Hi - My wife and I are planning our trip to New York this Xmas - we have 16 nights so we plan on seeing everything. As we have a baby with us, we don't want to move around a lot, so we have booked into the Warwick Hotel for 10 nights at about $140 per night - sounded good to me. For the remaining 6 nights we would like to stay in a different location but still relatively central - paying about the same sort of money.

I was thinking of the Clarion Hotel 5th Avenue, or perhaps the Time Hotel (athough that is getting a little more pricey). Any suggestions?

NYC is a favorite place to visit but you may find 16 nights way too much! Why not get out of the city and see some of the beautiful areas in and around NY?

Thanks Nancy - any suggestions? We would not mind getting a train somewhere - perhaps an hour or so out of the city.

How about renting a car and driving up to Stockbridge in the Berkshires. Very Norman Rockwell and nice contrast to the city. Or with that amount of time you could even go to Boston for a couple of days (train or drive). If you do decide to stay in NYC, I'm curious as to why you would want to switch hotels.

Ann - We need to switch hotels because the Warwick has no rooms for a couple of nights late December. Renting a car may not suit only because we are Australian and a little terrified of driving out of the city (particularly with our one-year old)!

Have you thought about taking the Amtrak train from Penn Station (33rd St. and 7th Ave.) to Philadelphia? 1-1/2 hours south of NYC. Lots of historical sights: Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross's home, great museums (Franklin Institute, Rodin, Museum of Art), very walkable especially if you have a stroller for the 1 year old. Many wonderful hotels and restaurants.

Check it out.

Yes, definitely 16 nights in NYC will drive you mad.

I second the move to either Phillie, Wash DC, or Boston. Any of these are easy to reach with public transportation.

another thought is taking a guided tour of niagara falls so you wouldn't have to worry about transportation for this either.

16 nights is way too long. I'm ready to come home after 3 night - and I love NYC! Go see something else too. New York is a great state. What do you like to do?

16 nights may not be too much. If you have your baby with you I imagine you will have to go back to the hotel for naps and so on, and your actual sightseeing time will not be as great as many people may think. One of the pleasures of visiting a place for a long time is that you can find favorite places that you can revisit, i.e, have coffee or afternoon tea at a place more than once, become a part of a neighborhood if you find a favorite place for breakfast etc.

I agree that taking the train to Philly would be an easy trip especially with a year old baby..it is a relativeley easy town to get around..Don't forget that January can and probalby will be pretty nippy. bring lots of layers.. There is a wonderful inn about 1 1/2 ouside of NYC ..Mohonk Mountain with many winter activities and beautiful surroundings. Have a fun trip

Forget about Niagara Falls over the holidays. It can be -20° with 3 feel of snow. It also takes at least 7+ hours to get up there from NYC.


There is Washington DC and Baltimore. Easily reached by Amtrak.

Come to Boston! 4 hours or so by Amtrak train, very walkable city, the oldest and best First Night (New Year's Eve) celebration in America.

To counter what the other posters have said...I've been here over 4,000 days and still haven't run out of fun things to do!

I say spend your last 6 nights downtown. You can take the free ferry to Staten Island (excellent Statue of Liberty views), wheel the baby carriage over the Brooklyn Bridge and check out the Heights, stroll along the Hudson River Park's new walkways (watch the boats and the flying trapeze classes!), see the South Street Seaport, visit art galleries in SoHo, stroll the historic cobblestone streets of Tribeca, shop and eat in Chinatown...there's a TON to do downtown!

They are all great comments - it is true that 16 nights in NYC with a young child goes a little quicker than without a child in tow. You do need to take lots of breaks. I also like the idea of really getting to know an area well - something you can't really do when you only have a week or so.

We are now tossing up two options: going to Philadelphia for a few nights (is 2 nights too short?) or staying in a different area such as downtown for the last 6 nights. One question about downtown is where is the best location to be based? Should we be near, eg, Battery Park or is that too south?

Thanks in advance.

Here's a tip for families who want to stay downtown: Last time I checked it, Priceline's only 4-star hotel in the financial district was the Embassy Suites, which people were getting for a very good rate. Take a look at www.biddingfortravel to learn about bidding on Priceline and to see lists of hotels that people have won.

ttt

My first response was - Why would anyone want to spend 16 days in the city on vacation? Actually, that's still my response. Where are you coming from? I'm pretty sure you'll have had it by day 5 or 6. You better make plans elsewhere.

Venice is my very favorite city, but I wouldn't spend 16 days there either. That's a long time to stay in one hotel and eat 3 meals out everyday (NOW where do we go?)

Hey John:

I wouldn't recommend staying around Battery Park. It's a bit of a tough area to get to (especially since 9/11). Also, you can't help but notice the WTC site. I went to see it, but I was glad not to have to deal with it constantly.

If you are there for a while, why not stay a bit further out? You could stay on the Upper West Side. There are a lot of hotels up there, some very nice. And it's a quieter location, but still close to things on the subway.

Or look even further afield. There are some small inns/B&Bs in Park Slope in Brooklyn. Again, it's a bit further out, but there is a lot to see and do. And with the subway, you can be in Manhattan in very little time. Of course, this might be less practical is you just want to "run back to the hotel" to change the baby or feed, etc.

Here's a list of some Brooklyn properties:

http://brooklyn.about.com/cs/hotelslodging/

Make sure you scroll down. Just a thought anyway.

Don't waste too much time outside of NYC, there too much to do and see but if you must...

Take a train (seeing the refurbished Grand Central Station is unbeleivable) up to West Point. Have lunch, see the campus, stay the night. A delightful place.