Hi! I'll be in Nyc before Xmas and try as I might on Mapquest, I can't find out how to get from the Plaza hotel to Rockefeller Center. Are they both on 5th?? and all I have to do is walk "X" number of blocks? I wanted the taxi to drop me off, for example, at the plaza, and then I could walk back to my hotel and/or macy's on 34th..is this possible? I also wanted to see Saks, Lord & Taylor, FAO and Tiffany's. could I do that just walking on 4th ave FrOM the plaza?? I can't walk a lot because I"m overweight, so I have to wing it..please help me. thank you.

Suggest you check out (instead)

yp.gte.net

[note there is NOT a 'www' in this URL]
asking it to "find" your hotel and then "find" Rockefeller Center. In both cases, this site will list every place with the names you are looking for (there are seven hotels that could be called the "Plaza", so you'll have to know EXACTLY which one you're talking about). When you find the one you're interested, select it, and a map will pop up on the screen. With this map, you should be able to know how to get between the two sites.Rockefeller Center is about Sixth Ave and 46th Street. The "Plaza Hotel" is at 59 Fifth Ave, down by 14th Street. The "Crowne Plaza Hotel" is at 304 East 42nd Street. The former is probably too far for most people to walk; the latter, about six blocks.

As to those other places, find out there address from the above URL, and then check their location by selecting the listing they are on.

Let's see, you want to do Manhattan shopping at Saks, Lord & Taylor, FAO Schwartz, and Tiffany's. Any way I could get on your Christmas list? :^)

Chachee, everything you describe is within roughly 1.5 miles along a "spine" on Fifth Avenue, with the Plaza Hotel at the north end, Lord and Taylor at the south end, and everything else in between. Important rule: there are approximately 16 "streets" to a mile in midtown Manhattan, so from Lord & Taylor (38th and Fifth) to the Plaza (59th and Fifth) is 21 blocks, or about 1.3 miles. The heart of Rockefeller Center lies between Fifth and Six Avenues, and 48th and 51st Streets, so the north end of Rockefeller Center is 8 blocks, or 1/2 mile, from the Plaza. Tiffany's is at 57th St. and Fifth Avenue, Saks is at 50th and Fifth, and FAO Schwarz is directly across Fifth Avenue from the Plaza.

While the distance between "streets" is uniform in Manhattan north of 14th Street, "Avenues" are variable in length; from Fifth to Sixth Avenues is a third of a mile; from Fifth to Madison, where you'll also see some excellent shops, is one-sixth of a mile.

I note you also have Macy's on your itinerary. The N and R subways stop at the Fifth Avenue station across from the Plaza (the doorman will point you in the right direction). Taking either train in the direction "Downtown & Brooklyn" will put you right under Macy's (34th Street station) after about three stops and a total cost of $1.50.

Use a cab if you must for health reasons, but you'll find Fifth Avenue (which flows one way, southbound) is very sluggish this time of the year, and a cab ride from the Plaza to Lord & Taylor that in January would take six minutes and cost $3.50 will instead take twenty minutes and cost $10.00.

Enjoy the city!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! You have both been so thorough. I'm going to also check out that web site. Looks like I'll just have to walk slowly. I had NO idea that there were 16 blocks to a mile..I know the blocks are small there, perhaps that is why? Oh my...I hope I can handle it. I have been working out here in anticipation of all the walking. Thank you again so much! God bless. Happy Holidays to everyone.

Other good websites for maps are www.citysearch.com and www.sidewalk.newyork.com. Actually, I planned our daily itineraries last year with Microsoft Streets 98 which is very inexpensive right now because a new version is due out soon. But, this version made wonderful maps. My husband couldn't believe how well I knew my way around the city.