kswl

We had planned to do the Grayline tour but I just learned that they will not pick us up at our hotel as we'd previously thought.

Party Shuttle has limited times, but the buses are smaller. I'm just wondering if there are any other companies that run nice tours we should check out? Thanks in advance for replies

nytraveler

Not sure what you mean by holiday lights tour. Holiday lights, store windows etc are best seen on foot. (In any vehicle you will miss a lot - since the sidewalks are so mobbed you can't see things through the crowds.)

If you're talking about a tour of houses in one of the outer residential neighborhoods - there may be one - I don;t know. I would check the web sites of New York Magazine and Time Out New York. And possibly google.

doug_stallings

The best way to see the lights in Manhattan is on foot, not on an expensive tour. Walk up or down 5th Avenue between 59th and 39th streets, stopping at Rockefeller Center, the Saks windows, Bryant Park (behind the library, a very short detour), and Lord & Taylor (lots of other stores have good windows).

If you want to see more, there are a nice Christmas trees at Lincoln Center, Washington Square Park, and the Museum of Natural History.

Why is it a problem that Grayline doesn't pick you up at your hotel? If mobility issues are a problem, then take a city bus for $2, but don't pay $30 for an overpriced tour you can easily do on your own.

kswl

This is our last night in the city, and my elderly mother especially requested a "Holiday lights" tour of the city. We have 11 people in our group, Doug, and three are not good walkers for a variety of reasons. I booked a Grayline tour through worldwide tours with the understanding that they would pick us up at our hotel and take us to meet the Grayline. They called today and said they couldn't do it and I cancelled that tour.

I've rebooked with the Party Shuttle, which is more expensive but has a 7pm 35-passenger bus (which I think--hope--will be better). This is a two hour tour that our group would not do in the evening otherwise. We will have already seen most of the things on the tour during the day.

bugswife1

For what the bus cost you, you could probably have rented a stretch limo and had them take you around to every display in the city.

kswl

I checked on that, bugswife, and a stretch for 11 people cost about $150 more than the bus.