I am a complete NJ/NYC rookie. We will be staying at the Residence Inn Newark in Elizabeth. Our family of 4 want to sitesee in NYC on 2 consecutive days, returning to NJ each evening. I'm interested in perhaps doing a double-decker bus tours that would allow us to get off and on at various sites at our leisure. If anyone could offer advice on our best and least expensive way to get into NYC and to such tour companies, I would be forever grateful. Feel free to offer me any other advice on our NJ/NYC travels. Thank You!!!

Hop on and off bus is expensive - and not the best way to see the city - esp since they don;t run that often. Much better to pick out what you want to see and just go do it on the subway - it will be much faster and you'll see more.

There are both trains and buses from Elizabeth into the city - which makes sense depends on where you're staying - you'll have to check with the hotel to see which is closest - and how to get from the hotel to the train or bus.

Either bus or train is 30 to 40 minutes each way - with an adult RT about $11 and $5 for a child. (You can get cheaper off-peak - but that will limit your time in the city.)

Don't take Amtrak (runs on the same rails on some of the same routes) but take the NJ trains, Amtrak charges about double.

When you get to Penn Station (the one in Mahattan, not the one in NJ), you can walk down to the piers where the boats leave that go around Manhattan - the best way to see it all and be told about lots of what you see - their guides on the mics are excellent. Check out www.circleline.com

Another ferry trip you should take, this one for free, is the Staten Island ferry with great views of the Statue of Liberty. www.siferry.com

I agree that the hop-on/hop-off bus is not your best solution it leaves you stuck in traffic with time going by that you paid for, often you'd be faster walking. Then when you need another, you wait forever while regular city buses come by - better to use them, and the subway.

Cherry-picking your destinations of interest from guidebooks and maps is the best way, make a list, look them up on the map, establish a plan, then get quickly from one to the next by public transport, above or below ground. Note that crosstown buses tend to be the slowest, often a fast walker can beat them.

lori15-My family and I are going to NYC the end of Dec and were orginally staying in Jersey City because of hotel prices! We were worried about how long it would take to get into the city everyday and we don't want to waste one minute we are there! We ended up changing our hotel reservations so that we are in the city!(Hampton Inn in Soho) Actually got a better rate on the hotel and it includes breakfast! It's great to save money, but in a city as large as NYC, time is the most important thing to save!!!

Agree that staying in New Jersey isn't as money saving as it may seem.

It is a time consuming mess especially if you are a newbie.

That hotel is right near Newark airport - and under "transportation" lists only driving directions.

I would definitely contact them to get very specific directions on getting to a bus stop or train station (you may need to get a cab to either one). Also - they don;t show a regular shuttle to Newark airport either.

I'm afraid you may be spending a LOT of time and money getting yourselves in and out of the city at considerable inconvenience. (Traffic in and out at rush hours can be interminable.)

Have a look at this versus a hotel in the city - which may not be much more at all.

While I join others in recommending that you try to get a NYC hotel in order to visit NYC, here's some information that may be helpful to you about the hotel you actually have.

The Residence Inn Newark is across the street from the Jersey Gardens Outlet Mall. The closest train would be the Newark Airport station, located more than a mile away. However, the Outlet Mall has direct bus service to Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan. The following is from the Jersey Gardens Outlet website:

Transportation
New Jersey Transit Bus #111 and #115 from New York
Fare and Schedule information can be found on njtransit.com

Here's a link to the schedule:

http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/bus/Tc1111.pdf

A quick glance at the schedule shows reasonable service throughout the day on Saturdays, less frequent on weekdays, and not great on Sundays. For all days, there are few options to return to NJ after 5:00pm.

We stayed in a vacation rental in Maplewood New Jersey and had no problem taking the train in and out each day. It wasn't cheap though. ( I think maybe $10 round-trip or so for adults.) We just factored that cost in on top of the price for the house rental. We stayed out pretty late a few evenings and there seemed to be frequent trains until about midnight, but you should check the NJTransit schedule as suggested to double check! (It would not be fun to be stranded and try to get a taxi back to NJ.)