wykel

3 girl friends in our 40's are flying into Newark on Sept 29th at 4pm then taking a shuttle to NY City. Staying in Time Square that night and the next night then going onto CT. We need advice as to how to cram the most into a short amount of time. Please HELP.

janie

Well..What do you like to do? No point having us suggest loads of museums--or bars--if you aren't into that!

Have any of you been to NY before? are you all from the US or another country? Big cities or small towns?

There are so many choices!

(by the way for 3 people, a taxi will cost not much more than any other mode of transportation like a bus/train or--hopefully not the 'dreaded' Supershuttle!)

nytraveler

Agree - don;t know what you mean by shuttle - but for 3 people a car service (try Carmel or Dial 7 web sites for a coupon) may not cost any more - and could save a lot of time.

nytraveler

Sorry - as to what to do - you do need to give us more info.

Otherwise there are 50 possible answers to your question.

isabellasu

Just walk! There is so much to see, you really don't need to do anything other than walk & stop and be amazed. You can go to the Top of the Rock, tour Radio City Music Hall, take a double decker bus tour, walk to Central Park, go into Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Center. My first & only time to Manhattan this is what we did, still can't get over just how overwhelming my first view of NYC was coming up from Penn Station and having the Empire State Building looming above me!

mclaurie

Do NOT take a shuttle for 3, even if it's already paid for. If it's a shuttle that drops everyone off at their own hotels, it will take forever. Order a pickup from dial7.com

Many people like to do a bus tour to get an overview of the city. The Grayline hop on/off tour is most popular but you really only need to do the downtown loop to see the main sights. Onboardtours.com is not hop on/off and is in some ways a better option. You might even think about doing their city lights tour on the first night.

Make a list of the things you'd like to see up close and plot them out on a map. If you want to see a show, either book tickets in advance or you can use the TKTS booth in Times Square for discount tickets. tdf.org/tkts has info. broadwaybox.com has discounts you can buy in advance to some shows

chewy1

the today show set at Rock plaza is really fun, top of the rock can be a long line and time gobbler, same thing for Empire St building...I splurged and bought the xpress passes up the elevator, and it was worth it to me. I had my sons with me, and an hour wait or more would not have made it so spending the 40 to 50 each was worth it to me as we only get to NY once in a blue moon.

trishb123

With only 1 day there is so much to chose from; it depends what you like. Go east to 5th Ave from Times Sq, Lord & Taylor's is 2 blocks south. If you go North on 5th there's Rockerfeller Center, Sak's, St Pat's, Trump's, Tiffany's (closed on Sat) and Central Park. If you have children there is NBA City, American Girl and Disney to get them something. Or go to Chinatown use Q subway in front of Macy's @ Herald Sq 35 & 6th, walk up to Little Italy. Subway is quick and fast. Subway in Little Italy @ Prince and Broadway to go back to midtown. If you see a Broadway show you'll miss the hours to see NYC instead. Unless you can stay another day...

mp

trish - Tiffany on 5th Avenue is open daily. Saturday 10-6 Sunday 12 -5

wykel

I just purchased 2 NY City passes. Here are some things I think we'd like to see: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY Public Library, The American Museum of Natural History, Empire State Bldg, Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Central Park, NBC Studios, Rockefeller Center, some shopping and eating of course, and we also want to take the cruise included in the city pass. We only have one day on the 30th of Sept. We are from rural WY, never been to NY City. We thought an airport shuttle would be the cheapest way to get there and back to EWR were we'll rent a car on the 1st to drive to CT to visit friends.

nytraveler

The places you have listed will take at least 3 and probably 4 days.


The Statue of Liberty alone will take about 5 hours (even if you buy timed ferry ticket in advance, you still have the security line to get on the ferry - like airports - then another line on Liberty Island to get to see the Statue - plus ferries back and forth.

The Met alone can take days - even 2 or 3 departments will take several hours.

You need to seriously reconsider what you want to see/do - and cut out the things that will take a huge amount of time (like SOL and ESB -hours on line - go for times tickets at Top of the Rock instead).

If your plane in scheduled to land at EWR at 4 you will be lucky to get to your hotel by 6. That evening you can ascend Top of the Rock, perhaps do some shopping and have dinner. The next day you will need to pick 3 or possibly 4 things to see briefly (but not SOL or ESB - each of which takes HOURS on line). Instead of a cruise around the island take the free Staten Island ferry - runs every 15 or 20 minutes and takes about 30 minutes each way - and gives a reasonable view of both side of the SOL (which faces away from Manhattan out into the harbor) and a great view of the skyline. You're simply going to have to forget a bunch on the list - no matter how early you start.

Suggest going to the web sits of the Museums and Central Park (Central Park Conservancy with map) to pick a few things to see - otherwise you will just be wandering aimlessly - and can spend hours finding things.

ellenem

Also, returning to Newark for a car rental when heading to Ct is backtracking a bit. Are you doing this beacuse you plan to return the car to Newark? You must weigh the cost and time of transporting three of you to Newark to get the car versus perhaps paying a bit more to pick up your car in Manhattan.

chewy1

Central Park and Museum of Natural History are right next to each other...Museum is great, particularly the planetarium show, its like an IMAX movie into deep space, even Mom and Dad liked it.

wykel

yes, we are flying again out of ewr on the 5th of Oct. We don't want to have to drive ourselves out of NY City in a rental car...we are from rural WY and don't do well in that kind of traffic. Anyhow, I'm not sure what other options we would have for a rental car?

ellenem

Even from Newark you will have to deal with some crazy suburban traffic, though not city street driving. You could probably choose a NYC rental office that avoids too much time on city streets.

nstevey

You could take the Metro North commuter train from Grand Central Station to North White Plains where there is a Hertz across the street from the station. Literally 2 minutes away. It takes between 40 and 60 minutes depending on whether you catch an express to get to NWP.

North White Plains is sort of on the way to CT, maybe a bit more north than you want, depending on where in CT you want to go. Primarily, you'll avoid driving in NYC.

It's an easy drive from Hertz to the highway, I287, about a couple of minutes away.

An added benefit is the rental cost will be a little cheaper as well although you are paying for the train ticket.

mclaurie

If you tell us where in Ct. you're going, we can tell you whether there is train or bus service from NYC that would eliminate having to rent a car at all. If you're visiting friends who live in Ct., I imagine they'll have a car and you may not need one. If you do need one in Ct., there may still be cheaper options for renting one locally.

But the bigger issue is all the things you want to do/see are just not possible in only one or two days in NYC. You can either visit a few things or pass by many things. The hop on/off buses will pass by everything and then you might have time to actually visit a few things.

If you're not that far from NYC, you might be able to do some day trips back to NYC from Ct.

As for getting to your hotel from EWR, either order a car service like dial7.com or take a taxi. It will cost about the same as a shuttle bus for 3 people and you'll get door to door service.

doug_stallings

If I were going to Connecticut, I'd rent a car in Stamford. It's going to be closer than North White Plains, though I don't know how close the rental office is there compared to the Hertz at North White Plains, which is really easy.

I'm sorry wykel bought that Citypass as there will be a lot of wasted money and it's a particularly bad deal if you have only 1 day. You'll have time for maybe 3 of those places, and the individual costs would have been cheaper. But that sort of sets your itinerary, which may be helpful.

To maximize your money (though you're still going to lose out), do the Empire STate Building on Monday night (lines will be long). On Tuesday, MOMA is closed, so that's out. If you want to do the Statue of Liberty (minimum of half-day), do that first thing on Tuesday. If you do that, then skip the Circle Line cruise (do the 75 minute version if you decide not to do the state) and do the Met right after.

If no Statue, go to the Metropolitan Museum 1st thing and spend no more than 2 hours there, then the Guggenheim (which is nearby), then the Circle Line; have the excellent prix-fixe lunch at Roberto Passon before the cruise or go have the pasta prix-fixe at Becco (either is about $20 without wine); neither is too far from the pier.

That's going to bring you to about 3 pm at best (much later if you do the Statue). If you have the time and stamina, spend an hour in the Natural History museum, but otherwise skip it and do some shopping.

You'll be able (at best) to visit 4 of your attractions, but these are the most expensive, so you'll almost recoup your investment this way.

doug_stallings

I should also have said if you do the Statue of Liberty, then invest in a NY transit Fun Pass for the day. Using the subway will maximize your time getting from downtown up to the museums. If you don't do the Statue of Liberty, then you could take the subway to the Met and then back to Times Square ($4 so no need for the Metro), but take a cab to Circle Line because of the distnace. But if you decide to do the Natural History Museum, the do get the Fun Pass either way because that will make it easier to get up the UWS and back down to your hotel to pick up your luggage for your onward trip (4 subway trips makes the Funpass a good deal). (You'll still have to take a taxi to and from the Circle Line.)

I also miscounted. If you can cram everything in at lightning speed and do the Circle Line, you can pack in 5 attractions and get your money's worth. But be sure to wear your walking shoes!!!!!

doug_stallings

Sorry, I'm too quick on the draw with the post button and didn't read your post carefully. If you really want to see Ground Zero do that on Tuesday night, after dinner (perhaps eat at L'Ecole, the restaurant of the French Cuilinary Institute), walk down through Little Italy and on down to Ground Zero ... about 30 minutes). Downtown is perfectly safe, though there's not much to see, and St. Paul's Church will probably be closed at night.

There won't be any time for Rockefeller Center on this trip unless you skip one of your attractions. Same for shopping. No time for that unless you decide to skip something.

If you have time on Wednesday morning, you could run over to Rock Center really early and see that.