So, my GF and I plan on being in New York — flying in on May 29th, departing on June 2nd. First time visitors.
What’s the best airport to fly into?
What’s a good hotel to stay in close to Central Park for early morning running. Not looking for anything too expensive, but safe and secure.
We don’t plan on renting a car so what’s the best way to get to and from the airport?
Having no car, what are the good things to see/experience in 3 days? All ideas welcome — we don’t mind walking a lot as we plan on burning a lot of calories to balance out the food consumption we plan on experiencing.
Fly into whatever airport gives you the cheapest rate, including Newark.
Hotel Excelsior has a great location on the UWS, less than a block off the Park, accross from the Museum of Natural History. I wouldn’t call it cheap, but it’s at least reasonable.
Taxi to and from the airport. It’s a fixed rate, so no worries there.
What to do is of course dependant on your interests…but if I had only three days, I’d at least include the Metropolitan Museum of Art and/or the aforementioned Natural History Museum. Both of these requuire a full day to even get a taste of what’s inside. Obviously, the theatre and music choices are endless. Soho and/or Madison Ave shopping. Lots of time in Central Park. I’d try to use restaurant selections to see different areas of the city, i.e., Greenwich Village, Chelsea, Union Square, etc.
If you give me an idea as to some of your interests, food preferences, etc., I can try to give you some more detailed info.
Best wishes for a good visit - it truly is the absolute greatest city on the face of the planet!!!
I don’t think it matters which airport. We usually fly into LaGuardia, but Newark should be fine as well. Just find the one with the best flying times and fares.
I don’t have a hotel rec for you because we always stay in midtown, but I do recommend you stick with the larger chains (Hilton, Marriott, etc). The hotels in NY aren’t all that great even at the big chains and even if you pay big bucks. You don’t want to stay in a dive and there’s lots of them out there. One thing I can say is BOOK YOUR HOTEL ASAP. The closer the date gets, the more expensive it is. Even now you’re probably looking at $300/night at most places. Book a room as soon as you can.
Taxi
I always like exploring the different neighborhoods. We usually just pick a neighborhood and explore it for the day, find a restaurant to eat at, do some shopping, etc. There’s a great restaurant for brunch that you should really try out. It’s called August and it’s at 359 Bleecker St. I think it’s in Greenwich Village, but not sure.
when i lived in NYC, you couldn’t take the subway all the way to JFK, so flying in and out of there SUCKED. it was SO far. i’m curiuos how much the new subway line helped. otherwise, yeah, laguardia or newark, both are fine.
i just really like walking around when in NYC. i don’t really like the cabs, perhaps prejudice on my part but when i was living there as a biker/pedestrian they were by far the most aggressive… subway’s fast, but you’re underground. in short, i just walk whenever i can. so when i’m up there now, any runs i do take into account the amount of time i’ll also spend walking.
for your activiites: what do you like doing?
if you’re way into art, yeah, museums. if you find standing around looking at nice paintings boring, then standing around looking at amazing paintings any better.
there’s some great eating to be had. sounds like you’re already planning on taking advantage of that.
Yup, the Waldorf is nice, but typically more expensive than it’s really worth. But that rate is excellent.
As a comparison, the Hotel I rec’d is $299/night. Not much difference in value between the two, but if you go with Dawn’s rec, you get to tell everyone you’re staying at the Waldorf!!
Check out the Hudson. Maybe, if your dates are flexible, you can get a lower rate. I know that my gf and I a little bit before this time last year stayed there and payed something like $299/night. I really liked this place. Cool setup, good food, tiny rooms but unique (a shower show anyone?! haha!). Location is pretty convenient since it is less than 5 minute walk to the SW corner of Central Park.
It doesn’t look like the rate for your time frame is inline with that exactly, but maybe you can at least use the site to check out other places. I have used Tablet Hotels several times, in the US and int’l, and I have not had any problems with the reservation.
If you give up on being close to CP and decide to stay anywhere for as little as possible, then I’d suggest The Cosmopolitan Hotel in Tribecca. 95 West Broadway at Chamber St. It’s absolutely no frills, but it was CLEAN and the room was spacious. Good location for lower Manhattan at the price.
Like another response, I’d suggest CP, Met, NatHis, but I might also suggest Grand Central St. for the hustle and bustle and something to eat from the cafeteria downstairs. United Nations bldg is ok – I would say that you shouldn’t expect to be flabbergasted by it. But, whatever you do, don’t waste your time with the Empire State Bldg during the afternoon. Purchase tix online, in advance if you want to go, and then go at night – not during the day. It will take FOREVER to get up and back down, unless you get lucky and it isn’t crowded. What about a Broadway show? How about Brooklyn?
Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. For the airport, I’ll take what my frequent flyers give me :-).
We definitely want to see the museums and other unique cultural surroundings of New York like the Grand Central Station. May fit in a show or two as well, but not sure which ones just yet. What we don’t want to do is feel rushed and try to fit in everything. I’m sure if our first visit goes well, we will be back to see more.
As for food, we are open to most anything as our intent is to experience it all. Don’t really want to go to any high-brow restaurants, though. In fact, I think the food will dictate most of our itinerary.
I’ll have to get online now to start making hotel reservations.
The Hudson is a good choice. The rooms are tiny, but the bars downstairs are pretty good. Plus you’re down the street from Lincoln Center Jazz, if you’re so inclined.
I wouldn’t call Grand Central much of a cultural sight - you’ll be in and out in about 5 minutes at most, unless you have some oysters or steak at one of the restaurants. On a weekend its probably not going to be quite as exciting as you might like.
I would recommend the Met and MoMA. The Natural History museum is fine, but its probably a bit better for children than adults. I’ve lived across the street for 15 years, so I guess once I’ve seen dinosaurs, I’ve seen them. It’s a beautiful complex so its worth seeing, tho. You can jog around it after a Park run. The Met and MoMA are mobbed on weekends, of course, so if have a weekday, use that. The Park itself is great to see as a public space and for people watching. That appears to be the first weekend after Memorial Day so the park won’t be quite as mobbed as weekend houses will have opened up. If you visit the Park, please don’t casually walk on the roadways - I may have to run you over on my bike. It’s a big pet peeve of cyclists that casual pedestrians, especially tourists, seem to be completely unable to walk on the 95% of the Park devoted to pedestrians, but in the middle of the roadways where runners and cyclists travel. If you run in the Park you’ll see what I mean. Pedestrians and bladers with Ipods on are probably the biggest cause of collisions in my experience.
If I were you, I would focus more on planning restaurants or shows, as those actually require reservations and forethought. If you buy Time Out or the New Yorker the week of your travel, they both give a pretty complete picture of whats happening, from gallery shows to club concerts to exhibitions.
If you can fit in any time along the water, that’s probably worthwhile, just to see the view - you can do it on the Tram or go to the Brooklyn Promenade. If you go to Brooklyn, you can also go to Grimaldi’s and get wonderful pizza before walking the Brooklyn Bridge back to Manhattan.
The Salisbury Hotel on 57th is nice–older and small, but the rooms are pretty big and you can get breakfast there for a reasonable price. Easy walking to the park (less than 2 blocks), Carnegie Hall (less than 2 blocks), the Theater District, Times Square, and museums. Subway stations 1 1/2 blocks in either direction. LGA is the closest airport.
Sounds corny but some of the best money we spent there was on one of those tour bus thingys where we got a 3 hr. tour of the whole area with a few stops to look around. covered a lot of ground in 3 hrs. and bonus we got to know all the secret conversations the guide has had with Donald Trump.
Burgers at either Corner Bistro downtown or JG Melon uptown. Walk down Hudson river walk along west side all the way to WTC site. Gawk at a movie shoot, almost anywhere. Wander the maze of streets in the West Village and smell the blood on the street in the Meatpacking District, whatever’s left. Have corned beef on rye at Katz’ or 2nd Avenue Deli. Walk by but don’t disturb the motorcycles at the Hell’s Angels office and clubhouse. Wander through Washington Sq Park, see all the NYU students and wonder what it must be like to be that young again. Have dinner at Da Silvano next to a movie star. Wander up through the Lower East side from Delancey and watch gentrification happen right before your eyes. Have two hot dogs and papaya drink at Gray’s Papaya. Wonder if you could live here.
Since I usually use the big chains (Hilton, Marriott, etc), I go right to the hotel’s website to do my booking. Occasionally, I’ll use hotels.com or expedia.ca to search for options, but only book through there if it’s my only choice (ie. the rate’s not available through the hotel’s website).
So, my GF and I plan on being in New York — flying in on May 29th, departing on June 2nd. First time visitors.
What’s the best airport to fly into?
What’s a good hotel to stay in close to Central Park for early morning running. Not looking for anything too expensive, but safe and secure.
We don’t plan on renting a car so what’s the best way to get to and from the airport?
Having no car, what are the good things to see/experience in 3 days? All ideas welcome — we don’t mind walking a lot as we plan on burning a lot of calories to balance out the food consumption we plan on experiencing.
So if i end up repeating something someone else said…forgive me i only skim the posts since i am at work.
whereever the cheapest flights are.
i know there is a holiday inn on 57th between 8&9th ave (just a few blocks fromcentral park). i dont know the rates. btw my friend used priceline and got a great rate at a hotel within the area she wanted to stay in. give it a try and you may luck out.
Cab they have a area where cabs line up when you exit the airport. btw dont get into one of those non-yellow cabs - the drivers will try to approach you when you are walking towards the cabby station. i have heard some shady things about them.
Walking - you would be surprised on how far you go without noticing it…
Subways - i believe fares are still $2 per ride. (http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm)
Cabs - only because i get lazy sometimes…(or my heels are killing me)
Shows - if you dont know what you want to see…check out TKTS for discount tickets (http://www.tdf.org/TDF_ServicePage.aspx?id=56/ - go early so you are not in line forever) and check out what shows they have available.
Museums - Museum of Natural History is one of my faves, MOMA if you like modern art, i highly recomment the Met.
Restaurants - recently went to Mesa Grilll - food was phenomenal; Lure in soho had the best Tuna i have had EVER!; Brunch - the Eatery is one of my faves in the 50s on 9th Ave - though expect a wait; Chinatown ice cream factory has some fun flavors if you dont like the typical. (red bean, lychee and taro are my three faves),
btw go to a local bookstore the week before you are leaving and grab a New York Time Out…they always have things to do and suggestions and events occuring the upcoming week. you may find something interesting.
And thanks for the tips!