Need Recommendations: Where to Take Visitors While in New York
 

If European friends or relatives were coming to New York for the first time, what would you recommend as the top five to ten sights to see in six days? Also, include sights outside of Manhattan within a two-hour drive.

They are in mid-thirties, no children, energetic and adventurous.

Your suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Thanks, Carol

In six days, you can show them a lot more than 5-10 sights!
Here's a start:
Staten Island Ferry (that'll cover seeing the Statue of Liberty)
Top of the Empire State Building
Attend the theater on Broadway
Rockefeller Center
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Central Park

As for where to go outside the city, if it's in the fall, then definitely take a ride up the Hudson Valley to see the foliage, along with Kykuit (the Rockefeller mansion) and other estates.

Walk the Brooklyn Bridge and lunch at Grimaldi's on Brooklyn, then the Ice Cream Factory for dessert while walking along the promenade and looking at the NY Skyline.

I'd get them to the ocean if possible, Brighton Beach early in the morning is fun, while the Russians are still on the beach (later you get teens & young big families). Can have lunch there too at a seaside place. Tho -- if it doesn't look clean, you can be sure it is not.

Brooklyn Botanical Garden if they like gardens.

Central Park.

Empire State Building.

If you go to the Metropolitan Museum, make sure to zoom by the Temple of Dendur, also the Frank Lloyd Wright house, also the Chinese garden. My geuss is less interest on their part in our European collections, unless they have specific things they want to see. Maybe a drive-by of the Vermeers.

Old Merchants House Museum is uniquely American, and can be combined with a visit to the East VIllage and/or Chinatown and/or Nolita/Lower East Side.

Shopping - for woman -- Elizabeth St & Mott St right below Houston. Think this would bore most men to tears. Someone thikn of someplace to park the man. (point of shopping here, they are one of a kind shops not part of chains)

The UN
Ellis Island
Dinner in Chinatown and dessert in Little Italy
Boat trip around Manhattan
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Guggenheim Museum
Times Square
Broadway shows
Tenement Museum and Lower East Side
Natural History Museum
Greenwich Village

I'm a European and have visited New York twice in the last year. I'd advise a Circle Line or NY Waterways cruise rather than the Staten Island Ferry, as one gets MUCH closer to the Statue of Liberty with the tourist boats. The Staten Island ferry was fine (and free of course!) but I think the money is well spent on a cruise (we took the 90 min one) particularly if one has a good commentator.

Most of the places we visited have already been mentioned, but I do advise a walk through Central Park - it's a revelation to find all that green space in the heart of the city.

You can find my trip report by clicking on my name, but that trip contained more child-orientated sights.

I agree with what's been mentioned so far. My European visitors usually have shopping as a top priority. They LOVE the discount places (with the dollar so weak their money will go even further) Maybe a trip to Woodbury Commons? Or just check out Century 21, Daffys, Bed Bath & Beyond etc.

Some other thoughts:
The Cloisters
The Frick Museum
Harlem (Europeans love to go there. Check out what to see on this website.)

http://www.nycvisit.com/content/index.cfm?pagePkey=435

If they're into music, check to see what's on while they're here.
A walk along the promenade in Brooklyn Heights.
How about lunch or dinner on City Island?

Central Park is a must. They might like to go to a ball game at night on NYwaterways--thats so american! Bear in mind that they have seen beautiful old stuff, great food and parks in Europe. How about a Broadway show?
A TV show taping? How about Jones beach? Brighton beach for a russian meal on the boardwalk but first a stroll from COney Island past the rides; a hot dog! China town for dim sum? Maybe Little Italy.

Thanks for such terrific ideas.

It turns out that they will be here a total of 8 days but, of course, with the days for arriving and departing that will leave six full days to sightsee. I sent them an email asking for their "must-see list" so that they will get to the places that are important to them.

We will have a cousins reunion so that they will get to meet all the relatives at once and then they will be free to go wherever they want.

When sightseeing, we usually prefer one day with lots of walking, the next day more relaxing activities. These are my thoughts on a tentative itinerary until we hear what their must-sees are:

Day 1: Pick up at airport, settle in and relax with a nice home-cooked meal.

Day 2: Walking tour of Lower Manhattan (Federal Hall, Ground Zero, Trinity Church, St. Paul's) South Street Seaport (boat ride around Statue of Liberty and tip of Manhattan), Chinatown and Little Italy.

Day 3: Bronx Zoo and Arthur Avenue's Little Italy and possibly a Yankee game.

Day 4: All day cousins reunion on Long Island, complete with BBQ and swimming.

Day 5: Midtown: Rockefeller Center, Empire State Building, Central Park and shopping (Saks, Bloomies, Lord & Taylor).

Day 6: Either Kykuit, Rhinebeck or Cold Spring and doodling along Hudson Valley, possibly Vanderbuilt or Hyde Park Estates.

Day 7: Greenwich Village, Times Square and any museum they want to visit.

Day 8: Airport

And various cousins will take charge on different days because of work schedules. I'd love to know what you all think I've left out which is a must-see or what is overkill.

Carol

Day 2: While in lower Manhattan, you could drop in to Century 21 (just by the WTC site). I've never seen anything like this store in Europe! Apparently it gets very crowded at weekends and holidays - I visited on a Tuesday morning and it was fine. Maybe the "shoppers" could spend an hour there and meet the others at the Seaport later.

Check the schedules for sightseeing cruises - when we were there (out of season) they weren't leaving from the South St Seaport, but only from Pier 78 at West 38th St. & 12th Ave (NY Waterways).

Ruth: I will check the Seaport boat schedules. As far as shopping, I'm not sure if she is looking for discount or designer. But Century 21 is a great suggestion.

Mclaurie: Woodbury Commons is also an excellent idea.

Thanks.

You have a pretty good itinerary. A good idea for day 2 would be to add the New York Stock Exchange tour. I think the tickets are free but you have to get them a few hours in advance because of the precautions. In general, Wall St. has an excellent pulse that is so NY.

Day 6 sounds a little low key. Sure the estates are nice but I wonder if they will be that impressed coming from Europe with its outrageously large castles, manors, etc? Since you mentioned they're energetic and adventurous, how about kayaking or a hike or something physical and off the beaten path?

The Stock Exchange has been closed to tourists since 9/11/01.

JungleCat: I forgot to mention that NY is the end of their trip. They will be doing a tour that includes SF, LA, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon and Memphis before NY. So they should be sufficiently exhausted when they come to NY.

However, you are right about the estates. After seeing the palaces in Europe, they won't be impressed by the buildings. But what does impress Europeans is not only the size of this country but the natural woodlands and tons of trees. Our last European visitors throught that NY was just amazing....just an hour from concrete and skyscrapers is the Hudson Valley or the ocean beaches. They never saw so many acres of trees in their lives and just loved it.

When you are at Rockefeller - don't forget to stop at St. Patrick's Cathedral! And, the might enjoy 5th Ave in general for shopping with all the designer stores there.

Thanks for all the excellent suggestions....

Now, they want to squeeze in Boston....