NYC Tours and Sightseeing

[capegirl]

We 2 are staying in NYC for 4 days after TA however we have read bad reports about HOHO buses.  Does anyone have any recommendations of companies doing small group mini bus type tours of the city?

[waterbug123]

On 8/11/2019 at 5:47 AM, capegirl said:

We 2 are staying in NYC for 4 days after TA however we have read bad reports about HOHO buses.  Does anyone have any recommendations of companies doing small group mini bus type tours of the city?

 

I don't have a particular recommendation of a company for you, other than to say I wouldn't try to do any sort of "entire city" tour such as a HOHO bus or similar.  Traffic in NYC is horrendous and any all-encompassing tour involving vehicular travel is going to have you spending as much time, if not more, sitting in traffic as opposed to seeing sites.   It is easy to navigate the city by subway (long distances) and on foot (shorter distances), and cabs/ubers are plentiful for distances in between.   Decide what sites you want to see and circle them all on a map.  Then divide your visit up so that you focus on lower Manhattan sites one day, midtown sites another day etc.   Or do as I did last summer when I took my boys to NYC for their first visit...each day we decided on one main activity (or maybe 2 sites in close proximity to each other) for the daytime, and 1 thing for later in the day.  Ex. one day we did Top of the Rock observation deck and Central Park during the day, back to hotel midday, then a Yankees game that night.  Another day was 9/11 memorial and museum, back to the hotel midday, then Lion King on Broadway that night.  Another day was touring the Intrepid in the morning, and a Circle Line tour that went all the way around the island of Manhattan, with great views of the Statue of Liberty, later in the afternoon.  Doing it this way allowed us to hit the highlights my boys wanted to see and experience, without being go, go, go all day every day, or trying to cram too much into any given day and ending up exhausted. 

[Noxequifans]

I believe some tour HOHO companies offer an Uptown route. This route normally encounters less traffic. 

[capegirl]

1 hour ago, waterbug123 said:

 

I don't have a particular recommendation of a company for you, other than to say I wouldn't try to do any sort of "entire city" tour such as a HOHO bus or similar.  Traffic in NYC is horrendous and any all-encompassing tour involving vehicular travel is going to have you spending as much time, if not more, sitting in traffic as opposed to seeing sites.   It is easy to navigate the city by subway (long distances) and on foot (shorter distances), and cabs/ubers are plentiful for distances in between.   Decide what sites you want to see and circle them all on a map.  Then divide your visit up so that you focus on lower Manhattan sites one day, midtown sites another day etc.   Or do as I did last summer when I took my boys to NYC for their first visit...each day we decided on one main activity (or maybe 2 sites in close proximity to each other) for the daytime, and 1 thing for later in the day.  Ex. one day we did Top of the Rock observation deck and Central Park during the day, back to hotel midday, then a Yankees game that night.  Another day was 9/11 memorial and museum, back to the hotel midday, then Lion King on Broadway that night.  Another day was touring the Intrepid in the morning, and a Circle Line tour that went all the way around the island of Manhattan, with great views of the Statue of Liberty, later in the afternoon.  Doing it this way allowed us to hit the highlights my boys wanted to see and experience, without being go, go, go all day every day, or trying to cram too much into any given day and ending up exhausted. 

THANKS Sounds like a very good idea!