ksera123

Hi,
I'm hoping to get some insight to help me plan our trip to NY arriving early on 4/30 and returning late evening 5/3/14. It's a bucket list trip.
I'd like opinions on lodging and then the best way to see several tourist sites since I'm taking my mom and aunt who are mid 60's and might not be able to walk as much as the rest of us who are between 26 and 40. They can walk, just might tire a bit more.
There are 6 adults (2 couples who will share beds and then my mom and aunt who prefer to have their own beds). So I've been searching for rooms trying to decide if we should book 2 or maybe 3 rooms. While searching, I ran across apartments2book and wondered if anyone has any feedback on using them? Reviews seem okay but are limited.
I know we'll be going all over the place so I'm not too picky about the location.
The sites on my mom's bucket list are:
Times Square, 9/11 memorial, central park, 5th ave shops, cathedral, top of the rock, Empire state building, Broadway, Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island & see the Brooklyn Bridge. My question here is if it's worth doing one of those bus tours or if those waste too much time in traffic? Would just hopping on the subway be smarter? I also see there are different city pass card things and wondered if it's wise to purchase those or just do pay for each 'site' as we go.
Thanks in advance for any comments and recommendations.

IMDonehere

The bus will cost a little over $40 per person. That is a lot of money for six people.

I live in NYC, so I cannot recommend a place, but you might consider something below Times Square, so that people can take a rest. Public transportation is excellent for all the areas you want to see. All consider taking city buses, you can things and still get where you want to go. Unfortunately a cab can only hold 4.

But here is an idea...everyone does not have to everything together all the time. People travel and look at things at different rates. So be have cell phones in hand and agree to meet for meals.

DebitNM

I'll start - others will be here shortly.

Short term apartment rentals are illegal in NYC. Try a suite hotel. Use the search box above; lots of info on this kind of thing.

bramsole

To address the Hotel issue. I am a huge fan of the Casablanca hotel on 43rd in the Times Square area. Last year, I took nine other women and we stayed in different style rooms. A friend and myself, shared a room with double beds, a pair of sisters shared a king size bed, while another pair shared a double rom. Three women got a suite and someone slept on a sofa.

You get a great breakfast included as well as coffee and tea in the day time. I'm the evening, there is wine, cheese and crackers,, nuts, etc. to munch on. We love it there, it's very touristy, which we are, and usually see a play or concert every night and love to be in the hustle and bustle, I'm sure some do not.

I went with some ladies that did the hop off hop on bus last year, and I lasted three hours before I hopped off for good. I felt like it was a waste of my time, but others must love them, because they have a rousing business. I had rather take the subway, bus or just walk to the sights.

I have never done the city card, but I do buy a subway pass. We are going again in February and are a shrinking or expanding group of women, all in our sixties. Which means every year more or less women go, it according to who is available.

HappyTrvlr

Bus tours get stuck in traffic, not recommended. Use subways between the sites and you'll see more of NY. Get 9/11 memorial reservation ahead, online. Apartments for short term rental are illegal and many apt rental scams are offered to tourists.

nytraveler

As noted - almost all short-term apartment rentals in NYC are illegal - and many are scams. Don;t take the risk.

Instead search for suite hotels that may provide what you need in 1 or 2 suites/rooms and give you a LR where you can gather and a mini kitchen so you can do snacks and perhaps even breakfast (a big savings). Look at the hotels in the Affinia group and also check the Beacon on the upper west side (you may have to contact them directly).

Agree to determine what each person wants to see and split up in groups to see the most important sights. Subway is MUCH faster than the HoHo bus (and I think those tours are a huge waste of time and money).

As for what you want to see/do - get a good street map of the city and locate the key spots so you can group them to save time trekking to and fro across the city.

As for the "cathedral" assume you mean St Partick's (catholic) on Fifth Avenue and not the Cathedral of St John the Divine (episcopalian - and incredibly magnificent) uptown.

For the Statue of Liberty you MUST have advance tickets for the ferry to avoid one of the longest lines - get them as soon as you have dates - and remember that with ferries to and fro the SoL and Ellis Island will take from 5 to 6 hours.

Also reco TTR and NOT the ESB - sights are too similar and ht latter doesn;t have the huge waiting lines.

Surprised that you not mentioned:

At least one Broadway show
The Met - the greatest cultural institution in the western hemisphere - with something for absolutely everyone (I don;t care if you - for some bizarre reason HATE museums - this one still has something you will love - a good plae to divide and conquer)

mclaurie

Apartments2book is a London based agency that is legitimate and has contracts with legal suite hotels in NYC that are often better than you can get on your own. But I don't recommend trying to all squeeze into one suite/space. The Marmara does have 3 bedroom/3 bathroom suites, but you'll likely pay more for one of those than getting 2-3 rooms or suites. Even 2/2 suites carry a premium.
Beaconhotel.com is a popular suite hotel and has some 2/2 but you must phone or email for prices.

Bus tours are a personal decision. I think it's a good way to see a lot without too much walking or stress but the hop on/off ones, to me, are often wasted time if you keep getting off. Freetoursbyfoot.com has some bus tours and is becoming a popular co..

mclaurie

Travelzoo.com has a special for the new Hilton Garden Central Park for a king room ($159/night) but it's not good for a room with 2 beds.

Supermum

There is an organisation called 'the Apple Greeters', contact them on line. They are a local volunteer group who will meet you at your hotel and spend about 3 hours helping you explore your nominated 'burough' of interest, ie manhatten, queens etc. Included is a subway ticket and the 'apple greeter' will show you how to use the subway. You have to provide details of the hotel you are staying at with phone number. It is a really great service, the volunteer we had was friendly and informative, we bought her lunch in Chinatown. We were pretty much orientated to the manhatten area after walking around with her.

nytraveler

That organization is "Big Apple Greeters" and if yuo contact them you should be as specific as possible to let them know a neighborhood or topic you are intereted in.

Also, do make your request as soon as possible, since there are not enough greeters to go around.

ksera123

Thank you for all of the great information. It's very valuable and I really do appreciate it.
The Hilton Garden Central Park travelzoo.com rate is pretty hard to beat. Once searching in there they do also have a 2 double bed option for 2 people at $189/night. The rate is refundable up to 24 hours prior to arrival so I am going to reserve it.
Not everyone going is interested in the Broadway show but I am still looking into it for those of us who want to go.
I was originally referring to St Patrick's cathedral but wasn't aware of St John the Divine. I will also check into the Met.

Is the best way to get 6 people from LGA to take 2 taxi's?

IMDonehere

Yes, the best way to LGA would be two taxis.

venividi

No short term apartment rentals for the reasons others have already mentioned.

For ideas on things to do with your mom and aunt, search this forum for Edeevee's posts. Sorry I don't know how to post links but it's worth the hunt - she is a great writer and the trip report in particular is a fun read with tons of great tips (visiting NYC was on her mom's bucket list as well).

Rhea58

There is another free walking tour: www.freetoursbyfoot.com
that I have used w/out-of-towners.

You meet them at designated spot & tour approx 2 hrs. & tip
at the end.

SO far have used the Greenwich Village & Harlem walks.

Rhea58

There is another free walking tour: www.freetoursbyfoot.com
that I have used w/out-of-towners.

You meet them at designated spot & tour approx 2 hrs. & tip
at the end.

SO far have used the Greenwich Village & Harlem walks.

ksera123

I just read Edeevee's Manhattan posts per venividi's suggestion. Great tips in there, thank you for referring it.
We're also looking into the freetoursbyfoot and the apple greeters.
With all the things we want to cram in, I'm trying to rough out a timeline so I can buy some of the tickets in advance.
The Met has been added to the list of 'To do's. We had forgotten about it until it was mentioned on this post. Thanks to everyone for giving such wonderful advice!

october_fun

We tried to get big apple greeters but were not successful. We applied early but it just depends on the day and how many volunteers are available. They leave a message at your hotel for when you arrive to let you know. A great service so try your luck.

The subway system is pretty easy to follow. I googled how to use it before we left just in case. The best tip I found is to look at the subway sign at the entrance to the steps down to the subway. Uptown or downtown. Otherwise you will end up on the wrong platform going in the wrong direction. There is not just one entrance so choose the correct one before you walk down the steps. New Yorkers are very helpful if you need to ask a question. Often they would help if they overheard us discussing how to get to a place.


Walking. You will do lots of it. NYC is a walking city. There is so much to see and it has a feel about it that you just want to walk and not miss anything. There is a buzz that is hard to explain. Bring THE most comfortable walking shoes you own. We walked all day every day. Another tip when walking. Don't walk slowly in the middle of the sidewalk. There are lots of people trying to walk behind you. Stand to the side if you need to look at a map to get your bearing or if you are looking at something.


Get a detailed map and work out where you want to go and divide it up into sections so you aren't criss crossing from one area to the other. Do an area each day.

Do see a Broadway show if you can. NYC has so much to see. Its why you want to go back... to see more.

We absolutely loved NYC.

maitaitom

Here is my trip report from 2011 (with photos) of our six days in NYC. This should give you some good ideas.

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/Tom_...City_2011.html

Tucks2828

bookmark

isabel

I have put together some NYC Walks - I think they hit all the things on your list. There are actually four of them and as you have four days you could do one each day.

New York City Walks

1) Lower Manhattan
Start at City Hall Park – nice park, great fountain, one of prettiest buildings in the city (Woolworth Building). Cross the street to St Paul’s Church (Manhattan’s oldest building in continuous use). One block west is World Trade Center/911 site. (Century 21 store is across the street). One block west of that is the World Financial Center building with a huge palm tree filled atrium (plus stores and restaurants). Walk through that to the west entrance which is on North Cove. Tons of sailboats. Walk south to Battery Park on the esplanade (pedestrianized walk way along the harbor with great views of Statue of Liberty). At the tip of Battery Park you can take the Staten Island Ferry (free, short wait) to Staten Island and if your hurry, get the next boat back (otherwise half hour wait). Not as close to the SOL as the ferry that goes there, but great views none the less and it’s free and takes less time.

From there walk north on Broadway about a block to Bowling Green Park (home of the “bull”). A few blocks north is Trinity Church (and park/graveyard). Directly east one block is Wall Street. Continue east another couple blocks to the East River and re-join the walk way along the water. Head north to Pier 17 / South Street Seaport. Lots of antique ships and great views of Brooklyn Bridge. Continue north and west back to City Hall Park (across the street from which is the pedestrian entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge if you want to walk across it).

Total distance is less than 4 miles (not counting walking across the bridge).


2) The Village and Soho
Soho is the area just south of Houston St – lots of cast iron buildings, shopping, eating. The main area is the several blocks south of Houston around Broadway. Just east of here on Houston is Katz’s deli. This area is the “lower east side” and the Tenement Museum is here. A few blocks north and west of here is Washington Square Park – the ‘heart’ of Greenwich Village. (The ‘west village’ is what people think of when they think of the ‘village’, the several blocks directly west of the park). Seven blocks north of the Washington Square Park is Union Square Park (home of the city’s largest farmer’s markets). If you walk from Washington Square Park to Union Square along Broadway you’ll pass Grace Church (one of NYC’s prettiest churches) and the Strand Bookstore (which claims to have 18 miles of books). From Union Square walk up either Broadway or 5th Ave to Madison Square Park. Total distance about 3 miles


3) Midtown
Start at Madison Square Park (23rd and 5th/Broadway). Gorgeous park and view of the iconic Flatiron Building. Eataly is there. So is the Shake Shack (burgers). Walk north up Fifth Ave. At 34th Street is the Empire State Building. Go inside to look at the Art Deco lobby. Continue north to 42nd Street. NY Public Library (after checking out the lions guarding the entrance go inside and upstairs to the reading room – gorgeous painted ceiling. Beautiful building). Go east on 42nd Street two blocks to Grand Central Terminal. (another gorgeous ceiling, whole building is beautiful, downstairs food court is not bad). Go back on 42nd street west three blocks to Bryant Park. Then north up Broadway – you are now in Times Square. At 48th street turn right (east) to Rockefeller Center. Top of the Rock (better views than ESB because the ESB in IN the view, plus shorter lines), St Patrick’s Cathedral is across the street. Go north up 5th Ave to 59th Street to the Plaza Hotel. You will have passed many of the main department stores. Total distance is less than 3 miles.


4) Central Park and the upper west side
From the 59th St/5th Ave corner walk into the park past the pond with the stone bridge. Head north keeping to the east side of the park and you’ll pass the Dairy (info center) and then the Central Park Zoo. Continue north via the “Mall” to Bethesda Terrace with the angel fountain and the lake behind it (and the Boat House). Follow towards the west of the lake to Bow Bridge (you really need a map). Then follow the west side of the lake up to about 79th Street where the Castle is. (From here you could detour east to 5th Ave and the Met). If you go west to Central Park West you run into the Museum of Natural History. The area west of the park for three or four blocks is the “upper west side” – lots of brownstones and interesting shops and restaurants. Go back south on Columbus to Broadway to Columbus Circle.

Total distance about 3 miles (not counting detour to the Met).


Here’s my photos of NYC - www.pbase.com/annforcier/new_york_city