I’m finally living a boyhood dream and visiting New York for six days this October and I want to fit in as much as possible.
I’m specifically looking for info on bus tours round the city as I have a thing for them wherever I go. There seems to be lots on offer and some include entry to additional attractions for an additional cost, has anybody used them are they worth it and which are the best?
I’d also like to go on a dinner cruise (another thing of mine) one of the nights we’re there, anybody have any suggestions?
Also any tips for broadway shows to see any that are particularly worth seeing or value for money?
Any other suggestions, where to eat , where to go, what to do would be enormously well received?
I’m from NY originally, and while I’m sure there are bus tours, I’ve never known anyone who has been on one. It would be slow, and you won’t be able to see much from the bus, and there aren’t a lot of places for buses to park. The Circle Line Tour, around Manhattan, though, is very touristy but might be of interest.
As for shows, definitely good to do, and if you don’t have strong preferences I recommend TKTS. There is a $.99 app for the Droid which tells what shows are available without you having to go to the booth in Duffy Square, but the last time we did it we went to the booth near South Street Seaport, where we got what we wanted with no line at all. TKTS info..
The best way to save time at TKTS is to ask for the “plays only” line. It’s about a third as long as the regular lines. You can’t see a musical, but you can get a good deal on any play.
Also, the Music Box theater has a cheap same-day ticket available when the box office opens at 10:00. It’s around $28, a rate you can’t beat. Limited availability, of course, and I think they only take cash.
If you want a great sandwich (and cheesecake), go to Juniors. There’s a branch across from the Music Box Theater.
There are dozens of hustlers in Times Square trying to sell the bus tickets. Supposedly you buy one ticket for the day and get on and off the bus as it travels. Don’t know how good they are, though.
I’ll bear in mind the tkts thing, the buses Ive seen on line are the open top variety, been on about a dozen across the world and though they’re uber tacky I just can’t get enough, will just have to play that by ear see what they’re like when I get there.
Cheesecake and sandwiches sounds great I’ll definitely pay that a visit.
Anyone got any ideas about boat tours?
Have also really wanted to go to Coney Island since I was a kid, is it easy to get to from Manhattan, staying at a hotel called Morgans, near Grand Central Station if that makes any difference.
I know lots of this stuff is on google and I’m so excited that I’ve been on there all day but I really appreciate the inside knowledge that people have.
It’s very easy to get to Coney Island Get on the D going downtown, and take it to “Stillwell Ave - Coney Island” - almost the end of the line. At least an hour each way, so it can consume an awful lot of a 6 day trip.
The good news that there is actually quite a lot to do. Coney Island has been improved with, among other things, a refurbished boardwalk amusement park (Luna Park - entrance to the Cyclone is separate/additional), and a minor league baseball team (the Brooklyn Cyclones). A short walk away is the “Little Odessa” Russian neighborhood which is pretty interesting too. The NY Aquarium is not terribly amazing if you’re an aquarium enthusiast, but I have to say they have an excellent sea lion show.
I forgot to add: I see the on/off double decker tourist buses all the time (I work near Wall Street), they are obviously popular. I’m not sure exactly to what extent they provide “tours” vs just being a form of specialized transport.
There are several companies doing it. One is City Sights NY (their buses are blue). I can’t say whether they are better, worse or different than other operations. Just that they exist.
I went on a brunch cruise with this company:
The food was pretty good, not spectacular but solid basics for brunch (eggs, bagels, cold salmon, that sort of thing). We just did the short loop down the tip of Manhattan and back. We got it as a gift so I couldn’t exactly say if its good value, but we enjoyed it. If the weather’s nice there are good views.
I had my own thread on this subject, except for next April instead of October. You can see the responses here. Those may be of interest to you, as the ones here will be to me.
As for tour buses, our Lonely Planet NYC guidebook does list them and says Ney Yorkers love to hate them.
You’re thinking of this, I think. For $50 you can hop-on-hop-off for 48 hours, which is a pretty good deal. You can do the uptown loop or downtown loop, and I think there are about 10 stops on each of them. You don’t have to look very hard to find one; just go to Times Square, and trust me, the guys in red vests will find you.
Hello again, that great about Coney Island that’s definitely going to be on the list and I like the sound of little russia and the aquarium. Thanks for the boat info too.
Just had a look at your previous post Siam and there’s loads of good advice there, thanks directing me towards it.
And they are indeed what I’m looking DohWadDiddy, I’ll have a closer look at them.
Again thanks for all the advice, anyone know anything about the NYC city pass? They look pretty good but have been stung in other places with similar passes and I’m never sure if they’re worth it.
We took the Harlem Spiritual Tour bus… the visit to the church was the least interesting part (to me). We had the fortune to get a superb guide who was knowledgeable in a passionate way about the history of Harlem.
If you want to get on a boat, there is always the Staten Island Ferry, which is free. Not much to see on the Staten Island side, but you get a good view of Brooklyn, lower Manhattan, and the Statue of Liberty. It is not exactly a luxury dinner cruise, though. My daughter, her husband and I took his mother and sister a little bit ago, and they loved it. It was also practical, since we could drive to the ferry terminal on Staten Island and park.
I was in New York 6 months ago visiting my nephew. He had classes one day so I was on my own. I went down to Times Square and took this tour with Gray Line (the line that DooWahDiddy suggested). I had a great time and saw a lot of NY landmarks I wouldn’t have had time to see otherwise. The tour guides were very knowledgeable (I hopped on and off a couple of times) and I would recommend it.
Gray Line has a lot of tour options; I took the one-day Downtown Loop tour because it was the only day I didn’t have other plans.
I wrote up a much bigger post, but the hamsters ate it. Fooey.
Just thought I’d let you know–there’s lots to NY beyond Manhattan and the Coney Island/ Little Odessa part of Brooklyn.
Here are some things that are definitely worth a visit, but that many tourists miss, somehow:
The Cloisters and Fort Tryon Park. While you’re up there, check out Inwood Park, the only piece of Manhattan forest that was never chopped down.
The New York Botanical Garden, in the Bronx. After spending the day there, go to the Bronx’s Little Italy (the Arthur Ave. area) to have dinner and take a walk. It might also be worth your while to take either of the Bronx Trolleys (there’s a seaside trolley and a South Bronx arts and culture trolley.) I haven’t taken the trolleys, myself, but I’ve heard good things about them.
Queens, IMHO, has some of the best food in NYC. There are also some pretty interesting places to shop and some great areas to stroll around in. Check out Flushing, Astoria, and Jackson Heights. (I used to live in Jackson Heights, which has NYC’s Little India, along with a really pretty historic district and some great food from South Asia and South America. Let me know if you want restaurant or transit recommendations.)
Brooklyn has a lot to offer, apart from Coney Island and Little Odessa nearby. Visitbrooklyn.org will give you lots of info on other places to go and things to do.
I don’t know much about Staten Island. I’ve never been there, despite my years in NYC. I’ve heard there are some pretty cool things to see and do right around the ferry terminal, though.
My first sentence was supposed to say, “There’s lots to NY beyond much of highly-visited Manhattan (86th St. and below) and Coney Island…,” not “There’s lots to visit beyond Manhattan and Coney Island…”
Fort Tryon Park, The Cloisters, and Inwood Park are all in Manhattan, but they’re way uptown.
Another great spot in Manhattan that tourists often miss, somehow–The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. The cathedral itself is a beautiful building, with a lovely garden. They have lots of concerts and small art exhibits there, too. Right across the street and down half a block is the Hungarian Pastry Shop, which I strongly recommend.
And there’s a book store called Book Culture right near the cathedral. You could spend all day in that place. The Strand is much better known, but I think that Book Culture may actually be a better shop. Make sure you visit all the floors–each one is very different from the others.
The Cloisters is a wonderful place, but it takes a full day, not so much for getting there but for seeing any part of it. That’s all true for the major museums, like the Met, the Museum of Natural History, and MoMA. You can cut down the time if there is a particular exhibit you want to see. We manage to cram in the Guggenheim and a show in one day on our last visit, and the Morgan Library is of reasonable size.
I loved the hop on/hop off bus tours because while I wanted to see a the touristy things I didn’t want a guide or other people controlling how long I stayed at each. Worked out perfectly.
One note however. Do not stand to take a picture as the bus is going through an intersection. This is particularly important if you are facing the back of the bus. Many thanks to my traveling companion who saved me from the bottom of a stop light to the skull.
I took the On Board New York tour a couple years ago and it was very comprehensive. It took practically all of one day, and we did it our first day there. We felt like we saw a good bit of New York, and could go back to wherever we wanted to see more. The guide gets off the bus with you several times on the tour, which includes a ride over to Staten Island on the ferry. You also see the ground zero area, Wall Street, plus a lot more that I’m forgetting.
The bus boards in the theater district, and the guides are former performers or wannabe performers. Ours did a dramatic recitation of the poem on the base of the Statue of Liberty as we went past on the ferry.
The Metropolitan Museum has more stuff worth looking at than some major cities in the US (Atlanta), but when I stay there for more than a few hours my brain throws an overflow error.
Again thanks to everyone for all the suggestions and help.
Thanks Ellen I’ve had a look at the on-board tour and it looks exactly what I’m looking for, that one’s definitely going on my list. I like the idea of doing it on the first day and then doing an undguided hop on hops as suggested by Moonlitherial.
Thanks Voyager The Guggenheim, MOMA and the Natural History musuem are places I’m hoping to visit. Is the Natural History Musuem the one that Ross (in Friends) was supposed to work in, I’m only asking as that’s maybe the only way I’ll get my girlfriend to visit with me! If it is does it have the planetarium that they had in the show?
I’d read about Jackson Heights and their Indian restaurants and was hoping to go there as I love indian so any recommendations you could give would be great Scribbble.
Again thanks for all the suggestions and help, I really appreciate it.
There are so many good Indian and Nepali restaurants in Jackson Heights that it was hard to get this list down to a manageable number. I hope you find this list useful.
Delhi Heights. I’ve heard that the Indian food is really good. I don’t really know, because I keep ordering the delicious stuff off of the Indo-Chinese section of the menu.
Himalayan Yak. This is straight-up Nepali. Delicious, but different from much of what you’d get in most Indian restaurants in the US.
Merit Kabab. This is a bare-bones place where the cab drivers go. It’s got an Indian counter in the front, and a Nepali counter at the back. Either one is a good bet. And they’re both open 24 hours a day.
Al-Naimat. Don’t pay attention to reviews from 2010. They changed management and got much, much better in 2011. Their chocolate burfi (off-white burfi layer on the bottom, dark chocolate layer on top) is to die for. So is the non-sweet stuff they sell behind the counter further back from the cases of sweets. Try the samosa chaat and the haleem.
Jackson Diner. This is pretty much your standard Indian buffet dishes–palak paneer, chicken makhni, etc.–done really, really well.
For finding your way around–try Hopstop. There are also apps for Blackberries, iPhones/iPads, and Android devices that will help you get the most out of NYC public transit. I don’t have a smartphone yet, so I can’t comment on which apps are best or how to use them.
I always check the transit updates at http://www.mta.info/ to see if there’s any trouble on the route I want to take.
