New York and where (on a budget)

[Zaor]

Hi All
We are looking to do a trip to New York for 3 nights. I'd love to do Niagra Falls (if we can afford it) and 5 days/a week relaxing somewhere. Its for 2 adults and DS 16 and DD12. Relaxing at the beach would be ideal but I priced around Cape Cod and its too expensive. A lake with watersports would be another option or maybe Long Island? I have a cousin I would like to visit in Albany but that would just be a quick visit and its not a deal breaker. Long Island is so near the huge city I can't help thinking it must be very busy and polluted. We are looking to go last week in June. I'm getting flights approx €400 each, was reckoning about €300 a night in New York so would have about €2500 left for car hire and accommodation. I think I might need to give up the idea of Niagra. Any comments/ideas welcome
Thanks

When are you going?
We have done that BY Boston & cape cod thing and is beaut, we booked all independently but price fluctuates HUGELY depending on time of year

Thanks WingingWonder. We plan to go late June/early July 2019. If we left it until 2020 we could go early June. Would that make much of a difference do you think?

FWIW Long Island is a very long island, & you can get a long way from the city!

The bit nearest Manhattan is Queens - which is NYC of course. Over the city line is Nassau County, which has some lovely towns along the north shore & beaches to the south.

Then further east still is Suffolk County, which is really quite rural & includes the very posh & expensive Hamptons, among other places.

We lived on the north shore in Nassau for a few years in the early 80s & it was a lovely place to live. No idea if it’s more polluted now.

Have a look here

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Tourism-g1501343-Long_Island_New_York-Vacations.html

You could also look at Westchester county which is N of NYC - includes towns like Rye & Mamaroneck. They’re lovely too

(Just realised when I said Queens I should have said and Brooklyn. Queens was next to us so I forgot )

travelhudsonvalley.com/explore-counties/westchester/#

Might not be totally relevant but we stayed in a radisson hotel in niagara, near the falls, great hotel and pretty cheap. Hotels in niagara are significantly cheaper than NY if you’re planning on staying there at all.

We had a long weekend in Rye for a wedding (at mamaroneck yacht club, which was lovely) the Hilton there wasn’t too expensive at all and was very nice. It’s about an hour on the train from grand central

I would go up the coast to Maine personally, then maybe Boston and Vermont of you have time/money.
N Falls is a bit of a disappointment ( I've only seen it from the Canada side which is supposed to be best) it's quite build up and feels really un-natural, ironic for a worlds natural wonder! But I understand if you still want to see it for yourself.

There was an article in The Sunday Times about Buffalo, there's a huge lake with a beach near the city. You could go NYC- Albany- Buffalo- Niagara. It's only on hour to Niagara from buffalo.

I lived in Albany and it would be a nice place to stopover, it's a beautiful area especially Saratoga Springs. If you go from NYC the train is beautiful as it goes up the Hudson River.

I'd definitely look at a lake with watersports in NY state rather than the beach.

Thanks everyone I'm off to google for the evening. I' presume they have campsites like the ones in Europe where you can hire mobiles/chalets - they might be cheaper than houses. I've got 10 days max as the 16 year old will self destruct at that stage without the buddies!

Can anybody recommend good hotel and top things todo in NewYork,family of 3 for 4or 5 nights ,total budget £2500 max inc flights.