New York Itinerary questions
 

My two friends &amp; I (all aged 30) are traveling to NYC in June. We have some things planned but need help with the rest of our trip.<BR><BR>Day 1 - Arrive in NY and take in some sights (what I'm not sure what) <BR>Day 2- Go on a Grayline Bus Tour (8 hours)<BR>Day 3- Cruise through Central Park/ Shop and see a Broadway Show<BR>Day 4 - No plans<BR>Day 5- No plans<BR>Day 6 - Leave around 12 pm <BR><BR>Can you please give us some suggestions on what we should do on Days 4 &amp; 5. I don't think that we want to take in a ball game but we would be up for everything else. <BR><BR>Thanks in advance for your suggestions and help. <BR>

You could consider a visit to one of the many museums. A visit to the Metropolitan Museun of Art could take the better part of a day. Other things to consider would be a ride on the Staten Island Ferry and a walk over trhe Brooklyn Bridge.

You don't say if you're male or female. Walk down 5th Avenue and go in the stores, walk in the East Village, take in some off Broadway and down town shows (like Blue Man Group), go to the top of the Empire State Building (I think it's open again), go to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, etc, etc.

The Gray Line offers a comprehensive two-day hop-on-hop-off tour; this is much more interesting than 8 straight hours of touring. You can hop off at attractions that interest you, or just when you see an intriguing neighborhood.<BR><BR>There are a million things to do in NY; please give us some idea of what you enjoy -- parks, theater, shopping, history, ethnic food, etc. etc. It's all there!

While NY has many incomparable monuments, the real pleasure of NY is in its neighborhoods. Here are a few thoguhts: Dim Sum in Chinatown. Jing Fong (Elizabeth Street btwn Bayard and Canal) is a good spot and the downstairs at Kam Man Food Products (Canal btwn Mott &amp; Mulberry) has lots of interesting cheap bowls, plates, etc. Walk around all the little side streets. If you walk north on Mott &amp; Mulberry, you will enter the remains of Little Italy but do yourself a favor, and don't eat here. There's very litte that's authentic about Little Italy anymore (except maybe the pastry shops (Ferrara - Mulberry &amp; Grand). Look in Time Out and take a walking tour of the Lower East Side or the Village. Lots of history and beautiful side streets with historic brownstones. Concur about walking the Brooklyn Bridge into Brooklyn Heights. It affords a great view of the city and the Bridge itself is really impressive. Shop in Soho, many of the impressive shops of 5th avenue, but the architecture is more interesting (West Broadway south of Houston). H&amp;H bagels on B'way and 80th street. Walk up and down Broadway here or over to Columbus or Central Park (The Dakotas of John Lennon fame is at Central Park West &amp; 72nd). This is the Seinfeld neighborhood. Cafe Lalo on 83rd btwn Amsterdam &amp; B'way is a great place for a coffee/tea and a snack. It was in You've Got Mail, I think. The 72nd Street Boat basin on the River is great on a warm sunny day too. Oh, I could go on and on.

Half price tickets to Broadway and off Broadway shows are available each day at TKTS booth, 47 Street and Broadway. Line gets long, so get there by 4 for an evening show. NYC has many museums, the Metropolitan for art, Natural History for dinosaurs. NY Botanic Garden should be in full bloom by then, it''s worth a trip to the Bronx. The Zoo is also nearby. Concerts in Central Park may be in season. Pack a picnic and sit on the Great Lawn.

I was in NYC last month for my first time and suggest you and your friends plan to take a 2 or 3 hour harbour tour. We booked with Circle Line Cruises for a 2 hr cruise for $20 which was plenty of time to be out on the water to get great photos of Statue of Liberty, New York City, New Jersey and the Brooklyn &amp; Manhattan bridges. Be sure to set aside some time to just walk around great places like Times Square, Rockerfeller Centre and Grand Central Station to mention a few. The bus tour was GREAT but be sure to get off the bus and enjoy many of the NYC sites (Empire State Building etc). You have the right idea doing the bus tour on your first full day as you will see many sites that you will want to return to during your stay. Riding the subway was an excellent experience and was easy to learn the system. Line ups for Cheap Tickets in Times Square were so long that I cannot imagine why anyone would want to spend part of their vacation waiting for cheap seats -not worth the wait for me. We paid full price for Hairspray and throughly enjoyed it. I missed seeing Letterman as he was away ill while I was there. NBC Studio tour was enjoyable if you want to see where Saturday Night Live (SNL), Conan O'Brien, Caroline Rhea and Last Call with Carson Daly to name a few are taped. I enjoyed the tour and it was just over 1 hour long for $17. A visit to Ground Zero is sad but worth seeing as you really understand the impact after standing at the fence around the grounds. New Yorkers were so pleasant and were excited to share their city with us. There were police officers on almost every street corner (and subway station)and were very helpful when I needed to ask directions. Have a great trip and take a lot of film for your camera. <BR><BR>

Check out the following:<BR>1)A cruise on Spirit of NY, its one of the best views of NYC you can get.<BR>2)An exhibit at the museum of Natural History or the Planetarium next door.<BR>3)Visit World trade center sites.<BR>4)Walk through Rockerfeller cemter<BR>5)Catch a ball game (Yanks or Mets)<BR>have fun!<BR>

Two things we always take our out of town friends to are the Staten Island Ferry (free) for the best view and then take a tour on the subway (up to Yankee stadium, out into Williamsburg and Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn then walk back across the Brooklyn Bridge, on the 7 to Flushing to the new Chinatown and Koreatown). Also, look for street fairs in Grennwich village, in June there are lots and they are great for a nice June afternoon.<BR><BR>

Bag,<BR><BR>Go to nycvisit.com (you might want to order their visitor's package which includes a map, guide etc.) to view possibilities that might interest you since you haven't given us much direction. It sounds like you guys are not big museum goers but I strongly suggest you go to the Frick Museum at 70th st. just off 5th ave. It's a mansion filled with great art and antiques. It's small and doable in an hour or so.<BR><BR>Also, while you're in Central Park don't miss the zoo (it's really fun) and the formal gardens just off 5th ave at around 104th st.<BR><BR>A roam around Greenwich Village is fun (bring a map!) The Chelsea area (west teens to 20's) is popular with your age group too.

Hey guys,<BR>Im glad I found this posting..I will be in town 3rd week in May. My boyfriend and I pretty much have an idea of things we would like to do, but its been helpful to read all the &quot;inside&quot; info...Bag, if this helps, these are some of the things we are planning to do.. Brooklyn Bridge, Guggenheim Museum, Central Park ( picnic), tour the neighborhoods, (find some local grub!)take in a Yankee's game, and of course,,walk, walk and explore..hope this helps!

You've already gotten some great advice. Chinatown stroll and walk across Brooklyn Bridge are a must. In addition to wandering through the Village (Bleecker and West 4th are toursity but fun), it might be worth exploring some residential neighborhoods, particularly the Upper West Side, where many 30 something single folks live. Lots of cafes and places to hang out and relax there - will give you a feel for neighborhood life in NYC rather than just the touristy stuff. Also.... plan on an evening pub crawl on the Lower East Side. That's where lots of cafes, clubs and live music joints are that cater to the 20's and early 30's crowd (this is not the dance club scene like Twilo or Centro-Fly - that's a whole separate scene). Plenty of places around Delancy Street and thereabouts with loads of people out barhopping on the weekends. Also worth taking in a movie at one of the independent art film houses. Angelika is good but I really prefer the Landmark Sunshine on Rialto.

Other indie/art houses are Film Forum and Anthlolgy Film Archives which are downtown, Walter Reade at Lincoln Center and BAM in Broolkyn.

Don't restrict yourself to just one Broadway play! With the TKTS booths (in both Times Square and South Street Seaport), the availability of &quot;rush&quot; tickets at some theaters, and also the possibility of getting discounts through various online sources (e.g., www.playbill.com), there's no reason to limit yourself. There are some great plays to be seen!

If you don't want to take in the whole Metropolitan Museum of Art, consider the Frick Collection, which is small but spectacular.