Help!! Have just decided that we quite fancy a trip to New York in between Christmas and New Year. Is this a good time to go, particularly as we will be taking the children aged 8 and 11. Also where should we stay? The Radio City Apartments aren't available, so where else is good for families. Is this something that I should book DIY for value or would a package be better. Thanks very much for any help!!

Pam

Hi Pam,
If you want an apartment style accomodation then DIY will probably be better.
If RCA is full, you could try Affina 50. They are often recommended on Trip Advisor and are a similar type of accom (but I think a little more expensive).

Pam
You could keep checking the RCA website, they often have cancellations nearer the date (people getting a last minute deal at a more luxurious hotel/apt) and as long as you have booked a place with a no fee cancellation you might be lucky.

Hi

Has anyone got any recommendations for transport from JFK to Manhattan? Last time I visited I got the usual yellow cab outside the airport but this time there is 4 adults and we don't really want to travel separate to our hotel.

all advice greatly received.

Cheers

Deb

Depending on the amount of luggage you have cabs are allowed to carry four passengers (one would sit up front). I have seen the following firm recommended on trip advisor, the firm has limos and cars of various sizes, http://www.telaviv.com

Hi Judith

Thanks for the info, much appreciated.

Kind regards

Deb

hi everyone, i'm taking my g/f to NY in june for her 21st b-day and was wondering how is the best way to go about getting broadway tickets, do i buy them now in advance or do i buy them when we get out there?

cheers

gaz

Sorry to be so vague with knowledge of New York, but are there any places which you can book that will include flights,transfers and hotel. We are pondering on the thought of a break here and do not know where to start!

Hi Sunseeker, if you look on page 5 of this thread you'll see my trip report about half way down to give you some ideas of things to do.

I booked a DIY package -
1) I looked on airline network to see who had reasonable prices from Manchester and then booked directly with that airline as it was (very) slightly cheaper. http://www.airline-network.co.uk
2) Hotels - I looked on here and Trip Advisor for recommendations and booked directly with the apartment building. Get a map, decide where you want to stay (anywhere is OK as long as it's near a subway stop really) and your budget. We stayed on W49th St at Radio City Apartments and I felt this was a great location for a first visit as it's right near Times Sq, Central Park, Fifth Ave and the Rockerfellar Centre - http://www.radiocityapts.com They are very popular so book early; the great thing is no deposit to pay (they'll take a CC as a guarantee) and a good cancellation policy should you find the bargain of the century in a posh hotel.
3) Transfer - we caught a cab from Newark into Manhattan (they have set prices, go to the booth opposite the terminal DON'T go with anyone who approaches you inside the terminal, they're not registered) and booked a car service to return (INVALID URL again they have set prices. One thing to note is that cabs from NYC to the airport do not have set prices, you'll be on a meter so a car is a better option. There are many ways to get into Manhattan from the airports but as it was our first time we felt most comfortable catching a cab, rather than trying to use public transport. I would advise against using super shuttle; it gets lots of bad press on TA. -

I'd recommend this map from Amazon, it's fantastic and fits into your pocket - http://www.amazon.co.uk/New-York-Popout-Map/dp/184587613X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200067861&sr=8-1

Hope that helps you get started.
Any questions, please shout.

Hi Gaz,

If you want to see a popular show then you'll need to book in advance, if you're not fussed about what you see then yes you can try and get tickets at one of the booths once you're there.
There are pros and cons for each. Booking in advance you'll get the show and seats you want in the comfort of your own home; using a booth in NYC they will only have tickets for that day so you may not get the show you want or decent seats. The booths are very much 'suck it and see' - they can't guarantee what shows they'll have as it's purely down to what tickets are left for each day.
Personally I didn't want to waste my time queuing for hours in NYC so we booked in advance using INVALID URL got a 40% discount and collected our tickets at the theatre. You can usually buy tickets from them 4 - 8 weeks before performance dates, depending on the show.

Hope that helps.

Regards Puddleduck - when would the best time to be thinking about booking for mid November?

Sunseeker, I booked in January for our trip in May.
I'd say as soon as possible for a hotel (especially if you're staying at one of the more popular places such as RCA) and whenever you've got a price you're happy with for your flight (it's worth checking now as many airlines have sales in January). Airline network often have prices around £270 if you can be flexible on the dates. The main thing with flights, once you've booked don't check the price at a later date incase it's cheaper! I've heard so many people complain if they'd waited 2 weeks they could have saved £40 that's why I say book at a price you're happy to pay and leave it at that.

It's 4 weeks and 6 days until we take our first trip to New York. After reading all of these posts (especially puddleduck2's diary style entry on page 5) I am so excited I can barely contain it!!!
We are seriously considering booking the food tour as that sounds great and we have ordered the pocket map off Amazon. What I really want to know is how you all decided what you were going to do and when? There is so much that we want to do that I worry that we will get there and not know where to start.
We are only in NY for 3 days as then we're off to Mexico. We get there on a Saturday (midday) and leave Tuesday (early evening). We are staying at the Renaissance New York Hotel Times Square (714 Seventh Avenue at W.48th Street) and have got a 'Spirit City Cruise' booked for the Sunday evening.
Would love to hear what you consider to be 'must sees' as that might help us to decide. Oh also, I am a shopaholic so have got to make sure I leave time for that too
Sunaholic

Well, our 'must do' list just kept getting longer!!

Some of the many things on it were -
Eat a pastrami sarnie in a typical NY deli
See the skyline from either the TOTR or ESB
Visit Grand Central Station
Ride in a yellow cab (yes sad I know!)
Take a walk in Central Park
Walk the Brooklyn Bridge
Eat at Gordon Ramsay's
Buy a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes
Visit the Chrysler Building
Greenwich Village
Walk around Brooklyn & visit Brooklyn Zoo
Coney Island
Guggenheim Museum
Spend some time with a BAG (Big Apple Greeter)
Meatpacking District
See a Broadway show
See Times Sq lit up night
Upper East Side
Ride the Statten Island Ferry
5th Ave shopping

As you'll have seen from my trip report some of those will have to be left until next time!! Because of all the TV programmes and movies you just feel like you know it so well as soon as you get there. I would dearly love to go back, there's so much we didn't have time for. Seriously, if we'd known how much we'd enjoy it we would have made it our main holiday and stayed for 2 weeks.

Loved it. Spent 2 night in NY prior to cruising on the QM2. I just adored the city and have never felt so safe. I was travelling alone and did not venture out of the usual tourist attractions. I saw everything I wanted to and even rode the subway. Felt very brave at the time but was encouraged to do so by a Policeman in the Rockerfeller Centre. I would have walked to the Empire State building but he said it is too far. Had to change but there is a map and I counted the stops and then each stop is announced as it arrives.
No queue at the Empire State building and the visibility that day was stated as 26 miles but boy was it cold.
Shopped till I dropped and got some fantastic brown leather boots in Macy's sale. I was out each evening in fact all day from the hotel until about 9.30pm and my feet were walked off me. I wish I had been there longer.
I stayed at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square and I asked on check in for a room with a view. I was told that it was normally an extra $100 but she would see what she could do. I got a TS room on the 44 floor and I just adored looking at that frantic neon. I could actually see water to my left so had a fantastic time.
Got upgraded on both the flight out and the flight home. Upgraded also on my room on the ship by about 7 grades. Lucky Was I? I think I was incredibly and was I glad YES Would I do it again Yes. Just enjoy!!

Sue

Loved it!

14th March - 19th March, stayed at the Amsterdam Court Hotel, and after reading reviews about small rooms, our room was big enough, and was really nice.

Every day (apart from one as didnt get in till 5am) was up and out for 10am, done the downtown bus tour getting off at Little Italy/China Town. Walked from 86th street to 34th street, and walked more every day, got train from Grand Central to Yonkers to meet up with partners mate, great time. got bus to Woodbry common got loads of bargains. St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller and Times square all great,

can't wait till i go back, but Boston first

Blarney Stone, Mcgee, Annie moore's, Playwright, rosie O'Grady's just a few of the pubs i liked

I have just returned from a 4 1/2 day trip to NYC. Although I have been visiting the USA for almost forty years this was my first visit to NYC. I enjoyed my trip and got to do/see most of the things I had planned. I flew in to JFK and caught the train out to Penn Station, I had intended to use the subway to ride to my hotel (The Radio City Appartments)from Penn but decided to walk as it was such a lovely day, I only had a very small trolley case so it wasn't a problem. The hotel was fine and in a good location for a first time visitor. Over the next four days I visited the Top of the Rock, stayed up the top until it was dark so as to see all the lights in the city come on. I took a tour of the city with The New York Party Shuttle, an excellent tour with a very knowledgeable guide, the tour lasted 5 1/2 hrs, the small bus stopped at many places including the Rockefeller Center, Central Park/Dakota Bldg/Strawberry Fields, the Flatiron Building, Washington Square, South Street Seaport, where we had a break for lunch, we rode the Staten Island Ferry and then visited Wall Street and Ground Zero. The final stop was at Macy's/Empire State Bldg, before returning to Times Square. The guide got off the bus with us at each stop and gave a small talk about each place.The tour gave me an idea of where everything was.
I saw a Broadway Show(Phantom of the Opera), ate a Pastrami sandwich in the Carnegie Deli, walked Brooklyn Bridge, visited Grand Central Station (well worth a visit), ate a piece of Junior's cheescake (I left half of it as it was sickly sweet). I spent far too long in the Metropolitan Museum and saw a couple of my favourite paintings (Monet's water lillies) and walked and walked. I caught the Subway when my feet wouldn't take me any further.
I took a Foods of New York tour of Greenwich Village/Soho which was excellent and on my last day I caught the subway to the Lower East Side to visit The Tenement Museum, which was extremely interesting and I wished I had found time to visit Ellis Island to see where a lot of the people who ended up living in these tenements had first entered the USA.
My return flight was from Newark and I shared a car with some ladies also staying at RCA, we experienced first hand almost total gridlock on the roads but still got to the airport in good time for the flight.
My trip to New York wasn't a shopping trip and although I did spend a couple of hours walking round Macy's and Bloomingdales the only thing I bought was a scarf from a street trader. I did a fair amount of window shopping as I was walking around and loved the shoe shops. .
I really enjoyed popping out for my early morning coffee and bagel amongst the people going to work, I felt quite at home, it reminded me of when I lived and worked in London 40years ago. I found a few areas a bit off the beaten track as I was walking around, with attractive brownstone buildings that had a lovely quiet neighbourhood feel to them. I found the subway easy to negotiate and the New York Police very helpful when I asked them a question.
Will I go back? I doubt it. I enjoyed the trip but did not fall in love with NYC. Maybe if I was twenty years younger the atmosphere would have appealed to me more. I found Times Square manic and one walk through was enough, nevertheless it was a good trip.
Thanks everyone for all the info I gleaned from HT over the last few months during the planning of my trip, especially the tip from Puddleduck about the New York Pop Up Map.

Many thanks for your trip report Judith. Sounds like you covered a lot in the time you had.

luci

Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip Judith. That map really is invaluable isn't it?
So pleased your enjoyed your food tour too, for us it was one of the highlights of the trip - very interesting and yummy!