Naomitravel

Hello,

I am traveling to Paris with my 11 year old niece. We have a 9 hour layover in EWR on a Friday. The idea of spending nine hours in the airport followed by a long flight doesn't sound enjoyable. Ideally, we could spend a few hours somewhere else. My niece has never been to New York. This is her first time traveling. Any suggestions about what to do would be appreciated.

nytraveler

Do you really have 9 hours free - or is that the time from wheel down on your first flight until take-off of your flight to Paris.

If the latter you would actually have about 3 hours in Manhattan assuming your luggage is checked through to your second flight and your incoming flight is on time.

From wheels down you need to figure the best part of an hour out to the street and then an hour to get to Penn Station in Manhattan - plus 4 hours since you need to be at EWR 3 hours in advance for an international flight and it will take an hour to get to EWR from Penn Station.

janisj

Which 9 hours? That will make a difference - what time do you arrive/depart?

Do you have lounge access? That could be your best option.

Naomitravel

We land at 12pm and the next flight is at 9pm. So it is 9 hours between the two flights. Thank you.

janisj

W/ a noon landing I doubt you will be in Manhattan until about 2:30PM and have to leave again by 5:00. A lot of hassle IMO for just 2.5 hours 'on-the-ground'

J62

I am assuming 12pm is arrival at the gate, not wheels down time. No airline publishes arrival time as "wheels down time."

If you are already checked in for your 2nd flight then you do not need to be at the airport 3hrs in advance for your international flight. You just need to be at the gate by boarding time. Myself, I'd be comfortable leaving Manhattan on a train ~2 to 2.5hrs ahead of the departure. Your risk tolerance level may be different so you can judge for yourself.

You have plenty of time for a train into Manhattan, walk from Penn Station to the empire state bldg,, times sq, rockefeller center & back.

doug_stallings

You have plenty of time to come into the city. Since you will already be checked in for your flight, there's absolutely no reason to be back at the airport before 7. So you should have a good 4 or 5 hours in the city, and that gives you enough time to do a couple of fun activities.

To save time, take the train rather than the bus, and share a Metrocard (you'll pay $2.75 per person per ride, so figure how many rides you will take ... probably 3 each ... and put that much on the card).

If you want to do something with a long line (such as the Empire State Building, which is near Penn Station, where you will arrive, then buy those tickets online). Otherwise, get a guidebook or look at a travel web site and figure out what you want to do and enjoy. What does she like?

DebitNM

If there is transit available, I would consider taking her to Liberty Science Center instead of NYC.

It's a great place for an 11 year old ( and you too).

If you aren't all that famliar/ comfortable with mass transit and NYC itself, it may not be worth the hassle to go into the city.

http://lsc.org

DebitNM

" look at a travel web site ...."

Uh, isn't THIS a travel website? LOL

nycguy10002

As you can see there are a few opinions as to how much time you will have within those 9 hours.

In the event you do decide to come into Manhattan, take the AirTrain from EWR to the Newark Liberty International Airport rail station of NJ Transit/Amtrak. There you can get a NJ Transit train (Don't take an Amtrak train), to NY Penn Station. The AirTrain trip is about 10 minutes, the NJ Transit train trip (once you get on the train) is 20-25 minutes)

The fare one way is $13.00 for an adult ($5.50 AirTrain access fee and $7.50 NJ Transit train fare. For your niece the fare will be $3.50 (children 11 years of age and under do not have to pay the access fee). To save time buy 2 of each ticket so you don't have to worry about buying the ticketz for the return trip (Note: On NJ Transit round trip is simply 2 one way tickets).

During the day (non-rush hours) there are on average 3 trains per hour on NJ Transit (NE Corridor and NJ Coast Lines). More trains during rush hours (4 PM to around 7 PM). In NY Penn Station you will see 'EWR' on the large departure board (or on departure screens) after the train line [NE Corridor or NJ Coast]. On newer color screens they use an airplane symbol instead of 'EWR'.

At NY Penn Station there are a number of subway lines within the station itself and several a block away. The subway fare is $2.75 (if your niece is over 44 inches in height she will be required to pay the full fare, if she is 44 inches in height or less she can ride for free). Purchase a MetroCard from a booth (cash only)or MetroCard Vending machine (cash/credit/debit). A 2 fare card is $5.50 (plus a $1.00 fee for a new card). A 4 fare card is $10.00 plus the $1.00 fee -- Any purchase amount of $5.50 or more gets an automatic bonus of 11% added, so $10.00 with bonus comes to $11.10 which covers 4 fares and 10 cents left over). Single fare MetroCards are available in MetroCard Vending Machines only. The cost of the single fare card is $3.00.

You might want to visit Times Square (42nd St & Broadway/7th Av). You can walk from Penn Station (33rd St & 7th Av) or take the subway - uptown 1, 2 or 3 train for one stop to 42nd St-Tomes Square.

BigRuss

>

And that statement came from a Fodor's employee!

To Naomi: the key here is whether your stuff is checked through to the transatlantic flight and that will be determined from whether the whole trip is on one ticket home-Newark-Paris. If it is, your life is a lot easier.

If so, gate arrival at noon means you can be in NYC by 1:15-1:30 just by taking the NJ Transit train as nycguy indicated above. That 2:30 estimate janis gave is way off - you're not going through customs, you're just bouncing out of the airport, jumping the Airtrain and catching a commuter rail. The negative is that you'd wind up at Penn Station, which is an awful introduction to NYC because it's a bloody dump. But you'd be thisclose to Macy's and Herald Square and less than a 1/2 mile from Times Square. And you can easily hoof it to Times Square from Penn Station.

The Liberty Science Center will entail a bit of dragging around of a different sort - Newark International is on the NJ Transit lines, the LSC is on PATH trains, which are a different animal. You'd have to take one train to Newark and transfer and each will cost a different amount. And unfortunately the LSC's sky-high admissions do not come with free cryogenic freezing after you're dead.

nycguy10002

Just a correction to BigRuss:

The Liberty Science Center is not on PATH. It is near the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (Liberty State Park station). You'd have to take PATH to either Newport or Exchange Place to get the HBLR (about 1 block away from either station). Separate fares apply to each transit system.

cmstraf

This may be sacrilege, but how we just spent an 8 hour layover in Munich was by getting a dayroom at Novotel at the airport. It was wonderful! Calm, privacy, TV, amazing shower. But we had taken a 6:30 am flight from Genoa after a wearing family visit, on our way to a 4:00 nonstop back to SF0.

Nonetheless and even with an 11 year old (who I expect will be equipped with an Electronic Device), I'd consider it. And I'd pick a hotel that has room service.

janisj

>>That 2:30 estimate janis gave is way off - you're not going through customs, you're just bouncing out of the airport, jumping the Airtrain and catching a commuter rail.

travelottie

I once used shuttle from the airport to Jersey Gardens Mall - not a shopper, so went to movie theater with one carryon bag.

http://www.simon.com/mall/the-mills-...ns/travel-here