Hi

Just got back from New York on Saturday.

Taxi costs from JFK was $45 + tolls and tip. All taxi fares from the airports are fixed. We took the open top sightseeing bus. 48 hour pass covering Uptown, Downtown, Brooklyn, Night Tour and the NY Ducks river tour cost $55 each.

The Natural History Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art are free I've been told (haven't found time to visit them yet), I don't know how much the Guggenheim is. We didn't go to see any shows, so I don't know how much they cost.

Food costs can vary greatly, but are dearer near to Times Square. Apparently a Big Mac there is $6. There is a great Italian called Tony's di Napoli close to Times Square, on 43rd Street which serves massive platters of pasta - enough for 2 to share for around $20. The cost of beer depends again on where you are drinking. A pint of Fosters in one restaurant was $6.50, but in hotels, the price of a bottle of Budwieser ranged from $5.50 - $9.

I didn't feel that the food and drink prices were as cheap as they used to be, even with a good exchange rate, but the shopping was definitely a lot cheaper.

Hope this helps.

John

Thanks for your comments.

Tips, How much did you give the taxi driver and is it true that you have to tip everyone, even the hotel receptionist ?

The amount you give in tips does vary according to how good you feel the service has been.

They normally expect 15 -20% as a tip. We didn't tip the hotel receptionist, but it is usual to give a couple of dollars to the doorman if he hails you a cab, opens the door etc. If a bell boy takes your cases to the room, then he expects 1 or 2 dollars a case. From memory, I think I gave the cab driver a $10 tip on top of the total $50 fare inclusive of tolls.

In bars and restaurants, even if sitting up at the bar, they still look for a tip. Many restaurants do add the gratuity to the bill, but the waiter will still ask if you want change if paying cash - it happened to us a couple of times.

One further hint, if you've not been to NY before. The cab drivers are usually notorious for not knowing where they are going, as many of them are recent immigrants. With a few exceptions (such as the Waldorf Hotel), they find their way around by the junctions of the avenues and streets. For example, if you wanted Tiffany's, it's as well to say 'corner 57th and 5th Avenue'. If you have a reasonable map, you'll be able to identify where you want to be dropped. It just makes life a lot easier.

I hope this helps, if you want to know anything else, just ask.

John

Thanks for all your advice

We went in February this year for our wedding anniversary, we had a ball. We experienced warm sun, wind, thrashings of rain, and the best SNOW. I was sooo happy when it snowed, you cannot go to NYC and not see it Food is awesome and we ate everything. Had a brilliant meal in Planet hollywood on our anniversary, it was packed before going to see Mama Mia on broadway. HRC let the side down, very dark and dinghy, and food cold.

Dont forget to go to the top of the rock, in my opinion so much better than the empire state building, the helicopter ride was fabulous and a must.

Have a great time.

Michelle x