Questions on New York Part I
 

Going for the first time to NY in late August with my wife for six nights.
1.Staying at W Hotel (Times Sq) and Chambers hotel;could anyone recommend any good places for breakfast/brunch as these hotels do not serve breakfast,and if they did,I'm told it is expensive.
2.Wanted to go to the Niagara falls as day trip.Found various websites
which do tours costing about $350 per person.This includes transport via plane return from NY and a ride on the Maid of Mist.Wondered if this could be more economically as $350 seems alot.This would have to involve using public transport as we do not intend to drive.
Many thanks

Niagara Falls is about 400 miles (?700 km?) from NYC. For a day trip, I think a plane is the only way to go for a day trip.

And maybe I should preview my posts first. Sorry for the error. But I still think it's a L-O-N-G way for a day trip.

Niagara Falls is beautiful and you'd want to go over to the Canadian side too. But it's too far for a day trip, in my opinion. The only way I'd consider it as a day trip would be by flying, but I think I could find better ways to spend $350 each.

A day trip to Niagra really isn;t possible except by plane (diriving is at least 8/9 hours each way - depending on traffic). I'm not aware of any train - and even if there were it would be no faster than driving (the US does not have high speed trains). Bus might be a possibility but IMHO the falls are not worth the torture that would be.

There is no shortage of good places for breakfast in NYC. If you post back the addresses of your hotels people might be able to help.

As to the Niagara Falls trip, I <i>think</i> you could recreate the transportation the tours will use on your own for less money but not sure it would be worth the anxiety of ahving to do it on your own.

Jet Blue (jetblue.com)flies from JFK to Buffalo at what I think are the cheapest fares. So you'd have to get to JFK by whatever means you choose-taxi (about $45 from NYC), shuttle bus, etc. Then in Buffalo there are buses that go to the Falls-don't know fi they go from the sirport. Anyway, point is yes, there's a cheaper way but it takes some planning and know how.

There are several delis and dinners near your hotel that'll be open for breakfast. I pass by a diner every morning on 50th Street between Broadway and 7th that seems to do well.

In terms of going to Niagara Falls, the tour company is charging you a very large premium for things easily arranged on your own. As stated, you can find JetBlue flights for $49 each way. Your total airfare of $230 plus $90 round trip for cabs to/from JFK, is LESS than the cost of one tour. Once in Buffalo, you can easily rent a car and buy your own tickets for the boat tours. I'd imagine, the tour company has a markup of about 100% over their cost. While it would be a long day, certainly it's possible to make the trip. The waiting time at the airport is the only downside, but with no bags and electronic tickets, you could probably get away with 75 to 60 minutes on each end.

Wow, a day trip to Niagra Falls, I never heard of that (I live in NYC). I can't help too much on the total cost issue or Niagra Falls (never been). I just wanted to say as far as getting to/from JFK, you might want to consider the AirTrain, since you won't have much, if any, luggage. That will save you on the cab money - you take either the E train subway (cheaper but slower) or the LIRR train from Penn Station (which is 8 blocks from Times Sq) (faster, a little more expensive) to a Jamaica, Queens, where you transfer to the train that goes to the airport terminals.

http://www.panynj.gov/airtrain/

The cabs will end up costing about $100 round trip (w/ toll and tip), and if you are traveling weekday at or near rush hour will probably take at least 45 minutes. Either way, you'll need to add the time to JFK as part of your time calculation.

Also, there will be a ton of diners around those areas for a cheap breakfast. For a more expensive breakfast, look into Norma's at the Parker Meridien (if you search it is discussed in other threads).

Niagara Falls and New York City are at the far opposite corners of the state -- Montreal is closer to NYC than Niagara Falls is.