Hello, I am thinking about a weekend trip to NYC in mid December. I know the first two weeks are a very busy tourist time. Does it calm down a bit after that, and/or are the crowds still as big in the third week of December, say? Thanks for any insights!

Although I don't have any specific numbers to say which weeks are busiest, all of December is extremely busy for tourism in NYC.

It does calm down after the first two weeks. it will be much quieter after the 18th.

There are also much better hotel prices from the 18th and beyond. Look on travelzoo.com

The shopping crowds will be insane. Forget about the tourists, what about the 8 million or so residents & commuters that need to Christmas shop? Only attempt it if you are a very, very patient person that doesn't mind elbow-to-elbow crowds, long waits, and schlepping. My best advice for you is to get to stores as soon as they open.

I am a resident who will not even attempt to set foot in a store between Txgiving and Christmas.

Can't comment on exactly how busy hotels are or what's available - I'm not an expert on inventory control.

But I can tell you that shopping is massively busy up through Christmas eve. At the major moderate priced department stores you will wait on lines of 5/6 people at least to buy anything - there is no staff to help you look for anything, walking on the ground floor will require the use of elbows to reach the escalators - and Macy's at last has "facilitators" to pull slower people off the bottom of the escalators to prevent them from trampled from those behind them.

(Not my idea of fun. I look at the windows and do a very little shopping at off hours - usually before 9am - and do a lot of buying on-line.)

I'd never even consider it and I live here. Forget what the stores are like up to the last minute of Christmas eve, just navigating the streets makes one want to scream. Lots of luck!

are you shopping for Christmas gifts or just looking to generally shop NYC? Or are you looking to see the Rockefeller center tree, decor, St. Patricks, etc and maybe shop? Personally, I hate the jammed holiday shopping crowds, it's not one of the things that puts me in a holiday mood; other than that, we have been many times prior to Christmas and don't mind the general crowds and enjoying the festivities and sights but we aren't shopping. If I were going to go to shop for myself and not gifts, I would personally go after the holidays for all the sales, or stick to the funkier shops off the beaten track stores.