[THREAD CLOSED - SEE PART 2] Anything & Everything New York

Kmac_Edin

Hey everyone just back from New York and oh my goodness it was amazing.

We stayed in the Pod hotel and had a fantastic time, it was so close to everything and very clean and quiet ( and we were staying when the boxing was on so lots of people milling around after the fight, even so still really quiet in the hotel).

Had dinner in 2 very lovely ( but slightly $$$ ) places, Nobu and Tao. Would 100% recommend both to anyone.

Did the Staten Island ferry which is just as great as everyone says it is, went to the Bodies exhibition at South Street Sea Port then over to Abercrombie ( yummy smelling clothes ). Hit broadway and for my birthday my sister surprised me with 2 tickets to The Little Mermaid. It was fantastic, if you get time to go to see it and you like theatre go go go.

Top of the Rock was lovely, we were lucky as we met someone whose brother was some manager there and we mentioned that we had been up during the day but were going to go back at night, this guy told us to keep our tickets and he'd arrange for us to get up later that night for free!

Thanks again for all the hints and tips from here, we certainly got the best out of our 4 days! x

hayels25

Hi guys,

I am going to NYC on 7th January for 5 days after getting a really good deal for £500! It is our second time so we would like to avoid the hop on-hop off bus tours and focus more on the things we missed like taking a visite to the village, staten island ferry etc.

The two things I am concerned about is a) finding a nice restaurant on a budget (within midtown) and b)how to use the subway. we are going to buy a metrocard and would like to take full advantage of using the subway as there is soo much more to see and I believe this is the quickest way to do it. Does anyone have an idiots guide to using the subway? I don't understand the colours, the lines etc...sorry if i'm being thick!

Can anyone help with my questions? Your answers greatly appreciated.

Thanks x:D

madmalteaser

hayels25 wrote: »

b)how to use the subway. we are going to buy a metrocard and would like to take full advantage of using the subway as there is soo much more to see and I believe this is the quickest way to do it. Does anyone have an idiots guide to using the subway? I don't understand the colours, the lines etc...sorry if i'm being thick!

The subway really isn't that complicated. Get yourself a map as soon as you get there and the main thing to remember is whether you need to go north or south, if I remember rightly. All the subway stations are marked clearly from the street and when you're down there it's easy to find your way to the right platform.

The metrocard is a really great way to travel, I believe you swipe your card for each journey you make. The only thing to beware of is the express trains with barrel through a load of stations basically missing out midtown. I made that mistake going to Central Park and ended up in Harlem somewhere, but we just went round to the other platform and headed back south.

If you've ever been on the tube in London then you'll have no problem navigating your way around. Give it a go, it's really not that scary!

JailhouseBabe

hayels25 wrote: »

Hi guys,
The two things I am concerned about is a) finding a nice restaurant on a budget (within midtown)

Depends how 'nice' you want. If it's good food, good service and a nice atmosphere (definitely not romantic though), we loved Planet Hollywood in Times Square. DD ate there a couple of times on her trip earlier this year; we ate there last week. Our main courses were somewhere around the $15 mark and were fantastic. Also, the film memorabilia is interesting for any movie fans.

hayels25

thanks guys for the advice.

Just from reading some posts, I think I may try and stay away from Times Square for eating out and maybe try some diners. I fancied trying the Comfort Diner, gramercy tavern...virgils bbq? I did fancy the view in the marriott, times square but it's a wee bitty expensive!

cjc3001

I'm off to NY on 5th December, and am having a camera dilemma!

My current Canon has broken & the repair costs are as much as I could get a new basic model for here.

What with the exchange rate not being too hot at the moment, and the fact that I'm going to have to make purchasing a camera when I arrive one of my first priorities, is it worth waiting until I'm out there to get one?

I'm not sure if I'll get significantly better value for money out there with the poor exchange rate, or even if I should purchase a camera in duty free at Heathrow instead?

Anyone done anything similar recently?

traveller

hayels25 wrote: »

thanks guys for the advice.

Just from reading some posts, I think I may try and stay away from Times Square for eating out and maybe try some diners. I fancied trying the Comfort Diner, gramercy tavern...virgils bbq? I did fancy the view in the marriott, times square but it's a wee bitty expensive!

Hi, last march a great midtown food find was Spanky's bbq.The food was lovely and the place is defo NOT a tourist trap.It's not too far from radiocity.It's really nice there.They do really good food for everyone and the service IS service as oppossed to you being barked at or over niceness for a tip,lol.
www.spankysnyc.com

phatbear

hayels25 wrote: »

thanks guys for the advice.

Just from reading some posts, I think I may try and stay away from Times Square for eating out and maybe try some diners. I fancied trying the Comfort Diner, gramercy tavern...virgils bbq? I did fancy the view in the marriott, times square but it's a wee bitty expensive!

Ive been to virgils twice now and its pretty good.

A few words of warning though:

the portions are HUUUUUUUUGE, unless your starvin marvin share starters, i highly reccomend the train wreck fries which are incredible but so filling.
service is a tad hurried, you get the feeling they want you to eat up and get out.
from what i remember service charge is already included in the bill so dont, as i did the 1st time, re-tip the waiter.

Other than that the food is good and plentyful and the cocktails are huge and strong enough to rip the enamel off of your teeth.

all the best

the bear

MrsCH

Just want to thank Markymoo for the info on getting round Manhattan. I got a taxi no problem from JFK to Hotel Cosmopolitan. Subway just outside hotel. Ventured timidly down and managed to buy a weekly ticket. My daughter used her credit card and we needed a NY zipcode which you had mentioned and it worked fine. Also just to mention that you could only get change up to $6 so good thing she didn't use a $50 bill for a $25 ticket. We used the subway all week and were so confident that we get the subway back to the airport even though the A line was closed and we had to do a detour. I'd been reading all the info on this site for several weeks and it made me feel like I knew what I was doing. We had a brilliant time. Thank you.

whittboy

Were off to NYC in a couple of weeks and want to do a bit of sightseeing, as you do. Ive noticed some of the bus companies offer 3 day passes which will get us to everything we want to see but I've read really bad reviews on trip adviser.

Has anyone been on any such tours or heard anything about them? I'm thinking we may be better off just using the subway to get around, any suggestions?