Everything & Anything New York City

M4RKM

sharkster wrote: »

I'm just looking at booking transfers with Carmel for when we go in April but can anyone confirm if the price is each or per car (3 of us $45)?? Also it states that under 7's must use a car seat that isn't provided - my son is 6 (7 in Aug) but is big for his age, does anyone know how strict they are with this? Will they check his passport? Don't really want to drag his booster seat with us so will have to look at other transfers.

Thanks.

Try Dial 7, they're also a good company for a transfer from the airport.

Your other option is to just get a taxi, where that requirement won't happen, and that is a fixed rate of $45 plus toll and tip.

M

lauh88

Hi, going to NY in April with my boyfriend (we're both 23). I haven't booked flights yet though, waiting for prices to go down a little.
This is our draft itinerary for 7 days (7.5 if I can get the flights I want!).
I haven't really thought about transport yet but have tried to group things by area. Any improvements or suggestions welcome thanks!

Day 1 Sunday:
Intending to get an earlyish arriving flight so taxi to hotel (The Roosevelt) to arrive approx noon.
Check out Central Park
Late lunch at The Boathouse
MoMA
Dinner at The Hard Rock Cafe
Check out Asssscat 3000 at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre if we can get tickets (7.30pm start)

Day 2 Monday:
Suggestions for breakfast near The Roosevelt (Midtown West near Grand Central)?
Top of The Rock earlyish (9/10am)
Check out Chrysler building, Grand Central, Times Square
Lunch somewhere in Midtown: Carnegie Deli/Breadmarket/Certe all seem good
Dinner at Virgils BBQ (6pm)
Top of The Rock for sunset (7.30pm)
Head over to Williamsberg to explore Brooklyn
Check out some bars - Turkeys Nest, Union Pool, South 4th?

Day 3 Tuesday:
Breakfast somewhere
Empire State Building (is it worth going up if we're already been to TOTR?)
Check out Chelsea/Greenwich Village
Chelsea Market
Carrie Bradshaw's Apartment (Sex and The City)
Magnolia Bakery
Hudson River
Lunch: Bagels on The Square
NYU
Washington Square Park
Bleecker Street
St Marks Comics
Dinner: Mole? Any other suggestions for Greenwich Village?
Check out local bars along Bleecker St, some I've come across are Peculier Pub, Stoned CArow, Milanos Bar, Pegu Club, Miladys, Von, McSorleys, Bitter End (we're not that into classy, pretentious places!)

Day 4 Wednesday:
Breakfast
Shopping day!
(Not in any particular order) FAO Schwarz, Macys, Sephora, Space NK, Forever 21, Bloomingdales, Century 21, Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffanys, Barneys, Saks, Midtown Comics - will go shopping again on Friday so not too concerned about getting everywhere today
Lunch: PJ Clarkes/Breadmarket/Crumbs (cupcakes!)
Dinner: Hourglass Tavern
Drinks at Tequilaville (near our hotel)

Day 5 Thursday:
Breakfast somewhere
Little Italy
Chinatown
Booked Statue of Liberty pedestal tour for 1pm
Will probably take lunch with us, I've estimated that we'll be done at around 5pm
Drinks at White Horse Tavern on Bridge St
Cross the Brooklyn Bridge
Grab pizza at Grimaldis - if we're too hungry to wait check out Bubblys
Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory
Explore Brooklyn (i.e. wander around!)
Back over to Manhattan
Drinks at Bridge Cafe/Clandestino Bar - suggestions?

Day 6 Friday:
Breakfast somewhere
Uptown bus tour (Gray Line?) - I want to see these areas (Upper East/West sides & Harlem) but feel like there's not enough time to check them out properly so a few hours on a bus might give us a feel for them
Any shopping we missed on Wednesday
Check out SoHo and generally explore
Lunch: Balthazar/Shake Shack - wherever we're nearest
Dinner: La Esquina (SoHo)
Drinks at anywhere we missed on Tuesday (Village)

Day 7 Saturday:
Any suggestions for a really good Saturday morning breakfast in NY?
Maybe check out the Theatre District, not sure what is good to do on a Saturday?
Dinner: Buddaken looks good, would like to go somewhere 'nice' for our last night, not sure really!

Day 8 Sunday:
Aiming to get a late flight, maybe one last wander around Midtown to check out anything we've missed in the week


In case it's helpful to anyone else here are some other restaurants that I've seen recommended: Tonys Di Napoli - Italian (Times Square), Montes Trattoria - Italian (West Village), Avra - Greek (Midtown East), Hell's Kitchen - Mexican (Midtown West)

M4RKM

lauh88 wrote: »

Hi, going to NY in April with my boyfriend (we're both 23). I haven't booked flights yet though, waiting for prices to go down a little.
This is our draft itinerary for 7 days (7.5 if I can get the flights I want!).
I haven't really thought about transport yet but have tried to group things by area. Any improvements or suggestions welcome thanks!

Day 1 Sunday:
Intending to get an earlyish arriving flight so taxi to hotel (The Roosevelt) to arrive approx noon.
Check out Central Park
Late lunch at The Boathouse
MoMA
Dinner at The Hard Rock Cafe
Check out Asssscat 3000 at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre if we can get tickets (7.30pm start)
SNIP

I've not read the rest, but noticed this is FAR TOO MUCH for your first day. By 7:30pm, your body thinks it is still 00:30am, and sitting through something, you may struggle to stay awake, also, ditch the Hard Rock Cafe, you can get better food, cheaper, elsewhere. Even the number 1 NYC restaurant, Balthazar is cheaper than the Hard Rock Cafe!

I'm all for itineraries, but keep them SIMPLE. 3 things to see or do, and everything else just naturally flows in it.

Things like this really have no meaning too.

Explore Brooklyn (i.e. wander around!)

Which bit of Brooklyn. Did you know that Brooklyn is about 4 times the size of Manhattan? Do you want to just wander around DUMBO, or are you going to head somewhere like Park Slope? Hmm...

I really think you're doing too much on most of your days. It's too detailed, and all you're going to be doing is running from one spot to another to another, and miss the whole beauty of New York City, which is New York City itself, the evenings come naturally, and some of the specific places you've already chosen to eat at, are really great tourist traps, and then other ones you've mentioned but not going to, like Montes, are true gems.

With nothing on the Saturday, and exploring a district with just theaters in it (nothing else, just theaters), seems to me you've run out of ideas, and I'm going to spend some time and bullet point a new itin for yourself.. trust me, this will work much better..

Back in a tick

bb69

lauh88 wrote: »

Hi, going to NY in April with my boyfriend (we're both 23). I haven't booked flights yet though, waiting for prices to go down a little.
This is our draft itinerary for 7 days (7.5 if I can get the flights I want!).
I haven't really thought about transport yet but have tried to group things by area. Any improvements or suggestions welcome thanks!

Day 1 Sunday:
Intending to get an earlyish arriving flight so taxi to hotel (The Roosevelt) to arrive approx noon.
Check out Central Park
Late lunch at The Boathouse
MoMA
Dinner at The Hard Rock Cafe
Check out Asssscat 3000 at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre if we can get tickets (7.30pm start)

Day 2 Monday:
Suggestions for breakfast near The Roosevelt (Midtown West near Grand Central)?
Top of The Rock earlyish (9/10am)
Check out Chrysler building, Grand Central, Times Square
Lunch somewhere in Midtown: Carnegie Deli/Breadmarket/Certe all seem good
Dinner at Virgils BBQ (6pm)
Top of The Rock for sunset (7.30pm)
Head over to Williamsberg to explore Brooklyn
Check out some bars - Turkeys Nest, Union Pool, South 4th?

Day 3 Tuesday:
Breakfast somewhere
Empire State Building (is it worth going up if we're already been to TOTR?)
Check out Chelsea/Greenwich Village
Chelsea Market
Carrie Bradshaw's Apartment (Sex and The City)
Magnolia Bakery
Hudson River
Lunch: Bagels on The Square
NYU
Washington Square Park
Bleecker Street
St Marks Comics
Dinner: Mole? Any other suggestions for Greenwich Village?
Check out local bars along Bleecker St, some I've come across are Peculier Pub, Stoned CArow, Milanos Bar, Pegu Club, Miladys, Von, McSorleys, Bitter End (we're not that into classy, pretentious places!)

Day 4 Wednesday:
Breakfast
Shopping day!
(Not in any particular order) FAO Schwarz, Macys, Sephora, Space NK, Forever 21, Bloomingdales, Century 21, Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffanys, Barneys, Saks, Midtown Comics - will go shopping again on Friday so not too concerned about getting everywhere today
Lunch: PJ Clarkes/Breadmarket/Crumbs (cupcakes!)
Dinner: Hourglass Tavern
Drinks at Tequilaville (near our hotel)

Day 5 Thursday:
Breakfast somewhere
Little Italy
Chinatown
Booked Statue of Liberty pedestal tour for 1pm
Will probably take lunch with us, I've estimated that we'll be done at around 5pm
Drinks at White Horse Tavern on Bridge St
Cross the Brooklyn Bridge
Grab pizza at Grimaldis - if we're too hungry to wait check out Bubblys
Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory
Explore Brooklyn (i.e. wander around!)
Back over to Manhattan
Drinks at Bridge Cafe/Clandestino Bar - suggestions?

Day 6 Friday:
Breakfast somewhere
Uptown bus tour (Gray Line?) - I want to see these areas (Upper East/West sides & Harlem) but feel like there's not enough time to check them out properly so a few hours on a bus might give us a feel for them
Any shopping we missed on Wednesday
Check out SoHo and generally explore
Lunch: Balthazar/Shake Shack - wherever we're nearest
Dinner: La Esquina (SoHo)
Drinks at anywhere we missed on Tuesday (Village)

Day 7 Saturday:
Any suggestions for a really good Saturday morning breakfast in NY?
Maybe check out the Theatre District, not sure what is good to do on a Saturday?
Dinner: Buddaken looks good, would like to go somewhere 'nice' for our last night, not sure really!

Day 8 Sunday:
Aiming to get a late flight, maybe one last wander around Midtown to check out anything we've missed in the week


In case it's helpful to anyone else here are some other restaurants that I've seen recommended: Tonys Di Napoli - Italian (Times Square), Montes Trattoria - Italian (West Village), Avra - Greek (Midtown East), Hell's Kitchen - Mexican (Midtown West)

Hi there

I'm off there in April too

Just a few comments/suggestions...

That seems like alot to do on your first day in the city.. What time are you looking at arriving? You have to factor in immigration and getting to your hotel etc. The time difference and excitement means you will probably be quite tired come the evening

Not sure why you are going to Top of the Rock twice in one day? If you time it right you can get there before the sun starts to set, so you can experience daylight, sunset and night from up there.. I have been there before and done this, its brilliant and very tranquil up there

Not sure about ESB, I have read reviews saying its not as good as TOTR, I didn't go up ESB when I went, but plan to do both this time. Maybe doing a evening trip up there? Or very early morning on the day you go to Macy's?

What prices have you seen for flights so far?

lauh88

bb69 wrote: »

Hi there

I'm off there in April too

Just a few comments/suggestions...

That seems like alot to do on your first day in the city.. What time are you looking at arriving? You have to factor in immigration and getting to your hotel etc. The time difference and excitement means you will probably be quite tired come the evening

Not sure why you are going to Top of the Rock twice in one day? If you time it right you can get there before the sun starts to set, so you can experience daylight, sunset and night from up there.. I have been there before and done this, its brilliant and very tranquil up there

Not sure about ESB, I have read reviews saying its not as good as TOTR, I didn't go up ESB when I went, but plan to do both this time. Maybe doing a evening trip up there? Or very early morning on the day you go to Macy's?

What prices have you seen for flights so far?

Thanks! Good point about TOTR, will have to check sunset times so we can time it right.
We're looking direct from Heathrow - direct flights departing AM outbound and departing PM inbound are coming up £500 - £550 each (Delta, KLM, Virgin). I'd be very happy to book at £450 and am willing to wait for them to reduce a little.

lauh88

M4RKM wrote: »

I've not read the rest, but noticed this is FAR TOO MUCH for your first day. By 7:30pm, your body thinks it is still 00:30am, and sitting through something, you may struggle to stay awake, also, ditch the Hard Rock Cafe, you can get better food, cheaper, elsewhere. Even the number 1 NYC restaurant, Balthazar is cheaper than the Hard Rock Cafe!

I'm all for itineraries, but keep them SIMPLE. 3 things to see or do, and everything else just naturally flows in it.

Things like this really have no meaning too.


Which bit of Brooklyn. Did you know that Brooklyn is about 4 times the size of Manhattan? Do you want to just wander around DUMBO, or are you going to head somewhere like Park Slope? Hmm...

I really think you're doing too much on most of your days. It's too detailed, and all you're going to be doing is running from one spot to another to another, and miss the whole beauty of New York City, which is New York City itself, the evenings come naturally, and some of the specific places you've already chosen to eat at, are really great tourist traps, and then other ones you've mentioned but not going to, like Montes, are true gems.

With nothing on the Saturday, and exploring a district with just theaters in it (nothing else, just theaters), seems to me you've run out of ideas, and I'm going to spend some time and bullet point a new itin for yourself.. trust me, this will work much better..

Back in a tick

Thank you! I think I did get carried away with cramming everything in!

M4RKM

lauh88 wrote: »

Hi, going to NY in April with my boyfriend (we're both 23). I haven't booked flights yet though, waiting for prices to go down a little.

Book your flights, and have a look at the subtle tweaks I've done. Introduced a new neighbourhood, and thrown in another museum. moved some things around a bit so you can save a bit of money.

Day 1 Sunday:
Arrive Noon
Lunch at The Boathouse
Relaxing Afternoon in Central Park
Dinner at Virgils BBQ
Wander around Times Square

Day 2 Monday:

Breakfast
Top of The Rock
MoMA (double ticket with TOTR saves money)
Chrysler Building
Grand Central
Lunch in Grand Central, Oyster bar, steaks, loads of great choices.
Flatiron Building
Head down to Union Square (easy to get the L train from there)
Dinner at Fette Sau, Williamsburg, then a bar crawl.
Bars to do - Union Pool, Turkeys Nest, Petes Candy Store, Brooklyn Ale House, Spike Hill, South 4th

Day 3 Tuesday:
Breakfast
Empire State Building (is it worth going up if we're already been to TOTR?)
Check out Chelsea
Chelsea Market
The High Line Park
Carrie Bradshaw's Apartment (Sex and The City)
Magnolia Bakery
Hudson River
Lunch: Bagels on The Square
Bleecker Street/St Marks Comics/Washington Square Park/NYU Area - All walkable.
Dinner: Montes (awesome food, that or AOC)
Bars along Bleecker St, some I've come across are Peculier Pub, Stoned Crow, Milanos Bar, Pegu Club, Miladys, Von, McSorleys, Bitter End, Amity Hall, Half Pint


Day 4 Wednesday:
Breakfast
Shopping
(In a geographical order, logical and doable in a day, boyfriend much be amazing, because I always think shopping is best split up over the week, rather than concentrating a whole day. You're near a lot of these places as you go around sightsee, swings and roundabouts though)

Bloomingdales,
FAO Schwarz,
Bergdorf Goodman
Barneys
Tiffanys
Saks
[subway to]
Macy's
Forever 21
Sephora

Lunch: PJ Clarkes/Breadmarket/Crumbs (cupcakes!)
OR - Lunch at Heartland Brewery near Empire State / Macy's area, awesome food, and beers!! Your BF will appreciate it!!
[subway to]
Midtown Comics (there is one in the financial district, so near these two who are also in in Lower Manhattan)
Space NK,
Century 21

Head to Mudville 9 for great beers and wings if you're hungry.

Head back to Hotel for Drinks at Tequilaville

Day 5 Thursday:

Little Italy (Doesn't really exist now!)
Chinatown
Booked Statue of Liberty pedestal tour for 1pm
Will probably take lunch with us, I've estimated that we'll be done at around 5pm
Drinks at White Horse Tavern on Bridge St

(I'm rewriting all this, much more fun and you'll see more!)
Get Subway through to Park Slope - Peruvian Chicken @ Coco Roco Park Slop
Beers at the Gate, and High Dive.
Get the F Subway from 4th Ave, 9th Street, to York Street, and a short walk through to
Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory
Laugh at the tourists in a 2 hour long line for pizza at Grimaldis
Walk the Brooklyn Bridge Back into Manhattan

(you must wear a suit jacket for Bridge Cafe so i've deleted that off!)

Day 6 Friday:

I'm not a fan of hop on hop off bus tours, I've not explored these residential areas, because there isn't much in them that IMO is worth visiting. Your time would be better spend checkout out a museum, but I'll leave that up to yourself. The Guggenheim, or the Cooper Hewitt are good ideas for a morning museum session, or the Met if you want to spend a bit longer.

Uptown bus tour (Upper East/West sides & Harlem)

Check out SoHo and generally explore


Lunch: Balthazar/Shake Shack - wherever we're nearest

Dinner: La Esquina (SoHo)

Drinks at anywhere we missed on Tuesday (Village)

---

Now if you fit everything in in them days, you still have 2 to do stuff, You've not headed into Queens yet, so you could do the Panorama which is a miniature model of Manhattan. Back through to Brooklyn and check out Prospect Park, the Botanical Gardens, or Brooklyn Museum.

Hope that helps,

lauh88

@M4RKM

Thank you! It's our first time in NY (and the US) so advice from someone who knows it well is great. And yes my boyfriend is very patient, he says the only reason he's going is for the food so your suggestions should go down well!

DaveG247

Finally got my trip booked flying in to Newark on 12 March for 5 days staying the Financial District.

Just wanted to ask

I'm thinking I'm just gonna take a couple of hundred dollars from home and then using cash machines once in New York which I'm guessing is not gonna be a problem?

Also when visiting the Empire State Building do you book a time slot like you do with a Top of the Rock?

Thanks

KK22_2

Lauh88 - I've stayed at the Roosevelt a couple of times before. The first time in Jan, they let us check in early. However in May (first week) when they were mega busy, we had to wait much longer to check in as rooms weren't ready yet. Ended up checking in about 4.30 pm. They have a storage room for your luggage though so you can still get out and about. There is a Cosi Cafe directly outside the E45th street entrance that is great for breakfast, they have a website too so you can check it out online.

When you are checking in, go in the E46th street entrance which is on the lower ground floor. Take the lift up one floor to the lobby, otherwise with the other entrance, you're lugging your bags up the stairs.