Zanzon Shtayeh

Dear All
Im coming to San Fransisco for a week with my work on October, and then i want to go to visit new york for a couple of days
I want to ask about the best places to visit there
and if you please advise me with good hotels with low costs, and also i want to ask about the approximated budget for two days
and any other advices you may tell me
Many thanks

SSZ

Hi Zanzon Shtayeh

I was in New York for 3 days 2 months ago on my first trip ever. I will tell you what I did so you could get an idea to plan your trip.

Since its a short trip its best to stay in Manhattan as if you stay in one of the boroughs you will lose time in travelling. The hotels are expensive but to save time you got to pay the premium.

I stayed at Pod 39 which is located on the East 39th Street. Just off Grand Central Station. The rate I paid was US$300 for 2 nights. If you are looking for cheaper options then you could look at Jazz @ Columbus which is a hostel accommodation it has got good reviews. Around US$45 for a 1 night.

I hired the Citi Bike for 24 hours at US$12. If you are cycling person this is the best option to go around Manhattan as Citi Bike has many docking stations and plenty of bikes. Otherwise you could walk around Times Square as most of the attractions are closely located. And for going a bit far the Underground is well connected.

The must see places you could do in 2 days

1) Grand Central Station
2)Times Square
3)Empire State Building
4)Rockefeller Centre
5)9/11 Memorial Museum at the new World Trade Centre
6)The Oculus
7)Financial District
8)Brooklyn Bridge
9) Staten Island Ferry ride(Free) from Battery Park
10) Central Park

I think this is about what you could do in 2 days.

The 9/11 Memorial Museum which is newly opened in highly recommended It would take about 5 hours if you go about at a leisurely pace seeing all the things there. You could also have a faster browse in about 2-3 hours.

If you take the Staten Island ferry which is a free service you could see the Statue of Liberty as the ferry passes it. To go to Ellis Island where the Statue of Liberty is located you need to pay for it and also I heard the lines are long to get in.

You could Cycle or Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge which has got some lovely views of the Manhattan Skyline.

Times Square the worlds most visited tourist site should be seen in day time as well as night time when all the Neon lights are in full display.

If you have further questions feel free to ask.

Also I suggest you read the Trip report by DanielW titled New York, New York.

nrr

Are you a big "museum person", if so you'd have trouble meshing post#1 and museums.
Are you a "history person", many areas (particularly lower Manhattan) has nice stuff to see.
You must fine tune your major interests with only 2 days to do them in.
If you have 2 days of rain, you might plan indoor things like museums.
Get a few guide books and see what things whet your appetite.

KathyWdrf

Good points, but getting "a few guide books" for a 2-day city visit is overkill. There's plenty of reasonable info free on the web, such as TripAdvisor and other travel sites. Look at TripAdvisor's ranked list of things to do in NYC, for example.

Antonio8069

Plan your transpo around your accommodation & arrival/departure airport:

http://www.mta.info/

AirBnB is not really an option unless you are prepared to travel further afield (e.g. Jersey City, NJ). My PF at the moment is Queen's for access to JFK & LGA.

AAMillionaire

There's a nice hotel on W77th Street and Broadway that has reasonable rates and is very close to the 1, 2, and 3 trains. It is also walking distance to The Museum of Natural History as well as Central Park. The hotel is a NYLO property: https://www.nylohotels.com/

What to visit depends on your interests. Some ideas are:

-Times Square area
-A Broadway show
-Statue of Liberty --If you don't want to go to Liberty Island, you can take the free Staten Island Ferry which offers views of The Statue as well as the harbor, the skyline, etc.
-9/11 Memorial
-Central Park
-Grand Central Station
-Empire State Building
-Wall Street (For me, this would be low on the list)
-Little Italy and Chinatown (Di Palo's is an excellent Italian Deli where you can get some fine cheeses, dried salami and deli meats. They will also make delicious panini (my favorite is prosciutto and mozzarella.)
-Museum(s)
-I enjoy The Tenement Museum on Orchard Street and Delancy. They have several tours of a tenement which are very informative and tell the story of The Lower East Side.
-Pastrami or Corned Beef sandwich at Katz's Deli.

There's so much to do in NYC. What to do really depends on what you like. If you give us more information, we can narrow the list down.

*My favorite pizza is at Pizza Suprema on 8th Avenue and W31st Street, near Penn Station.

**My favorite bagel is from Bagel Talk on Amsterdam and W78th Street. This is very close to the hotel I suggested.

AMflier

The specifics will be up to you,

A ticketed Show (need not be Broadway)

A free Show / Concert

A Museum

A Tall Building

A stroll along or over one of the rivers

A Park

A borough that is not Manhattan

One or two tourist neighborhoods (Times Square, Roc Center etc.)

One or two non tourist neighborhoods

Eat from a food truck / cart

Eat food from someplace exotic

Enjoy!

PsiFighter37

I would keep in mind that places like Times Square are spots that you can walk through and spend (at most) 15 minutes in, unless you are mesmerized by giant electronic billboards. The last thing would be to slow it down - the pace of the city is frenetic, but be the slow person making their way up the High Line

tcook052

MHO is to leave the shows, museums, and concerts for another time as they'll take up too much time in a very short stay. Group sights that are close together such as Wall Street, 9/11 Memorial and One World Trade Center, and Brooklyn Bridge, then Empire State Building, Flatiron, Madison Square Park, Macy's and Grand Central Terminal and maybe the U.N. Building and then the last grouping in the area around Times Square, Rockefeller Center and Central Park.

All those sights will easily fill up 2 days if you explore them at a moderate pace.

Zanzon Shtayeh

Dear All,

I am looking for accommodation in newyork for me and my friend in late October for two days.
We want to do a tour in the city, i think Manhattan is a good place to stay?

Do you have any option/suggestion from where i can find cheap accommodation, I have tried several websites including airbnb.com and roomster.com , is there other good website that i can search for a motel?

Looking forward to your reply.

gfunkdave

Try expedia.com, kayak.com, orbitz.com

Hotels in Manhattan are expensive. There's very little way around it. If you can't afford to stay in Manhattan, try Long Island City or Jersey City.

dstan

Zanzon, welcome to FlyerTalk! I'd encourage you to please read our Sticky at the top of the forum. If you could provide more information about your specific budget ("cheap" for you may mean something different for others) and interests, we will better be able to assist you.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/new-y...st-really.html

Out of my Element

Do know that Airbnb and such is almost always illegal in NYC, especially in Manhattan, so many of the listings there are scams or could just disappear when you arrive, so stay away from those.

NYC isn't cheap. Unless you pick a real off peak time to visit expect to pay $200/night at least.

Blumie

AirBnB works great in NYC. I know many people who have had terrific experiences.

Out of my Element

Sure, many people have had terrific experiences. Others have arrived to find their vacation lodging turned out to be unsafe, not as advertised, or just plain not there.

I'm not a fan of encouraging folks to break the law. I'm surprised you have such a cavalier attitude about this.