darlenef17

Headed to NYC with DH in late April. I've been 4-5 times before, but this is his first trip. On my first trip, I crammed everything I could into a VERY full 6 days. On subsequent trips, we just meandered and enjoyed the city, so I really don't remember the most logical way to do things to avoid backtracking. We will have 3 days and one evening, and the wish list of things to see is below. I know there are no musuems - he's not museum person . . .

ARRIVAL DAY: Arrive Newark 4:00 pm; get to the city; check into hotel located near Times Square; wander Times Square and have dinner. Anything else??

DAY 1:
Ellis Island
Statue of Liberty
9/11 Memorial; WTC; Battery Park
Would love to incorporate the SI Ferry into this day if possible.

DAY 2: Activities must be completed in time to be back at hotel for 5 to freshen up and make pre-show dinner and show.
China Town
Walk Brooklyn Bridge (Maybe this is better on DAY 3? Evening???)
Greenwich Village for pizza?? anything else? recommendations for pizza?
Empire State Building outside only and is this even necessary if we see it from the top of the Rock?
Grand Central Station
Library exterior
7:30 - Musical - not flexible, tickets purchased

DAY 3:
Central Park and The Plaza Hotel
Rockefeller Plaza/Center (outside only - no tours) and Top of the Rock – go close to dusk so we can see day views and night views
Radio City Music Hall (exterior for photo op)
St Patrick's Cathedral
Walk 5th Avenue

DAY 4: Morning Departure

I need suggestions as to the most time effective manner in which to do these activities. I'm very open to moving things around (or cutting, if necessary) in order to get the most out of the trip. Basically, he enjoys walking, looking at buildings, eating, and exploring various parts of the city, but not really going to "attractions" if that helps.

Thank you in advance for all the help!!

nytraveler

A couple of notes:

Day 1 :I'm not sure how much of Ellis Island is open

And you need advance tickets for the ferries to SoL to avoid long line - try to get today. You can do SI ferry anytime it runs 24/7 365 - every 20 minutes during the day and 30 minutes later and overnihgt

Day 2: You don;t have a lot. Visit the inside of the library - it's not a lending library - but has fascinating exhibits and one of the most goregous reading rooms in the world.

Day 3 is busier - maybe move walking 5th Ave to do Day 2
Outside of Radio city doesn;t look like anything - only the inside is interesting. And St Pat's is being rehabbed on the outside.

For Central Park look for guided walks that might be interesting. And be prepared it's not very green yet.

kenav

Fifth Avenue is a broad street but is not what it used to be as far as high end shopping - if you would like to see that. Madison Avenue in 60s and above will give you boutique high end window shopping. Very neighborhoody - not commercial and touristy like 5th.

Definitely get into Central Park. Lots of great people watching. Brooklyn Bridge walk is great. Have dessert at a cafe in Brooklyn Heights when you get to the Brooklyn side. Take in the view at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Don't go to Patsy's or whatever it's calling itself these days.

NeoPatrick

I'd agree that the inside of Radio City is far more worth seeing than the outside. I'd consider doing a tour of the inside. Same with the NYC public Library -- go in and at least see the reading room ( no tour though). And honestly you could walk by the Empire State Building and never know it. If not going in and up (which is fine not to do in my book), then seeing it from Top of the a Rock is all you need to do.

darlenef17

Thanks to all for your responses! Very helpful since I've not been to NYC since 2009.

nytraveler: Any recommendations for guided walks of Central Park?

kenav: Any cafe suggestions? Love the idea of dessert and coffee in Brooklyn. Last time, I was with my daughter and we had pizza followed by ice cream at the foot of the bridge.

Neo: I've done the top of ESB and found it overrated too. Hoping to be happier with the Top of the Rock.

Definitely planning to see the interior of the library. I've done it before and it's something DH will enjoy. I'm not sure how exterior got behind it. Probably a cut/paste error.

I will look into the Radio City tour. I've not done it before and it sounds interesting.

I still need some help with logistics, please. If the days look good and not over-filled, can anyone suggest the best order to do each day's activities in to avoid back-tracking? Restaurant suggestions are also welcome for the various areas we'll be in, as well as additional things to do if it seems as though I've "under-scheduled." I've been trying to do better in terms of not over scheduling trips in order to enjoy the experience a bit more instead of constantly rushing. Hopefully, I've not gone too far in the other direction!

Fra_Diavolo

I just want to add that the interior of St Patrick's is also undergoing restoration and is completely swathed in scaffolding. There's very little to see.

darlenef17

Thanks for the additional info on St. Pat's. A shame he'll miss its splendor.

SueNYC

Go to St John the Divine instead

nytraveler

For Central Park info go to the website of the Central Park Conservancy - it will have a map and a plethora of information on what it happening in the Park on the days you are here.

And Fifth Ave still has a lot of top end shops, esp jewelers - although it is true that the most exclusive clothing designers are on Madison in the 60s.

darlenef17

Thanks for the info on CPark, nytraveler! I've seen you on the boards for years. Would you be able to suggest the best order for doing each day's activities in to avoid back-tracking?

traveler2005

I remember when we went in 2010, someone helped us make sense of what we wanted to see and put them in a logical order. I hope someone can help you with that.

My one thought about
DAY 3:
Central Park and The Plaza Hotel
Rockefeller Plaza/Center (outside only - no tours) and Top of the Rock – go close to dusk so we can see day views and night views
Radio City Music Hall (exterior for photo op)
St Patrick's Cathedral
Walk 5th Avenue,

That seems pretty simple/quick depending on how long you spend in Central Park.

Although I haven't been to top of the Rock - that might be time-consuming if there are lines.

nytraveler

What you have sort of makes sense.

Day 1 is downtown and part of day 2 - but you can;t do it all in one day so don't know you have any choice.

Day 3 is midtown and some uptown - depending on how far go in the Park it may by more uptown. If it were me I would do the Museums - but your husband said your husband isn't interested. Are you sure he wouldn't like the Nat'l Hist Museum or the Planetarium? Also the NY Historical Society is right next to Nat'l Hist - is small and has fascinating exhibits.

Frankly museums are the first places I head so it's hard to come up with a ton of other places.

Does he he have any special interests? There's usually something in NY for any interest.

darlenef17

He enjoys architecture and wants to see the various neighborhoods of NYC. I love the museums, but this will likely be his first and last trip to NYC, so I want to do the things he likes. He enjoys parks, popping into an old vinyl record store in Greenwich Village, people-watching, eating, etc. I think he would like to go up to Harlem as he loves R&B music (I actually lured him to NYC with Motown The Musical tickets), but I've never been and don't know what there is to do there or if it's even safe or worth seeing.

I guess what I'm really asking is what is the most logical way to meander through the neighborhoods, especially on Day 2.

Any suggestions for the most logical order to get from point A to points B, C, D, etc. would be very helpful.

Thank you!

traveler2005

Would you be up for doing a tour? In 2010, we took a tour through Real New York Tours. realnewyorktours.com There were 5 of us, so we took a private tour called the Big Apple.

http://realnewyorktours.com/tour_detail?tour=big_apple

It was partially by subway and partially by foot. The guide met us at our hotel. We walked through Times Square and Central Park and then worked our way through many neighborhoods (Greenwich Village, Washington Square Park, Soho, Little Italy, Chinatown) ending up in the Financial District and the Former World Trade Center site.

By going with a guide, we were able to see so much in one day. And he pointed out things that we would have missed on our own.

The private option was kind of expensive even with 5 people, but they also have group options available. Their Dozen Apples Tour looks like the same tour.

It has parts of what you now have in days 1, 2, and 3. For me, I would do this on my first day and then see what was left over.

If you did not want to do a tour, you could use their tour details as a template for a logical order to see the neighborhoods.

darlenef17

2005: It looks like a perfect way to get an overview of the city. Seven hours of an organized tour is probably more than I want to do, but the shorter one, Downtown Dozen, is very appealing! Unfortunately, we will be there Tues. evening - Sat. morning, and they only offer the DD on Tues, Fri., and Sun. I don't know if we'll do the tour or not since it's not until our last day, but the outline of their route was very helpful! Thank you for that suggestion and the link.

Rhea58

I have used this outfit for tours of Greenwich Village and Harlem altho they have others including Brooklyn when I have out-of-town guests. The tours last 2 hours or so which would not cut into your day too much. One just
tips the guide at the end of the tour. Small groups and easy.

www.freetoursbyfoot.com

ellenem

I think your Day 2 has too much and Day 3 has too little. Based on the amount of timing and locations, I would rearrange your itinerary this way:

ARRIVAL DAY: Arrive Newark 4:00 pm; get to the city; check into hotel located near Times Square; wander Times Square and have dinner. Anything else??
+ Top of the Rock is close by if you want to try it this night. I'd watch the weather report to see which day would offer the best weather.

DAY 1:
Ellis Island
Statue of Liberty
9/11 Memorial; WTC; Battery Park
Would love to incorporate the SI Ferry into this day if possible.
+ If you take the feryy to Ellis Isalnd, there is really no need to take the Staten Island Ferry.

DAY 2:
+Based on your other interests, I'd do the Brooklyn Bridge in the morning. Take the subway to Brooklyn, then
Walk Brooklyn Bridge
walk to Chinatown
Greenwich Village
+ Spend some time exploring Greenwich Village or the East Village. See some NYC neighborhoods. You could walk uptown on the east side and visit the Tenement Museum--I think even you husband would like this--an food shops like Katz and the Pickle Guys. You could walk uptown on West Broadway and eventually veer further west to the quaint street of the West Village.
7:30 - Musical - not flexible, tickets purchased

DAY 3:
Grand Central Station
Library at 42nd street - go inside!
Walk north on Fifth Avenue
Rockefeller Plaza/Center (outside only - no tours) and Top of the Rock – go close to dusk so we can see day views and night views
Radio City Music Hall (exterior for photo op)
St Patrick's Cathedral
Central Park and The Plaza Hotel

DAY 4: Morning Departure

traveler2005

In 2010, I planned a few days in NYC with friends. Although I had been there, it wasn't recent and my overall knowledge of the city wasn't very wide. I compiled a list of all the things that we wanted to see (three of the others had never been there) and posted a thread here asking for suggestions.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-must-sees.cfm

Someone very kindly put my list into a logical order with notes about where everything was. When I read ellenem's list above, I was reminded of that list, so had to go back and look. Sure enough, she was the one that did it for us.

ellenem - You are appreciated. I have remembered that kindness for four years and I am sure many others have benefited from that list and from all the other help that you give to people on the boards. Thank you.

I enjoyed that trip so much, that we have returned to NYC three times since then.

ellenem

traveler2005,

I'll accept your thanks on behalf of all of the NYC Fodorites who spend their free time helping visitors hone their itineraries and conquer their fears of the big city.

traveler2005

ellenem - In my original note, I added my thanks to the other Fodorites too. Then I rearranged it and lost that part.

Having access to so many kind and helpful people has enriched my travel so much!!

I would start tossing out some other names, but I know that I'd miss someone.