You've almost made it sound too easy ellenem.

This is something I will definitely consider. I have talked to my wife, and she seems game. Now it's just finalizing the bus and stuff.

I will mull it over a little bit, though. It will make us tired the next day in Boston. Maybe that's when I will schedule the tour of Fenway Park. Easy on that day so we can go back to the Hotel if we get too tired. Then we will be ready for the nect day.

Thanks

And if you can give me any other hints, please do.

Easy? Not much about the day you plan will be easy aside from the walk to the bus stop . . .

Yeah, but I've, we've done similar things before, just in a different location with alot less people on the streets, I'm sure.

The trick with us is... we're afraid of getting lost in an unfamiliar place. NYC will be the most unfamiliar place where we've been, if we decide to do this.

Other than the walk from the bus depot to the bus tour place, there isn't much that seems to be that hard. Now, the lines at the places might be hard, but we've experienced that before. I've waited for roller-coasters for more than 2 hours with unruly teenagers before. I can endure a lot.

OK.

So, we go from our hotel in Danvers to the bus stop or terminal in Boston to catch The Greyhound to NYC. We get off the bus in NYC, walk 8 to 10 minutes to the tour bus place, take the tour, go to Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building or The Rock. We've done more activities than that in a day in other parts of the world. But we are older and it is NYC, I realize that.

Is it a relatively safe place to be early in the evening, because it will get dark before we get on the bus and head back to Boston.

So, there's nothing really at Ground Zero to see anymore?

Also, will there be one of the Broadway Shows we might be able to catch? I'm only kidding. We will have a pretty full day and night as it is.

Thanks

Any more ideas or insight, keep them coming.

<<So, there's nothing really at Ground Zero to see anymore?>>

There's a big hole/construction site. On the fencing surrounding the hole there are some photos, displays, and lists of the lost.

For most NYers, it is what is no longer seen at this location that affects us every day.

This sounds like a perfectly good adventure. Plenty of people from where I'm at do this often. Have a great time.

Once again - getting to bus in Boston and back. If you are taking a 2 AM bus there is no public transportation that will get you there at that hour or even close. You would have to arrive in Boston before midnight and then I have no idea what you would do for 2 hours - and even if you hung around the bus station, that means you can not catch a quick nap before and then you will b e awake for 48 hours.

If you take a 10 PM bus out of NYC, arriving in Boston some time around 2 AM, same problem - no public transportation.

You need to revise this part of the plan. And if it involves parking in Boston, make sure they do not make you clear out your car overnight and that someone is available to frfee your car at 2 AM>

Gail,

I don't understand what you mean. We've never been to Boston, so you will have to explain more.

We will have a rental car to drive to the bus station in Boston. That shouldn't be a problem.

I know we will have to arrive early, but we always do.

I appreciate the concern, but I think the rental car will get us there. Now, maybe the parking will be another thing.

Do you know anything about the parking in the area of the Greyhound station?

We definitely are leaning toward doing this, but would like to know more about your concerns for us, especially knowing now that we have a rental car.

Thanks

Provided, the service we want is available, are all of the sites we want to see open on Sundays? If they are, would that be the best day to go for less crowds?

Thanks

Some public garages are not open in the middle of the night. They will either not let you leave your car there overnight, or sometimes not let you leave it there for more than a certain amount of time. Other garages don't mind if you leave the car, but will not let you retrieve it between certain hours--most commonly midnight and 6 am. You want to be very sure that you can get parking that is compatible with your schedule.

I do not know of any parking garages in area of South Station open at 2 AM - but that certainly does not mean there are none - I have just never needed to park at that hour.

Boston Common garage says on its website that it is open 24 hours, but I would not feel comfortable walking from there to South Station at 2 AM - and it is a rather long walk thru some sketchy areas. And I do remember a friend telling me she had trouble retrieving her car there in early AM hours - if you are considering that as an option I would call them.

South-station.net is website for same and I just did a search on that site for parking. It lists several options but none of these give hours of operation - most have phone numbers though so you could call.

Waouw, crazy idea! There is so much to do that a day will never be enough. You would need at least 48h, on the rush, to be able to do most of the attraction (i.e. visit the inside and not just the nice building). It's all or nothing and you would be very disappointed to just do it on a rush. If you really want to do something:
Empire State Building
Times Square
Rockefeller Center
the Empire State Building
Staten Island Ferry past the Statue of Liberty
Central Park

Enjoy and take it easy!

Following up on capxx's suggested itinerary, go to Times Square when it's dark or near dusk so you can see it lit up. Otherwise, it's not that impressive during the day, IMO.

Please follow the excellent advice you've been given to FORGET the Empire State Building!

The line is long, the wait takes up valuable time you do not have in your mini-trip, and the view is better from the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center). You even get to see the Empire State Building :)

Purchase a ticket at the booth in the plaza. You will have a timed entry ticket that will allow you to explore the area while you wait for your entry time. You can even choose your entry time if there is something nearby you want to see first. (St. Patrick's Cathedral is just down the street, it will be Sunday, and you can say a prayer that your madness for crazy day trips be taken away, lol.)

Get either a laminated Streetwise Map of Manhattan or Midtown Manhattan, both available for $6.95 from Amazon. With your itinerary you may just want the Midtown map. Alternatively, Redmaps for $8.95 are more detailed and beautiful. You can google them and call the company and they will mail you one.

Your whirlwind itinerary will leave you NO time for museums, which are truly the jewels of Manhattan. Here is my best recommendation: why don't you just spend the day at either the Metropolitan Museum or the Natural History museum? You can walk through Central Park to get there, you'll see lots of "real" New Yorkers, there are places to eat in both (or you can sit on the steps if it is a fine day and have a hotdog or falafel from a street vendor). IMVHO, this is a much better way to spend a day and you will get inestimably more out of it than the proposed tour.

I'm also always puzzled why people would want to visit Macy's in New York. There's a Macy's in every big city. Other than at Christmas, with little children who want to see Santa, the store is just a store. Frankly the windows at Christmas never did anything for me at Macy's. They were definitely not worth detouring to see this year. Ditto for Lord and Taylor's, but at least they were on the way to someplace else.

The areas around Times Square, the Theatre District, and Rockefeller Center are ok at night -- just stay in the streets where the crowds are, and don't walk down dark alleys. The south end of Manhattan is businnesses, and pretty much shuts down at night.

It is a heckuva lot easier to get lost in Boston than in NYC. The streets are in a grid pattern and you can tell which block you are on by looking at addresses. (Your guidebook will explain how it works.)

If you have a map you cannot get lost.

magnumholmes, I really will be interested to see what you post when you get back and, even more, how you would advise someone else who asks your current questions, once you've seen the area.

I know when I ask certain questions about places I've never seen, I'm very aware that I'm essentially poking at a pinata blindfolded.

agree with capxx and the others: it's a helluva lot easier to get lost in Boston than NYC (and just about anywhere else!) and I'll add that New Yorkers are a whole lot nicer than Bostonians are if you need directions!

magnumholmes, those of us here who live in the Boston-NYC corridor are shaking our heads over your plans, but we eagerly await your trip report :-)

It's going to take me a few days, believe me, to figure out exactly what we are going to do. I will have to wait until at least Monday to talk to a real person at the Greyhound station in Boston to make sure there would be parking available for our car for the time we will be gone. I really hate automated systems to death.

We certainly are planning on going to NYC, and we've even looked into it a little bit about staying the night before all of the mayhem in Manhattan. The places are really pricey, though. I've thought about Priceline, and might do that, but we are still trying to figure out which day(s) would be best. We have what's called the Entertainment Card but it only cuts prices to as low as $175 per night, if it's available when we book. UGH!!

Still, the fly in the ointment might be getting parking at the Greyhound place in Boston. Anybody got any clues?

I appreciate all of the advice. You guys obviously know the area much better than I, and what we are undertaking is going to be tough but doable.

Thanks again for all of the posts and keep them coming. I read all of them.

There is parking at South Station, which is where Greyhound leaves from.

I know you can park overnight but I'm not sure if you can enter at 2am or not. Here's the contact details, call and ask.

South Station Bus Terminal / MBTA

700 Atlantic Avenue
Boston, MA 02110
(617) 345-0202
Parking Rates:
Day Rate: $24
Monthly Rate: $375
Event Rate: