7 day Itinerary for Family Vacation to NYC (New York, Buffalo: sales, hotel)

[Viralmd]

I always suggest that Sunday mornings are a great time to go to Chinatown for dim sum. Jing Fong, up the escalator at 20 Elizabeth Street. Little ladies (who don't speak much English) come around with steaming carts filled with little plates of food. You're charged by the plate. REALLY cheap - and good! And you share tables with others who can often translate the Mandarin for you.

[bmwguydc]

Another hotel to check is out in Brooklyn, adjacent to Park Slope on 4th Avenue, called Hotel LeBleu. It's a new hotel, and I don't think that all of the amenities are in place with dining and such, but they have decent rates from what I have ben told by Park Slopers I know who have families that want to stay nearby. You could easily hop on the subway to get to Manhattan, and it's cheaper than Manhattan, likely to be available, and is not Newark.

[NJ Chutzpah]

Yes definitely go to chinatown and eat

Also try one of our many ethnic cuisines

Go to Brighton Beach to try russian food, go to greenpointe to try some polish food, go to flushing, or bayside to try some korean, go to Wash Hi to try latino food,

Do not be cheap when it comes to food

To 46th street and 8th Ave and try the food there, it is called Restaurant Row

Go and eat a nathan's hawt dawg

Make sure you catch a musical

Go to ellis island, bronx zoo, stat of liberty

Hey come to jersey and visit a mall like the Garden State Plaza

Also make sure you give a little money to poor people, or even buy them food, you may find it to be the most rewarding part of your trip, and help out a poor street merchant

[cookybaker]

Down near the Staten Island Ferry at the tip of Manhattan below Wall St. (did you plan on taking that because IT'S GREAT!) go take the other ferry to GOVERNOR'S ISLAND. It's free and it gives you the most amazing view of lower Manhattan and all its skyscrapers (minus the WTC, of course, sob sob).
You should definitely list some of your possible hotel choices here and get some feedback because even in Manhattan there are some really shady places. Go to one more reputable even if it costs you more $$$. Well worth the expenditure.

If you go to the village, make sure you walk west to the (Hudson River) water's edge as there is an amazing walkway on the river with parks and it is all very lovely.

[Nugget]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

Hi,

We (family of 4, kids 12 and 15) will be visiting NYC from Austin arriving Aug 13th leaving 21st. We'd like to have a mix of tourist and non-tourist experiences while there. We have a list of "tourist" things we think we'd like to do. We don't know what sort of non-tourist activities or things we might enjoy (just to hang out and have "down time"). Would appreciate any knowledge/advice from others.

We know we want to:
Visit Statue of Liberty
Visit Central Park
Visit the Dakota
Walk across the Brooklyn bridge
See a play (Lion King)
Visit the Metropolitan Museum and others
See Time Square
Visit Greenwich Village
See the Empire State Building
Visit Ground Zero
See a Yankees game

Is this list possible in 7 days? What would you ad or remove or change?

Where would you recommend staying that is modestly priced?

Thanks for any help or info.

Steve

A few helpful suggestions.

The Yankees schedule only indicates games on the 15-17 against KC so you will only be able to go on those days. If your staying in an unsafe area you will want to go to the day games.

There are a few things that you can mash together that will shorten your list - Central Park, the Met and the Dakota are all around the same area so you could do them together. Although how long it takes depend on how long you would want to sight see. Near the Dakota there is also the Museum of Natural History.

If your here to see the sights you might want to take a bus tour - and don't forget lines are long and crowds are big.

Advice on hotels would be to stay at the nicest you can afford. Manhattan/NYC is not the place you want to be skimping on the place to live as there are all sorts of issues. Its not like places where you can get a nice priced Red Roof Inn or something. Generally for the things you have on your list staying near times square would be optimal for getting around. A few no names around the area are the Milford Plaza and the Park Central. There is also a Hilton Garden Inn in the area.

Given the age of the kids you may also want to go to FAO Schwarz and the Apple Store.

[austin-steve]

Thanks for all the suggestions. We're still trying to make the trip work, but I've run into a glitch with my Southwest Airline free passes, with which we planned to fly into Long Island.

Due to restrictions on which days/flights the Rapid Rewards tickets can be used, we're looking at some very inconvenient travel plans, with all day flying ordeals, switching planes in Baltimore, waiting for the connection, and arriving at LI at 10PM. Then having a 6AM return flight as the only option, period. That, plus the hotel prices seem to be creating a headwind for us in making NYC our destination for our end if summer adventure.

I appreciate all the great tips though, and they won't go wasted as I've promised my wife and kids we will make it to NYC someday soon.

Are there any merits to a winter visit, at or near christmas time? Is it brutally cold?

Steve

[bmwguydc]

That's a shame that your trip may not come off as planned right now. You could always disembark in Baltimore and take the train as it connects with the airport to cut down on the wait time. The train would bring you right into Penn Station and would add a couple of hours to your trip. It's not an easy connection to have to make, and I would not recommend it for leisure travel as it can be a hassle. It would be easier to fly into Philadelphia if you were going to use a plane/train combination. But, planning a trip for the winter season sounds like it would be a good thing to do.

Yes, the city is wonderful at Christmas. It can be cold, but it's not a brutal cold, usually, not nearly as bad as Chicago, for example. Just use the standby rule of dressing warmly and in layers and you'll be fine. And, in the winter, you have the option of actually skating at Wollman Rink in Central Park, or at Rockefeller Center, which can be fun. You might focus less on outdoor attractions at that time, but there's a plethora of indoor exhibits at the museums, the NY Botanical Gardens, and there are some fun expeditions around town for which you would not mind getting a little chill, such as the Channel Gardens and the tree at Rockefeller Center. I always find the city to be slightly more special at this time of year, gilded with twinkling lights and special displays, and I have recommended Christmastime visits to many people I know from out of town.

[nyc_sport]

I always suggest to people that August is probably the worst time to visit New York (though we have had some great weather of late) -- the "dog days of August" can be very hot and humid, and the city is crawling with tourists. The fall is a great time to come, and Chistmas would be great too but you may need to reel in the family's urge to shop. December is not typically very cold, but certainly much colder than Texas. New York is a popular destination for the holidays, so you might have some trouble using miles or finding cheap hotels at that time as well.

One further note, the Long Island airport is quite far (by NYC standards at least) -- probably 50 miles from the city.

[cirlin6]

For both hotel and air (but hotel especially), I would give bidding on Priceline a shot. I don't know how well they work for long stays like yours, but last year, I grabbed two nights at the Roosevelt Hotel (it's in midtown) for $100 a night at the end of July. Priceline lets you specify a neighborhood and number of "stars" to make sure you end up in an OK hotel in an area you want.

Also, I see that you might be putting this year's vacation on hold, but when you do come (and this sounds cheesy), I actually do recommend the red, doubledecker tour buses. They're kind of expensive, but it's really convenient to be able to be taken everywhere above ground and at a vantage where you can see everything. Being able to go to places like Times Square and being able to look up and around without having to deal with the people traffic is also an advantage. I didn't do it until after I had lived here for several months (family visited) and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I wouldn't recommend the Brooklyn loop though...Brooklyn was easier to see on foot.

[David McK]

travelling from melbourne 1-8 september want to see as much as possible including niagara falls .have new york pass .would appreciate any suggestions .