We will be completing a cruise out Bayonne on a Thursday morning in October, I am thinking of dropping luggage at hotel then catching a train to Long Island for the day since we catch a return flight on Sunday morning and plan to do a 48 hour tour pass for Friday and Saturday. Is the train idea feasible? Which one would be suggested? We are staying close to Penn Station, don't have the time on this trip to spend a great deal of time on Long Island, but would liike to see some of it, maybe get off at a town on or close to water. Thanks.

Many thousands of Long Islanders commute between Manhattan and Long Island every day, so a day trip is perfectly feasible. However, once you get to your destination, getting from place to place may be more of a challenge, so choosing one or two places to see near one another would be your best bet.

Here's a listing of some special offers created by the Long Island Railroad that may help you create a plan.

http://www.mta.info/lirr/getaways/

Thank you for that link, very helpful.

Is your hotel in NYC? Is your two day tour pass in NYC?

If so, and your day for Long Island is Thursday and you want to be near the water, I would suggest Freeport which has always had excellent seafood restaurants along its many canals.

Freeport is about 35 miles from NYC and about an hour train ride using the LIRR. You would have to take a cab from the station to the restaurant.

Since it will be in October and you have to get from Bayone to your hotel before getting to Penn Station for the train, I wouldn't recommend anything further out.

I don't know what you think you'll see on Long Island on a Thurs. in Oct. Most of it is suburban sprawl. The pretty beach towns are at the very end of Long Island which will take too long. I also happen to think the 48 hr tour pass in NYC is a waste of money and may be a really bad idea if the weather isn't perfect. Those double decker buses are open on top.

If you want an overview bus tour, consider one like kingofnyc.com for a half day or a day with a guide that stays with you and a climate controlled bus. If you want to see something specific on Long Island like Old Westbury Gardens or Sagamore Hill, that makes sense, but otherwise, just going to a town on the train and walking around, especially at that time of year I think is a mistake.

If you want a day trip out to Long Island, how about the restoration called Olde Beth Page. IT is a very nice spot, and October will be beautiful with the foliage.

Hey, hey. There are other pretty towns farther in. Northport, Huntington, Coldspring Harbor,Oyster Bay, Sea Cliff, Roslyn.

Hey, hey, on a 3 day trip on a Thurs. in Oct., would you spend a day schlepping on the LIRR and then walking around a suburban town looking at shops vs. spending more time in NYC? I wouldn't. Yes, if you're going to see something specific like Old Westbury, but not to just see a town.

If you want to see a charming seaside town after getting off the ship in Bayonne, Spring Lake, New Jersey at least has some architectural interest, a boardwalk and is across from the water. Or better still, at that time of year take a Metro North train from Grand Central up the Hudson to Cold Spring or Beacon or visit the Rockefeller Estate Kykuit by train (go to Tarrytown). The views along the Hudson are beautiful and you'll see much nicer leaves north of the city than on LI. http://www.mta.info/mnr/html/outbound.htm
http://www.hudsonvalley.org/content/view/12/42/

Thank you all for your valuable input, not having been to NYC before it's overwhelming to plan a short trip like this. All points well taken.

Wait a second you are only going to be for 3 days and want to go out to Long Island? Sorry didn't catch that before.

You will have so much to see and do IN MANHATTAN, you will feel that you wasted a day by taking the train out to Long Island.

You can easily use up an entire day seeing the Met Museum or walking 5th Ave or touring downtown and taking the Staten Island Ferry.

Or if you have a need for some "county feel", how about the ferry over to Govenours Island, which is at the bottom of Manhattan, take the ferry over which is available weekends and see some of the island, have a picnic and then head back into Manhattan and head up to Chinatown and Little Italy.

From there explore SoHo or the Village.

There are hundreds of museums in the city and alot of them are down 5th Ave from 100th St on down to the Met at 82nd. There's also the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Modern Art.

Also part of the Met is the Cloisters Museum on the Uppest west side off the A or #1 train with a walk through Ft. Tryon Park.

You will have so much to see and do in Manhattan, you won't even scratch the surface in only 3 days.

Well the LI beaches - even Jones Beach can be fantastic of season - we've ven sen seasl there. But, I don't know how you would get there without a car.

And many sights - including Old Bethpage are open only on weekends except in the summer (don't know exact dates - you would have to check). Again, a great sight, fascinating docents, but when considered versus Manhatttan it just isn;t worth a whole day.

Also, unless you've spent a lot of time in the City I wouldn't compare any off-season beach or LI town to Manhattan.