Bronx NY questions
 

Am considering seeing some attractions in the Bronx sometime in the foreseeable future and had a couple questions.

Despite what the website suggests, a quick phone call revealed that the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage is not undergoing renovation anytime in the upcoming future. Am guessing an hour visit (which was about right for places like the Dyckman Farmhouse, Morris Jumel Mansion, and Merchants House Museum) is enough here. Make sense?

Other attractions here, such as the New York Botanical Garden, Bronx Zoo, and Wave Hill, seem to be a good bit bigger, requiring the better part of a day to experience in each case. Correct assumption?

Thanks.

I cannot tell you anything about the Poe Cottage but can definitely give you info about Bronx Zoo and Botanical Gardens. The Bronx Zoo is second largest in the USA, second only to the one in San Diego (where I have NOT been). It is, together with its neighborhing botanical garden, definitely a day long adventure and a lovely one at that !!

I have never been inside the Poe Cottage but, having grown up in the Bronx, it always looked quite small to me so I would guess than no more than one hour would be necessary. The Bronx Zoo can easily take most of a day. Be aware that the Zoo has free admission days and then the place is filled with large families and lots and lots of kids. The Botanical Gardens is also large. We took the tram around and managed to get lost wandering along the various roads. That wasn't a bad thing. We came upon areas we might never have otherwise seen. If you are really into plants, I suppose, because of its size, the Botanical Gardens could also take the better part of the day. Since they are very close to each other, if you get there at opening and have lots of stamina, you could probably do both attractions in one day. I've never been to Wave Hill but I hear it is lovely but, from what friends have said, I think that would take much less time than the Zoo or Botanical Gardens. Will you be driving to these places or taking public transportation? The latter is possible but will add time if you are coming from Manhattan. You might consider eating on Arthur Avenue, center of fabulous Italian restaurants and groceries, which isn't that far from the Zoo and Botanical Gardens.

I suspect you will spend more time traveling to Poe Cottage than on the actual visit--quite small so your hour estimate is pretty accurate.

Yes, depending on your level of interest I would allow at least a half a day to as much as an entire day to visit the Botanical Garden or the Zoo.

I've never been to Wave Hill so can't advise on timing there.

Will write up my quick trip to Wave Hill one of these days on my blog - will post a link when i do