Best Way to Spend 5 Days In NYC?
 

We will be making our first trip to NYC in October and we don't know where to start! We are 29 y.o. fairly energetic couple that wants to do the tourist thing as well as experience the culture and the food. Any help in picking and choosing the best of NYC would be very much appreciated! Thanks in Advance, Cynthia

Some touristy suggestions: Broadway play (& off Broadway too). Museums (Met, Museum of Modern Art, Nat. History). Bronx Zoo. Top of World Trade Center and/or Empire State Building. Taping of a TV show (e.g., Millionaire). Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island. Intrepid.

Make sure you take time to walk the streets, window shop, etc!! One good place with lots of galleries and original stores (though chains are also there, like J Crew) is Soho. You probably won't buy anything at the galleries but going in to look is fun, you can see really neat stuff in them, and there's also street flea markets around. <BR> Of course make sure you go see a Broadway play. I don't know if you want to buy tickets in advance but one thing I always do if I'm seeing a play in the city is go to the TKTS window in Times Square. They sell up to half price off tickets for matinee shows (Weds and Sat) I think the booth opens at 12 so get there at least a half hour early, but if you don't, don't let a long line discourage you b/c it moves fast. You may not be able to get the show you want, so if you have a specific show in mind you should buy the tickets early from the box office. However, usually there's a large selection. I've gotten good seats from there for Miss Saigon, Grease, Cats, and a lot of others. <BR> Like GOL says, try to get tickets to a TV show ASAP. I know some, like SNL, are given out a year in advance. <BR> If you're sports fans, try to get tickets to a Knicks game or something at the Garden. Not only will the game be fun to attend, but you get really get to experiance a New York experiance with real fans, escpecially if they're playing rivals like the Pacers or something. <BR> Hope this helps and enjoy your trip to the greatest city in the world!!!!

Wow! Great time of year to be visiting NYC. There will be soooo much to do and see...I just will say that you should walk everywhere!! Take the Subway (very safe in Manhattan) and pick the spots on the Subway Map to spend the day, then just walk around the areas, each will give you a different look of the city. Remember Mnahattan is one of 5 NYC Boroughs and obviously the most visited....if you have time drop over into Brooklyn and see where the people who work in Mnahattan live!! <BR> <BR>JOHN

Also, while you're in NY, you HAVE to get a real NY bagel! Whenever I travel, the first thing I do when I get home is get a bagel loaded with veggie cream cheese. I think the NYC metropolitan area is the only part of the world where you can get a good bagel. <BR>(fellow fodorites, am I right? I haven't been everywhere, so does anybody know of any other places?)

Cynthia, 5 days might seem like alot, but there is SO MUCH here to see and do, you will be busy ALL the time. <BR> <BR>Here are a few more suggestions. <BR> <BR>Ice Skate at Wollman Rink or Rock Center. <BR> <BR>The Cloisters, part of the Met Museum on the UPPER west side and with an amazing view of the city and New Jersy, and in October will be BEAUTIFUL. <BR> <BR>Walk around the Wall St. area and see the tall ships at the South St. Seaport. There are also several good restaurants in the area. (And for a fun time, try and figure out what the changing numbers are on the building across the street from the Pru Center. Large blocks of letters and they light up and change, let me know if you figure it out, lol) <BR> <BR>Chinatown for dim sum. The bust is Hop Sing, on the corner of Mott and Moscoe, cheap and absolutely no atmosphere, but great lunch. And for a nice dinner there's Peking Duck House across the street. <BR> <BR>Little Italy, on Mulbury St. there are so many good restaurants, cafes and pastery shops, you gain weight just walking down the street. <BR> <BR>For a special night desert a MUST is Veniero's which is on 1st Ave and 11th <BR>St. Veniero's is why people come back to New York all by itself. <BR> <BR>IF you have any more questions, feel free to email or post here. <BR> <BR>Have a great time. <BR> <BR>tweedy

Another must-do for first time visitors-window shop down Fifth Ave and visit Rockefeller Center (I realize these are givens, but still. . .) There's a good chocolate shop at the corner of Rockefeller Center with neat candy shapes and designs. <BR> Also, touristy restaurants are Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood, which is right by Carnegie Hall, Jekyll and Hyde, All Star Cafe. I realize that these have subpar food and ambiance, but they said they want to do tourist stuff as well as culture. <BR> There are a gazillion things to do in NY, as you can tell.