Everything & Anything New York City

gregg1

dontone wrote: »

Ok thanks. I put round the corner 'cos it says that its approx 1 mile from the hotel (I forgot it's the US so that may mean at least 10 miles lol)
I'll wait then till we get there. I didn't know what to do for the best and I was just reading other ppl's posts IYSWIM
I'm more concerned/confused about Liberty should I pre-book or wait and see?

I booked for the empire state building for my daughter last week on their official website http://esbnyc.com and received e-tickets immediately. The tickets are valid for 12 months so you can go any time. I figured it would save daughter some time (more time for her to shop!!!) - also you can jump the main queue with it. I also booked them tickets for the cruise to the statue of liberty with statuecruises which another poster has mentioned. - Again, got the tickets via email immediately.

I know a few posters reckon ESB is not as good as TOTR but we had to do it anyway just to say we had. I didn't want to come back saying I had not been up the ESB. You gotta do it!

phatbear

sharkster wrote: »

would we just try and flag one outside the hotel or can we arrange one beforehand?

You cant pre-book cabs.

You really arent gonna struggle finding a cab, you'd struggle to not find one

M4RKM

mkgirl1981 wrote: »

hi guys
i am hoping to go to NY in march - just waiting to get my passport back
i will be going to 4 nights so will have 3 and a bit whole days in NY
has anyone seen online somwhere or on a page in this massive NY thread a good iteniary for sight seeing ?
tried looking on google but i couldnt quite find what i was looking for
thanks for your help

Well, if you want someone else to make a full itinerary for you, then you'll have to pay. It's big money you see, custom itineraries.

Now, if you want to get ideas of what to do, buy a guidebook. Under a tenner you can get a book with ideas of what to do.

Alternatively, read through this post, there are plenty of sample itins, amendments etc, and over on trip advisor, there is a link on the right side of the new york forum, that gives you a list of must sees for first time visitors.

M

M4RKM

hels123 wrote: »

Its 5000 miles return, but that is the same all over Christmas and New year.

We have decided not to go at NY now as Im guessing it will be completely mental!! It will be early january when the schools have gone back.

If you go around the 5th Jan onwards, you'll find that the hotels really get cheaper, so you'll be able to get much better hotels for your money. However, you'll probably have to be booking this sometime in December, but get something cancellable for peace of mind, but I can virtually guarantee a boutique hotel for under $200 a night.

M

duchy

sharkster wrote: »

Thanks, our flight back is 9.30am so would need to get a cab back quite early - would we just try and flag one outside the hotel or can we arrange one beforehand?

You'll have no problem getting a cab outside your hotel -or even getting the train or coach to the airport that early -but your hotel would also be able to book you a towncar if you were really set on pre-booking-but it really wouldn't be worth it.

hels123_2

M4RKM wrote: »

If you go around the 5th Jan onwards, you'll find that the hotels really get cheaper, so you'll be able to get much better hotels for your money. However, you'll probably have to be booking this sometime in December, but get something cancellable for peace of mind, but I can virtually guarantee a boutique hotel for under $200 a night.

M

Thank You!

So its probably best to leave the hotel booking til December then? Thanks so much for that.

shinhead

gregg1 wrote: »

I personally would do the helicopter ride. It is an experience and we loved it. It was not too expensive - we paid about £30 for 20 minutes with Liberty Helicopters which I dont think was too bad.

checked out liberty helicopter tours and cheapest tour $150 pp which is around £95 did you use voucher codes to get that price

cheers patrick:rotfl:

New_York_No1_fan

gregg1 wrote: »

I booked for the empire state building for my daughter last week on their official website http://esbnyc.com and received e-tickets immediately. The tickets are valid for 12 months so you can go any time. I figured it would save daughter some time (more time for her to shop!!!) - also you can jump the main queue with it. I also booked them tickets for the cruise to the statue of liberty with statuecruises which another poster has mentioned. - Again, got the tickets via email immediately.

I know a few posters reckon ESB is not as good as TOTR but we had to do it anyway just to say we had. I didn't want to come back saying I had not been up the ESB. You gotta do it!

Did both TOTR and ESB last April. Both have their own merits.

From TOTR you can view Central Park AND ESB and has a much better viewing platform than ESB. We went up TOTR at 5.30pm so as to be at the top for sunset. (prebooked ticket online using our caxton card).There were no queues so arrived up top in daylight and stayed until sunset. Sunset around 7.30pm. Got the best of both worlds.

ESB on the other hand gives views to the southern tip of Manhatten, SOL and beyond. We prebooked to jump the queues but so had everyone else. It took us 1.5 hrs to get to the top , arriving at the top at midnight. Delays were not only the volume of people but the security checks on the way up. Americans love their security checks in mind of 9/11. Ok night time is special however you can't make out landmarks so easily. However no regrets - you HAVE to do the ESB when in NY. Its the law!! LOL:D

M4RKM

New_York_No1_fan wrote: »

you HAVE to do the ESB when in NY. Its the law!! LOL:D

Hmm. Well my experience of Empire State building, is very different. It is cramped, rushed, and unpleasant, with the platform so tiny, and I felt like I was being ushered around, and down in the quickest possible time.

With the views of iconic ESB available from the TOTR, and you only had time to do one, then the TOTR is the preferred choice. ESB for some reason always has queues, and takes ages to get to the top, whereas TOTR, I'm always in, and to the top within about 10 minutes.

It is NOT the law to do a tourist attraction, pfft, it's all down to personal preference.

M

Savvy_Sue

we managed to do NY without doing ESB too ...