Planning a Chinatown/Soho/Greenwich afternoon
 

Help with one of our full days in NYC will be much appreciated. We've planned to start the day early at the Chelsea flea market and then head to Chinatown for lunch and shopping. I'd like to stroll through Soho and Greenwich this afternoon also, but we have an 8pm Dirty Rotten Scoundrels reservation. We could plan on dinner after the show for more hours during the day.

There's four adults and a teenage girl in our party. Only me and hubby have experienced NYC before. That said, I feel like we've neglected Greenwich and Soho. The times we've walked around we really didn't have a sense of what to do or where to go. Can some of you experts offer advise?

Start on Mulberry Street in Little Italy (at Spring Street, for example) Walk south to the blocks with restaurants. Il Fornaio is a good choice for lunch.

Turn right, west, on Canal Street and enjoy Chinatown.

At Broadway or West Broadway, turn right (north) and you're in SoHo. (With the exception of the Prada store, Broadway's shopping tends to be less expensive and more mainstream. For a more "upscale" experience, continue on Canal to West Broad and then turn north into SoHo.)

Enjoy!

One tip: don't ever, ever call it "Greenwich". That's a town just outside NYC in Connecticut where "the rich people live" as my mom used to say.

It's Greenwich VILLAGE or simply The Village.

You will be tired after a long day of walking, but you can cover Chinatown, Soho and Greenwich Village in one day. Start in the AM with a dim sum brunch in Chinatown. Oriental Garden or Jing Fong both on Elizabeth St are great. It's an experience...After you can wander around Chinatown for a bit and then head west toward Soho. Good shopping on West Broadway and surrounding streets (Spring, Prince St, etc). If you walk north about 10 minutes or so, you can get in the vacinity of Washington Square Park in the Village near NYU. Worth a stop...My favorite area in the Village is on Bleecker btwn 7th Ave South & 8th Ave. Bleecker has some nice shops and boutiques and if you weave in and out of the streets around there you will see some pretty brownstones & tree lined streets. There are also some very quaint restaurants and cafes in this area. If you're in this area, stop into Magnolia Bakery for one of their infamous cupcakes.

I'd suggest starting in Chinatown too, but try the Mandarin Court on Mott St (a half block south of Canal). We think it's the best Dim Sum spot in the city, and we've been to them all. We're usually there for Dim Sum on Sat or Sun.

From there walk up to Canal St and turn left, lots of places to shop for knock offs and some very nice jewelry stores. You can bargin for just about anything along Canal St.

When you get to Broadway turn right and walk up Broadway, you will walk past lots of interesting shops including a new Bloomindales, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Daffy's Armani Anex, GAP, Victoria's Secret, and LOTS more.

When you get to Houston St (pronounced How-ston), NYU and the West Village will be a few blocks north and west (left) of you. The Angelica Film Center will be a block west and Crate and Barrel will be righ in front of you.

If you keep walking north on Broadway, you will find Tower Records, which your teen will love.

There are also lots of little cafes along the way for a little rest and much needed coffee.

Turn left when you find Tower Records and that will put you in the heart of NYU and Washington Square Park.

Keep heading west and you'll find 6th Ave, walk up 8th for a little more interesting shops and restaurants.

One mention for DSW Shoes and Filene's Basement on 14th and Union Square.

Further up 6th at 18th St is a TJMaxx and another Filene's Basement, a few new stores have opened on 6th in that area also.

By now your feeeeeeeet are killing you, so hop on the bus or subway back to your hotel and get ready for the theatre.

Have a wonderful time while you are here.

Forgot to mention there are always Street Fairs in the city on Sat and Sun, so you might google Street Fairs in NYC, and get locations.