NYC for a complete newbie

[Anonymous]

My 16-yr-old DD wants to go to NYC for a day or two this spring or summer (with me). I have never been, and frankly have little experience navigating around a city. A few questions:

What is the most reasonable and comfortable way to get there if I don't want to drive? Everyone says, "the train." Which train?

Is driving directly to the hotel in NYC really that bad (if I am not used to city driving)?

Any other options - like stay in a hotel outside of NYC and have another way into NYC?

Where is the best place (hotel) to stay if we just want to catch a play or two, do some shopping, and have some nice meals? Would prefer to not have to fight for a taxi, so if I do take "the train," where could we stay that we could walk to from where we get off the train - preferably some place with shows, shopping, meals all within walking distance.

Thanks!!

[Anonymous]

You're not really going to be able to get to Broadway, walking, from a hotel near Grand Central. Taxis abound, and you should take them.

Just take the train to Grand Central.

Get a taxi to your hotel, which should be in a neighborhood you find interesting (based on your food/shopping/museum tastes).

Take a taxi to a show if you stayed within walking distance of Grand Central.

You'll be fine

[Anonymous]

PP here, I didn't answer your first question. I mean Amtrak, when I say the train!

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[Anonymous]

The train is the Amtrak train from Union Station to NYC. Very easy and comfortable and you can get tickets for $50 if you book in advance. Stay in mid-town if you want to do plays and some shopping. You can walk to hotel from train station, walk to Times Square and walk to Fifth Avenue and Rockfellar Center, etc. You could also walk to Central Park although that would be a long walk.

Driving to NYC is not that bad, but it feels long, there are a lot of tolls and I do find it really stressful driving once I am in the city even though I go directly to the hotel and park and I am used to city driving (DC). Not horrendous and I do it because I have four people with me and the train would be expensive. If I were going with one child, I would take the train personally.

Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

The train is Amtrak. You take it from Union Station to Penn Station. You can't take the train directly to Grand Central as the PP stated.

Once you get to Penn, there is a taxi stand out front. You get a taxi to your hotel. There isn't really 'fighting for taxis' - it's quite easy. You could also take the subway but if you are a newcomer to the city, just take a taxi.

You don't want to drive to NYC. It's very expensive to park your car (which you won't use anyway once you're there) and it can be nerve wracking to drive in midtown if you're not used to it.

You don't want to stay outside of the city, unless you really want to save a bit of money and are willing to waste precious time traveling in and out of Manhattan. Just stay where the action is.

[Anonymous]

A train from DC will take you to Penn Station, not Grand Central. Where you stay, if you want to walk to your play, depends on whether you are seeing a Broadway show, something off Broadway, or something off off Broadway. Have you looked at reviews in the Times and the New Yorker to see what appeals to you?

The most convenient place to stay for what you want is probably Midtown West. You can walk to Broadway plays (be warned that even if you love to walk, the sidewalks are so crowded in the early evening that it will take 2X-3X as long to walk anyway, which can be stressful if the curtain is going up in 10 minutes and you are still six blocks away).

If you are only staying one or two nights, you should be able to pack lightly enough that walking with your bags or hopping on the subway will not be a big deal.

I love the Blakely.

[Anonymous]

We haven't been to NYC in about 2 years but used to take the bus up there a lot. There are a lot of options (megabus, bolt, etc) and it's cheaper than the train. It drops off at Penn Station and then you can take a taxi or subway to your hotel. We used to take Washington Deluxe. That said, we splurged on the train last time we went and that was really nice. The train is (usually) more predictable since you don't have to worry about traffic.

I've driven once - just parked the car for the weekend in the garage of my friend's apt. It wasn't terrible but I think it's easier not to drive up there (and not much more expensive when you factor in tolls, parking, etc.). To save money you could drive to NJ somewhere (Hoboken used to be a good option but I don't know how they're doing post Sandy) - there are PATH trains that go right into NYC.

Look on hotwire or priceline for a good deal on a hotel. Midtown would be most convenient for shows, shopping, and meals but it's very touristy.

I find NYC very walkable.

Have fun - it's a fun city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're not really going to be able to get to Broadway, walking, from a hotel near Grand Central. Taxis abound, and you should take them.

Just take the train to Grand Central.

Get a taxi to your hotel, which should be in a neighborhood you find interesting (based on your food/shopping/museum tastes).

Take a taxi to a show if you stayed within walking distance of Grand Central.

You'll be fine

As PP posters have pointed out, amtrak does not arrive into Grand Central. However, if you do stay near Grand Central which is 42nd St & Lexington, it is extremely walkable to get to times square (47 & Broadway) and see shows. It is a good walk but not one and self respecting new yorker would avoid.

If you want to stay in times square, the holiday inn is a good place to stay. If you want to be on the east side, the intercontinental is also nice and centrally located to get to shopping, transportation (the subway) and cabs.

You could plan a show, visit the metropolitan museum of art, eat and go shopping in Greenwich village, shop on 5th ave, eat at dim sum in chinatown, just to name a few things. Two days is short so pick a couple of things to do and depending on where they are, should determine where you stay to make it easier.

Keep in mind that summer is very busy with tourists so it will be crowded and the hotels expensive ($200 and up)

[Anonymous]

I am NYC native and learned to drive in the city and I still find driving there quite stressful. Also, to get to any hotel in midtown/Times Square area by car is just not fun. There are so many cars, so many pedestrians, will take 10 minutes just to go one block. And then there's the parking - $50-$100 a night. Between that and gas and tolls it is probably cheaper to take Amtrak.

[Anonymous]

If you have enough money to spare or don't mind paying more, take the Amtrak. If you're a bargain hunter and hate to overpay, take a bus (Megabus, Bolt, Vamoose).

Search for a hotel that meets your best intersection of star level, ratings and price (like traveling to any city). Try using tripadvisor.com.

I also recommend staying in the city. You can stay in NJ, for example in Secaucus, for much cheaper. But getting back and forth is just unnecessarily annoying. It's not difficult - you hop a regional train back and forth for 20 minutes - but it's time you could be spending exploring NYC and if you happen to forget something back at the hotel or want to make an mid-afternoon pit stop, then it's annoying.

[Anonymous]

In the past couple years, I have been to NYC with my kids twice.

Once it was my husband, all 4 of our kids, and myself. We drove, and had to pay a lot to park (I can't remember exactly how much, though) Because our party was so large, we could not afford to stay right in the city. We stayed at the Courtyard in Jersey city. It is right next to the PATH station (public transportation) and it was very easy to get in the city, but it did take about 20-30 minutes (including wait time for the train to arrive). Once we arrived in the city, we mostly walked or took the subway to our various destinations. Some of the things we did/saw:

Empire State building (during the day)
The Tenement Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Top of the Rock (at night)
Times square (riding the ferris wheel in Toys R Us was a hit--but my kids were younger than your daughter)
American museum of natural History
Statue of Liberty/Ellis island (this we did on our last day--we drove to the Liberty Park, NJ ferry location. I'm not sure if the statue of Liberty has opened again since Sandy?)

With just two of you, you should have more budget friendly options.

The second time I went, it was just me and one of my kids. Since there were only two of us, we stayed at the Residence Inn Times Square. We took the amtrak train from Union Station to Penn Station. We took a very early train (I want to say around 5 or 6 am?) as it was MUCH cheaper than some of the later options. We were able to easily walk from Penn Station to our hotel--we only brought one small suitcase to share. We were also able to walk from our hotel to Rockefeller center (we saw the Rockettes show), the zoo in central park, etc.

I highly recommend the Tenement Museum. We only took one tour but I would love to go back and take many more.

[Anonymous]

DC native now living in NYC, I used to take trips like this all the time with my mom when I was a teen, and still travel back and forth frequently. I will second what most have said to take either the Amtrak from Union to Penn Station, or any of the buses (most also arrive fairly close to Penn Station). Staying in midtown will give you great access to shows, food, and shopping (and will only be about 10-15 blocks from Penn, pretty easily walkable). For shows I recommend looking in to Peter and the Starcatcher, Wicked, or Newsies. You can check broadwaybox.com for discounts, or go to the TKTS booth in Times Square on the day you want to see a show to see what discount seats they may have available.

I also really like the Museum of Modern Art, I feel it has a nice blend of off beat Modern stuff and more classically modern art (VanGogh, Monet, etc).

Also, Rockafeller center has ice skating all the way through April, you get the great "New York" experience of skating there but it's not nearly as crowded as right around Christmas. You can also go to The Top of the Rock, which can be even better than the Empire State Building because you get the Empire State Building in your view

Also, for an idea of what may or may not be walkable, as a rule of thumb I generally find that I'm good to walk around 25 blocks in a stretch if need be, whereas when my Mom comes to visit, she's more comfortable with about 15 as her max in one stretch. She's healthy and plenty active, just not as used to city living. Oh, and don't forget that avenues are about twice as long as street blocks!

[Anonymous]

OP,

Amtrak is nice, but the bus will save you a small fortune. I've used Bolt. Sit up front if you take the bus. Sitting in the back gets bumpy.

Driving in NYC is a bear. I wouldn't try it. I'd stay in midtown. I'd stay two nights. You can find good prices on Hotwire, stick in the four or five-star category.

I prefer Top of the Rock to the Empire State Building. Koreatown is fun, at 32th and Fifth.

[Anonymous]

If you wanted to drive, you could stay in Jersey City and take the Path train in and out of the city. It runs every few minutes and cost $2.25 each way. There are various stops - the most convenient to Broadway would be 33rd Street, which drops you right around Herald Square.

[Anonymous]

Do not drive there! Especially if you aren't accustomed to driving in cities - it is stressful, plus parking is a bear. I would stay somewhere mid-town and go for 3 days/2 nights if possible. Plan out a rough itinerary, taxis and subway are both really easy.