NY trip

[ClosedAuraOpenMind]

heading to New York for five days in just under three weeks- it's the first time in ages that we've had a big holiday (usually camping trips in the summer - so this is quite the change)
so just want to check we're not missing anything...
flights and hotel are booked, with seats booked on plane
we've all got passports and we've got Estas. DH and I have Covid app on our phones showing vaccination status, got the NHS document for DD (11) showing she's double vaxxed

anything else we need to sort paperwork wise - travel never used to feel this complicated!
and any suggestions for places/things to do...

Where are you staying in NYC?. What sort of things do you as a family like doing?. Are you planning on seeing a Broadway show for instance?.

You may also want to print out all your vaccination statuses to show the staff member at check in as a back up plan.

Half the clothes and twice the money is a good mantra!!!. If you have photocard driving licenses take those with you too as they are good for ID purposes.

Book your attractions- early slot for Statue of Liberty if going to the island, Top of the Rock, Tenement Building etc .

Very good walking shoes too.

Travel insurance with a massive amount of cover available for medical bills. Plus any medications you might need, including things like paracetamol. They are a lot more expensive over there.

Some small bills for tipping. You should make sure you understand the “rules” around tipping before you go, including leaving money on the bed for housekeeping.

The Uber app on your phone if you don’t already have it. If you ignore the surge pricing aspect, hailing a yellow taxi in the middle of a storm can be near on impossible.

Definitely take some good walking shoes.

Deep pockets. I was shocked at how expensive everything was. I used to work over there pre kids and live in London so am used to the cost of living in these sorts of cities - or so I thought. The exchange rate isn’t helping either.

I'm there at the moment! Not finding things expensive but I live in London. Think $4 a coffee, $10 dollars a hot sandwich, $25 a nice main.

Tipping would add things up more but so far we've mainly eaten at on the go places or from supermarkets so it's not the same as when seated/waited on.

NYC is currently experiencing a polio problem. Are you all vaccinated?

Paracetamol (acetaminophen/ Tylenol) is cheap as chips and you can buy containers of 300 pills in any drugstore, Target, Walmart, etc.

Bring masks regardless of covid vaccination status.

So is London! What's the link to buy paracetamol?

A pack of 24 Tylenol was $5. The same amount of paracetamol in the U.K. is just over a pound. That’s five times the price!!!!

Just come back paracetamol was very expensive so not sure what you are referring to. Subway was great value for money and very quick.

We found it quite cheap! A lot of the sights are free. We got food to take out and ate in the park or grabbed a dollar slice as we walked.

The taco place and doughnuts at Chelsea market after walking the High Line were good.

A pub, I think it was TriBeCa tavern next to the ghostbusters firehouse had 10 dollar lunch deals.

Staten Island Ferry is free

Chinatown - look for the queues and eat there! Worked for us, a meal was around 6 dollars.

Times Square is horrible, we visited in the early morning and it was good to see but at night it is hell on earth.

And the people that say paracetamol is cheap are the same ones that say Venice smells. Maybe 30 year ago 🤣

We went a couple of months ago, having not been for 20 years.

Favourite places were the High Line (did it twice!), Brooklyn/Dumbo and 9/11 memorial. Top tip is to get NY ferry to Dumbo - we jumped on at E34th. Cheap as chips (subway fare), and on a sunny day felt like a trip in the Med! Download app online and buy tickets on there. Then Cecconi’s outdoor table at sunset and walk back over Brooklyn Bridge at night, was fantastic.

Zone your days so you aren’t wasting valuable time travelling, we did around 20K steps a day.

We are in London but found NYC extortionate. DD wanted a Pret baguette, the same one she has at home that costs around £3.50. (Zillions if Prets in NYC) $10 in NYC…..

Would definitely recommend the New York Pass! Definitely value for money for attractions and we did things that we wouldn't have paid for separately but had an hour spare etc like Madam Tussauds - it opened at 9 and our attraction didn't open till 10 so we just popped in!

With the $/£ exchange rate as it now is, prices will be huge! @ClosedAuraOpenMind $ snd £ at near parity.

Top tip: prices exclude tax. This will be around 7-8%. In a restaurant, the tip is double the tax! So prices are around 25/30% more than you think.

No one has mentioned the great museums in NY. The Tenement museum is very good. MoMA, the Met and the Guggenheim are world class. Then there’s the view walking back over the Brooklyn Bridge, the Staten Island ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. Go to Ellis Island. Walk in Central Park. Definitely walk the High Line and stop off at Chelsea Market. Times Square is yuk.

There are also amazing buildings. The Chrysler Building and the Empire Stare building are would renown. Others are beautiful too.,Have fun but Broadway tickets will seem very very expensive now- unless you bought your $ some time ago.

@ThisUserNameIsAvailableOk

Acetaminophen is cheap.

You can currently buy a container of 100 generic acetaminophen (aka Tylenol) for $5.99, and since there's a BOGO sale the second is approximately $3.00.

@mathanxiety that's not cheap. It's much cheaper in the UK. I've just checked and for the equivalent here (200) it would be £4.42

I live in NY. I've never been bankrupted by buying paracetamol 🤔

Anyway, there's so much stuff to do, it's tricky to recommend without knowing what you like but here are some thoughts:

• Walk the full length of the Highline from Hudson Yards. Explore the mall and the Vessel at the HY end and go to The Whitney Museum at the other end.
• Go to Top of the Rock at dusk.
• I bet your daughter would like Museum of Ice Cream and the Color Factory - go first thing before they get busy.
• See amazing free views of the city from Gantry Plaza state park, get an (affordable!) Michelin starred lunch at Cara Enrique and check out the contemporary art at at MoMa PS1.
• Brunch and people watching in the West Village. Extra Virgin is a fab restaurant and not too expensive. You can always check out Washington Square Park afterwards - there are usually street performers and the playgrounds are fun. There's also a teeny kids boutique there called AnMe which has fun toys and gorgeous clothes and another one called Pink Chicken which does great girls clothes.
• Times square is horrible. Go, check it out and leave immediately.
• As per a pp - Chelsea Market is fun. Go to Los Tacos for lunch.
• I rate Brooklyn Bagel for bagels, PJ Clarke's for burgers and Ovest for fancy pizza.

Happy to answer any more specific questions :)

"I live in NY. I've never been bankrupted by buying paracetamol 🤔"

Of course not. It has a very strange and outdated reputation for being the place to stock up though, despite being more expensive than the UK.

Totally agree about Times Square and Los Tacos.

Top of the rock is a must !

If you want to go and see a show on Broadway, you can book tickets a lot more cheaply through todaytix, especially if you are happy to book on the day. There's an app, download it in advance.

I really loved Katz's Deli, where they filmed the scene in When Harry Met Sally "I'll have what she's having"- and order pastrami on rye! Get a fresh bagel for breakfast. Walk most places if you can, there's so much to take in. The Guggenheim is amazing as is the natural history museum. Go first thing to either top of the rock OR the empire state, I don't think you need to do both.

thanks @allfurcoatnoknickers that's helpful
I had thought about the Museum of Ice Cream, and also planning I think to do the Empire State (rather than Top of the Rock or other viewing platforms) but would be good to go at sunset
and the highline was definitely on my list, so will be doing that
also wondered what the situation was regarding mask wearing? we'll bring some, but just wondered if there were any rules currently in place?

@ClosedAuraOpenMind The mask mandate was just dropped - pretty much everywhere except in medical settings like doctors and hospitals. Bring a couple anyway though - some individual businesses might require you to wear them.