Paid Members PunkStep Posted February 9, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted February 9, 2017 You can probably squeeze in several prostitutes in that time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobra_gordo Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Yesterday I had the bizarre idea of taking the family to New York for a few days at Christmas (27th-30th or there abouts). The wife is well and truly on board so I've been looking at flights and hotels and all that jazz and just looking for a few tips/ pointers. Â I've heard it's better to fly from Dublin in to the states to make security easier at the other side as you're already cleared. Is this the same if you're using Dublin to connect from or only if you go from there first? Might be a daft question but never been to the states before so not 100% on how it works. Â Are there any good times to buy flights/ hotels? I've missed the January sales but no idea if there's anything similar mid-year. It's me, the Mrs and our three kids who will be 5, 9 and 13 at that time. Generally better to go package or book separately? Â Best place to stay? Bottom end of Manhattan seems to be where all the stuff we want to see/do is but up top seems cheaper. Is it worth going uptown and relying on subways or will that be way too much of a faff? Â Cheers chaps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slapnut Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Best place to stay? Bottom end of Manhattan seems to be where all the stuff we want to see/do is but up top seems cheaper. Is it worth going uptown and relying on subways or will that be way too much of a faff? Â All depends what you're looking to do really. When you say bottom end of Manhattan, do you mean below where the streets are numbered? Â If you've never been before and you're interested in the touristy bits, I'd recommend staying in Midtown as you'll likely be walking distance to the likes of the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, Times Square etc. You should be able to get some decent hotel prices there too, probably cheaper than you'll end up paying if you stay Downtown (Soho, Greenwich Village etc.). Â I wouldn't necessarily recommend staying above, say, 72nd Street. That's where it stops becoming touristy and starts becoming residential. That's not to say there isn't things to do above 72nd Street, but you'll probably travelling down to Midtown or Downtown a lot. Â The subways are easy and cheap so getting around will be no problem at all. Don't worry about staying near Central Park, for example, if you want to visit the World Trade Center. You can get there in probably 15 minutes on the subway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobra_gordo Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 (edited) Cheers fella. By bottom end I mean towards the southern end of Central Park. As you can tell I genuinely don't know much about the place only the touristy bits all seem to be down there. Never been before so travelling down to look at stuff constantly is what I want to avoid really. Done it in other places where I've been 40 minutes out of the centre and most of the time is spent on trains. Anything that's a must do or any hidden gems/ good free things to do? Edited February 21, 2017 by cobra_gordo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slapnut Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 In that case, your best bet would be staying in Midtown which is the area between the bottom of Central Park and 14th Street, give or take. I stayed at the Wellington Hotel on 7th Avenue and 55th Street when I was there last May which I can recommend. Nothing luxury, but it was clean, reasonably priced, and in a great location. Anywhere between 30th Street and 59th Street is good location-wise. You'll be walking distance to plenty of attractions and nice places to eat, but also close to subways if you want to head downtown. Â Most of my recommendations will be food based to be honest! If you're close enough, there's a deli on 7th Avenue and 36th Street (I think) called Cafe Del Sol that does the best pancakes I've ever tasted for something silly like $4. For pizza, you'll be able to get good New York-style pretty much anywhere for between $1-3 a slice - and they're fucking massive slices - but my favourite was always from La Famiglia. If you want to spend a bit more on pizza, Lombardi's on Spring Street in Soho is absolutely delicious. Just around the corner from Lombardi's is a small cheesecake place called Eileen's which is the best cheesecake you'll ever taste. Â Oh, and definitely go to one of the Halal Guys street food carts on 6th Avenue and 53rd Street for some chicken and rice. If you're anywhere near the area, you'll be able to smell it and you'll see people queuing no matter what time of day it is. Trust me, don't let the queue put you off, it's not a long wait and it's worth it. Â I wouldn't really recommend eating in Times Square unless you see something you really fancy. It's overpriced and nothing special. Â It's always worth going up the Empire State Building, but it'll be a long wait. Top of the Rock is definitely the best way to see the skyline as a) they give you a time to come back and the wait is a fraction of the Empire State Building, b) you'll have a better view of Central Park, and c) you'll actually see the Empire State Building which is glorious. Â If you're thinking of seeing a Broadway show, don't bother buying tickets well in advance. Go to the TKTS desk in the middle of Times Square at (I think) 3pm and you'll be able to get tickets for most shows at a discounted rate. There'll be big queue, but it moves quite quickly. Â I'd recommend hiring a couple of bikes and going for a ride in Central Park if you're into that sort of thing. I worked in a bike rental shop when I did my summer work/travel program there so I did this about 4 times a week. I think booking online in advance sometimes works out cheaper, but you're likely to get a better price by negotiating a price with any of the hundreds of people holding signs near Central Park. They'll usually then walk you to their shop which'll only be a block or two away from the park entrance. Â I could probably write a scotswizard length essay about New York - let me know if you have any other questions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator Onyx2 Posted February 21, 2017 Awards Moderator Share Posted February 21, 2017 Book your Empire tickets in advance. Grin as you sail past others in the queue. Â There's also a multiday pass thing my friends did last year, one ticket for most of the big things in NYC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobra_gordo Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Cheers lads! Anything else you can think of let me know. I'm determined if I'm spunking a few grand on a four day stay we're cramming in as much as possible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slapnut Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 There's also a multiday pass thing my friends did last year, one ticket for most of the big things in NYC. Â Ah yeah, the New York Pass is a must for first timers. It covers entry to most of the standard tourist attractions like Empire State Building, Top of the Rock, Statue of Liberty etc. and it'll save you a fortune on entry fees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Gus Mears Posted March 29, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted March 29, 2017 I'm going back to Boston with a couple of friends next March for about 10 days and we will be there during St. Patrick's day, where they have a large parade and all of the American's pretending to be Irish. Â I absolutely loved Boston, it was the best holiday of my life. Bukowski's is probably my favourite bar in the world, an absolute dive which is lodged on the arse end of a car park over Com.Avenue. Dozens and dozens of amazing IPA's, all stored in a massive bathtub full of ice. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Sergio Mendacious Posted March 29, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted March 29, 2017 If you don't want to stand out for the Halal Guys at 53rd, I can recommend their bricks and mortar place on 14th Street — menu and food is basically identical, and it's indoors.  Food tip I always give is that if you don't want to tackle an insane ordering system, the deli food at Sarges, around 3rd and 30th, is excellent, and there's often really good groupons for eating in.  Seconded on Eileens — it's practically perfect cheesecake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator Posted March 29, 2017 Awards Moderator Share Posted March 29, 2017 I've missed all the Amsterdam chat but we're also thinking of going for a few days in June - it's the art and museums that's the draw so looking at the Museum quarter to stay, but that looks like one of the more expensive bits of the city. If anyone's got any tips for more affordable places near the Rijks/Van Gogh/Hermitage that'd be great. (No interest in the red light district!) Â Also, how easy is it to get to Antwerp from Amsterdam? Quite fancy popping there while we're over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Gus Mears Posted March 30, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted March 30, 2017 I stayed in Westlandgraacht HG and that was ideal. It's about a 5-10 minute journey on the tram to the Stedelijk and van Gogh museaums and a further 5 mins from the Rijks Museum. I would imagine you may well want something more salubrious than the Bargain Toko Hostel, equipped with chod-shelf and minuscule shower, but there is plenty at that area at a reduced cost as compared to the centre.  Make sure you get a walk around the art/antique quarter, which is near the Rijks Museum. Loads of artisan shops and less tourists.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted March 30, 2017 Moderators Share Posted March 30, 2017 Everything is super accessible in Amsterdam, and one of the best things to do in that city is just walk around anyway. So at that time of year I wouldn't worry too much about being very close to stuff. The canal boats are a nice way to get around if you aren't in a rush.   Anyone have any good tips on car rental sites / companies to use for European holidays? Specifically, I'm going to Porto. Basically I'm too lazy to research it properly, and will end up using one of the aggregator sites like rentalcars otherwise. Doing the research is so frustrating because it's hard to compare apples with apples as everyone tacks on this and that fees at different points in the journey and it's not very transparent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Arch Stanton Posted March 30, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted March 30, 2017 When we went to Amsterdam we stayed right in the centre in a perfectly serviceable and affordable hotel and still got round all the museums with no bother. Think we walked most places, don't remember using public transport so if we did it can't have been a problem at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator Posted March 30, 2017 Awards Moderator Share Posted March 30, 2017 When we went to Amsterdam we stayed right in the centre in a perfectly serviceable and affordable hotel and still got round all the museums with no bother. Think we walked most places, don't remember using public transport so if we did it can't have been a problem at all. Do you remember its name? I'll check it out! Â Thanks for the tips everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.