NYC TRAVEL TIPS
When planning a trip to NYC, the 1st thing you need to do is book your hotel. If it is your first visit to NYC, you should try to stay in Midtown (between 42nd St and 57th St.).Plan to spend between $200 and $400 per night on a hotel depending on the season and availability. Another option, if you want to stay outside of midtown or in the outer boroughs (i.e. Brooklyn, Queens, etc…) is to check www.VRBO.com for apartment and condo rental.
TOURS: Some tours that I have taken and recommend: (click the links for more info)
NYC Big Bus Tours This tour is a great way to see the city’s main attractions complete with an AUDIO narration of the history of each site. For $45-$55 (depending on the season) you can book a seat on the “hop-on/hop-off” open air bus tour. Your ticket allows you to take both the downtown AND the uptown tours. Each takes about 2 hours if you don’t “hop-off”. With these tours you see ALL of the major attractions (EmpireState Bldg, 911 Memorial, Central Park, etc…) and can choose which ones to take the time to see.
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City Pass NYC This “pass” works well with the Bus Tour. It’s, basically a “hopper” pass to many of the NYC major attractions. You can hand pick the sites you want to see, AND you can pre-purchase tickets. This is a HUGE advantage! Many attractions (like the 911 memorial, Ellis Island, etc...) make you wait in line for admission and then wait in line for entry. City Pass tickets allow you to skip the admission line. Check this website to see all of the available sites. If you don’t think you’ll visit more than 2 or 3, then buy them independently. This pass is designed to “bundle” the price of MANY attractions,
*****If you don’t want to go ALL in on the City Pass ticket, here are some tours I recommend for that true NYC experience:
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911 Memorial Museum This is the museum on the site of the WTC memorial. This site provides tickets to the museum, NOT the top of the tower at 1 World Trade. If you want to visit the museum, buy your ticket in advance for a scheduled time! The line for ticket buyers on site is LONGGGG!!!!!! If you pre-buy, you can skip that line and just wait in the security and entry line.
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1 World Observatory This is a ticket to the top of the new WTC. Once again, buy your scheduled ticket in advance to skip a long line.
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Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Tour This is a terrific tour! Here is my advice… Do NOT waste your time and $$ on the Statue! I recommend not even getting off the ferry for the Statue tour. Seriously… it is extremely time consuming, extra cost to go up in the pedestal and not interesting enough to warrant the time and cost! The Ferry will circle the island and give you STUNNING views of the statue on the way to Ellis Island.
Stay on the boat and disembark at Ellis Island. Get the audio headset and do the whole Ellis Island Musuem. THIS ALONE TAKES ABOUT 3 HOURS and it’s extremely interesting. AGAIN… buy your tickets in advance so that you can skip 1 of the mammoth lines!
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Empire State Building
For that true romantic comedy fan (An Affair to Remember, Sleepless in Seattle…) or for, in my opinion, THE BEST SKYLINE VIEW OF NYC go to the top of the Empire State Bldg. It’s a NYC legacy! The history is terrific and the view is spectacular! Lines are long, so either go first thing in the morning at 7:30 am for a stunning view of NYC at daybreak, or go after 11:00 pm. The last elevator goes up at 1:00am and there is rarely a line after 10:00pm.
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NBC Studios Tour This is a cool tour. It’s at Rockefeller Studios and showcases all of the TV studio productions of NBC… Jimmy Fallon, SNL, Today Show, etc… Book these tickets WAY in advance! They are a hot item!
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Other Tours For all other tours check out TripAdvisor’s site. There are some really cool and funky tours available in NYC. I’ve done the Inside Broadway Tour, Central Park and Walking Tour of Greenwich Village. This site has some really fun stuff! Check it out!
OTHER "MUST-SEE" SITES TO VISIT
Grand Central Station This beautiful, iconic building is worth seeing. It's easily accessible by subway and offers some of the most stunning architecture in the city. With an exotic "food court" and mall there is also tons of great eating and shopping available.
The Strand Bookstore 18 miles of books! Truly, A book lover's HEAVEN. Lots of new and used books at great prices. Located in Union Square. Be sure you get a book and then sit on the iconic steps of the park in Union Square and enjoy some local people watching and the nearby wonderful Farmer's Markets.
Little Italy A must visit for some of the best gelato in the world.
Chinatown Adjacent to Little Italy, Chinatown is a must see. Take a stroll down Mott St. to see, hear and smell the exotic side of Chinatown. When you end at Canal St. you'll find the "knock-off" markets with all of the name brand items being sold on the street.
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BROADWAY TIPS
All shows sell tickets online through either Ticketmaster or Telecharge. For reduced price tickets check Theatermania a month to 6 weeks before your trip. They offer discounts on certain shows. The TKTS Booth in Times Square offers same-day half price tickets to many shows. It’s a great deal, but you will spend lots of time in line and may not get the tix you want. I recommend downloading an APP on your phone called Today's Tix. They offer the same daily deals but with no standing in line. BONUS!!
GETTING AROUND THE CITY
DON’T FEAR THE SUBWAY! It’s not as scary and hard as you may think! You can either pay per ride or buy a 7 day unlimited ride metro card (I highly recommend this! It’s so worth it not to have to constantly reload your card) For more info, visit mta.info Also, Use your smartphone! Set your GoogleMaps to TRANSIT and search your destination. Google will tell you the walking route to the nearest subway station, which train to take, how many stops and then the walking directions out of the subway station to your destination. (Word of advice… screenshot the directions! Once you get down in the subway you will lose your cell service.)
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