3 days in New York May2020

[Kevsgreat]

Think I just though it was gonna be 'something's rather than just an elevated path from one place to another

Aye I suppose that's all it is, it was the changes in the architecture and some of the views along the way I thought were cool. Caught it when the sun was setting when we got to the end at Hudson Yards and people were taking their time having a wander about. Was really chilled. Couldn't have been more different to a place like Times Square.

 

[Milanos]

Wouldn't bother with the high line personally, thought it was a waste of time when we did it, was packed and didn't really see the point of it.

Find a dingy dive bar and just sit there all afternoon and get smashed and patter on to all the weirdos

Although a great way to spend time, maybe not top of the list if it’s your first visit and you’ve only got three days

 

[chriswallace85]

If you're into your music history and cultural history then visit Cafe Wha on MacDougall Street in Greenwich Village - it's where Chas Chandler discovered the great Jimi Hendrix and persuaded him to come London.

There's also an Italian coffee shop nearby (name escapes me) where parts of the film The Godfather were shoot - had photos on the wall of actors involved.....their espresso is lush too

I loved just walking round the area and soaking up it's history when I last visited.

Formerly owned by Manny Roth - David Lee's uncle. He sacked Bob Dylan after he turned up late a few times. Was there a few weeks ago. The house band's canny but must admit I thought they might be a bit better. Popped in the Up and Up over the road as well - little subterranean cocktail bar these days but back in the day used to be the Gaslight Cafe where the likes of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen cut their teeth, and played host to many a legend of the folk scene.

 

[heroesof73]

Im currently here for 2 full days and it's not enough time.
It was cheaper to fly here rather than Washington which is where we are going to next.

Yesterday we went to visit harry houdini grave which my dad wanted to do, then we went to Coney island and then to a broadway show (David Byrne's american Utopia)

Today we are going to central park then Metalife stadium for a Giants game.

Last time we came (2012) we did high line and it was my favourite thing

Has he got out yet?

 

[chriswallace85]

Thanks to advice on here we got a New York Pass - entry into all the various attractions.

We did:
Top of the Rock
The hop on hop off Big City Bus thing - canny for taking in a few sights with a bit commentary. Not so great for just getting about as it's a bit time consuming with traffic.
The Met - amazing. But with the museums be prepared to wind up spending more time in these places than anticipated. I planned the paintings I wanted to see beforehand, and had a quick rush around the Egyptian wing. Could spend hours and hours in there.
Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island boat tour. Sack off the audio guide at the statue - bit boring and time consuming. Just walk about and read the plaques. Sorta wished I'd upgraded to a pedestal ticket at the time but I was sick of the place after a while and eager to press on. Ellis island takes longer than expected anarl.
9/11 Museum - gan. It's pretty sombre, but it's a very worthwhile experience, and brilliantly done. The Ghostbuster's firehouse is just up the road to lift your spirits afterwards, and there's a handy pub ower the road to quench your thirst.
Natural History Museum - worth it for the dinosaur wing alone - class. The animals/peoples dioramas not so much but ya only need a quick walk through these bits. The meteors are good. Another place you could spend hours in, but if you wanna save time, again plan what you want to see beforehand and focus on that bit - the dinosaurs aren't to be missed though.
Central Park's class, and you could wander for miles. Nice to sit outside the Loeb Boathouse and have a pint - prices were surprisingly reasonable.
Empire State at night - nice to get a night time view of the city and the walk through museum type experience on ya way up there is worth the visit alone. Watch out for King Kong. It's right what they say though, the view from the Rock is better (mainly cost the Empire State Building is in it).
We got some hire bikes (included in the NY Pass - there's a few options to do this) to ride over the Brooklyn Bridge down the DUMBO. Had some pics taken down Washington St with the Manhattan Bridge and Empire St framed between the streets (think Once Upon A Time In America. There's a class little food court place down near there, the Time Out Market Food Hall which is worth a visit.
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum - went for the planes and space shuttle but probs enjoyed the submarine the most. Class.

Did all those in bold on the NY Pass, so the thing pays for itself. Was stacks more other things it would have gotten ya into if we'd had the time, but ya need to leave a bit breathing space for just wandering about and taking the place in.

Get a week's subway pass - well worth it and absolutely nee bother for getting about. We even used it 2 in the morning and felt safe as houses.

Amazing place. Loved it. Tad exhausting when you're keen to take in all the touristy stuff, but would gan back in a heartbeat.

This is a must , along with drinks in the View Bar and you’ve got to go to Hells Kitchen to eat

Pure Thai Cookhouse - get the beef buns to start. Thank me later.

 

[GingerNick]

I just got back

get your city pass before you.. and work out where you really want to go

somewhere like the met is massive and you could easily spend the entire day there, so has a knock on for any other trips

walking is good, but if you want to squeeze lots of stuff in again it will impact on things so get your metropass from a subway station and use public transport to squeeze as much time into your visits, bus and subway use the same ticket and are very easy to use. buses tend to have circular routes so something like the M4 bus route runs up Madison and comes back down to 5th..or the m50 which runs across to the air and space museum...depending on where you are staying

we went on a tour on the intrepid and even the wife enjoyed it, you learn a bit more about it, get to ride on one of the lifts up the outside of the ship and you can get up close to the planes and the tour guide takes you inside the barriers


we did top of the rock and night...but to be honest it was way too busy

Logon or register to see this image

but its just a great place to wander round

Logon or register to see this image

 

[HellsBells]

Instead of staten ferry, we did a boat tour on the Hudson / east river. 45 minutes long and sailed round under the bridges then up to and around liberty island.
Not expensive nor time consuming and a great way to see sights

I second this. SIFerry is free but there are better boat trips with audio guides for a few bucks.

 

[GingerNick]

I second this. SIFerry is free but there are better boat trips with audio guides for a few bucks.

there was one included with the city pass and the landing was right beside the USS intrepid...so it was a good way to rest our feet for a while and see the city from a different perspective

 

[HellsBells]

there was one included with the city pass and the landing was right beside the USS intrepid...so it was a good way to rest our feet for a while and see the city from a different perspective

The one I did had a guide telling us a bit of history about how they built the Brooklyn bridge and the landfill that created Battery Park. Really interesting stuff.

 

[Mackem00]

Heard it's very expensive these days.

That goes for all of the US nowadays it would seem.

 

[MackneyHackem]

Nee point going for three days.

 

[chriswallace85]

That goes for all of the US nowadays it would seem.

Aye - I dinnar about Smalltown, USA but been to NY, SF and LV in the past year n they're all about on par for food and drink.

 

[jackynutmeg]

How much spending money would you generally need for 2 people for 4 days in NY ?
Bit of sight seeing, eating out, shopping etc.

I know everyone's different but just a very rough idea please

 

[Mackem00]

How much spending money would you generally need for 2 people for 4 days in NY ?
Bit of sight seeing, eating out, shopping etc.

I know everyone's different but just a very rough idea please

Personally I'd say about a minimum grand? Too many variables tho.

 

[jackynutmeg]

Personally I'd say about a minimum grand? Too many variables tho.

aye i was thinking along the same lines

 

[monolithic baby]

I second this. SIFerry is free but there are better boat trips with audio guides for a few bucks.

Even better is the sunset boat trip.
Water taxi is also well worth it

 

[GingerNick]

Even better is the sunset boat trip.
Water taxi is also well worth it

we walked over the brooklyn bridge and had a wander round then got the water taxi back over and had a wander round battery park

 

[Hardyman's Yugo]

if you go to the empire state building, pay the extra to skip the queues - no point wasting time for the sake of 20 quid extra.

Me and the missus did Empire State Building at night time, queue was very short and the night time view was great

 

[chriswallace85]

How much spending money would you generally need for 2 people for 4 days in NY ?
Bit of sight seeing, eating out, shopping etc.

I know everyone's different but just a very rough idea please

Depends how ya do it really - if ya gonna ram a load of stuff in the NY Pass will def save you money (and time queuing for tickets)...and make sure to shop about online as you can get it cheaper with discounts and stuff. We paid £177 each for 5 days - so there's £354 to start, but it's worth it.

I think we probably spent a bit over a grand on top of that staying 5 nights.

Are you already booked?

 

[CherryHenry]

I just got back

get your city pass before you.. and work out where you really want to go

somewhere like the met is massive and you could easily spend the entire day there, so has a knock on for any other trips

walking is good, but if you want to squeeze lots of stuff in again it will impact on things so get your metropass from a subway station and use public transport to squeeze as much time into your visits, bus and subway use the same ticket and are very easy to use. buses tend to have circular routes so something like the M4 bus route runs up Madison and comes back down to 5th..or the m50 which runs across to the air and space museum...depending on where you are staying

we went on a tour on the intrepid and even the wife enjoyed it, you learn a bit more about it, get to ride on one of the lifts up the outside of the ship and you can get up close to the planes and the tour guide takes you inside the barriers


we did top of the rock and night...but to be honest it was way too busy

Logon or register to see this image

but its just a great place to wander round

Logon or register to see this image

Lovely pictures. That massive skyscraper in the bottom pic (think it's condos on Park Ave) is a bloody eyesore though. I remember seeing it at night from Top of the Rock and thinking WTF. It sticks out like a sore thumb.