N1cky

I'm planning a trip to New York in March, and need some advise on the best area to stay, even looking at the maps I'm a bit clueless as I know there are lots of business areas mixed in with the landmarks.

We will have an 8 year old with us and will be visiting:
Met Museum of Art
Central Park
Statue of Liberty
Times Square
Rockafella Centre

We will be there for 4 nights, anyone have any not to be missed places?

Thanks

WARPed

Empire State Building! Pay the extra and go right up to the top. It was awesome.
Grand Central Station.
St Patrick's Cathedral (makes you feel like you are back home)
Pier 17 (good for lunch with a view of the Brooklyn Bridge)
NY Public Library (some incredible artwork on the ceiling, plus it is cool to know you have visited Ghost Busters history)

The wife and I stayed at The Michelangelo which was just north of Times Square. Wonderful hotel, but pricey. Close enough to eb in the thick of it but not right in Times Square. What is your budget?

N1cky

I'd looked at St Patrick's Cathedral, it looks wonderful, I think it will go on the list.

I'm lucky enough to work for a travel agent, so get great discounts on some big hotel chains.

That looks a lovely hotel, but not really catered to children, you have to contact them for a price for a kid even.

nettlebed

Where you stay will depend on your budget. Rooms range from maybe $100 or so a night to $Astronomical.

Midtown Manhattan is a good central place if you can afford it. Hell's Kitchen can be a lot cheaper, but there are some pretty awful places there.

Websites to check: http://tripadvisor.com for (pretty much) unbiased and (usually) very helpful reviews of places you may be considering.

Also, http://bedbugregistry.com/ - check out the map on the home page. It's frightening.

Something definitely worth doing is the Circle Line boat tour around Manhattan. It takes around three hours (IIRC), and you get a really good view of many landmarks.

Empire State Building should not be missed either: it's now the tallest building in NYC again (since 2001). Viewing platform is nearly all the way at the top.

the Frick Gallery (very close to the Met) is a small gallery, but the collection is - unlike the Met - comprehensible in a single visit, and pretty much every piece is a masterpiece. Not sure how it would work with an 8-YO, but for me, it's a world-class museum (and I lived in London for 40 years, and have spent significant time in Paris, NY, Berlin and Amsterdam).

Really, the list is too long, but from what you suggest and what I have (and others will suggest) you will have no problems whatsoever filling a four day trip.

Oh, BTW, the viewing platform at the Rockefeller is open again, IIRC: we:re going to NYC next weekend (to see the Jane Austen exhibition at the Morgan Library) and we're DEFINITELY planning to go up the Rockefeller. It's a great piece of Art Deco.

pinkmcfarquhar

We stayed at The Pod hotel a couple of years ago and found it good - tiny rooms, but clean and pretty central.

nettlebed

Paying for a big room in Manhattan is crazy, IMHO, unless you are VERY well off. We're paying $195 for a 220 sq ft room at The Morgans. We're only going to be sleeping there, so the size is immaterial (especially given that we're only going to have carry on luggage)

WARPed

Oh and when you are in Times Square go outside TGI Fridays and call your family. Get them to go to this website and see live video of you in NYC! My bro in law took a screen cap and mailed it to me as a souvenir. It was quite cool.

http://www.earthcam.com/usa/newyork/timessquare/

If you like steak (and again don't mind denting your wallet) have dinner at Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House. Oh My GOD! It is was the best meal I have ever had.

rebs

Will you have just the one room for the three of you? Rooms in New York can be tiny, so if you get discounts with the chains, might be easiest to just try and get the largest room you can in maybe midtown.

The bus tours can be quite useful - you can use them to hop on/hop off so can do a bit of sightseeing while getting uptown, or downtown so that can work out quite well.

http://www.inetours.com/New_York/Tours/DD_Bus_Tour.html

I like the tenement museum on the lower east side - I think they have a tour that's a bit tailored for families...

http://www.tenement.org/

Rete

March can be an iffy time in New York City. Not winter any longer but not yet a warm spring. Interest to kids would be the hands on museum in Liberty State Park across the river in New Jersey. The Aquarium in Brooklyn take the subway. The Bronx Zoo in the Bronx of course. Get there via Metro North train from Grand Central to Fordham and then the shuttle to the Zoo. If the weather is the pits go to the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. A great place for adults and kids. Have lunch at the Hard Rock on 6th and I believe it is 54th <?> Street.

St. Pat's is across from Rockefeller Center and I'm one block east of there. Visit the NBC studios in Rockefeller Center. Check Broadway.com for children oriented stage shows on the weekend. They would be off broadway and rather inexpensive.

neil

I was out one lunch time while at work in our NY office and walked past this just round the corner - thought it looked familiar, but had no idea it was there: http://www.movielocationsguide.com/G...re_Station.php

If you can get a good price the Marriott Marquis in Times Square has good sized rooms.

Juswus

If you can get discounts on Hilton properties, The Hampton Inn in Times Square North (8th Ave) has rooms that are twice the size of the other Hampton Inns in Manhattan for the same(ish) rate. Breakfast included. 2 blocks from Times Square, just down from Central Park.

If it's purely for the view, go to "Top of the Rock" at the Rockerfeller instead of Empire State building....WAAAAAAY better views. Unless you want to do the ESB because everyone probably should at least once.

If you're doing a trip to Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island, the boats go from Battery Park and it's worth allowing some time to spend there to watch the street performers...they are amazing!

I agree the Gray Line bus tours are a brilliant way to get around, especially if you aren't sure of what areas are where, or where you're going. Not only do you get a running commentary on what you are driving past, but on the daytime bus you can hop off anywhere you feel like it, and either wait till the next one comes along, or walk to another stop to jump back on. If you do the "All Loops Tour", this includes the Uptown Loop, and that goes past all the museums. You can also get a package with the bus PLUS a boat trip PLUS entry to something like Rockerfeller, or Empire State Building. It' really worth taking the time to go to the tourist center in Times Square when you first get there. They have tons of free maps and guides and you can book these trips through them.

If you want to go to a show, if the show does a Weds matinee, it's often cheaper (but will be full of the blue-rinse granny crowd because of this).

I'm going down there in March also to meet up with my Sister.....so if you see 2 rowdy, drunken, wine-bibbling Brits, I apologise...LOL.

As I told my Sister, I can't let her know what the weather will be like just yet. It could be 70 and sunny, or snow and freezing rain. I'll have to let her know a couple of days before what to pack for.



Hope some of this has helped......Have fun!!!!!!!!!

elfman

I would recommend the top of the Rockefeller Center instead: cheaper, way shorter queues, nicer environment inside the building, and the views are just as good.

Juswus

I prefer Rockerfeller too. The views are much nicer. And you look out through clear barriers, rather than have to look over the wall and through the mesh barrier.

the elevator ride up is more fun too

Hiro11

Named no doubt after Jay Z's record label.

The Met, Guggenheim, Museum of Natural History and MOMA are all world-class and probably shouldn't be missed. Central Park is a must. If the weather's good, rent bikes and a trailer and ride around the perimeter. Go to the Zoo. Times Square is about five minutes worth of entertainment, nothing but throngs of tourists from Kansas and a few billboards.

Other than that, Washington Square, East Village, Chinatown, Greenwich Village, Upper West Side, maybe even DUMBO. Get some cheese at Murray's. Take your daughter to get some good pizza. Check out The Strand bookstore, browse the endless ranks of shoe stores on 8th street. Get a good curry at any of the 50,000 places on 6th street. Try some Korean kalbi and kimchi bokum on 32nd street. Check out Wall Street. Wander into obscure local record shops that only carry vinyl. Get some insane microbrews (with lunch) at The Ginger Man. Check out an anime store. Get some good coffee on the Upper West Side. Get a hot dog at Papaya King. Use the subway. Get the hell away from the tourists and enjoy the NYC vibe.

cathy22w

I was going to add Battery Park to the list. You can get the Staten Island ferry from there, which is 20 mins each way and free. You get a decent view of the Statue of Liberty, and a great view of Manhattan from the ferry.