romchuboysic

I've been on this site lots but this is the first time I've posted. Need your opinion on an itinerary for three days in New York when we go in Mid-September. Let me preface this by saying my husband will not take the subway, so we're walking or taking cabs.

Day 1: Leave early and catch a cab from hotel to Battery Park to take ferry to Liberty and Ellis Islands. Time permitting take cab to Empire State Building. Walk back to hotel. (We want to do the Circleline tour of both islands and visit the observatory of the ESB). What time should we line up for the ferry? What time does the first ferry leave? (on-line schedule only goes up to September 4) Is it advisable to purchase tickets in advance over the internet? Can we do all of this in one day?

Day 2: Take cab to Century 21 for opening at 7:45 (correct?). Visit WTC site. Take Cab to Bloomingdale's. Catch matinee on Broadway.

Day 3: Catch hop-on hop off bus at Times Square. What times do the buses start running? Stop at Macy's. Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Where should we get off to walk across the bridge? What restaurant do you recommend on the "other side" that's good and not too far to walk. Finish loop and spend rest of afternoon in Central Park.

I don't know if my locations are crazy. These are the things I want to do/see. Any suggestions appreciated or if you think I should be doing something in a different order. The only thing set in stone is the Broadway play I want to see is only a matinee on Wednesday afternoon.

Thank you for your help and excuse my ignorance if something I've done doesn't make sense, I haven't traveled that much.

MikeT

Are you interested at all in museums? Is shopping a high priority? Do you really want to be up at the crack of dawn every morning?

I think the sked looks doable, but just exhausting like you are racing from place to place. Since there really isn't much at the WTC site and Century 21 is not worth getting up at 7:45 for, you could save time by doing Bloomingdales and maybe spending time on the UES or go to the Metropolitan Museum. If you husband doesn't like subways, is he going to want to spend this much time shopping?

romchuboysic

Not much interest in museums. This is my trip, so my husband is pretty easy-going about what we're doing. Should we skip Century 21? I've heard it's good but it's crazy if you're not there first thing in the morning.

romchuboysic

Anyone else?

brandie346

Make sure you get a hot Italian sausage sammich from a street vendor!

johngerard

Just returned from New York. Stayed at Belvedere 48th Street - very nice & pretty quiet. Times Square is 3 minute walk & should be experienced daytime & nighttime. Greenwich village - Bleeker St area worth a visit - breakfast at the Pink Teacup & you could take in little Italy which is now very little. Rockefeller & Empire State have shorter queues on Sunday. Get a 3 day bus pass & hop around all the sights - we got out of the Empire State at 7.30 & by accident got the 'midnight' tour bus ($40 if purchased by itself) which crosses Broklyn with spectacular views of nightime New York - it only stops after the Empire at Times Square. Macy's was not as good as Bloomingdales. Grand Central with its shops & food outlets are good. Taxis are faster at weekends & cost less than $10 from 57th to 22nd.

wantsomesun

With your schedule taking cabs is going to be the most time comsuming of everything you have planned. A cab to Bloomies from Century 21 will cost alot take at least 45 minutes and you WILL get stuck in traffic.

The #4 train, you can get at Battery Park and it will take you right TO Bloomies, the stop is right under the store.

The subways are clean and safe and during the day will be busy. OK I might think twice about being on the subway at 3am, but most other times I take the subway wherever I am going in the city.

For the ferry to Ellis Island, especially in the high tourist months, get there by 7:30 or so to get the first ferry out. It will save you some time to get the tickets online.

One other thing, pick areas of the city to explore, so you can walk between sites and not be running up and downtown, you will loose lots of siteseeing time doing that.

Have a great time.

GoTravel

You are scheduling uptown and downtown things on the same day.

To avoid this and save time, get a good map and guidebook of Manhattan.

For example; plan the World Trade Center Site, Century 21, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Circle Line Tour or Tour of Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty (don't miss the eternal flame in Battery Park which is where the Ellis Island/SOL tour originates).

Bloomies has its own subway stop or the bottom floor of Bloomies is in the subway station (take your pick) so a cab is a waste of time and money to get there.

As far as Century 21 is concerned, park your husband at a bar close by and shop by yourself. He'll be miserable if you make him go with you.

I'd skip Macy's if you are going to Bloomingdales. You'll be disappointed.

Gekko

Relax. New York is a walking city, a city to explore. Your itinerary is more like the Bataan Death March than a vacation.

You can come back, of course.

lizziea06

Hi Romchuboysic - my mother has some phobias that preclude her from taking the subway. I'm not sure if that is your husband's same reason, but please don't feel like you have to take the subway. She comes to visit me in the city a few times a year, and we just plan for the extra time it takes to get places.

I would also look at the bus schedule as a way to supplement cab usage. It's also a great way to see the city at a more leisurely pace if you don't feel like walking.

nytraveler

Well - deon;t know if you've been to NYC before - or what type of shopping you plan on doing.

But you seem to be leaving not much time for really heavy duty shopping. I mean, Macy's is 9 stories high and covers an entire city block. So you can shop for an hour and buy something - but if you're really "shopping macy's" it could take the whole day. Bloomies is similar.

Century 21 is much small - but a madhouse.

On Day 2 you won;t have time to see much of bloomies unless you skip lunch before the matinee.

(It's kind of hard for me to comment because I'm not a shopper - avoid it whenever possible - and love museums and would live in them. But I do know when I do Christmas shopping I rarely get out of Macy's or Bloomies in under 5 hours - and that's not shopping for me or for the house.)

loru100

I've been watching this post with interest, as I too am going to NYC in September.

So as far as shopping, I'm thinking don't bother with Century 21? I'm not into spending a lot of time going through racks and racks of clothes (We have stores like that in Canada...Winners, Designer Depot) to find one gem. Is this what I would expect at Century 21?

We managed to go through Harrod's in a couple of hours when we went to London a few years ago. Basically "window shopped" and bought the obligatory Harrods bag. Guess we could do the same in Macy's and Bloomingdale's if we weren't really shopping that much? The only thing I want to buy is a genuine handbag (Burberry, Coach) although would I be better off buying that at the actual store (better packaging, selection, etc.)?

PS: Love the Bataan Death March quote! I'm sure that's what my husband would say our itinerary is looking like! And be forewarned, this will not be the last of my NYC questions!

GoTravel

Century 21 is more about the $1200 Fendi bag for $400 than the $200 Calvin Klein coat for $10 (not exactly like that but you get my drift).

Century 21 is not the place you walk into and expect to find bargains of the year in a neat, clean, and orderly fashion. It is a madhouse and you must spend time in there to find what you want.

Example, I wanted sunglasses and had to fight my way to the counter to look at them, grab them off the display, then stand in a long line to get whatever case the sales person felt like giving me (they are Michael Kors sunglasses) while I was paying.

The staff gets beat up every day and their attitude reflects this.

Dohlice

I can't help you with the opening times, but you should get to Battery Park as early as possible because the lines get long. You do have a lot of uptown/downtown stuff. I would try to combine things to keep from having to go back and forth during the day. I like Century 21 and I think it's worth stopping at. I don't think it's vital that you be there when it opens. It does get very crowded but the mens section always seems to be worse. Lunchtime is the worst time but it isn't like you're going to be trampled or anything! Walking over the Brooklyn Bridge would be done from right by City Hall which is also downtown. I would suggest doing the Liberty/Ellis Island, WTC site and Century 21. Then walk straight up Broadway and walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. There is a great restaurant called Pete's Downtown on the Brooklyn side. It's right under the Brooklyn Bridge and has a wonderful view of the city lights. Don't know if you plan to walk both ways on the bridge. If you only want to walk one way then it might be better to take a cab there and walk back (just because I don't know if it will be easy to get one in Brooklyn). When you get back to the Manhattan side you can grab a cab back to your hotel.

To me it would make sense to combine your Broadway matinee, Times Square and the Empire State Building into one day.

Bloomies and Central Park on the 3rd day. You could then see the ritzy stores on 5th Avenue, too. Are you interested in St. Patrick's cathedral and Rockefeller Center? You could do that the same day. Are either of you sports fans? Mickey Mantle's is a nice spot for lunch.

I don't know where your hotel is but this would really minimize the time you spend in cabs because then you would be able to walk between all of these sites.

If I were going to skip one of the shopping places it would be Macy's, not Century. There is also a free shuttle that runs well and often in lower Manhattan - http://www.downtownny.com/gettingaround/?sid=19. It could cut down on your walking time and let you take cabs as little as possible.

Dohlice

Loru100 - Century 21 is better than that. There's a Daffy's downtown that's a lot like what you described. Something nice, but only 1 of them in 1 size and it's never yours! Century is really good for shoes and handbags, too.

loru100

They aren't the kind of handbags that look like they've been run over by a truck, are they? Went to a Saks 5th Avenue outlet in Anaheim once and that's all there was...okay, I promise...that's my last Century 21 question! Although I reserve the right to ask many more Macy's/Bloomingdale's questions...

loru100

I'm sorry Romchuboysic for hi-jacking your post...

Dohlice

I don’t think it’s that bad! My coworkers and I even brave the place on our lunch hour. It ISN’T like going to Bloomingdale’s though. But certainly much better than racks of $15 cotton shirts you can see through. If you have any need for children’s clothes that dept is awesome.

I have to say that there is nothing like going into Century the day after Christmas when they are practically giving away all the decorative stuff. It’s like the first 15 minutes of Saving Private Ryan!

Dohlice

Oops. By not that bad I meant the condition of the merchandise. There are some awful people who just drop whatever they don’t want right on the floor. But in general I’d say the merchandise is well taken care of.

lizziea06

I work in the World Financial Center and shop frequently at Century 21. Here is a list of items of purchased in the past few months to help guide your decision making process:

Theory shorts: $50 ($195 retail)
BCBG Max Azria dress: $50 ($140 retail)
BCBG halter top: $29 ($85 retail)
Wenger carry-on suitcase (now obsolete!): $70 (retail $190)

C21 is absolutely about finding brands like Marc Jacobs, Laundry, BCBG, Diane Von Furstenberg, ETC ETC ETC at really steep discounts. Yes, it's a zoo, go early or at the end of the day. I think it's well worth it.