Help for a 2 weeks NYC to Washington itinerary
 

Hi

We, 2 of us, need help for a 2 weeks itinerary from NYC - Philadelphia - Baltimore - Washington.

We are planning a trip from 23 Dec 2013 to 7 Jan 2014. Will be reaching NYC on 23 Dec evening and flying back from Washington DC on 7 Jan late morning. Tickets had been booked.

It's close to the travelling and we are still clueless if we should be spending both Christmas and New Year in NYC or should we be heading somewhere else for New Year instead. If so, where should we spend our New Year. We aware that the accommodation in NYC would be pretty expensive during this period.

Really appreciate some advice and suggestion for the trip. Thanks.

What kind of experience do you want for New Years? If you want a big party, then D.C. is not the place to be. The biggest celebration around D.C. is First Night Alexandria, a family-friendly event which, while fun, may not be what you are looking for.

http://www.firstnightalexandria.org/

It woul help if your gave us some more info.

Ages?

Interests?

Budgets for hotels?

What things you already know you want to do?

Where you are from?

You will be here in midwinter - it will be cold - to possibly very cold everywhere - and sleet, ice and snow are quite possible since you are staying 2 weeks.

Are you traveling from one city to another by train? I can;t reco car - since they are expensive and useless in center cities. And in winter train is less subject to weather problems than plan, more comfy and at lest as fast.

Thanks you both for the suggestion.

Well, we are between the age of 25 to 30 from Singapore and would definitely like to experience some skiing since it's winter. Any nice and reasonably priced places to recommend? =)

We had previously been to NYC and had visited most of the tourist attraction and sightseeing area.

We would still like to visit any recommended places of interest in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington if the places are not affected by the cold weather.

The mode of travel from city to another had not decided yet. However, will definitely consider train as suggested.

Once again, thanks for the suggestions. And your questions had set me thinking too. =)

The whole northeast will be chilly (40s) to cold (20s?) - perhaps lower at night - and you will all need warm winter clothing and boots.

Don;t know what you mean by "not affected by cold weather". It's winter and it will be cold. Nothing is shut down - but there will be no flowers or leaves on the trees and grass is brown and crunchy.

As for skiing, the closest place I can think of off-hand is Hunter Mountain - but it will most likely by man-made snow. For real snow VT may be better - but you need to go to the Rockies to be pretty sure of the real stuff.

The northeast is definitely not the best place for skiing in the early winter, though Vermont is by far your best option, and it's reachable by train from NYC. This will be a particularly expensive time to visit Vermont and NYC, but it will be pretty cheap in Philadelphia and DC. So I'd spend a few days in NYC, 2 days on a little skip trip, and then head to Philadelphia for a few days, and then finish in DC for a few days. Spend Christmas day in NYC, where you'll have the most options for activities and dining. This itinerary would probably place you in Philadelphia for New Year's, and it might not be so horribly expensive as NYC can be (though it will be plenty expensive to go out that night). Or you could plan your skip trip around New Year's and travel to Philadelphia on New Year's Day, which will be pretty quiet.

I have friends who go to NYC every year just for New Years, so I would be there that nite if possible.

Don't miss the Barnes Collection in Philadelphia.

http://www.barnesfoundation.org/

I've always heard that if you can ski in the East Coast of the U.S., you can do it anywhere! I agree with Doug's suggestion above for itinerary. There are so many things to do in NYC, it's still possible you could easily stay from the 23rd to the 1st there and see new things. New Year's Eve there looks like soooo much fun.

Also, there are a couple of ski places in PA and Western MD that would be reasonable drives from Philly, Baltimore or DC. Weather is a big factor.

If you like art, I'm with Michael also about the Barnes in Philly. All of the American Revolution might be of interest to you?

Baltimore has the Walters and BMA both with world class art. So many museums (and most of them free) in DC so give yourself several days there.

Pray that our Congress has restored funding to government--the Mall and museums like Smithsonian won't be open.

If you haven't booked your NY hotel, don't wait any longer--it's a popular visit that time of year.

NYE hotel prices in NYC will be huge - and you do NOT want to try to go to Times Square to see the ball drop. It is - at best - incredibly tedious, waiting 6 ot 7 hours standing n the stret packed into pens - and at worst ghastly - if the weather is bad.

If you're in NYC on NYE get a hotel uptown find a nice place for a dinner (but expect high prices and fixed menus) and then go to Central park to see the fireworks.

New Year's Eve hotel prices are not always horrendous if you aren't staying near Times Square. It's always worth looking around to see what's available at what price. but I don't think you will want to structure your trip to spend so much time in NYC proper if you are only going to be here for 2 weeks.

But it bears repeating that Christmas is a busy time here, so if you don't make a hotel reservation soon, you simply will not have one in NYC for a reasonable price.