Hello again I have more questions about my upcoming trip to NYC, I will have time friday from when I arrive till about 4pm, then all day saturday I will be at a conference for work. But sunday I will have all day I took a late flight. can anyone reccommend any tour companies that do interesting walks? also I want to go to either the natural history museum or the met museum of art.
This past march I was at the Louvre in Paris and the british museum in London, so I enjoy both types. any opinions on which I should see if I can only see one? it has been about 12 years since I was in NYC so I have alot I would like to see in a short amount of time.

By the way I love this board! I got so many good tips and ideas when I planned my trip to Europe and now am getting so much help with this upcoming trip to NYC.
Thanks in advance

bigonion.com does tours of NYC in most any neigborhood you'd want to visit. Both museums are wonderful, but I would choose the Met (just my opinion!).

If it's only one musuem, it's got to e the Met, one of the world's greatest. Sure, the American Museum of Natural History is wonderful....but the Met is something very special. You could spend the entire day there and still fall far short of seeing even close to everything!

We took this Revolutionary War walking tour a few weeks ago, and it was excellent. It's about 3 hours long and in that time I learned more interesting facts about the Revolution than I did in all my school days. Went to see Trinity Church, St Paul's Chapel, and most of downtown, plus lots of great places.
http://www.patriottoursnyc.com/

Also, here's a site with many other walking tours:
http://gonyc.about.com/od/toursbr/

Howard articulated my preference for the Met perfectly. There's just no place like it anywhere else.

I agree that if you must choose one museum, it should be The Met.

Either museum would take several days to explore fully - the Met becaue of the sheer size and Natural History due to the various IMAX moveis etc.

If you can do only one go for the Met. Since your time is very limited I would go to the web site now and pick out a couple of departments to explore - you won;t have time to see more than 2 or 3. You might want to check to see if they have any gallery talks on the area you're inerested in when you're there.

I would do the Met on Friday and see if I could find a good tour for Sunday.

I agree that the Big Onion tours are good. Their guides have advanced degrees in history and can really answer even the toughest of questions.

As for museums, I would definitely go to the Met.

The Met?? I particularly enjoy The Temple of Dendur, Arms and Armor and the Costume Institute. 3 very different things, but all absolutely fabulous. But then there's so much more...

If you enjoyed the Louvre, the MET is a must for you. Trust me. You can spend a full day, easily.

There are DOZENS of good walking tours. Just depends on what interests you; food, architecture, history. On Sunday mornings at 11, there's a free walking tour of the lower eastside that starts at Katz's deli.
www.lowereastsideny.com.
If you want to look at other tour options for your Sunday, go to nycvisit.com and check their calendar of events for that day selecting Manhattan and tours. A gospel tour in Harlem is another option for a Sunday.

With such a short trip, I'm not sure I'd even attempt either the Met or the Nat. Hist. Museum. I'd go to one of the smaller museums like the Frick or pick a museum that's near the walking tour you chose. Here's a list of all (or most) of the museums.
http://www.ny.com/museums/all.museums.html

In the few hours when you arrive on the Fri., you might want to go up to Top of the Rock (at Rockefeller Center) since it's new. Or go to the Time Warner building at Columbus Circle, also new, and head up to the lobby of the Mandarin Oriental. Have a drink or afternoon tea.

Thanks everyone for the great tips and ideas! I am looking forward to this get away

rd1-

Another vote for the Met. Pls note that the Met is open until 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays.