NYC for four + days in June
 

Using info I've found on this site, as well as camping out in front of the NY travel section at Borders reading guidebooks, our family of four (14 and 16 yr old daughters) has come up with a list of what we want to see each day. Our days may be busy, but we wanted to start with a plan since we're novices when it comes to sight seeing and eating out in NYC. We could use your help in narrowing down all the restaurant choices offering great meals in the areas where we'll find ourselves at dinnertime, including your personal favorites. Three times we need to eat early because of shows at 8 PM. We'd like to spend under $200 for our family for dinner, maybe with one splurge. A local spot with good, tasty food is what we're looking for.

We have reservations at the Blakely New York (formerly the Gorham Hotel) on W. 55th St. Just in case renovations aren't completed in time I also made reservations at the Michelangelo and the Lucerne.

Please give me feedback regarding sight seeing fine-tuning and your restaurant suggestions. Thanks in advance.

Saturday
Arrive at Newark at 4 PM
Taxi to hotel
Dinner: West 40's or 50's (Pietrasantra, Vice Versa, Trattoria del Arte, Becco, Orso, Lattanzi or?)
Have tickets for 42nd Street

Sunday
Breakfast/Brunch: Norma's
Fifth Avenue
Central Park and Carriage Ride
American Museum of Natural History
Dinner: West 70's or 80's (Cafe Luxemborg, Ouest, Molyvos, Osteria del Circo or ?)
Empire State Building

Monday
Battery Park
Ferry to Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Immigration Museum
Lunch: Financial District (?)
Wall St, World Trade Center, Woolworth Building
Dinner: Chelsea - Gramery areas (?)
"Broadway Under the Stars" at Bryant Park, is this worth seeing?
Serendipity

Tuesday
Frick or Highlights tour at Met
Lunch: Second Ave. Deli or Katz's Deli
Lower East Side Tenement Museum
Walk around Soho, East and West Village
Dinner: Soho and Village (Blue Ribbon, Lupa or ?)
Tickets to Lion King

Wednesday
Walk by Today Show, Library, Grand Central, Chrysler Bulding
United Nations Tour
Lunch: Grimald's
Brooklyn Bridge
Walk around Chinatown, Little Italy
Dinner: Chinatown (Grand Sichuan, New Green Bo, Big Wong or?)
Tickets to Hairspray

Friday
Taxi to Newark

What a jammed packed 4 days! There are a couple of things that I would add if you have time. When you are at Battery Park, check out Trinity Church. It is very historic and interesting. I would also try to fit the Guggenheim Museum in somewhere -- maybe on Wednesday. I would eat at Lupa in the Village -- it is wonderful. Make sure you have a reservation.

There is no way you would be able to do lunch and dinner before a show on any day.

Pre theater plan on eating at 5PM.

On the days you are doing a "lunch", plan on dinner after the show.

Plan on two major tourist sites a day. Anything else is sensory overload.

Don't you think you guys will get tired...? :) Seems to me like if you are seeing 3 shows, you will be going to bed at midnight at the earliest. Also, if it rains, that will slow down your itinerary, so you might want a back-up plan, just in case. If I were you, I'd be happy with seeing 50% of what you are planning.

Just a suggestion, on the day that you do the Battery Park area, you could hang out at Southstreet Seaport. There is a big food court, and it would be good for lunch or dinner (you could easily keep costs down by eating there). You could also take a boatride around the lower Manhattan area from there.

Have fun!

Saturday: First all, the timing will be very tight that night. Even if your plane is on time, you'll be lucky to get to your hotel by 5:30. Whatever restaurant you decide on, make reservations well in advance. These places fill up early. Pricewise, Becco will come in well under $200 for the four you. Orso and Lattanzi will be tough keeping it to that amount, especially if the two adults have a drink or two.
Tuesday and Wednesday: You're going to have to eat dinner awfully early in Soho and Chinatown to make your 8 p.m. theater curtain.
You've planned good daytime schedule for those two days, but those plans are incompatible with your evening plans, geographically speaking!

Thank you for all the help with our plans. A New Yorker has an insider's perspective as to what is doable, especially considering travel time. I'll add Trinity Church to visit near Wall St. Lupa looked like a good place for dinner in the West Village, I'll call this week for an early reservation, and I'll split a pastrami sandwich for lunch at Second Ave. Deli that day so that I'll have room for dinner. Southstreet Seaport is a great idea if the weather doesn't cooperate when we're downtown. It is a good idea to do some shifting on Monday and Wednesday: We'll walk around Chinatown/Little Italy and have dinner in Chinatown on Monday when we don't have a show to catch and on Wednesday after walking the Brooklyn Bridge we can have dinner in the Chelsea/Flatiron/Gramercy areas which are closer to the theater on W. 52nd. It makes good sense to make these changes. Thanks. Any other suggestions, especially with restaurants?

Lupa isn't in the West Village. It is in the Village proper. The West Village is packed with good stuff and less touristy. Look into spending time there.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I was thinking that Lion King is at 7 PM on Tuesdays. You will need to have dinner at Lupa about 4PM if you want to be safe to get to Lion King for the show. Have you thought about this -- especially after doing big deli lunch?

Putting together a trip to New York is like putting a puzzle together, first you have to find your corners and straight sides and then go from there. In New York I'm also looking for my "corners". After looking at our itinerary and reading your input I realize that we're visiting Lower Manhattan three times in four days. If I switch days around so we only visit on two days it works better for proximity to shows, eliminates some additional subway time, and leaves time for shopping for our kids! I know everything is going to be a close fit, but when I think about visiting New York I think about being on the go.

I rechecked our tickets for Lion King and they are for 8 PM on Tuesday. (I think Hairspray does start at 7 PM on Tuesday.) Thanks for the heads up.

I appreciate all this help.

Keep in mind that if you arrive in Newark at 4:00 Saturday afternoon you won't have much time for dinner before the show you're seeing Saturday night. Even if you're flight is on time, you probably won't be into your room until 6:00 at the earliest, after waiting for your luggage, the cab ride and checking in, etc.

I would pass on the UN tour, not much to see, most of the tour is spent explaining the various sections and functions of the UN.

I do recommend the Circle Line Cruise, which is a great way of seeing the city, plus will give you all a break from walking. That said, one of the most enjoyable things about NYC is that its a great city to just walk around, so you don't need to have an agenda for every minute - just get out their and explore the city!

For Sunday: "Central Park" is huge. If I were you, I would walk up 5th Avenue and take a carriage from a plaza, counting that as seeing Central Park. I personally would skip the Empire State Building-- it really isn't worth the looooong wait in line!

For Monday: I would also skip the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Ferry and take the free Staten Island Ferry-- better view and no lines! For lunch I would eat at the Pipeline patio outside the Winter Garden section of the World Financial Center near the WTC site. Definitely check out Trinity Church- it's beautiful.
I would skip South Street-- it's not close to the other sites you mentioned, and it has turned into a tourist trap mall in my eyes. (Except the actual seafood restaurants).

For Tuesday and Wednesday-- lots of hopping around. I know you mentioned you may rearrange your schedule-- once you do, post it again so we can help. I would eat up closer to midtown so you make sure you get to the Lion King on time.


What happened to Thursday?

HTH!

One thing I know for sure, whatever planned ititerary we arrive with on Saturday afternoon will not be the same memories we leave with Thursday morning; we're open to whatever happens. I know we'll be busy - we hope to cover the highlights with time to explore. We'll see what works best for our family. Thanks for all your suggestions for sights, restaurants and logistical help. Please keep it up.

Our updated itinerary:

Saturday
Same - Make dinner reservations for 6 PM (Becco?)

Sunday
Same - Central Park Carriage Ride to give us an overview of the park. We'll walk through the places we want to see on our way to the museum. We'll visit ESB after dinner (Cafe Luxemborg?) at sunset when all the lights are turning on. We have tickets so hope our wait isn't long. Serendipty for dessert.

Monday (I know this is a BIG Day)
Battery Park
Ferry to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (kids studied this so can't miss)
See Trinity Church, Wall St, World Trade Center Site, Woolworth Building
Late lunch at Grimaldi's
Walk Brooklyn Bridge
Walk around Chinatown, Little Italy
Dinner in Chinatown

Tuesday
Shopping
Lunch at Second Ave. Deli
Lower East Side Tenement Museum Tour at 2:20 PM (also studied)
Walk around Soho, Village
Dinner at Lupa, make reservations for 5:30 or 6 PM
Lion King 8 PM

Wednesday
Walk by Today Show, Library, etc.
United Nations Tour (need to put a picture with the news)
Lunch at Delegates Dining Room? or not?
Frick or Highlights tour at Met
Dinner: midtown
Hairspray at 8 PM

Thursday (not Friday)
Taxi to Newark

Any other ideas? A Circle Line Tour or Staten Island Ferry are back ups. And looking for the best NY Cheesecake...

Wow... Your itinerary is really jam-packed. You may have a problem with dinner on Tuesday and making it to your play on time. Keep in mind that if you are cabbing it around, you may have problems getting a cab quickly then getting stuck in traffic. You should have dinner either after the show or close by the theater.

The new itinerary is an improvement.
However, I'm still not sure if you'll make dinner at Becco by 6 on your arrival day. Why not just grab a sandwich or something fast and save Becco for Wednesday night? Either night, I'd recommend making reservations soon 212-397-7597z0.

I reread "we'll see what works best for our family" and it sounds a little prim and too earnest - if we are falling apart we'll probably put on the brakes and find the nearest beer and an ice cream cone!

Pretheater dinners at a real "restaurant" not in the immediate theater area are usually about 2-1/2 to 3 hours before curtain time (i.e. 5 to 5:30 for a 8pm show) - remember that the shows start exactly at the ticket time, so you need to get there early to get to your seat, go to the bathroom, etc., and if you're not familar with the area you may end walking a block the wrong way or something. But I don't like to be rushed, so that is part of my calculation.

I agree with Howard about especially considering dropping a sitdown dinner on Saturday. If you land at 4PM at Newark, you probably won't even get to your hotel until 5.30, plus check in time, etc.

I would also say to drop the UN tour - when I went several years ago, it was terrible. I understand your desire to connect the news to real life, but I just don't know that you'll get that much out of it for the amount of time it may take.

The Ellis Island museum, however, especially if you had family that went through it so it has more of a connection, I thought was really interesting.

I would also say that Little Italy/Chinatown may not take that much time because Little Italy is really just a few blocks now and I don't personally think there is that much to see in Chinatown (I'm sure others will disagree, and I grew up with it so my view may be different). Also, I highly recommend a Circle Line cruise if it fits in.

Why not pack a picnic lunch one day and head for a park? Bryant Park in midtown is perfect for a late lunch/early dinner pre-theater. Pick up pizza, sandwiches--whatever-- and head to bryant park. There are lots of benches and chairs on the lawn and you can just sit on the grass and people and city watch-- you are surrounded by skyscrapers, can see the top of the empire state building, and are in a really nice garden. You can do the same thing in central park-- don't just carriage ride through-- wander through-- walk from 5th avenue to central park west-- from the back of the metropolitan museum, across the great lawn and to the west side of manhattan. This could certainly work for you on sunday (I'd rather spend more time in the park on a nice day and less time in the museum of natural history)

Saturday-- 42nd street and times square at night

Sunday-- brunch, walk through central park to the museum of natural history and have dinner on west side. Empire state building at night.

Monday-- serendipity and bryant park are far from each other.'

tuesday-- You will be traveling a lot-- starting in midtown in morning and traveling up to the east 70's or 80's for the museum. By the time you get out you'll be hungry and it will take time to get to the deli- why not find somewhere to go on the upper east side? After lunch take the subway down to the village and wander around until your early dinner before you travel back to midtown to get to the theater. Keep in mind that subways get stuck and cabs can get stuck in traffic as well.

Wednesday-- It will take at least an hour to get from midtown to grimaldis-- subway and a walk. or are you planning on walking from lower manhattan over the bridge and back from brooklyn to manhattan? If you plan on walking from the bridge to chinatown and little italy realize that it will take some time (at least a 1/2 hour). Maybe you can do brooklyn and chinatown, village, little italy all on tuesday and spend wednesday afternoon in the museum followed by serendipity (which is in the general vicinity).

"Central Park Carriage Ride to give us an overview of the park. We'll walk through the places we want to see on our way to the museum. "

When the other poster said "Central Park is huge," perhaps he should have been more specific -- it's a half-mile wide and 2.5 miles long. Even the standard carriage ride won't give you a glimpse of hte whole place.

Also, the Statue of Liberty is still closed, so just go to Ellis Island.

I really appreciate all your advice. I have made significant changes to most days, and all for the better. Thanks.
Truly I know we don't have to see everything on our list on this trip, it's just a basic guideline, but we'd like to give it a go!

This takes up so much space, but here's updated version #2:
Saturday
Arrive, taxi, check-in
Grab a sandwich (possibly at Pret a Manger in Rockefeller Center area)
42nd Street at 8 PM

Sunday
Breakfast/Brunch at Normas
Fifth Avenue up to Central Park
Carriage Ride
Central Park - Wander north from the Plaza in a north north westerly direction, seeing The Mall, B. Fountain, row boats, B. Castle, and Shakespeare Garden
Museum of Natural History
Dinner UWS, possibly Cafe Luxemborg
Empire State Building at sunset

Monday
Battery Park
Ferry to Statue of Liberty (30 min Ranger tour worth the stop?)
Ellis Island Immigration Museum
See Trinity Church, Wall St., World Trade Center Site, Woolworth Building, George Washington Statue (where is it?)
Subway (or walk bridge if quicker/easier) to Brooklyn
Late lunch at Grimaldi's
Brooklyn Heights Promenade
Walk back across Brooklyn Bridge
Walk around Chinatown, Little Italy
Dinner in Chinatown

Tuesday
Shopping in midtown area for teens
Lunch at Second Ave. Deli
Walk around Village
Lower East Side Tenement Museum Tour at 2:20 PM
Walk around Soho, Village
Dinner at Lupa, make reservations for 5 or 5:30
Cab (or subway?) to Lion King 8 PM

Wednesday
Walk by Today Show, New York Library, Bryant Park, Grand Central Terminal (ceiling inside), Chrysler Building
United Nations Tour (I have a friend who took her kids at Thanksgiving and thought the tour was terrific, any other recent visitors?)
Lunch at UN Delegates Dining Room? (Anybody been?)
Frick Collection
Serendipity, just because
Dinner, Becco, make 6 PM reservation
Hairspray 8 PM

Thursday
Taxi to Newark to pick up car for rest of vacaion which will be at a more leisurely pace.

I'll get a subway map.

Circle Line 2 hr. Lower Manhattan Tour: We would go on Wednesday, tours are at 11:30 or 3:30. I think taking a boat to Ellis Island and walking across the Brooklyn Bridge may be sufficient to see the Manhattan skyline, but I may be wrong. Am I? We'd have to skip the UN to take the Circle Line.

Again, thanks for all your help.

Hi nyvisitor! It's clear you're <i>really</i> excited about this trip and you're a good planner. You've gotten terrific advice so I'm gonna make some general comments.

You know &amp; we know you'll do a fraction of what's on this list. So have another list (even if it's just in your head) of what is <i>not possible to miss</i>, come hell or high water. Maybe ask each member of the family if they had to do or see just one thing, what that would be.

I'm sure you realize the 3 hotels are in different locations so logistics &amp; especially eating places will/should change accordingly. Example, if you're staying at the Lucerne, it makes no sense to go down to Norma's for Sun. brunch if you plan to go to the Natural History museum. You'd be going back &amp; forth. There are plenty of places for brunch on the uws. Also, do you realize Norma's serves their breakfast every day, not just Sunday (when it's probably most crowded)?

Several people have suggested dining <i>after</i> the theater &amp; you've ignored that. If you don't want to eat so late, that's fine, but know a lot of people prefer eating after to avoid rushing &amp; sitting for 2 hours on a full stomach. It also gives you more sightseeing time not to mention the ability to maybe go back to the hotel to rest, change, freshen up before theater??? Also, I think it was GoTravel's point that having lunch &amp; then early dinner is not doable becuase you'll be too full. No matter how much you walk, you just won't want to eat so much. You also may not realize it takes <i>time</i> to get from downtown to the theater district. You're traveling in rush hour. That's why a lot of people prefer eating in the theater area if they're eating before the show. There are plenty of decent restaurants (many you mentioned) there now too.

Another observation, there's only one night you don't have theater-Monday-&amp; that's the night you're going to Chinatown for a casual meal??? I'd save Monday for a big splashout-whether that's Lupa or some place else. Meals in chinatown tend to be quick &amp; not really a dining experience.

Finally, go to nycvisit.com and look at their calendar of events for your dates. Make sure there aren't parades, street fairs etc. that might affect your plans-either because you'd like to go or want to avoid. The Puerto Rican Day parade is a day to avoid Central Park &amp; the entire upper east side.