New York in November - help with itinerary & possible day trip to D.C

[JingleMum]

Hi,

Off to NYC in November with DD & my DP just after bonfire night. We've been before, but were only there a couple of days before moving on somewhere else so didn't get to do all we wanted to do. I don't know the City that well & need advice on what things are close to what.

We definitely want to do -

Natural history museum
9/11 museum
Katz's deli
Italian meal on Mulberry Street
Walk across Brooklyn bridge & get pizza in Brooklyn - yes, we are clearly food obsessed
Sopranos tour - but if not, we'd love to go over to New Jersey. Can anyone tell me how we'd get there, and is there anywhere interesting worth visiting in NJ? Possibly Atlantic City?

How would you work the intinerary if you were me? Out of all the things I want to do above, what is close to what? Want to fit as much in to a single day as possible.

Also, we were thinking of getting the Amtrak to Washington DC for the day. Has anyone been & is it worth it? Much to do?

Don't bother with New Jersey. There's nowt there interesting unless you like malls, commuting and bears. Atlantic City is like Blackpool I believe. Saying that, I believe there is a Soprano's tour. I go a lot to NJ for work and it's dull.

I'd do a night in DC, but it's a bit far for a day - about 4 hours each way on the train?

You can get museum fatigue so only do one of those per day. We enjoyed the Greenwich Food Tour and it sounds like you might too. Maybe look for some other walking tours.

How long are you there for? Washington is certainly worth going to but only if I felt I really had the time. It's 3 to 4 hours each way by train.

I went to Atlantic City a long time ago and it was good fun for an evening. But, again, depending on the length of your trip, I wouldn't cut short time in NYC for it.

I'd stick to Manhattan and Brooklyn - Amtrak trains are slow - but Katz and mulberry street are close to each other and to the fab lower east side tenement museum. If you like pizza, this course is great m.pizzaschool.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpizzaschool.com%2F&utm_referrer=#2743...

Thanks for the replies so far!

We are in New York for 5 nights. We are happy to spend a full day in D.C - set off really early and get back about 9pm. We've done NYC twice before you see, but we've never fitted everything in, and i'm still none the wiser as to what is close to what!

The Acela trains that run from NYC into Union Station in Washington is fast but expensive. DC is a nice city to explore; Union Station is quite close to the Mall where the museums are located.

The Freedom Tower Observatory is worth a visit and it is near the 9/11 museum. That museum is a very sobering place (I did wonder about it having a gift shop though).

Give Atlantic City a miss; its very run down and some of the casinos have now closed.

We did one of the food tours, really good but we were stuffed afterwards and didn't taste half the stuff! It ended at katz's.

Walk over Brooklyn bridge for pizza ...

The pizza place to go to in Brooklyn is Grimaldis, right on the shoreline. There will be a queue and it is rough and ready but tastes great and is a NY institution.

Also on the theme of food, walking the HighLine park and then along to Chelsea market is a nice morning.

I am a big fan of the Jersey Shore but not at that time of year and definitely not Atlantic City which is a bit of a shithole! DC is at least three hours from NYC by train. If you want a change of scenery, how about Philly instead? Not so far on the train and plenty to do to fill a day out.

Thanks for all the replies & suggestions!

We are contemplating Baltimore now, as apparently the Amtrak goes there and it supposedly has a brilliant aquarium, which DD is obsessed with.

I so want to do the Sopranos tour, desperately (Huge, huge fan) but not sure how suitable it is for DD. Would love to go to Holsten's in NJ where Tony Soprano was in the final scene. Anyone know if it's relatively easy to get to from Manhattan?

You will need to get a taxi or Uber from the station in Baltimore down to Inner Harbor where the National Aquarium is located. (There are usually a fair number of taxis outside the station, have never had to wait ages for one). The website of the aquarium is

www.aqua.org/

It takes about 10-15 minutes to arrive there. Its also near a lot of restaurants and a good bookstore (Barnes and Noble).

Best thing to do re Holsten's is to call them to find out which is the nearest train station to it (I think its Walnut Street which has its own railway station served by NJ Transit).

Is Mulberry street worth going to? What's there?

Thanks Attila

msrisotto Mulberry Street is where the Italian restaurants are located.

the train from washington to NY takes about 3 hours and depends on what time u get it we paid $50 each but that was just one way
1 day in DC isnt enough, i was there for 2 and there was still so much we didnt do or see