New York Bound

[Billyg]

Hi All,

My Wife and I are taking a road trip in April and one of our stops is New
York. We are staying right in Manhattan. Question I have, we are only there for 2 days and want to know if I should sign up for a city tour(recommendations please) or if its easy enough for us to do things on our own. We know we want to visit the 911 memorial and the Statue of Liberty. So, can we do this on our own, or should we sign up for a tour?

 

[MichiganKris]

I would do it on your own. That way if you want to spend a longer time at one location than the tour allows you are fine. Same goes if you are ready to leave. It is very easy to get around Manhattan on your own.

 

[SGMCO]

We went last summer and I did research and made a list of the things we wanted to see and did everything on our own, I was surprised at how easy it was to get around NYC and we were staying in Long Island City. We took the Subway most places. I enjoyed the flex we had on our time, by doing it on our own. It was a great trip.

 

[ElenaRN]

I wouldn't pay for a tour. When my family visits from out of town, we make our own tour. Last time we took the train down to the financial district, walked through the wall street/stock exchange area and over to the 911 memorial. Then we walked over to the Staten Island Ferry-it's free. It goes right past the Statue of Liberty for great pics. When you get the the SI side a short 10m walk along the board walk is another very nice, though much smaller 911 memorial.

Other city sights I enjoy are Top of the Rock- esp at sunset, Central Park- if you enter the park in the 70s you can walk to a lot of popular sites.

Have a great trip.

 

[Billyg]

Thank you all for the info. Sounds like we are just doing it on our own and going to wing it.

 

[holycow]

Are you healthy and good with directions? ha! I ask because I went with my DH to NY 2 years ago. I was overwhelmed with all there was to do.
I just got the Grey hound bus tour. One day I did Uptown and got to get on and off at any of the stops. The next day I did the Downtown tour and had a great time.
I did walk 13.1 miles another day! but I did enjoy 'seeing it all' instead of having to worry about parking etc...
Have a GREAT trip!

 

[sunshinemelody]

I concur with everyone here.

Tours are a tourist trap, don't do it, experience the city on your own.

You can walk from the 9/11 Memorial to Wall Street, it's about a 10 minute walk if you're going at a leisurely pace. My mother works on Wall Street and I take visiting friends there first to experience the area and then head down to 9/11 and then to the Seaport, which is a little out of the way, but it's a destination unto itself since ... y'know, boat. I personally haven't been in about two years, but I've heard that it's changed and it's undergoing some massive reno, so, it may not be open right now. You can also walk from Wall Street to the ferry that takes you to the Statue. Everything is in close proximity where you're wanting to go, but the ferries take forever, just a word of warning. And the Statue is kind of an at least 1/2 day thing.

Just a note, if you're wanting to go to the crown of Lady Liberty, this is what you need to know.

Just some pointers for your trip. Please, please, for all that is holy and mighty in this world, do not block the flow of traffic on the streets, especially in busy places like 42nd Street, we New Yorkers will curse you out (I live in CT, but I was born and raised in the city), and you'll think we're mean-spirited, but we're not; we have places to go. Just as you hear/see from the media/tv/movies, we're a fast-paced city, and we like it that way, so please don't get offended if something goes awry. Also, let people off the subway before you get on, don't crowd the doors, or you'll get shoved like a rag doll and no one will bat an eye. I'm not being facetious. But have fun, have the time of your life, New York City is a lot of fun and your senses will be exploding (from food carts, to just smelly subways, to OH MY GOODNESS IS THAT REALLY THE STATUE OF LIBERTY!?) and it'll be awesome. Even I'm still amazed at how awesome it is.

Anyway, have fun, do your thing with the beautiful wife and enjoy my town!

 

[jkelly86]

I agree with the other posters. I do prefer the public bus to the subway at times, for viewing neighborhoods (above ground). It's not as convenient, though.
NYC tourist tips:

 

[Billyg]

I concur with everyone here.

Tours are a tourist trap, don't do it, experience the city on your own.

You can walk from the 9/11 Memorial to Wall Street, it's about a 10 minute walk if you're going at a leisurely pace. My mother works on Wall Street and I take visiting friends there first to experience the area and then head down to 9/11 and then to the Seaport, which is a little out of the way, but it's a destination unto itself since ... y'know, boat. I personally haven't been in about two years, but I've heard that it's changed and it's undergoing some massive reno, so, it may not be open right now. You can also walk from Wall Street to the ferry that takes you to the Statue. Everything is in close proximity where you're wanting to go, but the ferries take forever, just a word of warning. And the Statue is kind of an at least 1/2 day thing.

Just a note, if you're wanting to go to the crown of Lady Liberty, this is what you need to know.

Just some pointers for your trip. Please, please, for all that is holy and mighty in this world, do not block the flow of traffic on the streets, especially in busy places like 42nd Street, we New Yorkers will curse you out (I live in CT, but I was born and raised in the city), and you'll think we're mean-spirited, but we're not; we have places to go. Just as you hear/see from the media/tv/movies, we're a fast-paced city, and we like it that way, so please don't get offended if something goes awry. Also, let people off the subway before you get on, don't crowd the doors, or you'll get shoved like a rag doll and no one will bat an eye. I'm not being facetious. But have fun, have the time of your life, New York City is a lot of fun and your senses will be exploding (from food carts, to just smelly subways, to OH MY GOODNESS IS THAT REALLY THE STATUE OF LIBERTY!?) and it'll be awesome. Even I'm still amazed at how awesome it is.

Anyway, have fun, do your thing with the beautiful wife and enjoy my town!

Haha, I love this. We are going to go it our own. Thanks for all the tips. Sunshinemelody, the part I love the best, we are from Chicago, work in the city, So I know what you mean. I'm not trying to be mean, but get out of my way I have places to be. I think our full day, we are going to try and hit the Statue of Liberty in the morning, no more crown tickets available for our day , then we will get over to the 911 memorial and then after that, see what we want to do.

Thanks again for all the tips.

 

[Billyg]

Are you healthy and good with directions? ha! I ask because I went with my DH to NY 2 years ago. I was overwhelmed with all there was to do.
I just got the Grey hound bus tour. One day I did Uptown and got to get on and off at any of the stops. The next day I did the Downtown tour and had a great time.
I did walk 13.1 miles another day! but I did enjoy 'seeing it all' instead of having to worry about parking etc...
Have a GREAT trip!

Hollycow, yea we are pretty healthy and dont mind the walking. Once we get to the city, I plan on parking the car and then doing public transportation/uber if need be.

 

[disfanforlife]

I just got back from 3 days in the city this past week. We also Went last year for 4 days. Between the two trips, No bus tours, did everything we wanted by walking or subway and a couple of cabs. You didn't mention anything about Broadway, but we had good luck walking in and seeing a show right as it was about to start one afternoon and then for another we went to the TkTS to get tickets. I had no idea that it would be so easy to get tickets last minute, maybe we were just lucky or it was because it was winter and not a popular time to visit. Have a great trip!

 

[Billyg]

I just got back from 3 days in the city this past week. We also Went last year for 4 days. Between the two trips, No bus tours, did everything we wanted by walking or subway and a couple of cabs. You didn't mention anything about Broadway, but we had good luck walking in and seeing a show right as it was about to start one afternoon and then for another we went to the TkTS to get tickets. I had no idea that it would be so easy to get tickets last minute, maybe we were just lucky or it was because it was winter and not a popular time to visit. Have a great trip!

Yea, we are looking to actually see Book of Mormon. I saw that you could get tickets almost last minute, but I didn't know if we should chance it, since this is a popular show.

 

[disfanforlife]

Yea, we are looking to actually see Book of Mormon. I saw that you could get tickets almost last minute, but I didn't know if we should chance it, since this is a popular show.

Last year, we bought tickets ahead of time but we were also with a big group. This year we weren't sure what we wanted to do or see so we did not buy ahead. If you have your heart set on that one show, I would buy ahead of time. Because you just can't be sure if you would be able to get tickets or not. I felt really lucky with what we got. The last show we saw was the best - we saw Beautiful.

 

[mjkacmom]

Yea, we are looking to actually see Book of Mormon. I saw that you could get tickets almost last minute, but I didn't know if we should chance it, since this is a popular show.

If you want to see it, buy ahead. These tickets aren't discounted, and if you wait, you might be shut out, or only have the $500 tickets left (vs the cheaper $200 tickets).

 

[katie111]

I went twice last year, once with the kids and once with my girlfriends. Four things I really liked were Top of the Rock (great views & it was just really fun with all the wind), Statue of Liberty (definitely go inside the statue, we loved this), walking across the Brooklyn Bridge (not sure why, but my friends & I all loved this), and of course the 911 memorial. We never went inside the Museum but I went to the Memorial on both my visits & it was just an amazing place. So sad & beautiful at the same time.

 

[sunshinemelody]

Haha, I love this. We are going to go it our own. Thanks for all the tips. Sunshinemelody, the part I love the best, we are from Chicago, work in the city, So I know what you mean. I'm not trying to be mean, but get out of my way I have places to be. I think our full day, we are going to try and hit the Statue of Liberty in the morning, no more crown tickets available for our day , then we will get over to the 911 memorial and then after that, see what we want to do.

Thanks again for all the tips.

You're so welcome! Really do hope that you enjoy the city--Chicago is BEAUTIFUL (and I'm biased) and I'm sure that you'll feel right at home.

 

[mjkacmom]

Haha, I love this. We are going to go it our own. Thanks for all the tips. Sunshinemelody, the part I love the best, we are from Chicago, work in the city, So I know what you mean. I'm not trying to be mean, but get out of my way I have places to be. I think our full day, we are going to try and hit the Statue of Liberty in the morning, no more crown tickets available for our day , then we will get over to the 911 memorial and then after that, see what we want to do.

Thanks again for all the tips.

Make sure you get off on Ellis Island - so interesting.

 

[sunshinemelody]

Make sure you get off on Ellis Island - so interesting.

I've never been to EI, but, I've heard it's very enriching. I know the ferries have that packaged in if you'd like to see that.

 

[mjkacmom]

Yes, the ferries just make continuous loops, island to island.

 

[Billyg]

Make sure you get off on Ellis Island - so interesting.

Yea, We are going to get off and explore there as well. I like the history stuff, so the wife will have to bear with that portion.