aliska

Planning family trip to visit relatives in Livingston, NJ for a 7-10 days sometime between mid June - mid August. Will be flying into PHL (much cheaper than EWR), renting car for a week. Looking for public transportation info on visiting NYC (relatives are elderly, they don't do this), local sights to visit and beach suggestions for a few days visit as well. Will be traveling with 17 & 20 yr old girls, looking for any great discount shopping in PHL, NYC or NJ. Itinerary will be 1-2 days PHL, 3-4 days Livingston/NYC, 2-3 days beach. Thanks!

mclaurie

njtransit.com has a trip planner for info on getting to/from NYC. I'm not familiar enough with NJ to know whether bus or train is best from Livingston.

A fun way to get to Manhattan from NJ is by ferry. There are ferries from various points where you could drive and park from nywaterway.com
There's also a PATH train (like subway) that's only $175/person from various points like Hoboken, Jersey City etc.
http://www.panynj.gov/CommutingTrave.../html/map.html

Woodbury Commons outlet mall is about an hr. drive from Livingston and has great stores including some high end designers like Chanel, Gucci, but Jersey Gardens is probably closer and there's no sales tax on clothing in NJ. Compare the stores at both and see which looks better. There is an outlet mall I think in Flemington, NJ which is on the way from Phil. to Livingston. But if you want 2 days at the beach, it's probably best to do that inbetween Phil. & Livingston. Do you need beach ideas?

debsnj

Certainly not "discount" but your girls would love the Mall at Short Hills - quite upscale. As far as transportation into NYC - google 'NJ Transit' for train/bus info.

SusieQQ

For beach I would suggest Pt. Pleasant Beach...lots of fun things to do on the Boardwalk and great beach.

xxx30

Next town east of Livingston, http://www.nps.gov/archive/edis/home.htm

tchoiniere

Agree with SusieQQ on Pt Pleasant Beach. Spent many summers there. The Six Flags there has a drive thru Safari / Amusement Park if you are interested.

vjpblovesitaly

Ahem, Great Adventure if you don't mind.

tchoiniere

Isn't it still Six Flags Great Adventure or did Six Flags sell it?

mei

Love this place...and so do my kids, 13, 16, 18. Eat at the bar at RATS.

www.groundsforsculpture.org

aliska

Thanks for the info! Is there anything worthwhile in Atlantic City? Elderly relatives think this would be a good day trip and kids could go to beach. Not a gambler, but would like to be hospitable. Have heard not so nice things about AC, kind of sleazy? Can easily get out of doing this, but if its not bad, wouldn't mind going. Any advice?

SusieQQ

IMHO AC is only worth it if you are gamblers. The beach there is nothing special, although some people enjoy seeing all the glitz of the casinos. and yes, there are many sleezy areas.

jodeenyc

I would make sure you do the beach DURING the week. Otherwise you'll be fighting traffic the entire time.

I too would nix AC and stay north.

The girls would also like Garden State Mall in Paramus.

persimmondeb

Garden State mall is a total zoo. Awful parking. It is a nice selection of stores, but Short Hills is a little less crazy and definitely closer to Livingston. I like Flemington, but they don't have nearly as good a selection of outlet stores as they used to. Morristown, NJ, is an attractive small city with a cute little museum, nice restaurants, and one of Washington's winter headquarters.
Point Pleasant is nice, although if the relatives are really enthusiastic about AC I wouldn't necessarily dismiss it. It is less sleazy than it used to be, and there have been a lot of improvements to the beach, which is rarely crowded and does not require tags. The south end of the beach is much nicer than the north end. The new mall attatched to Caesar's is nice, and I'm sure your girls would like it. There is some new outlet shopping just a couple of blocks away, too. Looks nice, but I haven't been in any of the stores yet.
I WOULD insist that they stay together and in the boardwalk area, though. It's much improved, but still, think urban tourist area with drunks potentially roaming around. It might be a better overnight, and that way you would also have access to a hotel pool. I have gotten Tropicana mid-week in summer for just over a hundred a night.

NJrunr3

Go to Summit for a day. It's close to Livingston and has a really cool downtown area.

Many people in Livingston commute to the city, so there is ample public transportation. I second the Mall at Short Hills. It's very close to where you'll be. Livingston has its own mall, but it is nothing special.

For the beach, I would go to Belmar since you will have 17 and 20 year olds with you. It's filled with tons of younger people and they would fit right in. Next to Belmar is Spring Lake, which is also a very nice beach. But I would choose Belmar for the girls. You would have to make reservations soon though, since most places are already booked for the summer. Hope you enjoy your stay!