michellenart

Hey All,

We are two 21 year old planning to visit NY for NYE/Winter Vacation.

Any advice of where to go sightseeing, dining, etc. for a reasonable price.

What about NYE?

Thanks in advance!

Aduchamp1

IS NYE just east of NY?

I sense your enthusiam but there are thousands of things to do and millions of people, so can you narrow down your interests and amounts of money you have to spend?

MFNYC

When you arrive pick up a time out magazine. It has all kinds of listings.

'Reasonable' can me many things to many people, so you have to be more specific. I'm assuming you are on a typical 21 y.o. kind of budget. You should check out the E. Vaillage area. there are tons of restaurants, and many are very inexepensive and good.

In general the village area has that college type atmosphere (NYU) if that's what you're interested in. There are tons of cafes, bars, small clubs, etc. Bigger and more trendy clubs in other nieghborhoods (this info will probably be in the timeout mag).

There's also a lot going on on the upper west side. Where are you staying?

As for sight-seeing, what are your interests? Art musuems? history? shopping?

nytraveler

Have you got a place to stay yet?

If not - that, at a reasonable price, will be your biggest challenge. I would work on that first - then you have plenty of time to organize other stuff.

Agree that best areas for your age groups are village/east village (NYU) and upper west side (Columbia).

Don;t even think about trendy clubs - they'll be a fortune and getting in is a real bear. but both areas have plenty of good inexpensive dining and bars - and downtown has a ton of casuale music places.

For dining check out menupages.com - it allows you to search by neighborhood and cuisine - and gives diner reviews and actual menus. For real budget stick to local ethnic places.

As to what to do - without knowing your interests - the tourist basics are:

Top of the Rock - observation deck (try to do near sunset so you see the city both in daylight and lit up)

The Met (go to the web site to see what interests you most)

Walking up fifth Ave from 39th St to Barney's - looking at the incredible store windows, Rock Center and tree, St Pat's etc

And go to Broadwaybox.com to see if you can get advance discount tickets for at least one show

There are a million other great things to do - but without knowing your interests it's hard to be specific.

mclaurie

Here's NY Magazine's "cheap" guide with info on everything from eating and shopping to free walking tours (although over the holiday, they may not go).

nymag.com/cheap

Here's their holiday guide
http://nymag.com/guides/holidays/

The best thing to do for not a lot of money on NYE is have a meal (maybe Chinese, Thai, Indian etc.) and go to Central Park at midnight for the fireworks. The lower east side has a lot of bars and restaurants for younger crowd.

mclaurie

PS. Brooklyn can also be a good place to find cheaper options. Sea THAI in Brooklyn (they have one in Manhattan too) is supposed to be very good and very inexpensive.

Gekko

Here's a great NYE party for you:

www.newyearsnation.com

Enjoy NYC on NYE!

michellenart

I'm staying at the Central Park Hostel on 103rd street between Manhattan Ave and Central Park West.

As for budget, we are hoping to spend NO MORE than 300 dollars in 7 days.

NYE - New Year's Eve, I'm sorry for any confusion Aduchamp1.

Sightseeing - I'm up for anything. I've looked up places but I want a local's perspective.

For example, on Day 3, this is where I should go (place A, B, C, etc.) because they are in close proximity. I don't want to go to this museum on this side of the area and hit another spot on the other side of that.

History, Museums, anything, I'm up for it.

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP. It'll be my first time in NY and I really want to make the most of it. THANKS again!

gb944

I don't mean to be snarky, but $300 for seven days is probably not going to be enough, unless you camp out in front of the Port Authority asking for spare change.

MFNYC

$300 is a little more than $40/day. If that's for meals, transportation and sight-seeing it's a very tight budget but with craetive eating options, you may be able to manage with it. I'm assuming it does not include the hostel cost.

First get yourself an unlimited weekly metro card which costs $24. Each ride is normally $2 so this is worth it.

For food, breakfast you can pick up a bagel and coffee almost anywhere. There are little delis all over, and street carts. You should be able to get seomthing in the morning for about $3. Also try to avoid buying things like water bottles from street vendors. Go into any Duane Reade (drug store chain all over the city) and pick up a supply there.

For lunch you can grab a slice of pizza or something simple like that. Also check out the various Papaya place (Papaya King, Gray's Papaya, etc) , for an inexpensive meal.

For dinner, there are some inexpensive places as well. Many chinese restaurants are very reasonable, also there are Indian places in the E. VIllage (E. 6th St) with some very inexpensive dinner menus. There are definitely other cheap places in the village area in general, and probably also up where you are staying. On University Place in the village there are a few cheap places like L'ANnan, Saigon Grill and Spice. Check menupages.com for places int various nieghborhoods within your budget.

For museums, check their websites. Sometimes certain evening hours are free. This may be listed in Timeout or NY magazines.

You could also venture across the Brookln bridge, ir take the staten Island ferry. Art galleries are free (if you are into this kind of things), the Forbes Gallery is free, and there are probably other free places as well.

ellenem

New York on $43 a day? At Christmas time?

First things first, take part of your budget and each of you buy a $24 MetroCard, good for all subway and city bus transport for 7 days from the time you first use it. Since you're staying so far north in Manhattan, this pass will be he cheapest and fastest way for you to get around the city.

That leaves about $39 a day for food and entertainment--still not much. You don't need reasonable prices--you need CHEAP prices.

ellenem

MFNYC types faster . . .

MaureenB

If you're careful, I think you can get by on your budget, but NYE will blow it, for sure, if you want to go out clubbing. You'll need to picnic for most meals if you want to be under $300. You probably don't have access to a frig, though, do you?

New York is a great city for walking. The metro card is probably a good idea, too. Skip sites that have an entrance fee, and hoof it around town instead. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate. The decorations will be up, and it will be beautiful.

You can pay your respects at ground zero, and visit the nearby church which has a memorial set up for the fire fighters. Walk through Wall Street, etc. Lots to do for free there.
>-

travelbuff2

NYE, there's an amazing FREE concert at ST. John the Divine, which is just a few blocks north of where you are staying. It's a well known concert in NY every year, and is always inspiring, if you like good music (full orchestra and chorus), Lauren Flannigan, (Met Opera) is the guest star.

The concert starts at 7pm and goes to about 9 so you have lots of time to find other fun things to do.

I'd also suggest getting a guide book on NY as well as a good map so you have some idea of where things are located.

Let me know if you are interested in the concert and I will get you tickets.

Have fun while you are here.

jenbertoni

I spent my NYE in new york at a bar called "Lit." It is a smaller place but its really fun and they stay open alllll night and there is dancing and stuff. There was also no cover charge, which is hard to come by on NYE. I avoided the whole ball dropping thing in times square because you basically have to stay there all day and night and i hear there are no restrooms! As for dining, we sort of just found places as we were out and about. Oh, if you are in china town, try Dumpling house. It's zagat rated, but still cheap and SO good if you like chinese.

it will be hard to only spend $300, but definitely possible. You'll have a great time! im so jealous.

steffie1100

wow no cover in NYC... boy you lucked out!! I have never heard of that before. I always end up spending close to $1,000, and I really dont even buy sooo many items or go to really expensive places.
Steffie
www.cavalierpuppiesforsale.net

nytraveler

I'm assuming that you mean $300 each - in addition to the cost of the hostel. (SInce a bed in the hostel is, I believe about $40 per night - that would be almost $300 each right there.)

There is no way you can do a week in winter in NYC for $300 for 2 people - that won;t even cover the subway and McDonalds.

$300 per person is still very tight if you plan on doing any sights (some museums you can pay what you want - but others have fixed student prices). And your nightlife will be nil - considering the cost of even a beer or glass of wine anywhere - even student places.

Also - you don;t say how you're getting into the city. Do you need to account for trip in from the airport - or are you coming by train or bus - and so will "land" right in the subway and can just grab a subway to the hostel.

If you go to the local deli you can get an egg sandwich and coffee to go (but no place to sit down) for a couple of dollars. If you want a place to sit down for breakfast - MickeyD is probably the cheapest - a coffee shop would definitely be more.

You can also - assuming the weather isnt too bad - get a hot dog in the park or on a street corner - or a slice of pizza in a local place. If you stick to some local ethnic places you can often find a fixed lunch deal - with a plate, soda, tax and tip for about $10 or $11 (dinner would obviously be significantly more) and then just have a couple of hot dogs or pizza at night (when prices are higher).

Suggest you do a lot of research on cheap/free New York. New York Magazine has a list of all events - by date and type - and you can look up free ones.

But - do have a look now at the cost of a bunch of the standard sights. (Top of the Rock is $17.50.)

I would make a big effort to scrape some more money together before you arrive - so you're not stuck without food money at the end.

MFNYC

Free Museum info:
http://www.ny.com/museums/free.html

Google "free NYC" and you'll find lots of other freebies.

hikrchick

Hi, you've gotten lots of good info here, but might I suggest that you also check out Lonely Planet's web forum Thorn Tree:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/index.jspa

Many of the posters on that Web site are your age and also hostellers. There are some great posters from NYC there who have lots of good ideas for the 20-something crowd on a budget.

--hikrchick

michellenart

Hi All,

$400 is a very flexible amount. I know some posters spend $300 for a dinner for two so I just wanted to throw that number out there.

But yes, we're willing to spend but also trying to see what we can do for free (sightsee).

We're atypical 21 year olds (meaning we won't be spending too much money on alcohol or nightclubs)

Thank you for all of the advice thus far. PLEASE KEEP THEM COMING!