mishottie

I travel a little, but have not yet been to NY. I have a conference in Boston and we are going to add 3 days and go to NY. I have booked our room at the new Westin NY Times Square (my daughter stayed there in June and really liked it). I have Champagne taste on a Merlot budget and I received and excellent rate and usually get an upgrade as a spg member. Wondering if anyone that has stayed there has feedback about it, since it is not yet listed on fodors.com. Also, looking for recommendations on what can't be missed - since we only have 3 days to do it all we must prioritize. Also looking for restaurant recommendations. Travelers will be my husband and myself (40 something) and our daughter and her boyfriend (20). Looking forward to all the responses!

Devinson

The one thing I would recommend for a first time visitor to the City is to take a Gray Line bus tour. You can buy a 48 hour ticket so that you can take the Lower and Upper Manhattan tours as well as the Brooklyn tour. At the same time you buy your Grayline tickets, you can also get tickets for the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island tour as well as the Empire State Building. One piece of advice for the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island boat tour: I would not recommend getting off at the Statue of Liberty since it has been closed to visitors since 9/11. You get an great view from the boat. You'll probably want to spend about a half day at Ellis Island. There is so much to see there.

http://www.graylinenewyork.com/

I am not sure what types of food you like, but here are some recommendations:

Some famous delis in Manhattan include Katz's, Stage, and the Carnegie Deli. For Italian I really like going to Little Italy's Mulberry Street. One of my favorite restaurants there is IL Cortile. Of course you can't go wrong with just about any place there.

http://www.littleitalynyc.com/

For pizza I would recommend Lombardi's and Grimaldi's in Brooklyn, right near the Brooklyn Bridge.

If you want to see a Broadway show, I woul advise signing up at Broadway.com or Playbill.com to get email offers for discount tickets. The other option is to go to the TKTS booth in either Times Square or the South Street Seaport for same day Broadway show tickets for about 50% off.

Sorry, I can't help with the hotel.

Hope this helps.

Have a great time in The City!!

mishottie

Thanks, Devinson - I appreciate your input!

myst

There is so much to do. Make sure you see a play. You can buy same day discount tickets in Times Square just get their early to wait in line because it fills up quickly. I like to go over to Dean and Deluca in the morning at Rockefeller Center and then people watch a bit for the city atmosphere. Also visit St. Patricks Cathedral in the neighborhood. Frick is my favorite museum. It is in a mansion and the art belonged to the former owner. Some really incredible pieces in a gorgeous setting at about 72 St. across from Central Park. A stroll thru the park is also highly recommended!

spaceycadette

Hi ya,

I'm from Ontario, Canada and have visited the city 4 times...I love it! My advice: if you are going to hit a museum go to either the American Museum of Natural History or The Metropolitan Museum of Art. After you visit the museum (either one) go for a stroll in Central Park.

Staten Island Ferry - amazing view of city - and free.

Grand Central Station - free to visit and awe inspiringly beautiful!

No visit is complete without the Times Square walkabout - suddenly commercials become cool! Guess if you make them 40 ft high and 60 ft long, jam them all together in one of the most famous corners in the world - how could they not be cool?

I'm planning another visit in November this year - by far this is my fav. time of the year to visit. Enjoy your trip!!!