caveat that the number moves with demand.
LaGuardia’s rebuilt terminals have changed the pickup experience, and it is now a walk to a designated level rather than a kerbside meeting. That is fine with hand luggage and tiresome with a family and a stack of cases, which is worth weighing when the price difference against a booked car is smaller here than anywhere else.
How Far Is LaGuardia From Manhattan
About 8 miles from Midtown in a straight line, and 10 to 14 miles by road depending on your terminal and which crossing you use. That makes it comfortably the closest of the three major airports: JFK is roughly 15 miles and Newark roughly 16.
Distance is not the useful number, though. Drive time runs from about twenty minutes at ten on a Tuesday morning to fifty on a wet Friday afternoon, and the variance comes almost entirely from the Grand Central Parkway, the Triborough and the Queensboro. Being closest does not make LaGuardia reliably fastest, which is exactly why the free Q70 into the subway is such a strong option: a train under the traffic beats a car in it.
Which Option Suits You
The right answer changes with the traveller more than with the airport. These are the five cases we are asked about most.
Travelling alone, light
Take public transport. It is cheaper, and with one bag the changes cost you nothing but a few minutes.
Three or more people
Book a car. The price is per vehicle rather than per head, so the comparison flips at three passengers and is not close at four.
With children
Book a car. Child seats are fitted before you land, and nobody carries a sleeping child down a staircase.
Late or delayed arrival
Book a car. We watch the flight rather than the timetable, so the pickup moves by itself and the wait time starts at touchdown.
A meeting to keep
Book a car. What you are buying is not speed, it is the removal of the variance that makes you late.
On the tightest budget
Public transport, every time. We would rather tell you that than win one booking and lose your trust.
LGA to Manhattan: Quick Answers
The questions we are asked most on this route, answered in the first line and then explained. Fares checked in September 2026.
How far is LaGuardia from Manhattan?
About eight miles from Midtown in a straight line and ten to fourteen by road, which makes it comfortably the closest of the three major New York airports.
JFK is roughly fifteen miles and Newark roughly sixteen, so LaGuardia has a real advantage on paper. It does not always convert. The Grand Central Parkway, the Triborough and the Queensboro all sit between the airport and Midtown, and any of them can add half an hour. Being closest makes LaGuardia the cheapest cab of the three, but it does not reliably make it the fastest.
How long does it take to get from LaGuardia to Manhattan?
Twenty to fifty minutes by road, and forty-five to seventy using the free Q70 bus and the subway.
Because the distance is short, almost all of the variation is congestion rather than mileage. A Tuesday at ten in the morning is genuinely a twenty minute drive. The same trip on a wet Friday at five is fifty, and no route choice rescues it. The subway is slower on a good day and more predictable on a bad one, which for a flight you have already caught is usually the more useful quality.
What is the best way to get from LaGuardia to Manhattan?
The free Q70 LaGuardia Link to the subway at Jackson Heights, then any train into Manhattan. Three dollars, all in.
It is the strongest public option of the three airports and we will say so plainly even though we sell the alternative. Where it stops being best is the usual list: two or more passengers, real luggage, children, a late arrival, or a fixed appointment. LaGuardia is also the airport where a booked car is cheapest, because the run is the shortest of the three, so the gap you are closing is smaller here than anywhere else in New York.
Is there a train from LaGuardia to Manhattan?
No. LaGuardia is the only major New York airport with no rail station of its own.
The free Q70 replaces one effectively. It runs nonstop from the terminals every eight to ten minutes to Jackson Heights Roosevelt Avenue and 74th Street Broadway, where the E, F, M, R and 7 all meet, and one stop further at Woodside you can pick up the Long Island Rail Road. The long-promised AirTrain to Willets Point was paused in 2021 and then abandoned after a Port Authority review, which recommended a shuttle bus to the N and W lines in Astoria instead, so the bus and subway combination is the permanent answer here rather than a temporary one.
How much is a taxi from LaGuardia to Manhattan?
There is no flat fare. It is the standard metered fare plus a USD 5 surcharge, with congestion surcharges added for trips south of 96th Street.
In practice this is the least expensive of the three airport cab rides, because it is the shortest. Off peak into Midtown it usually lands well below what the same journey costs from JFK or Newark. The risk is the same as everywhere on a meter: if the parkway is slow, you pay for the time, and a twenty minute fare can become a fifty minute one without you agreeing to anything.
What is the M60 bus and should I take it?
The M60 is a Select Bus Service route from LaGuardia to 125th Street in Harlem, for the standard USD 3.00 fare.
Take it if you are going to upper Manhattan, Columbia, Morningside Heights or anywhere along the 125th Street corridor, where it drops you close to your destination and connects to the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, A, B, C and D. Do not take it for Midtown. It is slower than the Q70 route and leaves you a long way north of where you probably want to be.
LaGuardia to Manhattan with luggage or children
Take a car or a taxi. The Q70 route is excellent value and poor ergonomics.
A bus with luggage, then a change, then a subway platform is manageable alone with a carry-on and hard work with a family. LaGuardia's rebuilt terminals have also moved the rideshare and taxi pickups to designated levels rather than the kerb, so the walk is longer than it used to be whichever paid option you choose. A booked car meets you inside, which on this airport is a bigger difference than it sounds.
Getting from LaGuardia to Manhattan late at night
Book a car. The Q70 runs twenty-four hours, but the connection at the other end is the problem rather than the bus.
Late subway service is slower and the walk from the station at two in the morning is the part nobody plans for. Taxi supply at LaGuardia also drops off at exactly the hours when delayed flights land. A pre-booked car is watching your flight rather than the timetable, so a two hour delay moves the pickup by itself and the price does not move at all.
LaGuardia by Terminal
The pickup point and the walk differ by terminal, and on two of these airports they have changed recently. This is where each option actually starts.
Terminal B
The rebuilt main terminal, serving Air Canada, American, Frontier, JetBlue, Porter, Southwest and United. The free Q70 LaGuardia Link stops directly outside, which makes Terminal B the easiest of the three for public transport. Taxi and rideshare pickup moved to designated levels during the rebuild, so both involve a walk.
Terminal C
Delta's terminal, also rebuilt, and the busiest at LaGuardia. The Q70 serves it, and the walk to the bus stop is longer than at Terminal B. Delta's shuttle operations mean Terminal C empties in waves, so the taxi queue here is either non-existent or twenty minutes with very little in between.
Terminal A
The Marine Air Terminal, the small 1939 building at the western end of the airport. It handles a limited rotation of charter and scheduled service rather than the main airline operation. If you are arriving here, check the Q70 stop location before you walk, because it is not the same as at Terminals B and C.
LaGuardia to Each Part of Manhattan
“To Manhattan” hides six different answers. The right option for the Financial District is not the right one for the Upper East Side, and the gap between them is often half an hour.
Midtown and Grand Central
The free Q70 to Jackson Heights, then the 7 train to Grand Central, or the E or F to run express into Midtown. Three dollars and roughly fifty minutes. LaGuardia's proximity also makes a car genuinely quick here outside peak hours.
Times Square and the Theatre District
The Q70 and then the 7 train, which runs directly to Times Square 42nd Street with no second change. One bus, one train, USD 3.00. This is the cleanest airport to Times Square journey in New York.
Harlem, Columbia and 125th Street
Take the M60 Select Bus Service. It runs from the airport to 125th Street for USD 3.00 and connects to almost every line that reaches upper Manhattan. For this one corridor it beats the Q70 route outright.
The Upper East Side
A car, usually. LaGuardia is physically close to the Upper East Side but badly connected to it, and the public route involves going south and west before coming back. On the road, with the Triborough, this is one of the shortest airport runs in the city.
The Financial District and Lower Manhattan
The Q70 and then the E train, which runs down to the World Trade Center. It works, but it is a long ride, and LaGuardia is the weakest of the three airports for downtown. If you have a choice of airport, JFK serves lower Manhattan better.
The Upper West Side
The M60 to 125th Street and then south on the 1, 2 or 3, or the Q70 route and a crosstown change. Neither is quick. With luggage this is a strong case for a car given how short the drive actually is.
LGA to Manhattan by Time of Day
On this route the hour changes the answer more than the option does. The same journey can be the best and the worst choice on the same day.
Arriving before 7am
A car takes about twenty minutes and the Q70 runs all night, so both are good. LaGuardia is at its best in this window: the drive is genuinely short when the parkway is empty.
The morning peak, 7am to 10am
The Q70 and the subway. The Grand Central Parkway inbound is slow and the bridges are slower, and a twenty minute drive becomes forty-five without warning. The subway is under all of it.
Midday, 10am to 4pm
Both work. This is the window where a car is most attractive at LaGuardia, because the drive is short, the parkway moves and the flat rate is the lowest of the three airports.
The evening peak, 4pm to 7pm
The Q70 and the subway, unless you have luggage. The Triborough and the Queensboro both back up and there is no route around them. This is the window where being the closest airport helps least.
Late night arrivals
Book a car. The Q70 runs twenty-four hours, but the subway connection at the far end slows considerably and the walk from the station is the part nobody plans for.
What It Costs for One, Two or Four People
This is the calculation that decides most of these bookings, and it is the one no guide shows you. Public transport is priced per person. A car is priced per vehicle. Everything else follows from that.
| Party size | Q70 plus subway (per person) | Taxi, metered plus USD 5 surcharge | Private car (per vehicle) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 passenger | USD 3.00 | USD 45 to 75 | One flat rate, unchanged |
| 2 passengers | USD 6.00 | USD 45 to 75 | One flat rate, unchanged |
| 3 passengers | USD 9.00 | USD 45 to 75 | One flat rate, unchanged |
| 4 passengers | USD 12.00 | USD 45 to 75 | One flat rate, unchanged |
Read the bottom row rather than the top one. A single traveller should almost always take public transport and we have said so throughout this page. By three passengers the comparison is close, and by four the car is usually cheaper than the fares alone, before you count the taxi you would otherwise need at the far end. Add luggage or a child seat and it stops being an argument.
Accessibility, International Arrivals and the Return Trip
Step-free routes into Manhattan
The Q70 is a low-floor accessible bus and Jackson Heights Roosevelt Avenue is one of the lift-served subway stations, so the standard LaGuardia public route is step-free on paper. It still involves a bus, a lift, a platform and a train. For a wheelchair user with luggage the short drive from LaGuardia is the easiest of the three airports to replace with a single vehicle.
Arriving on an international flight
LaGuardia handles relatively little international traffic, mostly from Canada, and much of that is precleared. Arrivals here are usually quick, which is part of why the airport feels closer than the mileage alone suggests. Plan from the time you expect to reach the kerb, not from the landing time on your booking. This is the single most common reason people miss a train they had already paid for, and it is why a flight-tracked car is worth more on an international arrival than a domestic one.
Going back: Manhattan to LGA
Leave two and a half hours before a domestic departure, three in the evening peak. LaGuardia's short distance makes it forgiving, but the Grand Central Parkway outbound can still cost you half an hour without warning, so do not treat ten miles as ten minutes.
LaGuardia Specifics Worth Knowing
What the LaGuardia rebuild changed for arrivals
LaGuardia was rebuilt almost entirely between 2016 and 2022, and the airport a returning visitor remembers is not the one they will walk into. Terminal B and Terminal C are new buildings on new sites, the roadways were rerouted, and the old kerbside free-for-all where you walked out and got into a cab is gone.
The practical consequences are three. Taxi and rideshare collection now happens on designated levels reached by lift or escalator, so both involve a walk with your bags. The walk from the gate to the kerb is longer than it used to be at both terminals, which matters if you are working to a tight connection. And the Q70 stop is right outside the terminal at Terminal B, which was a deliberate design decision and is the main reason the free bus route is as good as it is.
Which subway line should you actually take from Jackson Heights?
The Q70 leaves you at a station where five lines meet, and they do not go to the same places. The 7 is the one most visitors want: it runs to Grand Central and Times Square with no change, and it is a local and express service so check which train you are boarding. The E and the F run into Midtown faster but on the east and west sides respectively, and the E continues down to the World Trade Center.
The M and R are slower and serve more stops, which is useful only if your destination is on one of them. If you are unsure, take the 7 and change later: it passes through the two busiest interchange points in Midtown, so almost everywhere is reachable from it with one more train.
Is LaGuardia good for connections to other New York airports?
No, and it is worth saying plainly because people book it expecting otherwise. There is no direct public transport between LaGuardia and either JFK or Newark. Reaching JFK means the Q70, the subway and then the AirTrain, which is well over an hour and involves two changes with luggage. Reaching Newark is worse.
If you have a genuine airport-to-airport connection in New York, a booked car is not a luxury choice, it is the only sensible one. We run these transfers daily and price them as a flat rate with the inbound flight tracked, because the whole point of the journey is that the second flight does not wait.
Weather and Season on the LGA Route
The advice on this page assumes ordinary conditions. Three times a year it stops being ordinary, and the right option changes with it.
Winter
LaGuardia sits on Flushing Bay and takes wind and snow early. The Grand Central Parkway is exposed and the bridges are the first things to slow. The Q70 and the subway are unaffected by all of it, which on a genuinely bad day makes the free option also the fastest one.
Baseball at Citi Field
This is the LaGuardia-specific one that catches visitors out. Citi Field sits beside the 7 line at Mets Willets Point, two stops from where the Q70 leaves you. On a game night the 7 is extremely busy in both directions, and with luggage it is unpleasant. Check the fixture list, or take a car that evening.
Thanksgiving and December
LaGuardia is overwhelmingly a domestic airport, so it feels the Thanksgiving peak harder than the other two. Terminal roadways congest, the taxi queue grows, and the short drive stops being short.
Should You Fly Into LGA at All?
LaGuardia is roughly eight miles from Midtown against JFK’s fifteen and Newark’s sixteen, and its public route costs three dollars against USD 11.75 and USD 17.25. On both measures it wins comfortably, and for a domestic trip to Midtown it is the sensible airport to fly into.
Where it loses is reach and reliability. It has no train of its own and almost no international service, the Q70 route needs a change, and the Grand Central Parkway means the short distance is not a guaranteed short journey. For lower Manhattan JFK is better connected, and for a guaranteed thirty minutes into Midtown Newark’s train beats anything LaGuardia can offer.
Common Mistakes on the LGA Route
These are the ones we hear about most, from passengers who have already made them.
Paying for a bus to the subway
The Q70 LaGuardia Link is free. If you are being asked for money to reach the subway, you are on the wrong bus or talking to the wrong person.
Taking the M60 to Midtown
The M60 goes to 125th Street in Harlem. It is excellent for upper Manhattan and a poor choice for Midtown, where the Q70 and the subway are faster and leave you where you actually want to be.
Assuming closest means fastest
LaGuardia is the nearest airport to Midtown and routinely not the quickest, because the Grand Central Parkway and the bridges sit in the way. Eight miles is not eight miles at five in the afternoon.
Expecting kerbside pickup
The rebuilt terminals moved taxi and rideshare collection to designated levels, so both now involve a walk with your bags. It is the single biggest change at this airport and it catches returning visitors out.
Waiting for the AirTrain that was cancelled
The LaGuardia AirTrain to Willets Point was paused in 2021 and then abandoned. The Q70 and the subway is the permanent answer here, not a stopgap.
LaGuardia to Times Square

Times Square is the most searched destination from LaGuardia, and the public answer is unusually good. Take the free Q70 to Jackson Heights, then the 7 train, which runs directly to Times Square 42nd Street. One bus, one train, no second change, and USD 3.00 for the whole thing.
Allow about fifty to seventy minutes end to end. The E train is an alternative that reaches 42nd Street and Port Authority, a short walk away, and is often faster in the evening peak when the 7 is busy. By road the trip is twenty to fifty minutes depending on the crossing, plus whatever Times Square itself adds at the end, which in the early evening is not trivial.
When a Private Car Is Genuinely the Right Call From LaGuardia
LaGuardia is the airport where a car makes the most sense of the three, and the reason is arithmetic rather than comfort. It is the shortest run, so the flat rate is the lowest of the three airports, while the alternative still involves a bus, a change and a subway platform. The gap in price between public transport and a booked car is narrower here than anywhere else in New York.
That said, three dollars is three dollars, and if you are travelling alone with a carry-on in the middle of the day, take the Q70. We would rather say that than argue otherwise and be wrong. Where we earn the difference is with two or more passengers, with luggage, with children, with a late arrival, or when you have somewhere to be at a fixed time and the Grand Central Parkway is having one of its afternoons.
Our LaGuardia work is a flat rate agreed before you travel, tolls, parking, meet and greet and gratuity included, with the flight tracked so a delay moves the pickup by itself. The chauffeur waits inside with a sign rather than circling outside.

How Booking a Car Works
- Wait time counted from touchdown, not from the time you booked
- Meet and greet inside the terminal as standard, not an extra
- Tolls, parking and gratuity already inside the quoted rate
- Child seats fitted in advance at no extra charge
- Licensed, insured and background checked chauffeurs
- Sedan, SUV, Sprinter and stretch limousine on the same route
LGA to Manhattan: Frequently Asked Questions
Terms You Will See on Signs
New York’s airport transport vocabulary is not obvious to a visitor, and two of these cost money if you misread them.
AirTrain
The automated light rail inside JFK and Newark. It is free between terminals at both airports and charged when you leave: USD 8.75 at JFK, and included in the NJ Transit fare at Newark. LaGuardia has no AirTrain and the plan to build one was abandoned.
CityTicket
A discounted Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North fare for journeys that begin and end inside New York City. It is what makes the LIRR from Jamaica affordable: USD 5 off peak or USD 7 at peak, instead of a standard commuter fare.
OMNY
The MTA's contactless fare system. Tap a card or a phone at the subway or on a bus and you are charged the USD 3.00 fare, with a rolling cap so you never pay for more than twelve rides in seven days. You do not need to buy anything in advance.
Select Bus Service
The MTA's limited-stop bus network, marked SBS. The M60 from LaGuardia is one. You pay before boarding at a kerbside machine rather than on the bus, and keep the receipt, because inspectors do check.
Congestion surcharge
A New York State charge on for-hire trips into Manhattan south of 96th Street, USD 2.50 for yellow taxis, plus a separate MTA congestion pricing toll below 60th Street. Both are added on top of the JFK flat fare, which is why the flat fare is never the number you pay.
Meet and greet
A chauffeur walking into the terminal and waiting at baggage claim with a sign, rather than waiting in a car park and texting. It is standard on every booking we take and is the main practical difference between a booked car and a rideshare.
That covers how to get from LaGuardia to Manhattan by every sensible route. If you decide a car suits your arrival, these are the pages to read next.
Prices, vehicles and the booking form for this specific run: LGA to Manhattan limo and car service. Everything we do at the airport itself: LaGuardia Airport transfers. Or see all New York airport transfers and the fleet.
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