NYC Advice

kendallt

kendallt

New member
My baby girl will be turning 16 (gasp!) in April, and I want to plan something grand to celebrate. I was thinking of doing a few days in NYC during her Spring Break in April since that falls just a few weeks before her birthday.

I'd love to hear from those of you with insider knowledge, what are the must see's/do's for a quick trip (I'm thinking 3-4 days). I know a Broadway show, the 9/11 memorial and museum, and either the Empire State Building or Top of the Rock would be on our list.

I'm open to any and all suggestions re. hotels, places to eat, transportation, etc. I'm also curious about whether we "need" to do Ellis Island, or can just do the Staten Island ferry to get Statue of Liberty pics from afar. I'm a history buff, so I know I'd love it, but on such a limited time frame, I'm just not sure if it makes sense to dedicate so much time to one location. There's so much info out there that I'm a bit overwhelmed!
 
I wrote a blog post a few years ago with faves from our NYC trip: http://www.nettiodesigns.com/2011/0...ve-faves-from-my-first-trip-to-the-big-apple/

We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express near Madison Square Garden. It was nice because it was less expensive, included breakfast and was only a few blocks from the subway.

We did Top of the Rock which was cool since then you get to actually see the Empire State Building instead of being in it. It also had multiple viewing levels where as the Empire State Building I think might only have one?

Central Park was one of my favorite places, so much so that we went back one afternoon just to relax and hang out. We also did a bike tour through the park which is a good way to see a lot of it if you don't have time to walk (it's HUGE.)

I thought the Statue of Liberty was going to be one of those super cheesy tourist things that doesn't live up to the hype but it ended up being one of the coolest things we did. I was so glad we made the effort to go out to it. Just make sure you go early because the lines for the ferry get long. We made it to one of the first ferries of the day so we didn't have to wait but it's can be an hour or more later in the day.

If you're into food there's a bunch of fun places to eat. I link to a bunch we went to in my post.
 
We did the Staten Island Ferry and thought that was enough but I've never actually been to the Statue of Liberty so I can't compare the 2. It's hard to beat free!

We went there last year when my daughter was 15. She loves to shop so her favorite thing was spending a day shopping in Soho. It's much more fun and atmospheric than, say, 5th Ave, in my opinion. Times Square is cool to see briefly but is a total zoo so I wouldn't recommend spending a lot of time there.

The Empire State Building is pretty great.

We stayed at the NY Hilton Midtown, which is huge and bustling. Not as nice as your usual Hilton but is a fantastic location -- close to Times Square, lots of theaters, great restaurants and Central Park. I would definitely stay there again.

The Highline is quite nice -- a park built on top of a former elevated train track but aside from a nice stroll, there isn't much to "do" there other than look at the cool buildings/artwork along the way.
 
When I went to NYC my friend and I opted for one major site (Empire State Building). We actually got a Pass for 3 days for the Hop on Hop off bus tours and it came with a 1 major site pass... the first trip on the bus was a great way to see the city and kind of learn your way... then we either walked or used it to get around the city (so much easier and cheaper than a cab or bus fairs) for the rest of our time there. e were able to get amazing shots of the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park, and by taking the Staten Island Ferry. The top of the Empire State Building was AWESOME! If I were ever to go again, I would go to the top of the Rock just to get a better view of Central Park, but which ever one you choose you will not be disappointed in the view. I highly recommend Times Square at night so amazing. I'm no help as far as places to stay as we were fortunate enough to have a friend who lived there that we could stay with.
 
This is a great thread, since our Spring Break in 2 years, we'll also be going to NYC for my oldest's 16th Birthday!

Something like this was suggested to us by friends, I just don't know if this is the one they were talking about. I know it seemed worth the money to be able to just hop on and off the bus and see as much or as little as you want: https://www.newyorkpass.com/En/

http://www.iloveny.com/travel-tools/guides/#.WBlQbfkrKM9 New York Travel Guide

I know a few things on our list are: Central Park, Rockafeller Center, Grand Central Station, Carlos' Bakery (for a birthday cake or cupcake- more NJ, but I think they have one in NY now) and a museum (maybe the one from Night at the Museum). (the other things have already been mentioned).

As far as hotel, we'll be using my parent's timeshare. Maybe see if any of your friends have a timeshare you could borrow- it saves money.

I'm going to take some notes on this thread, just so I have more information too!

I do have some restaurants recommended to me: Grotto's for lunch, Mangolia Bakery, Juniors or Dinner, Patsy's Pizza. I don't know anything about any of them, but they were recommended.

Couple more suggested places (haven't quite made our cut yet)- Battery park, Washington Square Park, Radio City Music Hall, Times Square at Night.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll both have an amazing time!
 
If your foodies at all then I would definitely look into doing a food tour...it was the favorite thing the hubs and I did last time we went!
 
We went for the first time last spring... just being there is just awesome! We did do the Big Bus tour just to get the lay of the land... if you do that, be sure to do the night tour, I think that was our favorite. We stayed at the Hyatt next to Chrysler Building... it was awesome that it is next door to Trains/Subways and only a few blocks from Time Square. My only watch out is don't eat at a restaurants near Time Square... they are expensive! :) Walk a few blocks away from the main drag.
 
JennNtheBoys said:
When I went to NYC my friend and I opted for one major site (Empire State Building). We actually got a Pass for 3 days for the Hop on Hop off bus tours and it came with a 1 major site pass... the first trip on the bus was a great way to see the city and kind of learn your way... then we either walked or used it to get around the city (so much easier and cheaper than a cab or bus fairs) for the rest of our time there. e were able to get amazing shots of the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park, and by taking the Staten Island Ferry. The top of the Empire State Building was AWESOME! If I were ever to go again, I would go to the top of the Rock just to get a better view of Central Park, but which ever one you choose you will not be disappointed in the view. I highly recommend Times Square at night so amazing. I'm no help as far as places to stay as we were fortunate enough to have a friend who lived there that we could stay with.
Click to expand...

I have been looking at the hop on/hop off bus passes. Which company did you use?
 
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