Where to stay in NYC
 

hi. We r planning a 6 day trip to New York. It’s our first time and we will be with our 3year old. What is the best area to stay in New York City? Something close to subway and most attractions. We plan to leave on 21st April.
TIA

Please note the subway system is extensive and the attractions are spread out. To make life easier I would not stay east of 2nd ave or west ofthe 8th ave.

For example to get to the Statue of Liberty, you must go to the south of Manhattan and then take a boat. But the Museum of Natural History is on the upper west side

What attractions do you want to see? I do think the midtown/Times Square area is pretty central but if you have no intention of going to the theater in that area, I wouldn't stay there. When I go to NYC, I go to the theater every day so find that area convenient for that reason.

But if theater isn't in the cards, I might pick the Flatiron district as a pretty convenient location, or Bryant Park. Just something south of the upper border of Central Park, in any case.

You don't mention your budget, but that's also a major consideration. Prices have started to go up to high-season rates, so Manhattan (while still your best and most convenient choice) could exceed your budget. But @IMDonehere's general advice is well-taken. Those are the best parts of the city for hotels if you want convenience and a wide variety of accommodations. The cheaper hotels, however, are all in the outer boroughs. Some of these are convenient to public transit, some not so much.

Our budget is around $200 to $300 per night. We are looking at Manhattan. Which area is a good choice ? Also, can u suggest a good itineraries for 5 days? We will have a toddler so can’t do theaters with her

The Beacon in the family friendly Upper West Side is a good option. Get a one bedroom unit so the adults have some place to be when the little one goes to bed.
Read a guidebook to figure out what most appeals to you. Plot those places on a map to organize your days in a geographically logical way .

I suspect the Beacon is far out of the price range of the OP, especially for a one-bedroom suite for these dates. I'd check the Affinia 50 (the so-called "studio" rooms would probably be in this range, and it's a great location). But I suspect the posters will have several good choices of hotels. @IMDonhere has already outlined the best parts of Manhattan in which to concentrate the search. I generally think that midtown offers the most convenience, and a hotel in the west 50s will be far enough out of the crush of Times Square to be ok. Murray Hill (the east 30s) to Grand Central (east 40s) is also a good area near several subway lines and a convenient place to stay that's not as congested.

You might consider the Radio City Apartments. A little busy in that area. I would consider it family friendly, close/wakable to 2 different subway lines and Times Square, Central Park, Rockefeller Center, 5th Ave.

Home Radio City Apartments

Do a search on booking.com. Put in 2 adults and 1 3-year old. Use the map rather than the list and look for hotels in your price range (remember to add taxes and fees to determine the final price) that are near a subway line. Narrow down the list of possibilities and then come back here and people can comment on the available choices.

Thanks all of you. We booked residence inn by Marriott in Manhattan/Times Square.
Can you please help me with the itinerary? We will be there for 6 days (7 nights). Won’t be doing theater because of our 3year old. We will be interested in shopping n sightseeing

You need to be specific about shopping and sightseeing. While chains are making inroads every day there are 1,000 's of stores cheap to very expensive that sell everything you can imagine

Since NY has a number of different neighborhoods, you should consider focusing on one neighborhood each day. For example, lower Manhattan has many historical sights and the WTC memorial and museum, Chinatown, what''s left of Little Italy, the ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Or you can just take a free ride on the SI Ferry for a great view of the SoL Another day you might focus on Greenwich Village, Chelsea and neighboring areas for great shopping and restaurants -- and so on.

You should consult a guide book and especially a map, to see what interests you. You will find shopping and sightseeing virtually all over the city.

You should really go to Central Park. They have a small zoo there, a lake, little boats. There's a marionette show at this little cottage. My kids were way too old to agree to this by the time we made it to New York. But I think it would be perfect for your daughter. It appears you need to buy tickets.

https://cityparksfoundation.org/arts...nette-theatre/

I also think the Museum of Natural History will be fun with your daughter.

Thanks all for the ideas. I’ve got the following things in mind..to do’s
statue of liberty - confused if I shud take the Ellis island tour or just the Staten Island ferry ride would be enough. Is it worth going to the island?
Top of the rock - should be buy tickets beforehand?
Times square
9/11 memorial
one world trade centre
brooklyn bridge
shopping
central park
museum of natural history and MET. Any other museum other than these two that we should visit. I’m not a museum person but my husband is
grand central
anything else that we should fit in or change? We will be having 6 days

If you end up walking the Brooklyn bridge there is a great ice cream place at the bottom of the bridge in Brooklyn.

American Girl store.

What about the Bronx Zoo? I've not been so can't address the logistics of getting there.

DH and I went to the Aquarium at Coney Island and the children around us loved it. Again, too far to travel with your little one?

Have a great time!

The Bronx zoo will take and entire day and iMHO Is too much for a 3 year old. The Central Park Zoo is a better choice, much smaller but still interesting and has a petting zoo for the little ones.

Definitely do the Natural Hist Museum - but go first thing and head straight up to the top floor to see the dino fossils before everyone else piles into that department. They are amazing to any kid that likes dinos (make sure she is exposed to them in advance so she is familiar).

We've stayed at the Residence Inn Manhattan/Times Square with our grandson (7 years old at the time). It's an excellent location for exploring the city, although I'm surprised that you could stay there within your budget.

A couple of suggestions:

Bryant park is just a couple of blocks away, and is usually a fun place to walk around. I just returned from there a couple of weeks ago (stayed at the Bryant Park Hotel), and they had just cleared the winter attractions (skating rink, Christmas market) and were setting up for the summer attractions.

Also, weather permitting, a stroll along the High Line would be enjoyable, and provide a historic overview of the Meat Packing district.

Hope this helps.

Agreed on Central Park Zoo and AMNH. A kid that age will like running around in Central Park and hitting the carousel as well. If you make it to AMNH, be sure to hit the discovery room, which is great for little kids. Other ideas (also appealing to adults, or at least this one):

Consider a trip to Governors Island. My kids love be Adventure Playground there and a small kid can go with adult supervision. Lots of room to run around and no cars.

Coney Island. There is an amusement park for little kids on the boardwalk. You can walk to the aquarium from there but I always find it underwhelming.

NYSCI is great for little and non-so-little kids but is a bit of a schlep.