Actually they each have three "local" airports. Washington has Dulles,
National, and then there is BWI, which is the furthest, but which has some
of the best fares and is a Southwest Airline hub. NYC has Kennedy,
LaGuardia, and then there is also Newark, which actually has the most
traffic for NYC.

For DC, each airport has its pluses and minuses. Dulles is out in Suburban
Virginia, but it serves the long haul international flights and some
discount airlines such as Jet Blue, Ted now Independence Air. National
(Reagan) is the closest to the city and is on the Metro line into town, but
is limited by a short runway and cannot serve large aircrat such as the 767.
And the proximity to DC also means fares to National are usually higher,
though now some discount airlines fly into it such as Spirit and Air Tran.
BWI is near Baltimore but it's just an hour or so from downtown DC.
Southwest is the largest airline in the airport and you can get some good
fares to there. Going to NYC from DC is probably the best from National
though I personally would recommend the train (Amtrak). It takes you
downtown to downtown in about 3 hours, which is about the same if you fly
taking into considertion the travel required to the airport and the wait.

For NYC, the only choices you have leaving it for Switzerland are JFK and
Newark. LaGuardia does not serve overseas flights. Both JFK and Newark are
a bit away from Manhattan and require either taxi of some form of public
transportation into the city. Newark is better for the public transport as
you can access the Amtrak or NJT trains into Manhattan. JFK is not very
convenient for public transportation as the subway ride to Manhattan is very
long. I think the only consideration here is which airline you're flying
and which has the best fare for you to Switzerland.

Pan


"Hallvard Tangeraas" wrote in message
om...
I'm shortly going from Vancouver in Canada to Washington DC in the
States, then Washington DC to New York, then finally to Switzerland
from New York.

Both aboventioned US cities have two airports each, and I'm not sure
which ones are best for arriving/departing from....

Washington DC: Washington Dulles
Washington Reagan

New York : John F. Kennedy
La Guardia

I plan to stay in a reasonably priced backpacker hostel both places,
in central locations, so I'd prefer the airports closest to that, and
with public transport access throughtout the day.
Suggestions?


Hallvard