Finding NYC beyond the travel guide
 

Hello,

We are arriving in NYC from the UK on 24th November for 5 days. This is our first visit and we have been busy reading the travel guides and planning our itinerary with the usual touristy things but can any recommend things to do/see/experience that we wont find in the guides?

Thanks

Jo

That's a pretty tall order Jo. In 5 days you'll be lucky to see the basics. But it would help to know what things interest you. Be warned you're also arriving at probably the busiest time of the year, Thanksgiving weekend.

There are several trip reports and threads here with the words "off the beaten track" or off the beaten path in them.

One thing that most people enjoy is walking the Brooklyn Bridge. Take a water taxi or subway to Brooklyn and walk back toward Manhattan for great views.

In general, the other advice I'd give is try to eat in residential neighborhoods rather than near your hotel which is likely to be midtown and touristy and/or pricey.

If you post back with things that interest you we'll try to help.

Being your first visit, doing the tourist things is the way to go! The big challenge to decide which tourist things do over the 5 days!

You'll discover once you are there that NYC is an easy city to navigate using subway and bus systems, and also by walking. To be honest, you may find some of your most memorable experiences will be walking around.

I agree with LOL. I would explore the neghborhoods, even going a stop or two into Brooklyn or Queens. I would also check out places above Central Park, like Harlem, Morningside Heights, the Cloisters. Most tourists don't wander too much further than Central Parki

For a great harbor ride that is a bargain, take a round trip on the Staten Island Ferry. You'll pass by the Statue of Liberty, not close up, but you'll see it, and you'll be traveling with New Yorkers more than only the tourists who use the sightseeing boats.

Order advance tickets for the Russia! exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum. It's a marvelous exhibit. For lesser crowds, try to go either very late Friday afternoon, or very late other weekday afternoons. Mornings are the most crowded (as told to me by a security guard.)

Take a walk in the Gramercy Park neighborhood. It's amazingly residential and quiet. The park itself is open only to those who live around it and have keys, it's the only locked park in NYC. But Irving Place and environs offer small shops and restaurants, and it is not the usual hustle and bustle of other areas.
One good place for lunch, brunch, or dinner is Piccolo, corner of Third Avenue and 19th Street.

Cloisters got a vote from New Yorker pal of ours. I second the Grammercy area (we stayed at Gershwin Hotel near there). The Grammercy Hotel used to provide key to the park for its patrons.
This might start a debate but try one of the deli's: Carnegie and 2nd Avenue got reccos from our friends. We tried 2nd Ave. and split a delicious (albeit expensive) pastrami sandwich-it gave us energy to walk until dinner!

No debate here.
2nd Avenue is one of my top 2 delis here in NYC. Katz would be the other.

The GRamercy Park hotel is closed for renovation.

The Second Avenue deli is great, but just as good if not better is Sarge's, which doesn't make the guide books but just can't be beat imo.
West side of Third Avenue between 36th and 37th Street.

Gramercy Park Hotel is being turned into condos.

Second Avenue Deli is better and more intimate than Katz. Don't know about Sarges.

If you want the feel of the Gramercy Park Hotel, try the Chelsea Hotel.

Enjoy the tourist sites, but try not to dine in/near them. Generally, central midtown and Times Square are areas to avoid for dinner.

There's a reason why New Yorkers avoid those areas.

Check out Cornelia Street in the Village, for example, for several excellent dining options.

And definitely walk, walk, walk!

Thanks for the news about the Grammercy. Plaza also to become partly condos. Expect both places to be pricey!
josummer, you will get to see some of the holiday lights so do take a walk along 5th Avenue at night.
Is there a tree-lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center??? When??
DH and I walked from 2nd Ave Deli to 4th St, took a left and strolled (passed Old Merchant's house but too early). Don't remember which streets but got north and west to Washington Square Park via NYU. Then up to Madison Square and big market. Chelsea near there-neat homes/galleries.

The tree lighting this year will be Tuesday, November 29th at 9pm.

http://www.nyctourist.com/xmas_rockcenter1.htm

Gramercy Park.

Do some research into walking tours. I've been on a Big onion tour of Harlem which I thought was excellent. (bigonion.com) Check out their scheduled tours. You might see a part of the city you wouldn't normally do on your own.
welcome!

Take a nice, long walk keeping your eyes open. Here's one itinerary I like:

• Rockefeller Center
• Times Square and Broadway area
• Herald Square (Macy’s) and Penn Station
• Chelsea
• Greenwich Village and Washington Square
• SoHo and Canal Street
• Little Italy
• Chinatown
• South Street Seaport
• Brooklyn Bridge
• Wall Street
• Battery Park and ferry to the Statue of Liberty