My husband and I just got back from NYC and had a great time. I used this board for a lot of info so I thought I'd share my trip:
Arrived Tuesday at Laugardia. Stayed at the Washington Jefferson (WJ) Hotel on W51st St. at 8th Ave. Nice hotel, small rooms, nice staff. Walking distance to most things. We had a van pick us up at the airport, it took 2 hours to get to our hotel! The driver wanted to avoid some roads I guess so he drove in reverse all the way down a one way road. Scared me to death! Ate lunch at Ray's Pizza, very good, went back later in the week. Empire State Building - bought tickets online, avoided the ticket line and saved a lot of time, no wait, we went about 4pm. Get the audio tour with it. Walked around Times Square. It's just like on TV. Dinner at Mi Nidito near our hotel, ok food. Wednesday - Already had tickets for Ellis Island. Went to Battery Park and waited in line, they say be there an hour early because the lines get long. You have to wait a long time though before they open the doors. Ellis Island was very interesting, again get the audio tour. We didn't get off at the Statue of Liberty but you get very close to it for good picture taking. Ground Zero. Lunch at deli across the street that was good, Stage Door maybe? David Letterman show that afternoon. Guests were Jon Stewart and Nick Lachay. That was fun. Dinner at Junior's on Broadway, pretty good food. Great cheesecake. Thursday - NBC Studio Tour, very neat. Already had reservations online. Rockefeller Center. Went to 5th Ave, all the EXPENSIVE stores, Tiffanys, Saks, etc. Felt very out of place. Hoped to see a celebrity but didn't. Central Park, nice change of atmosphere. Dinner at Tavern on the Green - salad and bread were not good, main course and desert were very good. Not worth the money though. I did enjoy dressing up though. Friday - Today show, Al did the weather right in front of us. Breakfast at some place don't know the name, where they way over charged us. Chinatown and Little Italy. Not what I expected. Chinatown was just people trying to sell you fake purses and watches and LI is restuarants, unless I missed something. Greenwhich village, walked around. Night - Mets game. Fun, even though they lost. Saturday - Carnegie Deli for lunch. Way over priced and bad service, do not see what the hype is. Food was nothing special anyways. Street festival on 8th Ave. That was fun. Night - The Lion King - my favorite part of the trip. Amazing talent! Overall, people were helpful and we had a great time. Figuring out the subway is hectic at first, but we caught on. A lot of walking and very tiring. I would like to go back around Christmas and only stay a few days. Thanks for all your help planning my trip!

great trip report!

how do you get tickets to the tonight show?

sorry, meant to say david letterman

Sounds like a good time. But 2 hrs. from LGA? What van was this??? Next time please take a taxi or a car service like Carmel.

Hope you get to come back soon!

You apply online for tickets at the show's website on cbs. They called us the first day we got to NY and the tickets were for the next day, so we only had a days notice. I had applied several months earlier. You also have to answer a trivia question about the show in order to get them.

SuperShuttle was the van service. There was so much traffic and between picking up other people and dropping them off it took forever. Wouldn't a taxi cost a lot though since it is a 45 minute drive anyway.

Glad you had a good time but now you understand why I:

Try to steer people away from shuttles and public transportation from the airport, TOTG, and Carnegie Deli.

Great trip report and it is getting me excited about the marathon!

Thanks!

A taxi from La Guardia is at most $35-40 total and can be less still. It does depend on traffic though. You probably didn't pay much less for 2 people on the van.

If you want a fixed rate, you can use a car service like Carmel who charge $28-35 depending on time of day. They also have a coupon for $4 off an airport pickup. You'd then add the toll $4 and a tip.

From LGA for 2 people the van is just as much as a cab - and as you saw took more than twice as long. Never do this except for one person on a VERY srrict budget.