New York

[Hlpfl]

We are thinking of going to New York for 5 days in the summer. As it’s such a long way and will be our main holiday this year, I was thinking of doing another city in the US whilst we’re over there. Is this a daft idea?

Where would you go? It will be in August. Me, DH and DSs 15 and 17.

*itinerary

@EasterIssland

That would be far too much for me. You will never have time to see and do everything in a big city.

We will go for 5 days and we are all happy to realise that we won't see everything.

The city is 300+ years old, it will be there for us to come again.

The best advice for NY is to pick out what you want to see. No two people are the same - but zone it. You don’t want to go from the Statue of Liberty to Central Park and the Met, if you can avoid it, on the same day!

As for another area: you can easily get to Boston. There should be whales to go and see. It’s 4 hours on the train when we did it. Then maybe hire a car and go to Cape Cod? Lots of lovely beaches. Martha’s Vinyard is a separate trip. Or hire a car and go upstate NY. Or carry on up the coast from Boston? Plenty to see. Fly back from Boston.

Going further south will be hot!

I went loads in the 80's and 90's as worked for a courier company, stayed with friends, August is disgusting humidity. I have no desire to return, its so so expensive now and very sterile. the buildings and museums are worth looking at but the ridiculous prices puts me off ever returning....The once edgy areas are all totally santitised and have lost all atmosphere.

I know. I’ve been twice already and I’m seeing things now that I’ve not seen the previous time. I’m repeating things as I’m taking my parents for the first time.

for me 5 days and spend one out of the city is not enough. The city is too big to spend it visiting other towns.
not everyone can go every few years

Thank you for the ideas.

I think this will be our last holiday together, kids probably will want to go with friends in future so I wanted something a bit special/different.

We went last July & the weather was fine. Highly recommend the 9/11 memorial, High Line & Brooklyn. Check out the NYC ferry to Brooklyn etc, a $2.60 stunning boat trip. Walking across Brooklyn Bridge in the evening it’s nice & cool and the lights are stunning. Some lovely parks & green spaces apart from Central Park - we loved Prospect Park in Brooklyn & Bryant Park.

We wanted to relax after all the walking etc so had a separate week in Greece in August.

We wanted to relax after all the walking etc so had a separate week in Greece in August.

Haha I love this, we needed a holiday to recover from our holiday

We went last August. Was hot but not unbearable. We also went to Washington DC which was tremendous.

We did New York & Washington- it was very hot!! To hot to really walk as much as we would have liked to! To hot to sit on the tour buses! 9/11 museum was worth it, Statue of Liberty was lovely but I think a cruise around it would have been just as good. Though scootering through Central Park was good - to hot to have walked and seen as much as we did.

Washington we thankfully had a pool which we spent afternoons in!

We did 4 days in NY and 3 in Washington.
i would definitely go back to both places but not in the heat of July/august.

We’ve just done 6 days and it wasn’t long enough. Still to do 9/11 museum, Summit Ome, the High Line, Chelsea Market, any of the museums. The list goes on.

@mickeysmug most people go to NY for less than 5 days, anything more in a city would be too much for me as has been said. I'm not saying you can "complete" it, but you can see the big hitters in plenty of time over 5 days, I've already described below what I managed on one of my 2.5 day trips.

I did a week last august and it was absolutely brilliant. Yes it's hot but it wasn't unbearable and sometimes you've just got to go when you can rather than the optimum season (which is often not compatible with school hols etc).

Internal flights are also relatively cheap so in theory you could go literally anywhere. But Boston, DC, Maine and Cape Cod are obvious options given proximity and transport links. It also depends on whether you want another city or a change of pace/scenery. And how much you want to spend of course.

Long Island, out to The Hamptons for beaches.

I’d go up to Boston, we’ve done Washington NYC and Boston in one trip before and it was fantastic. I definitely preferred Boston.
In New York definitely get out to Brooklyn. One of my absolute favourite parts of the city. One not to miss

We went in July. Is very hot but all shops and cafes/restaurants have lovely cold air con for refuge.
Food is VERY expensive. Think $15-$20 dollars for a simple bagel sandwich. Main meal in a restaurant $50 per person minimum.

Many things to do. A few are listed.

Central Park.
The highline.
Times square
Free Statton Island Ferry for views of Statue of Liberty.
Ground zero - very humbling
Empire state building.

Get Amtrak train at very reasonable cost to Niagra falls on Canadian side for the extra couple of days and can fly home from Toronto. Takes 9 hours on train but very very comfortable and time goes fast.
The falls are the most amazing spectacle and there are trips to view right up close on boats and behind the falls on foot. There’s a zip wire, viewing tower with restaurant and other attractions. To be clear, you don’t want to do the American side, the Canadian side is the absolute best. You won’t regret it - perfect end to holiday.

We also went in Grand Central station to get out of the heat. It’s worth a look inside and is lovely and cool

Exactly!!!

We were planning NYC and Chicago, a week in each. Unfortunately, a DC’s passport is about to expire. Only realised this as we were looking at the visa waiver. I don’t know if we’ll get it in time and the prices will be astronomical by then.

Re my post above. People who’ve been before, how difficult is passport control? DC has an in-date passport from another (EU) country. We thought of using that, rather than wait for her replacement, but is it likely to be more difficult to explain if she travels on a different one to the rest of us?

You could do Salem in late October (easy train ride from Boston) as it’s Halloween (go at at weekend for best effect). New York does a fab Halloween parade too.

I was cabin crew. I reckon I’ve clocked up over 250 days in New York, and still haven’t seen everything! Just wandering around is best. Seeing Grand Central station, or the library, or something being filmed. It will be very hot in August, but one good thing about skyscrapers is that one side of the road is always in the shade! I think the Highline is over rated too, and Chelsea markets. The helicopter trip is amazing, although expensive. It’s definitely the best thing I’ve done in New York.

Boston would be a good pair up for that holiday. There’s lots of water and parks for hot days. But I’d be tempted to stay somewhere just outside New York for a few days, somewhere with a nice pool and a nearby train station that goes into New York, so you can relax if you like, or nip back to the city. (Stay centrally for a few days first).

DD went in August last year, and they had one day where it was unbearable to do anything but the rest of the time was fine, and everywhere inside is air conditioned. And most of the streets are quite shady from the height of the buildings. The only thing they didn't enjoy was a beach day because the heat was relentless and the sand so hot you couldn't walk or sit on it... hence the locals staying well away! They really enjoyed the outdoor cinema in the park at night but did say that a few evening outdoor things were cancelled due to lightening.

Also one nice thing about the hot days is they turn on the fire hydrants and let them spray water over the streets so you can play in them. It's lovely and cooling.

Or go in October half term! Still bright and sunny but so much cooler!!

You will have a blast with mid to late teens in NYC, but as everyone said, it'll be that special kind of east coast city hot you just don't get anywhere else! 5 days plenty for first trip, more days just overwhelming.

If you can add days elsewhere, do it! You'll just be getting used to EST by then. But don't go south, I'll just be hotter. Take it from me, 17 years of (Washington) DC area summers raising kids and I never really got used to it! Go north, train or domestic flight. So much to see, make most of awesome a/c everywhere & plenty of ice in your drinks!