New York Tips

[anarchy]

My girlfriend and I are traveling to New York May 29 to June 5, it's the first time for both of us there.

We've read a lot of travel sites but just wondering if anyone has any tips on what to check out, any hidden gems etc.

Also, in terms of cash, I usually don't bring much US currency when I travel to the States and use my VISA as much as possible. Is this a good idea? Do you get a good conversion rate this way?

Thanks!

[JordanAndrew]

Visa charges everytime you use it and their conversion ends up being less than desirable.

I found that if I bought US dollars here in calgary, it ends up being more. You should have bought US dollars last week or even two weeks ago when they were at par. Ah well, anyways the best place I found to buy US dollar is at Calforex.

[anarchy]

Thanks for the tips Jordan.

We didn't decide to go to NY until yesterday when we found a cheap flight to go, wish I bought US dollars at par too :(


Also, we are flying into Newark and are staying in Times Square (Candlewood Suites). What's the best way to get there without spending too much? I heard a cab is crazy expensive.

[Godfuader]

Do a search on beyond for hundreds of NY tips. For the transport, use this service called Super Shuttle. It's door to door, and runs about $17/person. Best value by far. http://www.supershuttle.com/
Bring the most comfy walking shoes you own, as you will be doing a ton of walking. The weather should be excellent too. Asides from the regular touristy stuff, check out street fairs and head to any of the city parks for tons of activities. You are spending quite a few days, so just pick a district and walk through it. Yankees season is on, which is always fun. A recommendation: buy a subway pass. Will cost you under $30 for the whole week and will take you everywhere. Don't be scared, the subways are super safe, when you use common sense.

[Majestic12]

http://www.shakeshack.com/

You will not regret it. Go early, because there are always lineups. Madison Square Park is the first one. I've never tried the others.

Times Square is a waste of time. Go there, take your photos, leave.
Spend a day walking at and around 5th Avenue/Central Park/Rockefeller.

They're all fairly close together, and can be done together. You will see many recognizable things from tv shows, movies, etc.

Don't go to WTC. Nothing there, waste of time. Although there is a store adjacent to the WTC site called Century 21, which is like Winners on speed. Insanely crowded, but you can find some good stuff on occasion.

Take the subway as often as you can... traffic can suck.

If you're in the mood to chow down on mediocre sushi, check out Todai. Okay it's not that bad, but it's a sushi buffet, so they're more about quantity than quality.

Don't see the statue of liberty. Overrated, crowded, and underwhelming. Take the Staten Island ferry (free), which is at the southern end of Manhattan island. The ferry will pass by the statue and you can take photos. Then just hop on the ferry back to Manhattan after you are finished. The financial district is in the southern part of the island as well, so you can see Wall Street, and rub the bull's nuts if you want.

Go check out some Museums. The Met, MoMa, Natural History, Guggenheim to name a few.

Chinatown sucks, nothing there.

Central park is a good place to chill out for a bit, but in the end, it's just a park. Stanley Park in Vancouver is bigger.

In Times Square, find the red steps. Hard to miss. Beneath the red steps on the back side, there is an office which sells last-minute tickets to Broadway shows.

[Xtrema]

http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/965

Her exhibit was quite disturbing, eye opening. Live performance includes a few nekid people. I enjoy MoMA the most out of all Museums. The Met would be 2nd choice unless you have been to the Louvre or Vaitican, then the Met is tame compare to those 2.

Get a City Pass if you are planning to attend most of the museums and tourist attractions. Save you money and time since you by-pass most ticket lines.

I agree that unless you really want to take a pic under the statue of liberty, skip the Liberty island. With the city pass, take the Circle Line Cruise instead.

Subway > Cab. Any point on Manhattan island can be reached in 30mins from midtown. Make sure you understand how the trains and lines work. It's not as straight forward as most cities. 7 day pass is $27 and can be bought @ any station.

I took a limo from EWR into midtown. It was $120 with tips. With 4 people and luggage, we don't fit into a sedan. With 2 people, I'm sure you can fit into a sedan for $80. Supershuttle is $17/person + tips and it takes about 1hr to get into midtown with traffic. But they usually try to fill the shuttle so prepare for a few stops before you get off.

Chinatown is basically like Vancouver's but bigger and smellier. I don't find the food any good. Markham had better Chinese restaurants. Little Italy do have some good bakeries. But neither is visually appealing.

Meatpacking district seems hip. But I didn't get to spend enough time there, only for dinner. Did stumble upon a new park that was built on old subway/train track. That was cool.

As for currency, when the rate was @ 1.02, my Mastercard charged me 1.08 but some rip off xchnage places in midtown want 1.11.

Those cheap flight tickets is generating quite a bit of business. Almost everyone I know either had been or going to NY in May or June.

[canadian.eh84]

yah i highly recommend shakeshake burger.
there is ichiumi sushi buffet i think it was pretty good on near Lexington.. on Broadway there are lots of great restaurant, first day me and my GF had 2 lobsters with shit load of seafood for 50 bucks and had basket full of overs left overs... i wish i can remember the name of that restaurant...
check out baseball in NYC and Boston if you can its something to see..
and if you do go to boston if you are driving MAKE SURE you punch in Boston, MA, NOT Boston, NY
hahaha i ended up driving 24hours straght and shit load of talking and crying with my GF..

Do alot of shopping of course...
you can find True Religion Jeans about 100 bucks at he outlet.

make sure you get the Metro pass it would save you shit load of time and walking

Ahhhh i miss NewYork..:cry::confused: :( :( :(

[Weapon_R]

Bring lots of money and credit. NYC is expensive

Use your visa. The exchange isn't great but it's safer than cash and much more convenient.

[taemo]

subway is your best form of transportation.
since you are going there for a week..maybe grab the 7-day Unlimited Ride MetroCard for $27

take a cab, sit on the front and enjoy the ride!


never heard of shakeshack..will have to check it out next time I get a chance to go there again!

[Altezza]

Shakeshack FTW!!

[bleu]

New York is fabulous. I would bring C/C and just some cash for taxis, but the subway is fairly easy to figure out.

SoHo is a great shopping neighbourhood, plenty of off-the-beat boutiques as well as more known ones.

[BigShow]

Your gonna love it! definately checkout the Museum of Modern Art, very cool! Use the subway (get the metro card or whatever its called for your week)

Goto some broadway shows, or even Avenue Q which is off broadway now and let me know if Gary Coleman is still a charactor!!

[jazzyb]

hey guys,

my wife and i are also heading to NY July 1st - 10th, we will be doing July 4th in Washington DC.

Any body have any tips for the commute from NY to Washington DC?

how about sixflags? is it convinent to get to one via public transport?

[JordanEG6]

If anything was mentioned already, sorry, I didn't read the entire thread, but:

Buy 2 maps.
City Map (preferably one catered to tourists) - the one I bought had a list of all the tourist spots and numbers indicating where they are located on the map. It's useful when planning your day so you can kill alot of spots at once in one location.

Transit Map - all the subway routes. You'll end up either walking ALOT and taking a subway.

Buy a Metro Pass for the subway, its like a consumable bus fair booklet, and ends up being cheaper than paying for every ride.

Grimaldi's in Brooklyn has awesome pizza. Probably one of the best. There is a 2-3 hour line up every day so get there early. They don't sell by slice, so grab a pie and chill near the docks near under the BK Bridge.

Sabrett Donairs are everywhere in NYC. They're so good, try one.

If you don't like waiting, just go to Rays Pizzaria. I think it's franchised, but they serve hella good pizza as well.

Also, look up Ninja Sushi :D

As for site seeing, buy an NY City Pass. It's a discount package to over 50 attractions in NYC. Not only is it cheaper, but most busy spots (Liberty, Ellis, Empire State) have separate line ups, meaning you basically skip a 1-2 hour line up for every attraction.

Grayline Tours is also something you'd might wanna check out when doing your site seeing. It can also be used as less-public transit.

And use your Visa. Try to use it all the time. It's better than cash.

[Godfuader]

Originally posted by jazzyb
hey guys,

my wife and i are also heading to NY July 1st - 10th, we will be doing July 4th in Washington DC.

Any body have any tips for the commute from NY to Washington DC?

how about sixflags? is it convinent to get to one via public transport?
NY to DC check out megabus and bolt bus. They often have $1 sales but still under $30 each way. Amtrak is the best way to go as it takes about 3hrs but way more convenient, cheaper and comfortable than flying.

For NY
Check out http://www.citysightsny.com/ They are the most popular tour agency in the city. Have four different routes with hop on / hop off spots. This way will definitely get you to hit all the major spots. Remember, there are tons of events, concerts and festival in the city, which are mostly free and gives you a taste of NY.