Right, the trip was in May 2007 (for those of you who have stumbled on this) and I’m now finally getting around to posting our top tips!
New Yorkers are friendly: Almost too friendly! We were almost afraid to open our map, not in fear of a mugger thinking we were tourists and thus easy pickings, but because if we got the map out we’d have someone come up to help out. Which was nice most of the time, but there were a few times we were just picking a route, seeing what we might want to see. And the helpful people would insist on telling us what to see and where to go. But other than that, don’t ever be afraid to ask someone, especially when coming up out of the subway. Even native New Yorkers aren’t always sure which direction to go when they get out of the subway! You may want to consider having a small compass on you. As the roads run n/s and e/w and are helpfully numbered it’s very easy to find your way around; however, just coming out of the subway it wasn’t always easy to know what direction we were facing.
Travel: Unlike most of the rest of the US you don’t need a car in NY. In fact, a car would be a handicap. We landed in Newark and took the train to Red Bank, NJ and after the wedding took the same train back directly into Penn Station, NY. Just note that there were two Penn Stations, one in NJ and other in Manhattan! The transport system is quite good.
Subway: Can be quite frustrating. There are very few maps in the stations, many stations don’t have a map at all. Many maps do not show which stops are express as opposed to local, the express trains are definitely express and don’t stop everywhere. The signs are not always easy to see or clear. It can be awkward to see where a train is going and they don’t really run east/west. And getting tickets – that’s a rant in itself. Please note that you really should have enough cash to get your tickets – the machine did not accept our debit cards and to use it as a credit card we needed to provide the zip code for the billing address. Well, we in the UK don’t have a zip code and it won’t accept an equivalent. The manned booths will only take cash and are very unhelpful (the most unhelpful New Yorkers we dealt with!)
Having said all that, once you work the system out it’s very handy. We got 7-day unlimited metro cards, which was good. You can also get limited travel cards and just top them up as needed, but I’d say go with the 7-day card if you’ll be there nearly that long. They also work on the buses and the only new ticket we had to buy was to get to JFK airport. If you aren’t going to be there that long or aren’t going to be riding the subway much the limited travel cards are good and, I believe, up to four people can travel on the same card. Each journey is $2, anywhere you go (other than the airports) and with the limited travel Metro card I believe you get a free journey or two for a certain amount. Not sure of the cost of the buses. As we had the 7-day cards I’m not sure how transfers work. Probably another reason for getting a 7-day card!
Walking: New York is an easy city to walk in. Central Park is lovely, the roads are easy to navigate, and it’s safe. Just keep your eyes open and act as you would in your hometown, take usual precautions with valuables. I even gawked a bit and we were fine. The big tourist areas are probably the safest but we never felt unsafe, even in residential areas or Central Park. A compass may come in handy just to get bearings now and again. And take comfortable shoes.
City Pass: Comes recommended, and check out the site as you can get them for several cities, including some in Canada. Though some places in NY were confusing about how to use it. The ticket would say one thing but the museum would say something different. So we just went with it. Even if you don’t visit all the attractions or an attraction is closed (Intrepid) you get good value. Remember that all the museums in NY charge for admittance (see museums later). For the cost you get entrance for several places – we got Empire State Building, Intrepid (which was closed), American Museum of Natural History (frogs!), Guggenheim, MoMA, Circle Line sightseeing cruise. It now has the Met and not Intrepid and is about $10 more than we paid but still well worth it if you want to see all these or even most of these. I can recommend MoMA and Guggenheim (just to see the building it’s worth it!)
Museums: All charge entrance fees. There are ‘pay what you can’ evenings at least one night a week, check each museum for when these are on, but be prepared for them to be crowded at these times. NY claims to have more museums than any other city in the world and this may be true. There are a lot (Joe grumbled the whole time) and there are some very good ones. I only saw about a quarter of the ones I wanted to see! Time Out usually has information on what is showing, the costs and when ‘pay what you can’ is on.
Broadway: We went to see Wicked. I booked tickets on-line way in advance of the trip. Just like the West End, Broadway tickets are expensive (about the same cost once the exchange rate is taken into account). There are suppose to be cheaper alternatives, but if there is a particular show you want to see and you’re only going to be there for a limited time, I’d recommend booking in advance. If you don’t care what you see, just want a Broadway show, then from what I saw there are cheaper alternatives. Unfortunately we didn’t do any of these so I’m not sure what information to give! But I would recommend seeing a show. Of course.
Getting to the airport: Air Train to JFK or Newark. We didn’t fly into or out of LaGuardia but from the website it is on the subway or bus routes. The JFK airtrain is free around the airport and to and from the car rental areas, but costs once you are outside this loop; Newark airtrain only goes around the terminals and to the train station. Coming into Newark we got the airtrain to the train station. Newark airtrain comes into the Newark Airport train station and from there you can get a train into NY or other areas of NJ. From Jamaica in NY you can get the airtrain to JFK airport. It was an easy journey from Manhattan – we went to Penn Station, NY, got the E train to Sutphin Blvd-Archer Ave stop, and then got the airtrain from there. There are two different E trains going to different destinations so do check the side of the train to make sure it’s going to Sutphin Blvd – Archer Ave! It is helpfully announced when you are at the airtrain stop (if you can understand the announcements on the subway. Having said that, the airtrain announcement was the clearest I’d heard the entire time I was there!)
Can’t think of anything else and this is long enough as is!
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