Just on holiday, but we don’t do many of those, so this is exciting. So this is a combination of ‘squee!’ and a few questions.
First we’re going to LA, to stay with friends at a Malibu beachfront villa then stay with friends somewhere else in LA for a few more days. We’re doing Disney, Dodgers, the spa, the X-Games and probably a concert of some sort.
Then we’re flying up to New York, coming into Newark. This part of the trip I haven’t yet researched at all. Any recommendations for a place for us to stay? ‘Us’ being me and my 13-year-old daughter (she’ll turn 13 while we’re in LA). A couple of times in the past I’ve stayed in university student accommodation that’s let out to tourists during the summer - do they do that in New York?
Any tips and tricks to make our stay in New York more enjoyable? We basically want to do touristy stuff like the Empire State Building and maybe watch something on or off Broadway. I’m going to look up New York tourist guides and the like.
We’re planning to take a couple of days out from New York to get the Amtrak down to Washington and visit the museums there. It seems ridiculously cheap - $74 for the two of us (kids travel half price) and takes 3 hours. Does anyone know if Amtrak fares are significantly cheaper booked in advance, or would it be OK for us to just rock up on the day and purchase a ticket?
This is July 21st - Aug 3rd, LA, and Aug 4th - Aug 11th in New York and Washington. Any Dopefests planned for that time? I’m not sure if I’d be able to make them anyway, what with having my daughter with me, but it’d be good to know.
Depending on the time of day you travel, Amtrak may be sold out. It is a commuter rail. (basically)
August in NYC can be brutally hot/humid. Of course all the inside stuff will be fine.
Fun! Keep in mind that DC will also be hot/humid that time of year; load up on water and stay inside as much as possible.
Are you sure you’re calculating your fares correctly on Amtrak? The lowest one-way I see for two adults, one kid during that time is about $122.
I’d recommend booking Amtrak ahead of time as NYC-DC is a very popular business travel route. I did some price checking just now and it looks like fares go up if you book the trip less than 2 weeks in advance.
It’s 14-day+ advance fare, just like with airlines. The price will be triple or quadruple on the day of. The trains tend to fill up, for the cheaper fares. It isn’t literally a commuter rail (there is actual commuter rail that interlocks down the eastern seabord: NJ Transit, SEPTA, and MARC) but it is the most popular route in the whole system.
Hotels in NYC are quite expensive. I don’t know of universities that rent out dorm rooms to tourists - because all the dorms I know* are rented for the whole summer (with so many students coming to NYC for summer internships, the need for housing is astronomical).
The Brooklyn Marriott has an advance rate for $220/night (no changes permitted) - that’s pretty good for a nice room in a convenient, safe, fun neighborhood (Brooklyn Heights). You can try Bed & Breakfast type places or short term vacation rentals (vrbo.com) but you’re not likely to go much below $150/nt.
There’s quite a nice HI Youth Hostel, not sure how you feel about that.
*I have confirmed that the following schools do not rent their dorms except for the whole summer or a substantial portion of it: NYU, The New School, Fordham, Long Island University, Columbia, FIT
If you’re not picky about exactly which show you want to see, I’d recommend just going to the TKTS booth at Times Square on the day that you want to see the show. They have heavily discounted tickets for same day performances.
Thanks for checking all that out for me - I couldn’t see anything on the Amtrak site. I’m going to book the train tickets tonight.
One good thing about living in London is that even visiting New York it doesn’t sound so expensive.
I am a bit picky, but it’s more for the experience than anything else.
It’s funny - I decided to avoid the Southern states because it’ll be hot, but still have managed to choose somewhere where the weather’ll probably be too much for us. :smack:
It definitely gets incredibly hot and humid in DC in August, but the museums are mostly clustered together, they’re air-conditioned, and they’re free*.
The zoo, sadly, is another story. Also free, but no AC, and it’s all hills. And despite these facts, it will also be a mob scene. I love it dearly, but I wouldn’t recommend it in the summer.
So shall we get a DC Dopefest together?
*(There are some IMAX movies and other special exhibits that you do have to pay for - just FYI in case you’re interested in those.)
dc is south of the mason dixon line, really doesn’t matter much in august though, the entire atlantic seaboard gets horribly humid.
the good thing is as mentioned above everything nifty to see is clustered together on the mall. you get off the train and walk a few blocks and go from building to building.
if you are anything like me, you freeze in the buildings and start to thaw by the time you get to the next. they really crank the air conditioners.
the monuments are where you may wilt a bit.
nyc will be like this as well you can pop in and out of buildings to keep cool.
sounds like a fun time. if you can when you are in the la area try to get to the san diego zoo. it is worth a bit of a side trip and there are pandas! and don’t forget the tar pits!
You migh find cheaper hotels for NYC just over the river in NJ, or in Queens or Brooklyn rather than Manhattan.
What are your specific interests? I went to college in NYC, and my dad lives there, so I might have some more specific recs. If it were me, I’d definitely do the Ellis Island tour, but then I’m an immigration geek.
I live in NYC and will be out of town when you will be in town, so if you’re interested in staying in my apartment for say, $40 a night, we could discuss it. My bedroom would be off-limits, though, so I can only offer the living room (empty except for a couch and TV), bathroom, and kitchen. You’d need air mattresses or something. It’s a nice building in a nice neighborhood (Roosevelt Island, in between Manhattan and Queens – you ride a tram over the river to get to Manhattan, or else take the F subway line.) I have wireless internet and a waffle maker!
Regarding the Empire State Building visit, do not go there during the middle of the day. I just went last weekend (maybe weekdays aren’t as bad), and it took over 2 hours from the time we got in line (2pm) to the time we got to the top. Also, consider the often forgotten [Rockefeller Building observation deck](Top of the Rock NYC Observation Deck | Best Skyline Views of Manhattan Building observation deck) instead, which has views just as magnificent as the Empire State Building, plus you obviously also get to see the ESB!
Squeeee!! Not going to offer any advice, as most people have covered this, but squeee anyway. I would have made the trip up to DC to see you (we have friends in DC and Baltimore), but I’m running a summer school at that time. Though I will be in the UK at the beginning of July…
Sounds like a great trip. Unfortunately while I am able to give you all kinds of helpful advice about Los Angeles it doesn’t sound like you need it and I don’t know much about the NYC area yet, so I am probably no help at all.
I will say if you like good beer, the Brooklyn Brewery makes some very tasty ones that are very easy to find in the New York area and slightly harder to find anywhere else. I particularly recommend their Summer Ale and their standard Lager.
I’m planning on layering to cope with the changes in heat. I do have a Museums’ Association membership which gives me discounts in the US as well as the UK (because I write about museums for fun), so I’m not concerned about that.
A DC Dopefest would be excellent - somewhere I can bring the daughter, obviously.
My specific interests are any sort of museum (not art gallery - they don;t count towards my 100 museums in a year challenge) and almost anything, really. Stuff I can’t do in London, if possible, so as American as can be, if that makes sense. My daughter is obsessed with computers and manga.
xoferew - that’d be a great idea if I were on my own, but with my daughter staying too, I don’t think it’d work out.
Does this hotel sound OK to you guys? It looks pretty good to me for $82.50 a night plus tax.
