Itinerary

Hi friends. New member here planning 1st NY trip this summer (8/3-8/7). Hotel is booked - we%26#39;re a couple blocks south of Central Park. Please let me know if this makes ANY sense at all:

Day 1

Check in around 4pm Unpack check out hotel. Walk over to Carnegie hall 鈥?take pictures. Buy MetroCard, take Subway to Times Square. Walk around, take pics/videos, go to shops, . Eat Italian for dinner at Becco. Take Subway back to hotel.

Day 2

Breakfast at Park Caf茅. Subway to Pier area for Statue of Liberty ferry or cruise. Get pics of Wall Street, Federal Reserve, WTC ground zero. Street vendor lunch. Maybe walk through Little Italy/Chinatown. Take subway to Brooklyn, walk around Brooklyn Heights 鈥?eat Brooklyn pizza. Get pics/video from Brooklyn Bridge. Walk over Brooklyn Bridge. Subway back to hotel.

Day 3

Breakfast at Park Caf茅. Subway to Harlem 鈥?see Apollo, Clinton鈥檚 office, Abyssynia Church. Lunch at Sylvia鈥檚 Soul Food Restaurant. Subway to Garment district 鈥?let wife shop. Dinner %26amp; Jazz at Birdland. Subway back to hotel.

Day 4

Morning walk through Central Park 鈥?start around West%26amp;59th, end @ 65th%26amp;5th. Walk down 5th Ave 鈥?shop some more. Get pics of Trump Tower, St Patrick鈥檚 Cathedral. Lunch @ Istana. Take Top of the Rock tour@ Rockefeller Ctr. Back to hotel and rest. Broadway show at night 鈥?dinner wherever.

Day 5

Leave

I figure if you guys are BRUTAL and I follow the recommendations, it just might be a great trip. I%26#39;m the ';trip man'; in the family and I always plan great ones - NY just has so many possibilities and so many things that are different from anywhere else in the world...I just wanna get this one right too.

Itinerary

Day 1: If you%26#39;re hotel is a few blocks south of Central Park, there%26#39;s no reason to take the subway from Becco back to it. Just walk, especially if it%26#39;s a nice summer night.

Day 2: I would go to Chinatown after you walk across the bridge. As you have it now, you%26#39;re doubling back on yourself by going from the Financial District to Chinatown to the Brooklyn side of the bridge.

Day 3: What is your wife shopping for in the Garment District? I ask because the name misleads people sometimes--it%26#39;s a place for fabric wholesalers and the like, not a place to buy finished clothes.

Personally, I would eat somewhere else then go to Birdland. The food at jazz clubs tends to be mediocre.

Day 4: Do you have a credit at Istana or something? Hotel restaurants here tend to be terribly overpriced and sort of blah, with a couple of exceptions, so I%26#39;m curious why/how you picked this place.

Itinerary

Great recommendations, thanks!

As far as garment district, I heard in addition to the fabrics there are shops with cute cheap purses, shoes, etc. All I know about this is 3rd-hand info.

Istana was a random pick that seemed to be 1. in the area and 2. nice atmosphere. We%26#39;re 100% open to other suggestions.

OK now I%26#39;m debating whether to do an unlimited ride subway metrocard or just get the gray line all loops tour as our means of getting around. With the above itinerary, any suggestions?

The Grayline tours are just that, tours, not means of getting around. They%26#39;re very slow and might not necessarily go where you want to. The subway is much, much better, but whether you should get unlimited ride cards or pay-per-ride cards depends on whether you%26#39;ll ride enough to make the former worthwhile. (You%26#39;ll have to do a little math to figure this out!)

Day 1

Where exactly are you staying? A couple blocks south of Central Park could mean a lot of things and some of them wouldn%26#39;t require a subway to or from Times Square. If you%26#39;re at the Wellington or Park Central, walking could be quick and more interesting.

I think Becco is pretty ordinary and more about quantity than quality. It%26#39;s a popular pre theater venue too that gets very crowded from 5-7:30. If you want a good yet inexpensive Italian meal there are many better options imo. How many are you and who?

Day 2

The ferry to actually visit the SOL is in a different place than the free Staten Island ferry which passes it from a distance and that%26#39;s in yet a different location than many of the cruises. So you really have to decide exactly which you%26#39;re going to do and know where the various piers are located. If you plan on actually visiting the statue and Ellis Island, buy tickets in advance online and reserve a monument pass so you can go inside. Visiting the statue (and Ellis Island is included if you want) will take some time--4 to 5 hrs. There%26#39;s a tour of the Federal Reserve bank but you have to book in advance.

www.newyorkfed.org/aboutthefed/ny_tours.html

I don%26#39;t think you%26#39;ll have time to do all you list on day 2 if you actually visit the statue and Ellis Island. You might have time if just visiting the statue, but for many, Ellis Island is more interesting.

Day 3

Breakfast at the same place? Why? Try some place else. Too many good options to keep repeating. I agree with Crans that most jazz places don%26#39;t have great food. Do you know who%26#39;s playing at Birdland on that date? You might also consider Dizzy%26#39;s Coca Cola as another jazz venue with great views of Central Park.

On Day 4, start your Central Park walk at the corner of 59th and Sixth Avenue. Go straight into the park on the road, which is obvious; just walk on the sidewalk, not the road itself. What you%26#39;ll find is a loop road, about 2 miles in length, that shows you the best features of the southern third of Central Park, to wit (text copied off one of my Central Park tour signs):

CELEBRITY HOMES

Yoko Ono, Demi %26amp; Ashton, Steve Martin, John McEnroe,

Jerry Seinfeld, Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Lauren Bacall.

MOVIE SCENES

When Harry Met Sally, Elf, Enchanted, Scent of a Woman, Balto, Birth, Along Came Polly, Mr. Deeds, Stuart Little, Kramer vs. Kramer, Ghostbusters, Home Alone II, Cloverfield, The Out-Of-Towners, Splash!

(And a smattering of TV鈥檚 Sex And The City.)

Strawberry Fields, the memorial to John Lennon. Tavern on the Green, Bethesda Fountain, The Dakota Building.

Restrooms are in Tavern On The Green, first left from the entrance. You will exit the park at 59th and Seventh Ave, one block from where you started.

TourguideStan

You guys are amazing-thanks so much. I%26#39;m going back to the drawing board and will post a revised version later. Talk to you in a few days.

long hair cut