NE

Hubby and I will be visiting New York City over the Memorial Day weekend for four days . Are there any city passes that I should be looking at . Wish list is:

911 memorial
Empire State bldg
Metropolitan Museum
Maybe a boat cruise
Broadway show

Thanks for any help .

doug_stallings

There is a City Pass, but I don't believe it saves the typical tourist either time or money. You can buy all of these tickets in advance online except for the Metropolitan Museum, and you don't need to buy those tickets in advance anyway. Do that, and you'll be able to see everything here.

You certainly need to buy your Broadway show tickets in advance if you want to see a specific show. If you want to see any show and just want to save money, it's easier to find the online deals and buy your choice. But you can also use TKTS, but that requires a lot of line-standing time.

doug_stallings

By the way, I should have been more specific about the National 9/11 Memorial. The memorial is free and open all the time, morning, noon, and night. It's in an open pedestrian plaza. The Museum, however, is expensive and busy (and you need a timed ticket, which you can buy online in advance).

BigRuss

Considering that the Met's entrance fee is just a suggested donation (you can pay whatever you bloody well want), a city pass that covers entry to it would be somewhat superfluous.

You need to look into the ESB more - it's not cheap and it is perpetually crowded. There are alternatives, most notably the Top of the Rock in Rockefeller Center.

nytraveler

Agree that it is nearly i possible to make any of these passes pay for themselves. The only one you are likely to need is the unlimited weekly Metrocard ($31 each) to facilitate all of your subway and city bus travel.

happytrailstoyou

For me, the most enjoyable thing to do in NYC is to walk through its interesting neighborhoods: Chelsea, the Village, the East Village, Little Italy, Chinatown, Wall Street--over the Brooklyn Bridge.

Central Park, Rockefeller Center, Times Square, the 5th Avenue museum district and some of the other interesting places to explore on foot.

"The great big city's a wondrous toy just made for a girl and boy.."--Lorenz Hart

HTtY

NE

Thank you all for your advice . I will look for the Broadway show tickets and buy the 911 museum tickets . I presume the metro card I can buy there once we are in NY. So excited to finally be in the big apple .
Happytrailstoyou, we love to explore neighborhoods too , slowing it down to soak up the atmosphere. That really gives you the flavor of the city .

Cjar

NE- we used the 9/11 Tribute center for our tour and didn't see the museum ( it wasn't open yet) and I have to say it was an extremely moving experience. The tribute center is run by the September 11th families association. Our tour guides had direct connections to the day's events. You might want to check them out.

nycguy10002

NE - The MetroCard can be purchased at any subway station either from a booth (cash only) or MetroCard Vending Machine (Cash/credit/debit).

Note that there is a $1.00 fee added to the purchase of a new MetroCard (either at the booth or machine). If you do go for the 7 day unlimited card you have to buy one for each of you (unlimited MetroCards cannot be shared as after each use the card "locks out" for 18 minutes.)

For a 7 day unlimited card to be worth the money ($31) you have to use it a minimum of 12 times to break even [12 x $2.75 (the regular fare)= $33.

You may want to go with a regular "Pay-per-Ride MetroCard (PPR)" where you put a value on the card. The $2.75 fare is deducted each time it is used (there is a free transfer between subway to bus, bus to subway or bus to bus depending on where the fare was paid within a 2 hour period).

With a PPR card you only need one for the 2 of you. While the $1.00 fee for a new card applies, you can refill the card with value at no additional cost.

For values placed on the card of $5.50 or more you get a 11% bonus added.

Example: $10.00 with get you $11.10 which covers 4 fares (and 10 cents left over) $20.00 will get you $22.20 which covers 8 fares (and 20 cents left over).

Dukey1

You might consider this: walking the Highline. we did it for the first time earlier today and enjoyed the entire length. It is well-maintained and really does afford a nicely different visual perspective of the city.