Going to New York

[Everythingaches]

I’m going to New York next week with my husband and two teenagers.
Apart from needing a lot of money any tips or recommendations for when we’re there?

Free WiFi everywhere really, so need to worry about a SIM.

The subway is fine. Walk over Brooklyn Bridge. Use the ferries - being out on the water is lovely.

We hired electric scooters for central
Park. Brilliant fun

Walk the brooklyn bridge to DUMBO. You'll see signs to scenic area. Its a chilled place unlike some of manhatten and good for pictures. The carousel there is fun too even for adults. Get the boat back to manhatten. time out market there is good for lunch.

I enjoyed summit 1. Go early in the day for it to be quiet. Its an insta/tiktok teens dream, but do NOT wear a dress! Mirriored floors.

Empire state building is iconic to go up but you get better pictures from top of the rock. Depends if you want iconic or good pictures.

Wander a lot the high line is a nice wander. Look for markets. Have the teens tell you where they'd like to go too.

Do the statue of libery and ellis island. But book in front onine with the statue of liberty people. So many touts around there selling dodgy things.

Be cautious of street vendors who dont display prices. So many people have been conned by ice cream vans .

New yorkers are geberally lovely and helpful. But there's some dodgy people like any big city. So just be sensivke as you would in any big city. Times squares a bit manic.

I enjoyed the 9/11 museum. Its depressing but one of those places i think is important to visit. But with teens be cautious as to whether they're old enough to take ig. Its a tough visit.

Theres some great fb groups for nyc tourist tips. Join them. You'll get loads of ideas.

If you're coming from the UK check out the MPC app for quicker entry. Yellow cabs are fixed rate into the city. Also get esims if your phones are enabled for them. Cheaper than roaming charges and means you can use google maps to find your way around. You can get one ans the other tether off it as needed. I used airalo but there's others.

I love NYC i've been 5 times and would go again tomorrow if i could. Planning a trip for my 40th next year! Its a love/hate city. Oh and as others have said comfortable shoes for sure. Something with a good sole (sketchers etc) as you'll be doing a lot of pavement walking. Traffics insane so its quicker to walk.

I third Ellen’s Starsust Diner is fun for teens - my daughter loved it.

Staten Island Ferry is great free! They have kind of outlet shops in Staten Island which can while away an hour or so.

Central Park is great. My DD loved 5th Avenue too’n

9/11 museum is worth visiting.
I would avoid MOMA, we all thought it was terrible.

Central Park is lovely to walk around.

If you are staying close enough you can use jet lag to your advantage and get to Ellen's Stardust early for breakfast. We did this and didn't have to queue. Wait staff were just as energetic first thing in the morning.

We are going a week today OP so thank you for this thread!
Our plan is Brooklyn Bridge for sunrise on day 1, also booked Empire State.
Day 2 booked SoL and Ellis Island. Going to walk to Wall St and reflecting pools
Day 3 Natural history and summit one
Day 4 Intrepid museum, high line, Chelsea market
Day 5 Jersey gardens mall and Hadestown
Day 6 Central Park Pedicab
Day 7 NY public library
Enjoy!

Very comfortable shoes. You will walk miles and miles!!
Walk across The Brooklyn Bridge to Brooklyn Bridge Park (great pics of Manhattan from this viewpoint)
Staten Island Ferry free, and great pics of the skyline and Statue of Liberty.
A walk in Central Park.
Ground Zero.
All free and great things to do. Enjoy

Am delighted with this thread. Am going with a 17 yr old and 2 12 yr olds and Dh in a few months. I'm taking notes! Thanks for all the tips so far.

Oh and hop on hop off bus is your best friend!
I also love Greenwich Village. You can see the Friends apartment building there too (90 Bedford st)
And Carries home from Sex in the city (245 E73rd Street)
Top of the rock in my opinion trumps top of Empire State. Although both are fab.
Don't bother going up One World Trade Ctr. We were disappointed. Rockefella is better (just my opinion 😊

Lots of great suggestions... all the usuals plus I'd echo
• Ellen's Stardust Diner
• Intrepid museum
• Natural History Museum

We were there last month and walked 40 miles over 5 days.

we had city passes and did:
9/11 museum
Rockefeller/top of the rock
empire state
the edge
hop on/hop off bus tour
bikes round central park
tv/movie tour

free stuff we did:
walked the high line
Staten Island ferry
times square
9/11 memorial
Tiffany’s (although that did end up costing us 😂 however even the just looking about was fab)

places we ate:
Ellens stardust diner
juniors
applebees
liberty bagels
burgerology (attached to hotel)
little Italy
numerous pizza slice places and obligatory McDonald’s
230 fifth (huge rooftop bar with amazing views, u21’s welcome outside of weekends)
Crumbl cookies

We went to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Brilliant.

So jealous. We had the best time.

The Metropolitan Museum is amazing - I could spend an entire day there! Loved MOMA too but found the Guggenheim a bit disappointing. Great building though.

If your kids are into animals then the Bronx Zoo is amazing and it's free on Wednesday, though you can pay about $15 to see some of the bigger attractions. Still cheaper than on other days when its around $35 entry.

Best pizza we found was L'Industrie and best cookies were at Chip City in the Rockerfeller centre, though I've heard Levain Bakery is amazing too

If anyone in your family is a fan of video games then they'll love the Nintendo store! It's one of only two in the world.

Spent many visits in nyc as my family member lived there for 30 years. I used to love going out to Long Island Beach or Coney Island.I used to love going to the First Abasinyian Baptist church in Harlem. You do not have to be at all religious to enjoy the cultural experience and the choir singing. Also I loved the water taxis to the river beaches.
Also just loved wandering around the areas like Chelsea. The cloisters worth a visit, they were in the last West side story movie.
Top of the rock is much less busy than the Empire state. Enjoy

I second most of what has been already said. The best way to get around NYC is by foot and by subway. The Highline is one of my favorite free things to do. Especially if you take a whole afternoon on it, going on and off and checking out the markets etc in SoHo. Go to Times Square just before midnight and watch the digital art displays on the giant billboards. Your teenagers will love that.

I know Ellens is like a tourist must but the food is HIDEOUS and so expensive. There are a million and one places in Hells Kitchen to eat that are much nicer and more affordable, they just don't have singing wait staff. That's my other tip, Hells Kitchen for dinner (the area, not the restaurant!) especially if you're staying in Midtown.

Seeing as you are traveling with teens and if you have a lot of time, it's worth checking out American Dream Mall just through the Lincoln Tunnel into NJ as it's insane! It's a shopping mall with a ski slope, a rollercoaster section, a waterpark, an ice rink, a fake London Eye. DO NOT do that on a Saturday though. It's also right next door to MetLife Stadium if you fancy watching the Giants or Jets play football. If you do want to watch a game, definitely research tailgating vendors as that's brilliant. Ours is like $20pp for unlimited food, drinks and it's just one massive party in the MetLife carpark.

Weather wise, it's still pretty warm during the daytime and we have been having a bit of an endless sunshine run (which I love!) which is continuing into next week but definitely bring a sweater/hoodie/light jacket for later in the day.

Or if you've got an older phone, there is a sim shop in JFK so get a USA sim before you leave the terminal. I took 2 teens in the summer and we also went to Coney Island Rockerfeller, MOMA and Juniors. Very expensive, but fabulous cheesecake.Have a great time!

Take the ferry from the East side of Manhattan to Brooklyn, then walk back over the bridge.

Get up early and have breakfast at a low key diner rather than the famous ones. We went to the Murray Hill Diner on Lexington Avenue a couple of times for pancakes and bacon - it was great.

Avoid Times Square.

Take a cab out to Bareli’s Italian restaurant in Secaucus, New Jersey (15 mins through the Lincoln Tunnel) and pretend you’re in an episode of the Sopranos.

Wander round the arcades under Grand Central Station.

Go to Williamsburg, look at the hipsters, and imagine you’re in a Jeffrey Lewis song.

Have an expensive steak at Delfriscos and avoid the mental image of all the butter in their little tins of bread congealing in your arteries. Take a long walk back to the hotel to try and work it off.

sky are my mobile provider and they only charged me 2 quid a day to use my phone whilst over there.

Also if you’re flying into JFK, airtrak to Jamaica and then the LIRR into the city is way cheaper than a cab (about $100 depending on tips/time of day). Think we paid about $24 dollars by training it in. We stayed just a block from Penn Station so it was really straightforward.

Any places to avoid? I mean for safety reasons

New Yorker here, place marking to answer later.

Re your phone, speak to your mobile service provider before you go. You may need to pay to activate service here.

Make the most of being jet lagged and visit Times Square etc. in the early hours in the morning, you won’t regret it! It’ll be pretty much empty

Wear comfy shoes

Enjoy!

Join a Facebook group you will get all the tips you need. l can't recommend this enough.

You will walk 25-30k steps a day - bring comfy trainers.

We were there in October too, weather was perfect - sunny and 20C.

If you've not been before buying an activity pass can save a bit - the reality is a trip up the Empire State building is £130+ for a family of 4 so though the passes are expensive individual tickets are too so it all adds up. Our pass had bike hire on it and we had a fab afternoon cycling round Central Park.

You will feel like you are hemorrhaging cash - you are, but it is finite!

You will have a much better time if you do some planning and have rough plan for each day.

I underestimated how much the huge 5th Avenue shops would appeal to my teens - Nike, NBA, Adidas- bigger than they had ever experienced- our hotel was close and we went every day.

Trader Joe's is brilliant for snacks.

Don't discount McDonald's for breakfast- a diner breakfast will set you back $100 so you don't have to do every day.

Statue of Libety / Ellis Island was a highlight and good value at $25 bought on the National Parks site. We got crown access tickets (same price) but likely sold out now.

My teens loved it, but as I said we did have a rough plan for every day and had bought an attraction pass in advance. I'm glad I did some planning and didn't just wander around.⁰ It was my 3rd visit but first with dc and still needed to plan to make sure they got the best experience.

Enjoy!!