3 Days in Manhattan -PLEASE HELP ?

We will have a 3 day stop-over in New York on our way from Johannesburg to Anchorage for our Alaska cruise in the beginning of September 2015. We will stay in a hotel close to Times Square.

We plan to go to Battery Park by Metro early one morning for the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty.

On our way back we will walk via Wall Street to the 9/11 memorial site and would also like to see Brooklyn Bridge and then on to China Town.

MY QUESTION IS... Is it worth walking all the way back to our hotel or would it be better to take the HOP_ON_HOP_OFF bus from the very start of the day ?

Needless to say - all the options have me VERY confused.

Another day would be set apart for Central Park..and the 3rd day for the sights in Midtown Manhattan.

PLEASE HELP !! ??

Sincerely

Jasjas.

Most New Yorkers get around Manhattan by subway, bus, taxi, or walking. The hoho bus is fine but it sounds like you have targeted specific areas to explore for each of your three days so it might not be the best way to spend your money.

Look at http://www.mta.com for all the information you could ever want about the NYC bus and subway system. Basically the subway services most areas of Manhattan. Buses run on most of the north-south avenues and on the major east-west streets. The round trip bus routes will go north on one avenue and south on a neighboring avenue and the same on the east west street routes. For $30 you can buy a 7 day Metrocard, which means you can ride the subways and regular buses for $10/day and do your own hop on hop off thing.

From Times Square you would take the #1 train to South Ferry to get to the Statue of Liberty Ferry. If you end up in Chinatown you would take the N, Q, or R subway uptown to Times Square.

Thanks Carol..

You make it sound very simple and easy, which encourages me... We are not very familiar with public transport systems as it is virtually non-existent in South-Africa, but I am willing to give it a try...

We have never been to the United States and are very excited about our adventure, although we are both already in our mid-sixties..

Jasjas

Please keep posting back as you develop your plans to get more input from the New Yorkers. What days of the week are you going to be in NYC? What hotel are you staying in?

Dear Carol.

My mind is not absolutely made up about our plans and I am very open to suggestions...

We are just not really into history and museums...as strange as that might sound...

We will be arriving on Monday morning very early and leave for Anchorage on Thursday morning.

We are staying at Row NYC Hotel.

Thanks again.

Jasjas.

Thanks Carol..

 

You make it sound very simple and easy, which encourages me... We are not very familiar with public transport systems as it is virtually non-existent in South-Africa, but I am willing to give it a try...

 

We have never been to the United States and are very excited about our adventure, although we are both already in our mid-sixties..

 

Jasjas

I think you might want to stick to the above ground MTA busses even though the subway is much quicker. The reason I suggest this is that the subway can be very confusing to those unfamiliar with the city and the operation of the subway. If you take the bus you are always outside and can see some of NYC on your travel. I like to use the website http://www.hopstop.com to give me explicit directions when going to a specific place. You can set the filter to bus only and it will give you the directions how to walk to the bus from your start location, and then where to walk from the bus stop to your end location.

Thanks for all the good advice...I am certainly looking into the options for public transport in Manhattan...

The more I learn and the more confident I get, will help us to enjoy more of this amazing city !

Thanks again...

Jasjas.

I love NYC! :)

We will be back there again in October 2015. I am so looking forward to it!

Here is a map that I love to print prior to our trips to NYC.

http://new-york-city-map.com/manhattan.htm

Unless you have a half day that you are just plain tired of walking, I would probably not take the HOHO just because they are slow. But the other side of that is you learn a lot and see a lot on the HOHO from the commentary. So it just depends on how you want to work with your time.

There are different HOHO loops that you can find here

http://www.allnewyorktours.com/body.asp?tour=NYC-B0002&page=TourDetails

so check it out if you think you will have time. The 72 hour option would even take you to Brooklyn. You could also take the night tour.

Battery Park to Times Square is about 4 1/2 miles. So if it is worth it to walk or not depends on your time and endurance.

Public transportation is great, and we do walk/bus/subway/taxi depending on where we are going. The subway can be confusing as Got2Cruise mentioned.

You are wise to be checking all of this out and working out how you will spend your time. NYC is like no where else. You picked the perfect place to be before Alaska. The absolute opposites. Have a great time planning! :)

Thanx Jeannie for the good advice and the maps....we are really looking forward to visiting NY !!

We will do what we can with the time to our disposal...

I think we have ruled out the HOHO as there is so much to see and do on foot.

Jasjas.

You will have a wonderful trip! :)

You've got the start of a good plan.

Divide the city into thirds so you don't have to retrace too many steps. Generally downtown (Battery, SoHo, Tribeca, City Hall), midtown (below Central Park), and uptown (Central Park and beyond, including the museums).

The subway is honestly not difficult, and, in spite of the rep, unless it's rush hour, New Yorkers are amazingly willing to help you out.

While I'm not a fan of HoHo's in Manhattan, I'll make two exceptions that you should consider: the uptown loop, going north of Central Park, Harlem, etc., where the distances make most other options difficult, and the nighttime loops, which generally aren't hop on anyway. The evening trips give you a wonderful view of the city at night.

I've got a few favorite walks in other threads. Probably my favorite starts at or near Penn Station/Macy's, goes across 34th, down Fifth to the Flatiron/Murray Hill, and then up Fifth to Central Park.

We visit Manhattan frequently, and New York is a city best experienced on the street with the New Yorkers!

I would like to sincerely thank everyone for the invaluable advice and great tips....it has honestly cleared a lot of issues for me...

ANOTHER QUESTION:

I have stumbled across another possibility on the internet while researching NYC

...Circle Line Sightseeing on a boat with several options.

I would also like to know if there is a nice location (while we are around Battery Park ) from where we could see and take pics of Brooklyn Bridge without actually going right up to the bridge.

I am really thankful for all the tips.

Jasjas.

Circle Line is a wonderful way to get a taste of the city from the water.

There are parks near the South Street Seaport with great views of the Brooklyn Bridge

Circle Line is a wonderful way to get a taste of the city from the water.

 

There are parks near the South Street Seaport with great views of the Brooklyn Bridge

I was born in NY and raised in Jersey. Never played tourist in the city because I always had a destination or task to accomplish. Many years later, since my DW had never been, we visited NY for a wedding and added extra time so we could play tourist.

With all that being said I agree with Nitemare. We took the Circle Line and I enjoyed it very much. I had never seen the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island close up. We also took the HOHO for the uptown, Brooklyn and night routes.

I would recommend them.

Another thing that might be helpful during the busy holiday season is using opentable dot com to search for and make reservations for restaurants. It allows you to search by neighborhood and type of cuisine.

If you have a smart phone and google maps you can click the public transportation tab and it gives you the subway map with stations and the different lines.

The Ferry is free. 1/2 hour across and 1/2 hour back to Manhattan. The absolute best view of the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan skyline. You also have a great view of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Have a wonderful time.

To each and everyone my sincerest thanks for all the wonderful advice and tips ... our airline tickets are paid and most of our accommodation is booked..

and you are helping me to fill in all the details to,what promises to be, one of our best vacations EVER.

Thanks again !!

Jasjas and Isabella.

It's me again...

Someone suggested the STATEN ISLAND FERRY which is apparently free of charge = to view the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge...???

Is it worth it...or not so great ???

Please help !

Jasjas

On a hot summer day it's a great take. On a cold winter day, not so much. But you do get a pretty good view of Lady Liberty, and it's easy to grab the returning ferry if you are short of time.

If you take the Circle Line then you don't need to use the ferry. But if not taking the circle line then consider it. It's free.

I have had so many wonderful responses and great tips on this thread...

Here is another question :

If I had to choose between Empire State Building or Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Building) for Sunset and after dark views...which would it be ??

Thanks.

Jasjas.

I have had so many wonderful responses and great tips on this thread...

 

Here is another question :

 

If I had to choose between Empire State Building or Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Building) for Sunset and after dark views...which would it be ??

 

Thanks.

 

Jasjas.

Throw the One World into your mix--it is the tallest building in NYC. The observation area on the 102th floor will open spring 2015 http://www.oneworldobservatory.com/

If I had to choose between Empire State Building or Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Building) for Sunset and after dark views...which would it be ??

I would vote for Top of the Rock, since in addition to everything else, you have a great view of the ESB.

I would vote for Top of the Rock, since in addition to everything else, you have a great view of the ESB.

That's true. But the ESB is iconic. Can't go wrong with either. I would go to whichever I could obtain a timed ticket for the time I wanted.