jnhayes

Hi! We have ironed out most of our trip, and now we are down to details.

Here is a list of things we want to do in NYC. I just need some help figuring out if it is doable in 3 1/2 days!

Statue of Liberty
Ellis Island
Staton Island Ferry @ night
Brooklyn for Pizza
Central Park
Broadway show
Ground Zero
Empire State Building @ night
Grand Central

And then would like to walk through The Village, Chinatown, etc.

We are more looking to 'see' NYC, than to really do much. And of course we have to eat in some of the very yummy restaurants!!!

I want to make sure we can see as much as possible in the 3 days we are there, without feeling overwhelmed. I would like to have a rough timeline to go by, having the "it's okay if we don't do this" items marked.

We will be coming in on a Friday night, then will have Sat-Mon all-day. Our plane leaves at 11AM Tuesday.

Any help you can offer will be great!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks!
Jocelyne

mclaurie

Hi Jocelyn- There's a long thread posted here recently by someone else who's planning a trip to NYC, I think the dates in the title were 5/10-5/17. I think the poster's name is Glenda. Try doing a text search. She has arranged an itinerary that may be of help to you even though her trip is a week. Your options for a show are Sat & Sun matinee or Sat nite. Most shows are dark on Mon. If you're planning on trying to get theater tickets at the "half price" booth, be aware that in addition to the booth at Times Square (45th & Broadway) there's also a booth downtown I think at the South Street Seaport. There's a website that will give you info on locations & also the times tickets go on sale. I also seem to recall that the downtown booth may sell tickets for the following day while the one uptown is only same day. So...you could try getting tickets on Sat. for a Sun. matinee. Not all the shows have Sun. performances but many do. Try the Empire State building at dusk. Have a terrific time.

DavidDJ

3 1/2 days is plenty of time for your itinerary.

Saturday: I would suggest the Lower Manhattan Gray Line tour, as it will cover most of the places you want to see. At the same time that you buy your Gray Line ticket, you can also purchase tickets for the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island and the Empire State Building. It will save you time from having to stand in a ticket line at each of those places. As far as the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island tour, I would not recommend getting off the boat at the Statue, as you cannot go inside of it since 9/11. You get a great view of Lady Liberty from the boat. I would plan on spending about 3 hours at Ellis Island. The entire Lower Manhattan bus loop takes about 2 hours. It is a hop on hop off tour that gives you a great overview of The City. Busses come about every 15 minutes. http://graylinenewyork.com/

For dinner I'd go to Little Italy http://www.littleitalynyc.com/restaurants.asp Almost any restaurant on Mulberry Street will be very good. One that I recommend is IL Cortile http://ilcortile.citysearch.com/

Sunday and Monday you can spend time checking out some of the sites that interested you while on the bus tour.

Sunday: Go down to Ground Zero, where you can get a good view from inside the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center. For lunch, check out Grimaldi's for pizza in Brooklyn. After lunch go to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. Grab a sandwich at Katz's Deli and then take the Staten Island Ferry for a nightime view of the City skyline.

Monday: You can devote the day to visitng Central Park, Midtown including Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Terminal, Empire State Building, and a Broadway show. For show tickets go to www.playbill.com or www.broadway.com

Have a great time in The City.

4khansen

go to www.newyorkpass.com we are going later this summer for 7 days this looks like a good deal to us, includes bus/subway transportation too!!

jnhayes

Thanks for the suggestions. I will check out the sites mentioned.

mclaurie - I did find the other thread you mentioned, and it had a wealth of information - thanks for pointing it out!

daviddj - thanks so much for the day-to-day breakdown. It will come in handy as I finalize my itenerary

4khansen - I haven't heard of this and will definitely have to check it out!!! We drop off our rental car on Friday night, so we will be on our own in NYC, which I know is the BEST option

artlover

Well...hate to make things any more complicated, but New York has the best art in this country. If you have any interest in art at all (obviously from my screen name it's a top priority for me), you should at least go to the Met, but MOMO and the Guggenheim are incredible as well.

patsy

Some great suggestions here....so much to do with so little time! You didn't mention your exact travel dates but since you're planning on taking in a Broadway play (I highly recommend this!)... you may be in luck....Bernadette Peters will be opening in "Gypsy" on 3/31. From what I've heard and read, this re-make is suppose to be a huge hit! If you're in town, this could be a great choice. Also, Hilary Swank will be opening in "The Miracle Worker" which is also suppose to be BIG and is even suitable for children. You may luck into some GREAT Broadway choices. Even "Urban Cowboy" with Matt Cavinaugh will be opening, the original songs plus music from Dixie Chicks, Clint Black, Shania Twain. Lots of great new Broadway plays to chose from. I'm so jealous, I wish I could go to NYC this Spring! Enjoy your trip!!

FreddieD

We did all of this (except a show) and more in 2 1/2 days while there during NYE, but we didn't get very much sleep. We did take the subway to far off places but we walked mostly everywhere. We did Grand Central, Time's Square, Circle Line 2 hour tour, ESB (tried to go up 3 different times but couldn't because of the high winds and freezing rain), Ground Zero, Financial District, Battery Park, Central Park, 5th Ave. and all of the stores and shops around there, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center and Plaza, and just about everything else in between and fought high winds and heavy rain on Jan. 1st. I think I lost about 10 lbs. in the 3 days we were there! Take good comfortable shoes.

SusieQQ

Your plan sounds good, but I won't go to Brooklyn for pizza...a waste of time (INHO). I would add a walk around SOHO and Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick's. Also,If possible spend a little time at the Met.
Highly rec. shows would be Mamma Mia, Hairspray, and Take Me Out.

Nina66

When you are in Grand Centeral Station, for the absolutely best cheesecake in the world, stop at Junior's in the food court. If you are a cheesecake lover, this is Nirvana.

Also, when walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, start in Brooklyn and walk back towards Manhattan. We did it the opposite way and spent most of the time looking backwards at the city.

Enjoy your trip.