Well relaxing by poolside is rarely an option in NYC

There's plenty to do here including mega people watching.

thestarryeye.typepad.com/explorenyc

I have lived in NYC all my live and there are still things to see and do.

There are NY hotels with pools but with two weeks, you can go to Coney Island, Brighton Beach, or Manhattan Beach one day assuming you are visiting in the hot weather.

NY is a great walking city with scores of different neighborhoods that offer different architecture, food, and culture including Queens and Brooklyn.

There are many smaller museums that quite satisfying and thousands and thousands of independent stores.

Yes, you can easily fill that time here and in DC - esp with a side trip to Pennsylvania. Not sure about the lounging pool side. Very few hotels in either place have pools and they are almost all indoors - and used for exercise rather than lounging.

there are outdoor public pools in NYC (not sure about DC) but they are mobbed - as in elbow to elbow - with children - so again - not really for lounging - and open only in July and August when kids are out of school. (Outdoor pools are largely unknown since they can be used for such a small part of the year. But NYC has a bunch of beaches - in the city or right nearby - if you really want water and lounging - and they ususally are really packed only at weekends.

Ooh, the luxury of 4 weeks between NYC and DC is terrific! Easy to find plenty to do in that time, especially in NYC/greater NY area. What time of year are you considering?

As I'm sure you're aware, you won't need/want a car in either city. But I'd suggest visiting Gettysburg between the two and using a car to do so; take a day to see the Civil War site and a day in bucolic Lancaster County, PA to break up the urban parts of your trip... The drive to/from NYC through the Delaware Water Gap and down to Harrisburg is pretty and easy, no more than 3-4 hours. Drive between Gettysburg & Philadelphia, drop the car, then train between Philly & DC... You could visit Baltimore on the DC leg, or make it a day trip once you're in DC.

I think a 4 week timeframe for those two cities is just fine given your description of traveling. More than enough in both places to occupy your time with plenty of opportunity to chill out and/or people watch.

In DC, the National Mall and sculpture gardens, the museum cafes, the monuments are all wonderful places to watch the world go by.

Your timeframe allows enough for day trips to nearby Alexandria (could easily be half day), Annapolis and already mentioned Baltimore.

A couple of the DC hotels I've stayed in have pools. The pools themselves are pretty small, probably good for laps only. The Donovan House Hotel pool is a rooftop one with a very pretty view of the city and a poolside bar. The one at the Hotel Palomar is in an interior courtyard, a nice place to lounge. Both are Kimpton properties, big emphasis on customer service. Highly recommended.

We did a little over two weeks and just got back. We felt it was pretty long--certainly the heat had an impact on our trip. I see that you are coming from Sydney and realize your airfare is quite high.

The other issue for us, in DC especially was that a person can only do so many museums or monuments in a row. If you are going to go for that long, you need to go to Georgetown or Adams Morgan etc and enjoy the neighborhood for a day. Ideally stay in a neighborhood. Definitely do a side trip. We would have loved to do Jamestown and Williamsburg but time got away from us. Maybea sidetrip to somewhere on Long Island or upstate New York? Hopefully someone from the area can guide you on that.