New York Bus Tours

[breward]

Which company is the best? Is it a audio tour or a real guide?

How many hours would you recommend 24 hr or 48 hrs?

Anyone know how to get the best deals on these tour...there are 4 of us so it is going to be pretty pricey?

So far booked crown of Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and tour of UN. We want to do WTC memorial museum, Central Park, Highline, Time square, either Empire State or Top of Rock and a bus tour.

In NY for 4 full days then off to DC where we will do museums, zoo and baseball game. Is there anything else in NY that is an absolute must-do?

Anyone?

When are you travelling there?.

TBH I would not use the bus tour companies in NYC; its just as easy to use the subway to get around the city. Also traffic in Manhattan can be bad.

The Intrepid aircraft carrier is worth a visit and there's a Concorde plane there now too.

I like DC very much.

Washington is a bit more spread out as a city so a bus tour could be worth doing there.

The subway in DC is quite easy to get around once you get over the hassle of buying the tickets! (we tried and eventually succeeded in buying a weeks pass). Many of their machines do not accept foreign issued credit cards.

Smithsonian museums are free to enter. The National Air and Space Museum is one of the most popular and is certainly worth a visit. If you can get yourselves onto one of the docent tours do so. There's a large food court in there on the right hand side; its McDonalds and a couple of other smaller food eateries.

The museum that will need prior planning on your part to enter is the Museum of Engraving and Printing (where US currency is printed). You have to line up for tickets (free) but you need to get to the ticket booth early (by 8am at the latest) because one the tickets have gone for the day there are no more available until the next day. That booth is located some distance away from the Museum itself, all details should be on their website.

Re the zoo its best to get there by public transport. You need to take the Red Line to the Woodley Park/Zoo/Adams Morgan stop or the Cleveland Park stop. The Zoo entrance lies halfway between these stops, and both are a short walk from the Zoo. Zoo is downhill going in, it can be quite a steep walk leaving the zoo.

If you like hotdogs and fries you absolutely must, must visit "Bens Chili Bowl" in DC. This is located opposite the U Street Metro stop.

If shopping in DC is on the agenda one day head out to the shopping mall at Tysons Corner.

Enjoy your holiday!.

I went on a New York but tour years ago...it was hop on hop off and to be honest i thought it was fab! You get so much more out of it especially if you've not been before. It's not so much the locations they take you (as they have a good transport system anyway) it's the info they give! Our tour pointed out all the film sets, were different movie scenes were filmed, famous landmarks, famous addresses etc. I found it very interesting as I'd have never of known anything if we'd done it ourselves!

Thanks for your replies.

We thought of the bus tour for those exact reasons jamtoast.

Wow, Attila lots of great info. Thanks. Will research the printing museum this weekend.

The best thing we did when we were in NY was to get get a 'Big Apple Greeter'- a local guy who showed us around his favourite park on NYC. It was so unique and insightful! It's also free... Big Apple Greeter

We did the grey line bus tour - 48 hour ticket - round NYC. Was great. stayed on the bus for the first morning to get out bearings and then used it as hop on hop off rest if time. Def worth it.

I like MoMa and 5th Avenue, Tiffany's especially. Times Square is a bit disappointing but I think TriBeCa, Greenwich Village and the Meatpacking District are worth exploring.

Washington has the most wonderful museums. We like the Library of Congress, the Museum of Flight (unmissable - Aircraft and Spacecraft), and the American History Museum is also fantastic. You can spend hours in this one alone because it is so good. We also liked the Portrait Gallery (not sure if this is its proper name). There are portraits of every American President in there and so many other famous people, and a big plus in my view, the 3 Oscar statuettes presented to Katherine Hepburn. The Metro runs up and down The Mall and we thought it was much cheaper than the buses. We also went to the Museum of Native Americans and the Natural History Museum to see the diamonds! The other place you must visit is Georgetown. The ambiance there, the old houses, the boutique shops and the restaurants is fabulous. It is where Jackie Kennedy lived when she had to move out of the White House. Classy!

Thanks for all the tips. I have just booked to go up The Washington Monument as it has only just reopened. Could not face queuing up at 8am when for £1 each I could book online a time and date of my choice.