Everything & Anything New York City

P2TKL

gregg1 wrote: »

I would certainly say that if you are booking tickets for the memorial then book tickets with statue cruises for the liberty trip for the same day, we have always gone for the 9am sailing. Then you can tie in your visit to the WTC as it is not far from battery park. We did both on the same day and it worked out really well.

Hi...been reading all the advice on this great thread. My family will be visiting NY in August and I am trying to plan our days. The above info is a useful starter...knowing which sights to put together ....any other advice on visits to put together would be very welcome. This is a first time visit so we want to see as much as possible without wearing ourselves out !!!

jackieblack

gregg1 wrote: »

we have always gone for the 9am sailing.

How long have the queues been at 9am?
If we get there early enough is it really necessary to book in advance, to avoid horrendous queues?

M4RKM

jackieblack wrote: »

How long have the queues been at 9am?
If we get there early enough is it really necessary to book in advance, to avoid horrendous queues?

If you book the timed ticket, you only have to go through the security lines.
If you book a non timed ticket, you go through security, and join the lines for the normal ferries. What happens then is that all the timed ticket holders go on first, and then you get to fill in the gaps if there are any. First thing in the morning, you should be ok, and probably only waste around an hour.

You really want a timed ticket. Get the first ferry of the day and you can be back into Manhattan for lunch!

M

jackieblack

M4RKM wrote: »

If you book the timed ticket, you only have to go through the security lines.
If you book a non timed ticket, you go through security, and join the lines for the normal ferries. What happens then is that all the timed ticket holders go on first, and then you get to fill in the gaps if there are any. First thing in the morning, you should be ok, and probably only waste around an hour.

You really want a timed ticket. Get the first ferry of the day and you can be back into Manhattan for lunch!

M

Thanks M4RKM, that's very helpful. Even an hour wasted is an hour that could be better spent doing/seeing something else.

I guess we should just pick a day and get booked up.

M4RKM

jackieblack wrote: »

I guess we should just pick a day and get booked up.

*nods* that's exactly what you should do!

M

gregg1

P2TKL wrote: »

Hi...been reading all the advice on this great thread. My family will be visiting NY in August and I am trying to plan our days. The above info is a useful starter...knowing which sights to put together ....any other advice on visits to put together would be very welcome. This is a first time visit so we want to see as much as possible without wearing ourselves out !!!

Hi. It really depends how long you are going. For our first visit we planned pretty much every day so that we could fit in the main attractions. We booked tickets here for empire, statue of liberty, helicopter ride, and booked two restaurant visits through open table before we left. We also booked the sex and the city tour and a broadway show before we went to save time when we got there.

That way we were able to fit everything in but my advice is to leave yourself free mornings or afternoons for doing anything you fancy such as shopping etc. we also found the hop on bus a brilliant way of cramming a lot in as you get the commentary from the tour guide as you go along. I know some people will say don't do the bus, use the subway but we found we saw a lot more stuff doing it that way.

You will be tired but it's worth it!

gregg1

jackieblack wrote: »

How long have the queues been at 9am?
If we get there early enough is it really necessary to book in advance, to avoid horrendous queues?

Well I have seen pretty bad queues at 9am for people without tickets but it varies. Another day you will not wait long at all. Sorry that is a little vague. If you are there in plenty of time you should be ok without booking but get there at the very least half an hour before it sails. However I would personally always prefer to book cos I hate waiting in long lines.

P2TKL

gregg1 wrote: »

Hi. It really depends how long you are going. For our first visit we planned pretty much every day so that we could fit in the main attractions. We booked tickets here for empire, statue of liberty, helicopter ride, and booked two restaurant visits through open table before we left. We also booked the sex and the city tour and a broadway show before we went to save time when we got there.

That way we were able to fit everything in but my advice is to leave yourself free mornings or afternoons for doing anything you fancy such as shopping etc. we also found the hop on bus a brilliant way of cramming a lot in as you get the commentary from the tour guide as you go along. I know some people will say don't do the bus, use the subway but we found we saw a lot more stuff doing it that way.

You will be tired but it's worth it!

Thanks for this....we are going for 6 days. Any advice on which sights to put together on the same days for convenience ?

jackieblack

P2TKL wrote: »

Thanks for this....we are going for 6 days. Any advice on which sights to put together on the same days for convenience ?

We have 3 days and have grouped by geography:
Things 'at the bottom' (SoL/Ellis Island, WTC memorial etc)
Central Park and things in that area
and everything 'in the middle' (for want of a better description)

My advice would be to get a guidebook, make a list of the things you want to see and then use the map to see what things are near each other and group by area.

greenface

I think there is a google map pin thingy .I have seen it used here before . But grouping touristy and interesting things together makes the best of places to see as Jackieblack says. Plus get off Manhattan and go see more of New York & areas