New York weekend - general tips please!!

[Dahlia]

Hello all you seasoned travellers, dh and I are off to New York next week (without kids!) for my 40th. I wondered if anyone could give any good tips, restaurants, good times of day to visit certain attactions, etc. Also - and I apologise for being so dim - but is any other documentation needed apart from passport? I am sure there isn't, but am having a blonde moment thinking, what if we need a form pct73 or somesuch? Thanks very much!

If your a UK Citizen there are no other forms you need, bar the ones you get given at check in, which you fill out on the plane and hand to immigration on the way in with your passport!

There's so much to see and do I really wouldn't like to advise you.....Empire State is fab for great views, try and get there early tho, as Q's can be rather large.......I personally like the Planetarium......Nat Hist Mus and Modern Art Mus are great too.......Canal Street for good/cheap imitation goods.......Chinese Qtr for dumplings for lunch......Saks 5th Avenue for the toilets (I'm weird, but they have those fab revolving seat covers!!)
Statue of Liberty etc etc, I could waffle on, but will give someone else a chance to!

Thanks for the toilet tip!!! I read somewhere that public toilets are few and far between in ny and so its best to go in stores or restaurants.

I really liked the Circle Line boat trip. It takes 3 hours and goes around the island of Manhattan. It takes 3 hours and is a good way just to chill out a bit after lots of dashing around trying to see everything. Our guide was clearly a struggling actor and was really entertaining and knowledgable (but not annoying).

Holy Basil is a fab Thai restaurant (149 2nd Street).

A lot of museums have free openings on 'First Thursday' for example - first '...day' of the month.

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Go up to the Rockafeller Centre and have a drink in the Starlight Bar at sundown is fab and free (well the drinks are spenny but is ostensibly free). You look out over the Empire State and downtown is fab

Gotham Bar and Grill is great, the lunch is really good value ($25 I think) for top cooking

Lupa is really excellent Italian in the Village but I think you need to book a way in advance

Does Gotham Bar & Grill get busy at lunchtime? Have read about it and it does sound fab.

Watch the 'Fisher King' film with Robin Williams for the dancing in Grand Central Station (don't bother with the rest of the film) and then go to Grand Central Station and admire the beauty.

Get your empire state tickets online first. I think its something like www.esb.com or something like that - google it. You print the ticket out at home and its valid for a year or so so you can go whenever you want. Then you only have to do one of the queues not both. We went at about 9pm and there was no queue at all so we got a good view at the top. We got the audio tour (shared one between two of us) some people love it, some hate it, we thought it was a good way of getting our bearings and were really glad to have done it on the first night as Manhattan made much more sense after that.

Use the subway, they are cheap and very each, we felt as safe as we do on the London underground.

Spend some time in Central Park, even in the winter it is lovely. We went to the American Museum of Natural History by the park (the planetarium attached is the very best bit) and then walked through the park by the castle and lake etc to get to the Guggenheim. It was a lovely way to break up a museum day.

I'd definitely suggest a walk over Brooklyn bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan, it takes about half an hour and gives you such a brilliant view of it. We went just before sunset and got amazing views of the city and fab pictures.

Go on www.tripadvisor.co.uk. If you go to the New York section it has a forum where locals pass on good information about sights and restuarants etc, they are so helpful, we got most of our info from them, and there are itinery ideas on there too, along with restuarant reviews.

Have a fab time. We were there this time last year and I'm so jealous and want to be there again.

no tips - just v. jealous would love to go. have a great time!

hockeymum, thanks for the trip advisor tip - I used that site alot when looking for a hotel, but didn't know about the general discussions on it - brilliant!!
Has anyone done the carriage ride through central park? Is it a rip off, or worth doing?

Have you got a hotel yet?

Yes, the Carlton on Madison Ave. Looks very nice and has lots of good comments on tripadvisor. We were limited in that we had to book through Cresta Travel as we were using our tesco vouchers (£350 so it was worth it!), but it does look lovely.

Hi Dahlia,

Er you won't be able to get your Empire State Building tickets on line as it takes two weeks for them to be sent for international orders (I see you're going to NYC next week). Handy to know though for future reference.

Good website though - www.esbnyc.com

On arrival into the US you will be fingerprinted and photographed. Do fill in your visa waiver and customs forms well ahead of time - you certainly do not want to fill them in standing in line!.

Which airport are you flying into?

When are you going? If it is soon you probably wont have to que for tickets at Empire state building. DH and I went in Jan, went just before sunset and walked straight in.
Take a helicopter ride, its worth the expense, especially if you have never been in a helicopter before.
Take a ferry past the statue of Liberty but not really worth going to the island itself, as you cant go to the top of it anyway.

We stayed at the Roosevelt on Maddison ave, great location, you are short walk from central park, Tiffanys's, Grand Central station etc. We loved it, New York felt very safe and people are friendly.

Thanks for ESB commments - Meerkats, we are flying to JFK. Then getting shuttle bus (already paid) to hotel. Have read lots of dodgy comments on trip advisor about shuttle buses being late etc so hope ours is ok. Tourco - anyone used them??

Watching this with interest as I'm going in April. Have to get from airport and was going to use the shuttle bus too- will you post about what you enjoyed/tips when you get back, pretty please?

Yeah, course I will - are you going for a special occasion? have you booked your hotel yet??

Am meeting my cousin from florida there, so am flying over by myself and have the first night alone till she come in the next morning. She's booked the hotel (the righa royal?) and also got tickets to go to a broadway show(spamalot) which is great. Nothing else sorted yet.

I think on the Saturday morning when I'm waiting for her I'll go on a sightseeing bus trip. She's been lots of times before so think that she'll be grateful that she doesn't have to do that again.

When I went last year I printed my esb tickets off on my home computer so I didn't need to wait for home delivery. I'm not sure if that is no longer an option but worked well for us. Another word of warning - layers, layers and more layers. It is MUCH colder there at this time of year. I wore a few tops, a fleece jacket and a winter coat over the top with hats, gloves and scarves. Particularly freezing at the top of the esb as its so high! But well worth the freeze!