MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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In time honoured tradition, needing help/advice I am turning to the interweb and Singletrack.
Looking at a city break to New York - any advice on where to stay, place to see etc?
Be a bit of am extended weekend type of trip, thinking 4 nights.
Also (Don't laugh at the back), for various reasons, haven't really been out of the UK much recently, so most holidays just booked direct (Canal barge for example). So what's best for this sort of thing - local Thomas Cook or whatever, independent travel agent or just on the net using expedia or whatever?
Ta
Expedia is as good as any I guess. Mrs_d & I went Nov 2015 from Leeds-Bradford with Jet2.com - really handy for us but they only go there in October November & December.
From what I've heard the immigration queues at JFK are horrendous; we flew into Newark NJ, what immigration queues? Bus to central Manhattan , near Grand Central terminal, $17 per person each way. We stayed at The Waldorf Astoria but other (and cheaper) hotels are available.
Empire State Building at dusk, Central Park, World Trade Center memorial & 1 WTC, Statue Of Liberty, Ellis Island, Wall Street, Broadway, Times Square. Next trip we'll do a Broadway show, USS Intrepid and lots of other stuff we missed
Top of the Rock is better than Empire State.
Worth a forum search (using Google, obviously) as well.
Similar thread just a couple of weeks ago, incase you haven't seen it yet...
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/nyc-what-to-see-in-4-days
We went in October for a week - flew direct from Manchester to JFK with Delta I think. We stayed in Brooklyn, just over the bridge and next to a subway station. It was a lot cheaper than staying in Manhattan and just as easy to get around the main attractions.
I'd agree that Top of the Rock was better than the Empire State. Statue of Liberty was a bit of a waste of time - spent ages in queues to get there and back. Cycling round Central Park was fun. Brooklyn waterfront was lovely and you get a great view of the Manhattan skyline. Try Alma's for amazing tacos and views in Brooklyn.
I agree with flash, if pressed for time, top of the rock makes more sense than the empire state. Not only is it more spacious up there allowing more time to enjoy the view without being pushed out of the way, but you can actually see the empire state.
I would argue it doesn't really matter where you stay as once you've mastered the subway, getting around is very easy and the attractions are spread all over the place anyway. For what it's worth, we stayed in the beacon hotel on the upper West side, it was Bob on for us.
Don't stress about getting everything done, you won't, you'll need to go back! Just enjoy it! We were there 9 days, never stopped and there's loads left to do.
Make sure you get breakfast in a deli/cafe and just listen to the locals.
Stuff I would do next time includes more time in Brooklyn including the brewery tour, Coney island, Harlem, USS intrepid, a friend did a walking food tour which sounded great.
The boat ride to Ellis Island is good - although the Statue of Liberty less good. Lots of great bars and restaurants. Museum of modern art is good too.
The £/$ is 1:1.25 today so you will find NYC expensive.
Queues are long if you haven't been before on an ESTA, but if you have been before then the electronic machines are very quick. Newark and JKF are about the same for queues for me this year.
If you hope over to Dublin, you can pre clear customs that side of the Atlantic.
Easy enough to book flights direct and get a hotel from booking.com or Expedia. I would recommend the pod hotels on 39th or 51st street.
Intrepid sir and space museum is cool, they have the shuttle enterprise there which is the glide test vehicle that was carried up on the back of a 747.
Walk the high line for a different view of the city.
Staten Island ferry is free and give you a good view of the Statue of Liberty etc.
As an aside, am back in NYC in a couple of weeks. Will report back on queues, or lack of, at JFK.