Trip to New York city for four nights ( Thursday afternoon -Monday a.m.)
 

This trip is a graduation gift for our two granddaughters (18, & 20). The younger one has never been to New York before and has not traveled very much. We may try to do the Circle Line tour Thursday afternoon to get an overview of the city.. Perhaps visit Times Square or Rockefeller Center that night.

We will be staying at the Doubletree Suites Hotel near Times Square using our Hilton points. Are there some inexpensive places to eat in that area?

Friday morning we plan to start a Hop-On-Hop-Off tour of the city. Friday afternoon, we will get off at the Met since it is open late on Friday. This is a requested visit by the younger one. Maybe we will also have some time to walk in Central Park. Probably will eat at the Met or in the park.

Saturday we will continue the Hop-On-Hop-Off tour. One stop will be the 9/11 Memorial--plan to make reservations online. Also plan to visit St. Patrick's Cathedral. . Maybe walk around the Wall Street area. We will probably get off at other stops too.

Plan to attend Trinity Church on Sunday. Maybe attend a play that night.

We plan to try to get tickets to one or two shows at the half-price kiosk in Times Square. What else would you recommend for such a short time.? What stops on the tour would be best to take in?

Thanks!

A coupe of notes:

The HoHo is VERY expensive and you will spend a lot of time sitting in traffic rather than doing/seeing things they re really interested in. They are also very bad as transportation - since they run only every 30 minutes - and may be full when they pull in - so you have to wait for the next. And assuming you are coming soon it will prevent you having to sit in the broiling sun (inside you really can;t see much).

Getting around the city by subway or regular city bus - which run every 5 minutes or so is much more sensible, efficient and economical.

I would list out you must sees and just make plans to see them. To eat in Central Park is the boathouse - for which you will need reservations - do look at menupages.com to see the prices and actual menu choices.

For b;way shows - esp if you want 4 seats together - you will want to order from broadwaybox.com. It lists all shows discounting and gives you better options for seat choice - as well as avoids standing on line at the TS booth to get tickets.

The Circle Line misses most sites and NY has one of the worst looking harbors of any major city. It is improving and the lower East River is OK. I think the Circle Line is a real snooze.

NY is a great walking city and the public transportation in Manhattan will take you where you want and need to go.

A VERY inexpensive restaurant in the general Times Square is Hallo Berlin http://www.halloberlinrestaurant.com/.

There are scores of inexpensive restaurants in the East Village which also a huge under 30 crowd that your grand daughters would probably love including many shops owned by young designers.

One of the best free trips is taking the Staten Island Ferry after dark. You can see the Statue of Liberty on your right and on the return the lights of Manhattan grow as you apprach.

A couple things you should be aware of:

1. Nightime is not the best time to go to Rockfelles Center. See it during the day.
2. Only one Broadway show, namely Rock of Ages, has a performance on Sunday evening. Most of the others only have a Sunday matinee.
3. In reality, there are very few tickets that are half price at TKTS in Times Square. Most tickets available there are 20%, 30% or 40% off. Therefore, you are better off checking the discount offers (which come to about the same discount prices) on broadwaybox.com and playbill.com and then making copies of the discount offers that interest you and taking them to the relative box offices.

Go to Top of the Rock at sunset, get there before the sun goes down so you can see the views in daylight and night!

Agree that Broadway Box is a great way to go for tickets, but if you'd like to buy from the TKTS booth, there is also one downtown on Water Street near Southstreet Seaport where the lines are often shorter (though no Time Square spectacle). You could combine it with a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, which is just north of this booth, or a visit to another place downtown, e.g. the 9-11 memorial.

Walking is a very good way to get a round for short distances, and for long distances too if you like to walk. If walking is a problem, keep in mind that if there are four of you, you can all pile into one taxi, and you can take short rides (say up to about 20 blocks) for around $10, which is no more than the subway. Otherwise, the subway is good for longer rides, and costs $2.50 each. A great way to go is to divide your days up by different parts of the city, use the subway to get to that day's area, then just walk or take a short cab ride if you need it.

For inexpensive restaurants around Time Square, Junior's on 45th St is pretty cheap, and the cheesecake is excellent. There is also an italian restaurant on 46th St called Becco, where you can get the "Sinfonia di Pasta" for $23, which consists of three very good pasta preparations brought to your table from the kitchen, as much as you'd like to eat. The food and the restaurant are both quite nice. For something a little different, we like Yakitori Totto on 55th Street just east of 8th Ave (2nd floor), where they serve yakitori - little skewers of a variety of meats or veggies grilled on hibachis, for about $3 to $6 each. There is also John's Pizzeria on 44th Street.

Thanks for all the suggestions. It has been a long time since we have been to New York City. We are 77 & 78 so long walks in the heat will be a problem. If Circle Line tour and HoHo are not good, then what is a good overall tour of the city to get an overview? We have usually taken the HoHo in many cities just to get a good start and then go back and see what interests us.

If you're attending mass at Trinity Church on Sunday, you should plan your walk around Wall St., and the 9/11 memorial on the same day, since they are in the same general area.

You might also consider a ride on the SI Ferry that same day, since it's also nearby. You'll get great views of lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, and it's free. Much better than the Circle Line.

Definitely check out Broadway Box.com. I just got a flyer recently and they have great deals on a number of popular shows. Don't spend your time waiting on line at TKTs. An alternative might be something at Lincoln Center. They have a great summer music program, including some free events.

The Ho Ho bus for 4 people will cost over $160. I did not realize the ages of the grandparents but sitting on the top of an open bus will not solve the heat problem.

Unfortunately there are very few subway stations that offer either an elevator or escalator from the street level down to the platform level. And many stations can be oppressively hot during the summer. I would recommend taking city buses and if the heat gets to you there are scores and scores of traditional coffee shops, delis, and Starbuck type places to get some A/C and a cold drink.

Cabs can take four people. Just tell the cabbie to get his stuff off the passenger seat in the front.

It can be difficult to balance the needs of the grandparents and the interests of the grandkids. Tell the kids to look at TimeOut NY on-line and see what they want to do and see what kind of compromises need to be made. http://www.timeout.com/newyork

There are sections what is currently going on and one for basic travel info. It is geared for the under 30 set.

I can understand why the HOHO's would not appeal to a resident or someone who is familiar with the city, but we like the HOHO's . . great way to get an overview so that you can decide what you what to visit in greater depth. The "Facts" may not always be accurate, but that is some of the charm of the city . .

Yes, but sitting in the sun when the temps are in the upper 90s for hours is not going to be a lot of fun. And the HoHos do spend a lot of time sitting in traffic with passengers just looking at the outside of buildings or locals going about their daily errands (since they are limited to certain streets, can't go into central park or tour some of the cuter downtown areas since buses are just too big).

Which is the best discount website to buy Broadway tickets from before arriving in NYC?

broadwaybox.com is what you need. Much better idea than standing in line at TKTS. Much better!

Check out both broadwaybox.com and playbill.com. Sometimes one of them has an offer that the other one doesn't. So check out both. For playbill, you have to register, but it's no big deal.

planning trip to NYC answered several questions.

Onboardtours.com does an overview tour in a closed air conditioned bus.
Freetoursbyfoot.com also does an overview tour but ot sure what kind of bus they use.
If you follow your own plan, there's really no place to eat in Central Park apart from the Boat House where you'd be better to have a reservation. You dont say when this trip is, but right now restaurant week promotion is going on. Look for details on opentable.com
Cafe oulud is nearthe Met and very good (upscale)

Agree tha tusing the TKTS booth is a waste of time. The left column of broadwaybox.com or sign up ror discounts (for free) on playbill.com. Goldstar.com also has discounts.

Thanks for all your help. We got tickets to "Annie" on Broadwaybox.com--excellent price.

Thanks for all your help. We got tickets to "Annie" on Broadwaybox.com--excellent price.

We took the Circle cruise around Manhattan once and really enjoyed it. Don't know that I'd do the HoHo, because the subways are so good for transport and Manhattan's layout is so logical that it is easy to get around.

Those Freetoursbfoot tours for New York look great. We have done them in New Orleans and Boston, and loved them. They will be on the agenda for our next trip to NYC. The problem will be deciding which ones to do!!