Trip to New York and Washington DC
 

We, 4 adults, will be visiting New York and Washington in middle of July this year. Will be spending 4 days in NY and 3 in DC, before returning home. Number of days do not include arrival and departure dates. We plan to visit all popular tourist attractions in both places. I would like to receive guidance on few questions. Should we do advance online booking for attractions like Statue of Liberty, 9/11 Museum, Empire State Bldg, or any other popular attractions. Is there any specific time or day for these attractions when the rush will be less. Also, is it worth buying New York Pass for 3 days?

I would book ahead of time for 9/11. Statue of Liberty depends on whether you're talking about going to it, cruising past it, or climbing to the crown. To access the crown, you HAVE to book in advance.

The pass thing is pretty much impossible to answer. It depends entirely on what you plan to do- there is no way to hit "all" of the major attractions. It depends on how long each attraction might take- I mean, there's commuting time and activity time to consider. And then there's stuff that you would never, ever do.I really wouldn't see much point of an HOHO bus in NYC. And then there's stuff you can do for cheaper- for example, the pass lists the "suggested" price for Natural History. NH and the Met are somewhat unique in the fact you can donate whatever you want and get entry. Or there's something listed as a gospel Wednesday- I attended a gospel service for free so heard a choir that way. And then they list the price for the water taxi which must be the price for the all access pass...but you could ride the water taxi just once for a lot lesss than that. Just a few examples of how it's rather deceptive about how much money you'd save.

So...you're going to have to figure that out on your own.

shh...you won't visit all of the tourist spots in both places in your time frame. Focus on the stuff that interests you. Don't tick off places on a list.

Definitely book ahead and get a timed ticket for the 9/11. I would guess that later in the day would be less crowded, since most of the group tours will be gone by then.

The crowding issue shouldn't be a major factor for entry if you have a timed ticket. You just line up when it's your time and file in. I will say I thought they let too many people in at a time. Some of the exhibits were quite packed when we went, which I think was late morning.

Thanks for all the responses, much appreciated. Do we need to pre-book for Empire State Building? We also plan to visit Top of the Rock. Is it worth a visit?

I prefer TotR to ESB--I think the views from TotR are better. I would not do both.

Oh, and my two cents: don't try to do too much. My idea of "too much" may not be the same as yours, but you know what I mean. It's going to be hot and crowded pretty much everywhere, so pace yourself accordingly.

Another two cents re: the 9/11 Museum: we didn't go. On a gorgeous April Saturday, we walked around the memorial plaza, then walked to Trinity Church and enjoyed the fruit trees blooming in the cemetery while we talked about the events of the day. I am sure the museum is worthwhile in general, but on that day, for us, it wasn't what we chose to do. What we did was enough.

Thanks NewbE. Yes, your suggestions are worth more than two cents!!

If you want to fit a lot in, check out a Segway tour in DC. I'm a local and did one with my best friend a few years ago and it was fantastic! It took about 3 hours, we saw dozens of landmarks, and the Segway was really easy to get the hang of. We used Capital Segway and I seem to recall the price was about $60 but there are a few companies that run those tours. It's a great overview of the usual tourist sites and such a neat way to see things.

I've always wanted to do a Segway tour, Hobbert! DC seems to me to be very well-suited to one.

It really was! I was skeptical when my friend mentioned it but now I think it's the perfect first stop for someone new to DC. You get a great overview and can pick landmarks that look interesting enough to return to. Plus, you get a realistic sense of how big the Mall is. I was surprised at how safe I felt- we crossed plenty of streets and not one honk. Definitely worth the money.

DC drivers are used to tourists around the Mall, and the avenues are so broad...I would wonder about doing a Segway tour in NYC (lol!), but not DC.

Even on narrow streets, they give you 65 seconds to cross (sometimes I feel like I could get in a good power nap crossing the street in DC).

We reserved tickets for the 9/11 museum; I'm not sure we needed to for an early May weekday, but we wanted to make sure we could get in at the start of the day.

In July, I think I would book the museum ahead of time.

As others said, if you want to go to the crown (and the pedestal, too, I think) you need to book that well before you arrive.

Lee Ann

One tip on moving around New York - I'm often surprised, at the end of the day while visiting NYC, how much time I've spent just moving from place to place via the subway (our preferred mode of transportation there). Often, we don't get to do all of the things we expected to do during the day/evening, because we just run out of time! So NewBe's comment about not trying to do to much rings true to me.

If you're trying to cram a lot in though, consider using taxis or ubers. Four people can travel together in a taxi, and since it does not change the fare, the cost can be no more than traveling by subway. Traffic can be unpredictable, but most times it's much faster than the subway.

On the contrary, I have found in the past that subway can be decidedly faster than bus or taxi (any surface transportation) .