new york in march

seanied

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Righ we are heading to New york in march for 3 nights. Approx 1 day shopping and 2 days sightseeing.

Any recommendations on places to see and also where is the best place to spend a day shopping, either woodbury or jersey gardens
 
Righ we are heading to New york in march for 3 nights. Approx 1 day shopping and 2 days sightseeing.

Any recommendations on places to see and also where is the best place to spend a day shopping, either woodbury or jersey gardens

In my own experience I would prefer Jersey Gardens but it really depens on what your shopping needs are. I myself am a 25 year old male and I think that's why I prefered Jersey Gardens. Woodbury seemed to have a lot more designer stores than Jersey Gardens. That's why if your into your designer clothing and want them cheaper then Woodbury is for you. I found that Jersey Gardens had clothing that suited my needs more - casual clothing. As I said it really depens on your own taste.

You said that you will have 2 days sightseeing - may I suggest that you do it the other way around. If you decided to go on one of the many open top tourist buses you will get to see just about everything you want. They go at night as well so you could visit the Statue of Liberty if you wanted in the morning and then go on the tour in the evening. That way you could visit either Woodbury or Jersey State and still have another day to do some shopping in New York City of you wanted. A trip to Canal Street is also well worth it. If you like designer hand bags and don't mind having fake (really good copies) ones then this is the place for you. I went there with friends last year and the haggling itself is an experience. They will try charge you over the odds but keep bringing them down to the price your willing to pay and if they so no just walk away and they will come down again! Plus a lot of the places along the street have the same stuff so you can really get things cheap if your willing to haggle!!!

A trip to the Empire State Building at night is absolutley fantastic! Prepare for queues though. If you want anymore advice just ask!
 
I was there in January - would recommend ice skating at Rockefeller Centre as its great fun. We went to Empire State Building during the day and there were no queues - incredible views. Recommend going for a drink/dinner in the Marriot Marquis Hotel - 48th floor. Floor to ceiling glass and it revolves giving an amazing view of the cityscape; it is in Times Square. Would highly recommend seeing a show on Broadway - massive choice available. We didn't do much shopping...
 
ice skating in central park was better in my opinion. If you want to go to ellis island and get off to see statue of liberty then that can take a full day. Empire state is open til late approx 11pm i think, so you can do that later in evening. Shops stay open til 10 so could go to outlets in day and others in evening. Personally, thought shopping was better in city. Oh and def see a show. Saw a broadway and off broadway one.
 
My advice for such a short trip is don't WASTE your time trekking out to Jersey Gardens (a kip IMO) or Woodbury (better but too far to be a good use of time) when you can get such great value in Manhattan.

For starters, with the weak dollar, even full price items are great value. Every store has sales on or discounted rails. Macy*s and Bloomingdales give 11% discount to visitors on production of your passport at the information centre. Add in DSW, Filenes etc and there are plenty of shops you can visit as you sightsee instead of wasting a full day shopping. I like Lexington Ave and the area around Union Square for shopping. Personally I think Macy*s is too big and prefer Bloomingdales.

For sights etc, I prefer Top of the Rock to the Empire State Building. Much more civilised queues (usually none at all), friendly staff and importantly, an amazing view of the Empire State Building.

One of my favourite ways to spend a day is subway to Ground Zero area, visit the site and St Pauls chapel nearby. Stroll down to Battery Park via the Famine memorial. Free roundtrip on Staten Island Ferry (don't get off on SI) to get a great view of the Statue of Liberty (sit on the right of the ferry). Subway to Brooklyn, Pizza in Grimaldis, stroll back to Manhattan across the Brooklyn bridge. Shopping at Union Square, back to the hotel, then out for a show followed by dinner.

I echo a previous poster in saying that a visit to the SOL and Ellis Island really is a full day trip and not really advisable for such a short trip. The view of the statue from the Staten Island ferry should give you good pics.

Personally I don't do the whole Canal Street thing. Counterfeit is not a good idea and customs and police are really cracking down, rightfully so. Do you really want to follow a stranger down a back alley in search of a knock off bag? That's Canal St these days. Gone are the visible stalls etc since the crackdown.
 
Here Here - excellent post by shesells....
Plus a morning in Met.
Plus - On my weekend also did a helicopter tour (up and down Hudson river, not over city since 9-11) and was one of the highlights of my life.

Suggested above that you see everything in NewYork in one day...is he having a laugh. Would need 3 months to do it justice.

Couple of hours shopping max and enjoy greatest city in world for rest of your time there.
 
Hi, On such a short trip I would not bother with Woodbury/Jersey gardens. A trip to these places pretty much uses up a whole day, we went to Woodbury common and found shopping in New York itself (especially Macy's) to be pretty much as good in value and definately better in terms of quality. We used up a whole day and regretted it. There is so much to see and do In NY that in my opinion you should stay in NY itself. Enjoy your trip
 
Top of the Rock Rockefeller Centre) is much better than top of empire state building. The view of empire state from top of rock and everything else is great. Also they recently did it up so it's lovely viewing area. Go at dusk to see lights turning on.
 
Anyone got any recommendations for accommodation, we'll be there for the guts of 2 weeks and want residence style accommodation (kitchen facilities, couch etc in room) in or around the midtown area - at a reasonable price of course.
 
Try the Affinia Dumont, they have apartment style rooms with kitchen facilities, reasonable-ish for Manhattan!
 
www.radiocityapartments.com check them out on and see all the great reviews. We stayed there 3 times - amazing location beside Broadway, Times Square, etc. - walking distance to most of Manhattan (my feet can vouch for that!!) and very reasonable costs for what you get - well equipped apartment etc. Plenty of delis around and 5 minute walk to see a Broadway show. We usually take a one bedroomed apartment which has lots of space. Would gladly go back for a fourth time if I can:)
 
Thanks Tink, unfortunately it's all booked out for when I need it - it would have been perfect!! As for the Affinia, when city tax etc is added in, it's getting a bit out of budget, thanks anyway.
 
Check out the hotel specials on - they change weekly or sometimes daily and often include Affinia properties
 
thanks for all your replies, very much appreciated.

All advice taken onboard, thanks again
 
Just another quick question.
I am staying near maddison square garden, if i end up going to a show on broadway what is the best way to get there?? Subway or taxi
 
Just to update, we stayed in a one bedroom suite in The Affinia Eastgate Tower on 38th and 3rd. We had a bedroom (2 double beds), separate living room, 2 tv's, fridge, cooker, microwave etc. Pay movies on the TV and wifi internet access at $40 per week. We were there for 10 nights and our final bill was $2500 - couldn't beat it for value, it'd be perfect for a family too.
Decor was a bit dated, but service and cleanliness were excellent.

One thing, don't use the hotel phone for non-local calls - it'd be cheaper to use your mobile!!
 
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