I am thinking about booking a long weekend in NYC (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) with my dh who has never been there and I have only been as a child. We love Wicked (saw in Chicago twice) so would enjoy seeing that again. I don't want to cram a bunch of things in but what 2 things would you highly recommend us to do to get the true NY experience? I love great hotels like Four Seasons so a recommendation on that would be appreciated too. Also, is there only one airport? How close is it to the hotel district and/or the hotels? Thanks!

Three airports serve NYC: LGA, JFK, EWR. LGA is the closest to the city, but most would say to choose your flight based on schedule and price rather than airport.

When is your trip? Wicked tickets are difficult to get. They are sold out for months.

There is no "hotel district" in NYC. You certainly want to stay in Manhattan for your visit. Most visitors prefer to stay in midtown, but there are many options in other areas.

The Four Seasons is a great hotel in NYC in a great location so that's certainly an option. It's quite modern. I think it would help for you to get a guidebook or at least read the destination section on NYC on Fodors.

I have no idea what you mean by the "true NY experience." You can't really experience NYC in just 3 days but you can get a good overview. Most locals would say few tourists get the true NYC experience b/c they spend most of their time in Times Square or at tourist venues. Maybe that's the true experience you mean?

As far as what do I mean about the true NY experience, I would like to know what makes you proud of your city? If you had guests, what would you make sure you showed them?

WOW! I just looked up on ticketmaster for the Wicked tickets and they are charging $300 (before extra fees are added) for orchestra seats! Is is always that high in NY for musicals? Chicago is more like 160.00 for the best Wicked seats.

Yes, ticket prices tend to be quite high, and you will probably also be shocked by the prices of hotels. Depending on the time of yesr you plan on coming, it may be difficult to find a decent room under $500. You should start surfing the net for the hotel chains you like (Four Seasons, Marriott, whatever) and see what they are cahrging for the date you are interested in. It will help in your planning process.

When are you planning on coming? Now through Christmas is high season and a quality hotel - like Four Seasons or similar will have rack rates close to $1000 per night- depending on date and what type of room you want.

Naturally there are special packages and you can look at discounters (traveoo, kayak etc) but that level hotel in NYC will always be big $.

Agree that for a first time midtown is probably the best location - most central - and several of the best hotels are there.

But - you'll need to get used to subway (cabs are much slower due to traffic) to get around - since major sights are spread out over an area about 8 miles long and a couple wide - as well as islands in the harbor.

As for quintessential New York in 2 few days:

A Broadway show
An after theater drink at one of the uber trendy bars
The Met
Central Park
Top of the Rock (at the same time Rock Center and St Pat's)
A ride on the (free) Staten Island Ferry (views of Lady Liberty, the harbor and the incredible skyline on the way back)
One really great dinner
Explore and have a casuale dinner in one of the residential areas (upper west side or Village or East Village)

If you're coming at the holiday season you must also walk up Fifth Avenue to see the incredibly decorated store windows

As for airports LGA is closest - 35 minutes or so from midtown - while JFK or Newark are more like an hour -but you should really pick based on cost and convenience of flights from your home airport.

$300 sounds like a premium ticket. The theaters are scalping themselves so to speak. YOu can get orchestra seats for about half that but they'd harder to come by. www.applause-tickets.com is a broker that often gets good Wicked tix and charges a bit over face value. The sold out section of broadwaybox.com is another place to look. But if you've seen the show twice already, why wouldn't you see something else? Billy Elliott, the hit from London is opening soon.

I was looking at going in the next month or two.

I went to stub hub to see what their prices were for Wicked and they were less than Ticketmaster (200ish).

Yes, I did notice that the hotel prices are very expensive but since we would only be staying a few nights, I think we could splurge. I love great views. Any suggestions for hotels with something worth looking at? Price limit would be about 1,000 a night.

In addition to the Four Seasons, the Mandarin Oriental, Trump, Ritz Carlton Central Park, Pierre are all nice with some rooms with views of Central Park.

The London is only 4* not 5 and has some suites with Central Park views that will be less than the others. Their sky suites might also be nice.