New york and New Jersey - Lifetime ambition - please Help!!!!!!!

[notalone]

Hey

It has been my ambition since the age of about 6 to go to the big Apple and at the age of 30 I still have not managed it so have decided 2008 is the year to do it!!! DP is fully behind me and wants to go too but as we have a 6 year old Ds I want to ensure it it also fun for him hence the trip to the New Jersey for the beach too.

So, I need advice please! We need self catering accommodation which hopefully we may have managed to locate (in Queens???? - apparently 8 mins via commuter rail to Manhatten www.travel-library.com/vacationhomes/north_america/usa/new_york/new_york_city/)but we need cheap flights around May /June time too. Where would we look for these? Does the accommodation look ok or is it dodgy? Also where in NJ should we look at and how would we get there? I apologise in advance for the what may seem like inane questions but to us this would be a once in a lifetime trip and I so want to get it right.

Thanks!!!

Good on you for going to NY and NJ now!.

Two websites on NJ for you to look at for starters and these have all sorts of info:-
www.newjerseyvisitorsnetwork.com
nj.gov/travel

Best airport to fly into for travelling into NJ is Newark.

How much time are you planning on spending in the Garden State? (NJ). Will you be looking for accommodation there too?. The websites above should assist.

Would access airline websites directly (e.g United, American, BA, Virgin initially) as well as looking at Expedia for flights.

HTH

Have fun!!!! I can't offer any answers to your questions, but just wanted to say we went to NY a couple of years ago (in Jan) and I had such a great time (DH enjoyed it, but I think it was more my thing) I really want to go again but it'll be some years now because I'm rationing my airmiles, and we've just had DD last year. But it's nice to know someone else will be enjoying it

Oh and do go on the Radio City tour, it's really good. Especially if you get a wet afternoon.

Thanks for your quick replies. Would hopefully want to do a week at each and would need accommodation in NJ too. I have just got back in touch with an old aquaintance from school via FB and it transpires she now lives in NJ so if she will let me I will try to pump her for info too.

Does anyone know anything about Queens? DP thinks we are likely to get mugged or worse but how bad can it be???

Milkjammy - tell me more about the Radio city tour

I've stayed with friends in Queens a few times and found it very nice (though very suburban, quite different from Manhattan), but I guess it will vary from one area to another. I wonder if you wouldn't be better off staying in New Jersey and coming into Manhattan from there rather than going right to the other side? As Attila says, Newark would be the best airport for NJ but not very handy for Queens. When you're in Manhattan I would also recommend the Sony Wonder Centre for your ds

Radio City is a big theatre place, and they do afternoon backstage tours. We went on a wet day and found it really interesting (even DH who isn't really into theatre stuff especially). The building itself is really cool, and you get to hear the history of the place etc.

We also really like going up the Empire State and the Rockerfeller (it was worth doing both, especially as we did one by night and one by day), Central Park, and a cruise tour round the island (well we did the one that goes half way round and back). But in general it's just such a fab place to go, with loads to do and see.

And if you go to the childrens library they have the original Winnie the Pooh toys - might be worth a trip for your DS if he likes the Pooh books?

There have been some fab suggestions so far and I am reassured Queens sounds ok - to be honest we would rather stay somewhere suburban and travel into Manhatten plus it will save vital pennies doing it that way. Thanks for the links Attila - I have had a quick look and they are really useful.

Anymore ideas as to where to go / what to see?

I would suggest staying in Manhattan, if you can but if you are happy commuting a lot of feel confident with the area you will be staying in then you might be ok. I would be unlikely to stay anywhere other than Manhattan and even then, I would stick to bits I know (I used to live not far from NYC and spent a lot of time with friends there). There are lots of Suite Hotels in convenient locations on Manhattan and many offer good deals.

What do you want to do in New Jersey? There is nothing there (other than Newark Airport and Ikea. Oh, and Atlantic City)

You can fly to Newark, JFK or La Guardia - all are easy to get to from New York City.

Have you looked on expedia? They usually have pretty good deals.

Thanks over rated. Was just thinking it would be a compromise to DS - a week in NY and a week on the beach. Have heard some of the beaches In NJ are quite nice but if that is wrong please correct me now before it is too late!! Also if NJ really is a no no where else could we go for our second week for DS. Ideally we would love a week in Florida etc but the pennies wouldn't quite stretch to that hence the NJ idea as it is so close

Nothing in NJ - !!. Nowt wrong with NJ in my view.

A lot of people are disparaging about NJ as they see it as a poor relation. Its quite a large state all told and there is a fair bit to do there (as you have seen from the links I've provided). Do not therefore totally dismiss it but do some more researches and travel around it.

I've found the beach at Atlantic City to be clean but it's casino central down there. Point Pleasant Beach and Cape May in particular are nice.

I have a soft spot for NJ as it was the first US state I visited (that was a long time ago now). I commuted into Manhattan from the NJ burbs.

Your choices of airport for New York City from the UK will either be Newark or JFK. La Guardia is used for domestic flights from Canada and other US cities.

I didn't say there was anything wrong with NJ, just not somewhere most people plan on visiting. It's a bit like an American saying, "I'm going to spend a week in London and a week in Essex" - nothing wrong with it at all, things to see and do, just not one of the usual touristy places. Hope you're not offended Atilla.

I don't know much about NJ other than the NJ turnpike so couldn't say where is nice. Lots of the kids from my school in Connecticut would go to Ocean City.

If you can find MKG, she lives in NJ. I'll see if I can summon more help from the other expats

No, not at all offended but I also live in Essex!!.

From New York you could go up to Cape Cod (fab!) or down to the Delaware beaches of Ocean City, Rehoboth beach, Bethany beach, Dewey Beach (planning to go this year for a weekend, but we are already nearby)
See here...
www.tripadvisor.com/AllLocations-g28929-Places-Delaware.html

lol attila - I just knew you were going to say that. I grew up in East Herts so do have a soft spot for the area

I second Cape Cod - its lovely. But a bit further away than NJ.

Let us know what you decide, notalone.

Capecod does look amazing - would we need to fly there if we decided to go and roughly how much are internal flights in USA?

Point Pleasant looks nice too and a bit closer. Have googled Hoboken and it looks very industrial - would you recommend we stay here just for the NY leg of the holiday or would it be close enough to get to the beaches of NJ too?

You people are all so helpful and I really can't make my mind up lol

Hi notalone,

Re your comments:-

"Capecod does look amazing - would we need to fly there if we decided to go and roughly how much are internal flights in USA?"

Yes you will need to get a flight to Boston (think that's the closest airport). US airfares can vary a lot in price and childrens' airfares are often the same price as adults. Look at airlines like TED (which I think is United's subsiduary).

"Point Pleasant looks nice too and a bit closer".

Would recommend Point Pleasant but if you go to the shore you'd be better of staying in or near one of the towns in that area. Would say now that although Asbury Park has a nice beach it needs a lot of money spent on the place.

"Have googled Hoboken and it looks very industrial - would you recommend we stay here just for the NY leg of the holiday"

No to Hoboken full stop. Infact if you are going to NY you'd be better off staying in Manhattan for the first week and then moving onto someone like Point Pleasant for the second week.

Would suggest you have a look at www.tripadvisor.com.

I must admit I wasn't too keen on Hoboken from what I have seen via the www, but Point Pleasant and Cape Cod do look like real possibilities. Thanks for the tripadvisor site attilathemeercat - I am a sucker for checking reviews before I pay for anything so that will be really helpful.

Am going to don my thinking cap and will definitely take all your suggestions on board

BIL just back and he said the museum (as in a night at the museum museum) was great spend hours in there.

Yoy shops are great too .

KLM doing adult returns for £299 in Easter Holidays, don't know about summer.

Why do you want self catering? Rooms can be had v. cheap in the centre and food is as cheap as you want it to be. When I was there (years ago) we had breakfast in a deli/ cafe as the hotel breakfast paled in comparison. Waffles and all that yummy.

That would be toy

Sadly has to be self catering Scramble as am bit of an emetophobe and this combined with the fact that DP used to be a chef and knows what goes on in kitchens, means that I don't seel safe eating out as I worry I will get ill. Sad I know but hey

Skip the beach in NJ. It's not great and will probably not be warm enough for swimming in May/June. There are lots and lots of things to amuse a 6 year old in NYC. Just take the subway everywhere and he'll be happy. My brother rents out rooms in his building in Brooklyn, but may no longer be doing so in May/June. I will ask him. Brooklyn is probably going to be nicer than Queens anyway. He is in Carroll Gardens which is a really nice area. However, really for a lifetime trip you should spend the extra and stay in Manhattan. Look on www.craigslist.org for rooms to rent. Feel free to CAT me for help on figuring out if a place is nice.

Ah thanks SofiaAmes. Once I know when we are able to go I will definitely do that