What suggestions are offered for a backpacker to do upon arrival by greyhound bus from a trip across country to NYC? Where to stay? Do taxis accept them with their backpacks? Any advice on sightseeing problems? Can backpacks be checked? Do hotels accept the traveler with a backpack?

Where to stay? First, answer this question: How much do you want to spend.
Backpacks in cabs? Yes.
Travelers with backpacks in hotels? Yes.
Sightseeing problems with a backpack? You'll have to check it in a lot of places. In other sites, it'll be searched for security purposes. Some places may not allow them. What other problems might you be talking about? Of course, I'd find it very uncomfortable walking around NYC with a backpack all day!

Can't imagine trekking around NYC all day with a backpack. Way too heavy and cumbersome.

And you'll have lots of trouble with public transport. Subways and buses don;t have anyplace to put luggage and you wont be popular at all if you try to push onto a crowded train or bus carrying a body bag (I'm assuming you mean a travelers backpack - not the little purse type ones) - never mind the risk of having it cut open by someone looking for your valuables.

You're going to need to leave your backpack in the hotel and carry somethig much smaller around the city.

Howard is correct - let us know your budget and when you're coming and we can make suggestions as to where you might stay.

How about the HI/AYH hostel at 103rd & Amsterdam? Take the 1/9 train up to 103rd & Broadway, walk E 2 short blocks?
http://www.hinewyork.org/
or www.hiayh.org

You'll surely meet other backpackers, as well as other travelers, especially younger ones. They serve decent low-priced meals. The place is clean, safe, and relatively quiet ... but of course you share a room with others.

There is nowhere I know of to check bags in NYC other than Amtrak if you hold a ticket.

To NY traveler. Two 19 yr olds from France, girls. I expect to be able to help them as far as funds are concerned. I just want them to be in safe location, convenient to sightseeing in Manhattan and help them have a memorable experience. I told their mother not to worry. They could spend part of their time in NJ and easily bus it to Manhattan but without their backpacks. Time is around 4th week in August. They might find it awkward having me tagging along. What is your experience? Limited English I believe. I'm concerned about getting them to JFK in time for their flight home. May get a limo for 2 adults and 2 backpackers with their backpacks. Do you think getting to the airport from Manhattan with their backpacks would be a serious problem? Thank you for you comments.

Sounds like you were unable to discourage your two friends from taking the Greyhound bus from CA to NYC, even after all the stories posted a few weeks ago.

If they've made it all the way across the US by Greyhound, I think these 2 ladies deserve to stay in Manhattan when they visit NYC before they head home to France.

Part of the magic of Manhattan is to step out side the door of your hotel directly onto the streets of one of the most exciting places on earth.

They can also have fun exploring at night and walk, cab, bus or subway right back again.

Getting on a bus to go back to NJ after a day or night on the town doesn't sound like a good option. It's unlikely that a bus will drop them off at the door to their hotel in NJ anyway.

As far as getting to the airport by car service, a backpack is not too unlike any other piece of luggage - you should have no problem putting the backpack in the trunk of the car.

I'm still not too keen on a cross country Greyhoud trip, but it's their call. Have you showed them all the comments from the last thread?

Without knowing their hotel budget it's hard to make a reco on a place to stay. I know the hostel at 103rd/Amsterdam gets lot of europeans who seem perectly happy with it. Don;t know if they're all dorm rooms - or if they might have some doubles. But there are lot of other hostels if they want to check them out on-line. A decent hotel room would be in the range of probably $120 plus per night.

They can get to JFK via Air Train for $7 if they're comfortable with that - or I believe there is a shuttle that's $20 or so. (The JFK web site will have info on that.)

How limited is their english - as you know, unfortunately most americans are monolingual - and in NYC the second language is much more likely to be Spanish then anything else. (I have met some of the hostelers, though, who spoke little english and seemed to do OK.)

I see backpackers in NYC all the time. The girls will be fine. Just tell them it would be polite if they took them off their shoulders and held them in front of them when riding public transportation.

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine stayed at the Gershwin Hotel at 7 East 27th Street, right off 5th Avenue and 6 blocks down from the Empire State Building. They have bunk beds starting at $40 per person. It's a very nice-looking place. http://www.gershwinhotel.com/ The site is pretty bad - you need the Flash plugin - but there's a version in French.

Thomas - Going back to the Greyhound travel issue - I was never quite sure from the other thread if the girls were just taking the bus straight from LA to NY or are they stopping along the way? They can get an Ameripass for 7 days for $195, that doesn't give them a lot of stop overs because it takes three days to get from LA to NY. I know they have them for other amounts of days. But if they are just coming on the bus straight from LA to NY, as others mentioned, they can fly Jet Blue from Long Beach to JFK one way for $154. The bus is between $100 and $165 depending on when they buy their ticket. Based on those prices, I don't see any reason for them to take the bus. And as others mentioned, I ABSOLUTELY wouldn't want my daughters (18 & 21) being in the areas that bus stations are in. You also mentioned they have limited English. That makes a bad situation even worse being in the bus terminals. If you told their Mother you would take care of them, then DON"T let them take the Greyhound across country.

As far as rooms, go to Hostels.com and put in New York City. The Big Apple Hostel and the Chelsea Center get good reviews and they have good locations. There are lots of hostel type places in NY but I think the good ones book up really fast for summer.

I guess I don't understand the idea that it would be difficult to get to the airport with a backpack, or that any hotel wouldn't want them. It's just luggage in a different form, and plenty of people go to the airport and stay in hotels, every single day, with luggage.

Is there a specific concern that you see the backpacks presenting?