NYC Trip Report
Jun 25th, 2005 | 08:49 AM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 24
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NYC Trip Report
Hello -
I found so much helpful information on this board in planning our NY trip. In return, I'm passing on our experiences.
First a little about our group. This was a mother/daughter trip that we took with my 15 year old daughter and her friend and mother. It was our first time touring the city, so it was important to us to hit the highlights. We arrived on a Tuesday about noon and had a 9:00 pm flight home on Friday. I really liked this itinerary. We maximized our time in the city while minimizing the number of hotel nights required. We were able to check into our hotel early and the bell stand held our bags until we left for the airport Friday evening. We used Tel Aviv car service both to and from the airport http://www.1-web-development.com/telaviv/specials.html and found this to be a good option. It cost $35 to the hotel (plus a $4.50 toll and tip) and $40 to the airport - the price was higher because they had us down for requesting a luxury car which we did not request. The $5 additional charge was ok though, the driver was right on time and we felt better having everything prearranged.
My daughter and I stayed at the Renaissance in Times Square using my husband's Marriott points. Our friends had no Marriott points and chose to stay at the more moderately priced Hotel 41. The Times Square location seemed perfect for first time visitors, especially if you are going to the theater. The Renaissance was wonderful; incredible service, beautiful decor, and the most comfortable bed I've ever experienced at a hotel. Hotel 41 is also very conveniently located. The staff was very helpful and the hotel very clean and nicely decorated. Our friend's room was very small, with a double bed and a tiny bathroom. They paid $189 a night and this included pasteries and coffee in the morning. I would highly recommend the food at the small corner cafe on 7th Avenue and 49th call Pax Wholesome Foods. They have more than the one location. The breakfast foods, pasteries, salads and sandwiches were incredibly good, fresh and very reasonably priced. We had a quick breakfast there every morning on our way out the door. There is not much for seating as it is very small.
We were all most impressed with the people of New York! Everyone, with the exception of one guy in a camera shop that tried to tell me it would cost $50 to have someone put our digital pictures on a CD because he wanted to sell me another memory stick, was so helpful and approachable. We had several people stop to ask us if we needed help with directions when they saw us looking at a map or overheard us wondering if we were headed in the right direction. After traveling all over the city - four women alone - we can honestly say that we never felt unsafe and never witnessed any situation that would make someone uncomfortable. A highlight of our trip was when we passed a fire department on a side street and asked one of the fire fighters if we could take his picture with our girls. He chatted with us, went and got them hats and posed for us in front of the truck. We were very amazed that the multitude of cars, pedestrians, bicycles, rollerbladers, horses, emergency vehicles and a couple of other types of odd vehicles could coexist in all that traffic and not produce dead people. We never saw an accident. I will warn those of you with kids that are not used to this kind of traffic to be very careful. I had to remind my teenage daughter who can sometimes end up in her own little world as she is walking along and chatting with her friend that it doesn't fly in NYC. She needed to be much more tuned in to the traffic signals. Even when you get a walk sign the cars are attempting to make a turn and are pretty assertive in getting through.
Our first afternoon and evening were spent wandering around. We walked down to Central Park and at the suggestion of a hotel employee went to a mall at the entrance to the park off of 59th where CNN is located. You can take a tour there, but since we live in Atlanta and have already toured CNN this didn't interest us. It really ended up to be just a shopping mall, not particularly special. We went to Johns Pizzeria on West 44th St. between 7th & 8th Avenues for dinner. The atmosphere and the food were excellent and the prices very reasonable. The pizzas were larger than we expected and so we had a lot of leftovers. Our waitress suggested taking a to go box and placing it beside a garbage can. She said there were many hungry people that would appreciate it. We didn't see any homeless people in the Times Square area, and not many in the other areas we visited.
The next morning we went to stand in the outdoor crowd for the Today Show. This was one of my daughters favorite things. We arrived around 6:20 am to find Rockerfeller Plaza empty! Wow, we were so lucky. . .until we realized the line was around the corner. Some people go as early as 5:30, probably earlier if there is a big name. We heard that there are not as many people earlier in the week. We had about 50 people ahead of us and still got a prime spot at the front of the fence. Al Roker shook our hand and we had our 2 seconds of fame as they scanned our section before one of the breaks. Seeing the personalities up close was a fun experience for both of us (our friends decided to sleep in) and was worth the 2 1/2 hours of standing around we endured. We took a cab to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and spent about 3 hours there. Our teens became a bit weary, but overall we are glad we went. From there it was a walk down 5th Avenue past all the designer stores, stopping in Barneys and Tiffanys. That evening we had reservations at Becco. We enjoyed it very much. We had the pasta special (3 types of pasta, salad and bread for about $22) and the halibut. The fish was excellent and the pastas were good. They have a large wine list where all the bottles are $25. We then saw Hairspray and all enjoyed it. I purchased the tickets before we left from a discount internet site (it may have been Broadwaybox.com). We paid about $66 for the tickets. We could have purchased them at TKTS for $50 after we arrived, but it was sure nice to avoid spending our touring time standing in line!
The next day we signed up for a 2 day bus tour for $49 which included 2 hop on -hop off routes, a night tour, and a Circle Line boat tour (all good for 48 hours). We went with a 3 week old company called Citysights. We got more for our money, but it wasn't worth the frustration. They have some kinks to work out; lower number of buses and microphones that don't always work. We ended up waiting longer than promised for the buses. We really enjoyed our 3 hour night tour, boat tour, and a couple of the guides were very entertaining and informative, but until this company gets more buses and fixes their microphones, I would stick with Grey Line. There are many aggressive ticket sellers for these tours and you may be able to negotiate a better price if you have a larger group. We got $10 off for our teenagers on Citysights.
We exited our tour at Battery Park. You can see the statue of Liberty from here, but not very close. We toured the financial district, found someone to put our pictures on a CD for only $3, saw the World Trade Center site, walked to Chinatown and had lunch at Chanoodles. The food was good and the restaurant had many positive reviews. We found the shopping only mediocore. Some of the shop owners were pushy and impatient, especially if you entered their "secret room". You can find designer knock offs here all over, but we found the quality and prices of many items to be better off of broadway further north. We loved Little Italy and wished we had timed it to enjoy a meal at one of the quaint sidewalk restaurants. We took a subway ride back to the Times Square area from Chinatown. It was confusing to figure out which train line to take and where to get on it. But this didn't deter us! We just continued to ask the locals if we were headed in the right direction and eventually we got back to Times Square to catch the night bus tour. That tour took us across the Manhattan bridge to Brooklyn. We stopped at an observation area to have a fabulous view of the Manhattan skyline. If you take a night tour make sure to bring a jacket or sweatshirt. It really cools down at night. When we first arrived in the city I said to my group; "who would come to NYC and eat at the Olive Garden??" Well guess where we found ourselves for dinner after our long day and night? Yep, Olive Garden. Our sore feet needed to sit and we needed some decent, predictable food. We were warned by some friends that restaurants will automatically refill your softdrinks and then charge you for each, but we tried to reduce our softdrink consumption and didn't have that experience.
On our final day we used the tour bus to take us down to the Macy's area to see the largest department store in the world. Macy's has a couple of places to grab a quick, inexpensive lunch. We then walked down Broadway toward 26th for more purse shopping. This is where we found better prices and more selection than around canal street. We finished the day with the boat cruise past the Statue of Liberty. Our driver showed up a couple minutes early and we were off to the airport. I was surprised that it only took us 30 minutes to arrive at Laguardia and there was no line at security! Coming from Atlanta we are not used to this lack of traffic and long lines.
Hope this helps. Overall, we were happy with how we spent our days. It would have been nice to go up in the Empire State building, but we prioritized other things instead. We also wish we had more time to walk around the unique shops in Soho and the Village. My biggest advice is to wear the most comfortable shoes you can. My Nikes put on many, many miles each day.
I found so much helpful information on this board in planning our NY trip. In return, I'm passing on our experiences.
First a little about our group. This was a mother/daughter trip that we took with my 15 year old daughter and her friend and mother. It was our first time touring the city, so it was important to us to hit the highlights. We arrived on a Tuesday about noon and had a 9:00 pm flight home on Friday. I really liked this itinerary. We maximized our time in the city while minimizing the number of hotel nights required. We were able to check into our hotel early and the bell stand held our bags until we left for the airport Friday evening. We used Tel Aviv car service both to and from the airport http://www.1-web-development.com/telaviv/specials.html and found this to be a good option. It cost $35 to the hotel (plus a $4.50 toll and tip) and $40 to the airport - the price was higher because they had us down for requesting a luxury car which we did not request. The $5 additional charge was ok though, the driver was right on time and we felt better having everything prearranged.
My daughter and I stayed at the Renaissance in Times Square using my husband's Marriott points. Our friends had no Marriott points and chose to stay at the more moderately priced Hotel 41. The Times Square location seemed perfect for first time visitors, especially if you are going to the theater. The Renaissance was wonderful; incredible service, beautiful decor, and the most comfortable bed I've ever experienced at a hotel. Hotel 41 is also very conveniently located. The staff was very helpful and the hotel very clean and nicely decorated. Our friend's room was very small, with a double bed and a tiny bathroom. They paid $189 a night and this included pasteries and coffee in the morning. I would highly recommend the food at the small corner cafe on 7th Avenue and 49th call Pax Wholesome Foods. They have more than the one location. The breakfast foods, pasteries, salads and sandwiches were incredibly good, fresh and very reasonably priced. We had a quick breakfast there every morning on our way out the door. There is not much for seating as it is very small.
We were all most impressed with the people of New York! Everyone, with the exception of one guy in a camera shop that tried to tell me it would cost $50 to have someone put our digital pictures on a CD because he wanted to sell me another memory stick, was so helpful and approachable. We had several people stop to ask us if we needed help with directions when they saw us looking at a map or overheard us wondering if we were headed in the right direction. After traveling all over the city - four women alone - we can honestly say that we never felt unsafe and never witnessed any situation that would make someone uncomfortable. A highlight of our trip was when we passed a fire department on a side street and asked one of the fire fighters if we could take his picture with our girls. He chatted with us, went and got them hats and posed for us in front of the truck. We were very amazed that the multitude of cars, pedestrians, bicycles, rollerbladers, horses, emergency vehicles and a couple of other types of odd vehicles could coexist in all that traffic and not produce dead people. We never saw an accident. I will warn those of you with kids that are not used to this kind of traffic to be very careful. I had to remind my teenage daughter who can sometimes end up in her own little world as she is walking along and chatting with her friend that it doesn't fly in NYC. She needed to be much more tuned in to the traffic signals. Even when you get a walk sign the cars are attempting to make a turn and are pretty assertive in getting through.
Our first afternoon and evening were spent wandering around. We walked down to Central Park and at the suggestion of a hotel employee went to a mall at the entrance to the park off of 59th where CNN is located. You can take a tour there, but since we live in Atlanta and have already toured CNN this didn't interest us. It really ended up to be just a shopping mall, not particularly special. We went to Johns Pizzeria on West 44th St. between 7th & 8th Avenues for dinner. The atmosphere and the food were excellent and the prices very reasonable. The pizzas were larger than we expected and so we had a lot of leftovers. Our waitress suggested taking a to go box and placing it beside a garbage can. She said there were many hungry people that would appreciate it. We didn't see any homeless people in the Times Square area, and not many in the other areas we visited.
The next morning we went to stand in the outdoor crowd for the Today Show. This was one of my daughters favorite things. We arrived around 6:20 am to find Rockerfeller Plaza empty! Wow, we were so lucky. . .until we realized the line was around the corner. Some people go as early as 5:30, probably earlier if there is a big name. We heard that there are not as many people earlier in the week. We had about 50 people ahead of us and still got a prime spot at the front of the fence. Al Roker shook our hand and we had our 2 seconds of fame as they scanned our section before one of the breaks. Seeing the personalities up close was a fun experience for both of us (our friends decided to sleep in) and was worth the 2 1/2 hours of standing around we endured. We took a cab to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and spent about 3 hours there. Our teens became a bit weary, but overall we are glad we went. From there it was a walk down 5th Avenue past all the designer stores, stopping in Barneys and Tiffanys. That evening we had reservations at Becco. We enjoyed it very much. We had the pasta special (3 types of pasta, salad and bread for about $22) and the halibut. The fish was excellent and the pastas were good. They have a large wine list where all the bottles are $25. We then saw Hairspray and all enjoyed it. I purchased the tickets before we left from a discount internet site (it may have been Broadwaybox.com). We paid about $66 for the tickets. We could have purchased them at TKTS for $50 after we arrived, but it was sure nice to avoid spending our touring time standing in line!
The next day we signed up for a 2 day bus tour for $49 which included 2 hop on -hop off routes, a night tour, and a Circle Line boat tour (all good for 48 hours). We went with a 3 week old company called Citysights. We got more for our money, but it wasn't worth the frustration. They have some kinks to work out; lower number of buses and microphones that don't always work. We ended up waiting longer than promised for the buses. We really enjoyed our 3 hour night tour, boat tour, and a couple of the guides were very entertaining and informative, but until this company gets more buses and fixes their microphones, I would stick with Grey Line. There are many aggressive ticket sellers for these tours and you may be able to negotiate a better price if you have a larger group. We got $10 off for our teenagers on Citysights.
We exited our tour at Battery Park. You can see the statue of Liberty from here, but not very close. We toured the financial district, found someone to put our pictures on a CD for only $3, saw the World Trade Center site, walked to Chinatown and had lunch at Chanoodles. The food was good and the restaurant had many positive reviews. We found the shopping only mediocore. Some of the shop owners were pushy and impatient, especially if you entered their "secret room". You can find designer knock offs here all over, but we found the quality and prices of many items to be better off of broadway further north. We loved Little Italy and wished we had timed it to enjoy a meal at one of the quaint sidewalk restaurants. We took a subway ride back to the Times Square area from Chinatown. It was confusing to figure out which train line to take and where to get on it. But this didn't deter us! We just continued to ask the locals if we were headed in the right direction and eventually we got back to Times Square to catch the night bus tour. That tour took us across the Manhattan bridge to Brooklyn. We stopped at an observation area to have a fabulous view of the Manhattan skyline. If you take a night tour make sure to bring a jacket or sweatshirt. It really cools down at night. When we first arrived in the city I said to my group; "who would come to NYC and eat at the Olive Garden??" Well guess where we found ourselves for dinner after our long day and night? Yep, Olive Garden. Our sore feet needed to sit and we needed some decent, predictable food. We were warned by some friends that restaurants will automatically refill your softdrinks and then charge you for each, but we tried to reduce our softdrink consumption and didn't have that experience.
On our final day we used the tour bus to take us down to the Macy's area to see the largest department store in the world. Macy's has a couple of places to grab a quick, inexpensive lunch. We then walked down Broadway toward 26th for more purse shopping. This is where we found better prices and more selection than around canal street. We finished the day with the boat cruise past the Statue of Liberty. Our driver showed up a couple minutes early and we were off to the airport. I was surprised that it only took us 30 minutes to arrive at Laguardia and there was no line at security! Coming from Atlanta we are not used to this lack of traffic and long lines.
Hope this helps. Overall, we were happy with how we spent our days. It would have been nice to go up in the Empire State building, but we prioritized other things instead. We also wish we had more time to walk around the unique shops in Soho and the Village. My biggest advice is to wear the most comfortable shoes you can. My Nikes put on many, many miles each day.
Jun 25th, 2005 | 12:17 PM
#2
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 752
Likes: 0
Thanks for an interesting trip report. You all did many of the same things that my daughters and I did in March. New York is a great place for a girl's trip. We were there almost exactly the same length of time - would love to go back!!!
Jun 25th, 2005 | 07:58 PM
#3
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 623
Likes: 0
Great report! I just got in from NYC last night and your traffic comments caught my eye. My husband also noticed that we never saw any wrecks--in spite of the crazy traffic all around us, every day, all day! It's amazing how aggressive the drivers there are, yet they still seem to really know what they are doing. I wish some people where I live could drive so well.
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