New York Trip
 

Hi there

Planning a five night stay in New York in June 2015 and have booked a hotel (Mela Hotel) that is an approx 10 minute walk from Times Square.
As first time visitors, can anyone recommend places to go / see / eat etc?
Obviously we are planning on the seeing the usual sights - Statue of Liberty, Central Park, The Museum of Natural History, Broadway etc etc but any other tips, advice, recommendations would be great!

Thanks

First of all -- nice hotel in my book!

But honestly, I think you need to give a lot more information and ask more specific questions. What do YOU like to do? There are dozens and dozens of posts here with suggestions, so maybe you could search and start with those and then ask more specific questions.

Top of the Rock. Lunch at the Boathouse then head to the Frick Collection. Tenement Museum.

Check trip reports to give you ideas.

http://www.fodors.com/world/north-am...new-york-city/

there's lots of suggestions in the above link.
There are even more tips and ideas in folks trip reports:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...tripreport.cfm

So how can we help you? what do YOU want to see? As Patrick said, we need more information to offer suggestions, otherwise we're just regurgitating info you can find in a guidebook or telling you things we like. I mean, what good does it do you if I say the American Wing at the Metropolitan museum of Art isone of my favorite places, if you hate museums and dislike American painters?

Determine wha tyou hae to et in advance, Tickets for the crown of the Statue of Liberty go months in advance. So if yuo want that buy early - and only from the National Park Service. To avoid long lines go for the first ferry of the day. And allow about 6 hours to get the ferry (airline type security) get to and fro, see Statue/Liberty Island and Ellis Island.

Also for broadway shows if you want a hit buy months in advance for the best choice of tickets. If you are looking for discounts go to broadwaybox.com about 90 days in advance and see which shows are discounting. Much better than wasting time here standing on line at the TKTs booth.

five nights is actually not that much time - so do tell us about specific interests - since there is something for everyone in NYC.

As for food, what cuisines do you like/dislike and what is your budget (and is this for 2 adults) including wine or?

My must dos include the Met, Staten Island ferry, Top of the Rock and exploring a couple of cute neighborhoods/dining in outdoor cafes.

Whatever your budget or interests you will want to spend some time walking the Central Park (i always do when i visit) Free Tours by Foot company offers a number of tours there as well. I recently took a (tips only- pay if you like) tour if Greenwich Village and enjoyed.

It gets crowded, but you can check out Eataly which has two locations in the U.S. http://www.eataly.com/

It's a little bit out of the way, but the West 79th Street Boat Basin Café has some beautiful water views. If you are coming in June, that's a nice time to check it out and it is casual.

The boathouse in central park is expensive but the food is good and the views great. Avoid Tavern on the Green at all costs.