two adults, one 17yr old and one 68yr old.

never been to NYC and are thrilled about it.

What are the "must see", and how far are they from each other.

We are hoping to camp at the liberty Rv park in New Jersey. Just across the holland tunnel(sp?)

a few of the 'must see" for us is:
empire state bldg
chrysler bldg
central park
madison square garden
statue of liberty
ground zero, and/or memorial site, especially for our daughter, since it will be history in her time.
and some expensive shops to window shop with our teenager, just for fun.

Is this to much to do in a couple of days?

What about the grayline bus tours, is it worth it?

thanks in advance

Well, first of all I have no idea how to get from this RV park into the city - have you looked into this? (Obviously you can;t bring your RV into the city - there wouldn;t be any place to park it.) For only two days would just get basic Metrocards for the subways

As to your list of sites:

Madison Square Garden - drop this - there's nothing to see unless you go to a game - it's like every other arena everywhere

Suggest you pick at least one museum:

Either the Met - one of the three major repositories of western civilization or -

Ellis Island Immigation Museum - a true record of the remarkable diversity that makes NYC - and the US - the incredible place that it is

For the Statue of Liberty - you may want to just view it from the (free) Staten Island Ferry (You can no longer climb inside the statue - so there's not much to see on the island - beyond the poem on the base.)

For shopping:

For nicer dep't store try Bloomies - also Barney's

For real shopping do H&M or Cenruy 21 downtown - the former is good teen stuff - the latter is better stuff at very reduced prices

For trendy shopping try downtown

Do not reco the bus tours - these are good only if you have more time - to see from the bus and then go back and see in depth later. If you want to see some above ground consider taking a couple of local buses instead of just the subway.

Birdie, you realize that you are still at least an hour outside Manhattan right? My suggestion would be to park at the RV park, bid on cheap hotel on priceline, head into Manhattan and spend the night.

Since it is your first time into Manhattan the commute can be fustrating and exhausting. Plus, what about having somewhere during the day to refresh?

Public restrooms are a PIA and hard to find.

The Greyline Tour is an excellent idea for an overview of the city.

You can do the 48 hour tour.

Take the subway to City Hall and walk over to the Trade Center site. Walk down to the Staten Island Ferry terminal and hop onboard. It is free and has the very best views of lower Manhattan, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Statue of Liberty.

Again, NYC can be exhausting. Get two hotel rooms off priceline and sitesee until you drop. If you don't, you run the risk of making everyone's trip less pleasant.

ttt

Check out this thread for addl info
>>> New York City ... first-time visitor --- http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34560377 <<<