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Original poster

Have you ever visited New York but stayed outside of Manhattan?

34 replies

EachandEveryone · 16/08/2025 12:51

It’s just a thought I’m having. There will be four of us end of next year. We will need two bathrooms. I’m footing the bill. Not for flights though. So I found a fab appartment in New Jersey next to the PATH but my nieces really want to stay in Manhattan. I’ve offered to look at Brooklyn. Is it a real pain. Am I being selfish as I’ve been loads of times and they haven’t? They want to do Halloween stuff.

OP posts:
MounjaroMounjaro · 16/08/2025 12:56

I stayed in Brooklyn in an AirBnb and it was a pain, really. If you can afford Manhattan, I'd do that.

MrsWorldwide · 16/08/2025 13:09

MounjaroMounjaro · 16/08/2025 12:56

I stayed in Brooklyn in an AirBnb and it was a pain, really. If you can afford Manhattan, I'd do that.

Can you explain why it was a pain please. I’m staying in Brooklyn in September

Forgottenmyphone · 16/08/2025 13:30

I stayed in a quiet family-friendly residential neighbourhood Brooklyn and it was lovely to escape the hustle and bustle each evening. We spent one nice full lazy day in Brooklyn, and had such a nice time at a local market, art galleries and a wander in the park. It felt like we were seeing how the locals live, as opposed to all the tourist glitz and hype.

amicisimma · 16/08/2025 13:33

If you want Brooklyn, it's an idea to stay near a ferry terminal from where you can get a ferry direct to Wall Street. There are piers at Red Hook, Atlantic Avenue and DUMBO. $4.50 per trip.

From Wall Street you can either continue on foot/bus/subway, or take another ferry, on the same ticket, to various points 'higher up' (north) Manhattan. Of course you have to watch the ferry times, but it does avoid the need to either use the subway or sit in heavy traffic getting onto Manhattan. Have a look at the NYC ferry website (East River line).

MagpiePi · 16/08/2025 13:42

i stayed in New Jersey and it was a pain tbh. You have to get the bus across to manhattan which means you have to be out all day, in reality, no nipping back to have a snooze or drop off shopping or anything. Plus factor in an hour or so of travelling at each end of the day. I had young teen children so we weren’t going to restaurants and bars in the evening, but it would have been tiring to have to stay out all day and evening.
The buses also got quite busy with commuters and they weren’t always that friendly.
I think the only positive was it was much easier to get to the statue of liberty island from NJ. And the accommodation was cheaper.

Original poster
EachandEveryone · 16/08/2025 16:18

Sounds like we will cancel the accomodation then. They want to go to Sleepy Hollow for the day. I’m easy setting them free which is maybe why we should stay on Manhatten.

OP posts:
dizzydizzydizzy · 16/08/2025 16:20

We stayed in New Jersey,. It was a very quick bus ride into Manhattan - essentially just over a bridge. It was ok. It saves lots of money and t meant we could park the car but I would have preferred to stay in Manhattan.

wanderingtopographer · 16/08/2025 16:23

We went to NYC last year and stayed in midtown but had a day in Brooklyn which we loved. Found the trip down on the subway very easy and plan to get an airbnb in Brooklyn if we ever go back. We were very much daytime touristing though so can't say what it would be like getting back late at night (however I assume lots of people who live and work there do it daily without any trouble!)

We didn't get out to Sleepy Hollow but had planned the trip and I'm sure if we got the fast train it would only have been half an hour or so to get there from Grand Central Station.

Brooklyn was lovely, very much it's own vibe and I could have spent much more time there if there'd been an opportunity (the only thing that I didn't enjoy as much as expected was the Dumbo flea market but it might just have been bad timing).

SweetPenelope · 16/08/2025 16:25

We stayed in Maplewood, New Jersey with family. It's a lovely area and it was about 40 minutes on the train to Penn Station.

chipsandpeas · 16/08/2025 16:25

the savings by staying in NJ will be eaten up by travel costs and time imo

if you dont want to stay in Manhattan, then at least look at Queens or Brooklyn and stay close to a subway line then its just the time as the subway is a fixed cost regardless of distance

PestoHoliday · 16/08/2025 16:27

I stayed in the Bronx with friends and it was great.

canyon2000 · 16/08/2025 16:28

Princeton is lovely and there is a direct train to Penn Station. It takes about an hour.

losssohard · 16/08/2025 16:46

Stay in Manhattan.

Retsina · 16/08/2025 16:51

Yes - stayed in Brooklyn at Airbnb's twice, in the Carroll Gardens area. Great area & authentic NY, Smith Street has lots of shops, restaurants, bars. Carroll Gardens and Bergen Street are on the F train subway - straight into Manhattan in 15 minutes. Highly recommend and makes a nice change from Manhattan, especially the horrible Times Sq area. The only problem now though is there's been a change for short term lettings so there's not as many Airbnb's available - the owner has to live on the premises I believe. You might be lucky and find a brownstone where the owner lets out the basement/lower ground floor!

sonjadog · 16/08/2025 16:52

My cousin has lived in Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey, so I have experience staying in all three. Brooklyn is lovely, has its own interesting places and histories and you get to see local people living their lives. But I wouldn't prioritise it over Manhattan on a first visit. New Jersey was less attractive than Brooklyn so I wouldn't stay there unless it is really cheap. If it is your first time and you want to see the famous sites, then it is worth the extra money to stay in Manhattan.

Bitzee · 16/08/2025 16:54

We have family in LIC so always stay there and it’s fine for doing stuff in Manhattan

Needmorelego · 16/08/2025 16:58

A bit random but I know someone who stayed in Elizabeth, NJ (near the airport).
I thought it was cool because that's where Judy Blume is from and I am a big fan.
I believe he used the train to go into Manhattan.

RichardMarxisinnocent · 16/08/2025 17:00

I stayed in a hotel in Long Island city in Queens, near the 39 Ave subway station on the N and W lines. It didn't take long to get to Manhattan, especially if going to midtown. And I paid a bit extra to have a Manhattan view room which was amazing. I really liked coming "home" to a less skyscraper filled, more "ordinary" area at the end of each day. It made me feel more like a resident and less like a tourist.

There's a fair few hotels in LIC and I believe some are better located than others, so you'd need to do some research to choose a suitable one.

budgiegirl · 16/08/2025 17:07

We've stayed in New Jersey a couple of times. It saved us a ton of money as we were a family of 5, and we were able to get a suite hotel for much less than two rooms on Manhattan.

It was really no problem getting to Manhattan, we were close to a PATH station, which meant it was quick and easy to get over to Manhattan, the PATH went either to 33rd or the World Trade Centre, so not much different from travelling from some parts of Manhattan.

There were also lots of restaurants in New Jersey, that were much cheaper than eating on Manhattan, and a good shopping centre.

If it saved a decent amount of money, then I would definitely stay in New Jersey again, we liked it, and it was very convenient, especially if flying in to Newark. Not so convenient if flying into JKF though.

sandwichlover93 · 16/08/2025 17:19

I’d consider Brooklyn if accommodation was right by a subway station. But otherwise it would be too much travelling I think.

cheezncrackers · 16/08/2025 17:21

The PATH train to NJ is great - it runs all night and getting to Manhattan is often quicker than it is from any of the other four boroughs (apart from the closest neighbourhoods in Brooklyn - but those can be almost as expensive as staying in Manhattan).

Original poster
EachandEveryone · 16/08/2025 17:31

Is it best to get a package or separate?

OP posts:
SouthwarkLass · 16/08/2025 17:55

We stayed in Queens. Lovely local neighbourhood, great restaurants and subway within a 5 minute walk

17CherryTreeLane · 16/08/2025 18:02

We stayed in an air BnB in Hoboken and another time in Weehauken. The path was really easy and we loved getting the ferry into manhattan. Meant each teenager could have their own room.

losssohard · 17/08/2025 16:39

Lots of New York tips pages on Facebook. I’ve always done flights and accommodation separate for Manhattan trips but that’s cos we’ve always gone onto do other things. Generally find Newark better than JFK.

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