New York City- 1 night with car
 

I'm looking for suggestions on where I might be able to park my mini-van outside of NY City in conjunction with a one night hotel stay. Essentially I will be taking my children to NY City to meet up with a friend for the day but I'm on a tight budget and I don't want to drive into the city with my car. I'll be coming from Southern Vermont.

Is there a reasonably priced hotel where I could check in, park my car for the night and then easily catch a train/ subway to downtown NYC? I checked on the train prices with Amtrak but it would cost me $82 per person, round-trip, from Albany.

Thank you.

Coming from Vermont, White Plains might offer enough hotel choices and train convenience.

You can;t take the subway - it doesn't go outside NYC. You can take MetroNorth - a commuter train - which is much less than Amtrak.

Not sure the best places to get a decent hotel right near a station though.

White Plains is sizable (parking for many local stations fills up by 8 am or requires a town sticker)but I don't know any hotels right there. You might do better with Stamford - about an hour from the city on MetroNorth..

Or see if you can get a room at the TravelInn on 42nd St., which offers free parking.

http://www.thetravelinnhotel.com/?mcid=gc42k22

Even staying near a Metro North train may not save enough vs Manhattan in August to make the inconvenience worthwhile. If it's a weekend, you may be able to park for free at a Metro North station like Poughkeepsie or New Haven and ride the train into NYC and stay in NYC.

There are inexpensive hotels in Long island City like the Verve or Country Inn that don't guarantee parking since they only have limited space, but parking nearby is available and prices are lower than Mnahattan and you're a short subway ride away.

In Manhattan, the Skyline is another option with $10/night parking.

Here's the Metro North map. If you click on a station you should find parkng info.
http://web.mta.info/mnr/html/mnrmap.htm

Thank you everyone for your great tips! I'm thrilled to report that onr of our friends offered us to stay in her vacant NYC apt. for free!!! It's somewhere near the Natural History Museum and apparently there are parking garages, not cheap but since ill be saving tons of money on the hotel I'm happy to pay for parking.

good news, but do check in advance. Quite a few garages in NYC either refuse mini fans and SUV's or else charge double for them.

One more question. None of my children have ever been to NYC. My 13 yr. old daughter would love to go to a science museum and see the Statue of Liberty.

Since we can stay in NYC for free I've decided to extend our visit to 3 days. We will meet up with our friends on the first day and plan to take our kids on a Circle bus tour, incl. the Staten Island Ferry and Chinatown. Are there places online where you can get reduced tickets for the bus tour?

One the following day I would like to take my daughter to the museum of natural history. Are there other science oriented museums you can recommend?