New York trip at Easter

[Louis Balfour]

We want to take our teenage children to New York at Easter (flights allowing) and the shopping list of things to see is as follows:

Stature of Liberty
Central Park
Empire State Building
National 9/11 Memorial (and Museum)
Guggenheim Museum
Broadway
Times Square
Shops - Macy’s, Bloomingdales, Apple, Saks 5th Avenue
A sightseeing Cruise seems highly recommended
Top of the Rock Observatory

We want a Hilton standard hotel and we will fly economy.

Can those who have been there please advise what budget I need for this, how long we need to stay to do that list and where would be a good location as a base?

Thanks in advance.

[RDMcG]

Hilton Midtown is OK and central. I would think $300-$400 a night. You should book Top of the Rock in advance- much better esxperience than the Empire State. Guggenheim is impressive but better art at MOMA or the Whitney.

[Radec]

If your on a budget Hampton Inn which is Hilton on 8th Ave is decent as a base close to Times Square, Central Park etc and walking distant to most of the other stuff on your list.

At the higher end of the budget, the Hilton on 6th Ave at the opposite side is pretty decent and again close to most of the things you want to do.

Google Newyorkpass for discount on attractions.

You could probably do everything you listed in 5 days as a few of the places are quite close to each other but 7 is probably better if you want to take it easy and explore more which is always recommended. There's so many little things that you discover just by walking around.

[Alexandra]

Why would you fly all that way to go to an Apple store?

[redrabbit29]

The High Line - a very long disused railway that runs through NYC. Sometimes you get performers up there and it's full of plants and flowers and art.

It's also about 30ft in the air so you have a great view over the tops of the roads and just a different angle on the whole place

Entirely free too

[ecsrobin]

Louis Balfour said:

We want to take our teenage children to New York at Easter (flights allowing) and the shopping list of things to see is as follows:

Stature of Liberty
Central Park
Empire State Building
National 9/11 Memorial (and Museum)
Guggenheim Museum
Broadway
Times Square
Shops - Macy’s, Bloomingdales, Apple, Saks 5th Avenue
A sightseeing Cruise seems highly recommended
Top of the Rock Observatory

We want a Hilton standard hotel and we will fly economy.

Can those who have been there please advise what budget I need for this, how long we need to stay to do that list and where would be a good location as a base?

Thanks in advance.

Based on 4 in 2 rooms.

£2752 flights London to New York 01 April - 08 April
£4000 Hilton hotel
£600 Broadway show
£440 citypass which covers Statue of Liberty, empire state and 9/11 and top of the rock

Plus food and drink and anything else budget £10-15k I’d guess.

Edited by ecsrobin on Thursday 2nd February 16:00

[ettore]

Louis Balfour said:

We want to take our teenage children to New York at Easter (flights allowing) and the shopping list of things to see is as follows:

Stature of Liberty
Central Park
Empire State Building
National 9/11 Memorial (and Museum)
Guggenheim Museum
Broadway
Times Square
Shops - Macy’s, Bloomingdales, Apple, Saks 5th Avenue
A sightseeing Cruise seems highly recommended
Top of the Rock Observatory

We want a Hilton standard hotel and we will fly economy.

Can those who have been there please advise what budget I need for this, how long we need to stay to do that list and where would be a good location as a base?

Thanks in advance.

About 3 days will polish off the lot - quite a few on your list may underwhelm and certainly don’t take a great deal of time - you can bunch them by location.

Guggenheim (excellent) and Central Park - half a day
9/11 memorial (excellent) and S of Liberty - half a day
Empire State, Broadway & Times Sq (meh) - half a day (or into the evening if you see a show/go to the Theatre)

Will leave plenty of time for other cool stuff. I wouldn’t trouble yourself with the department stores overly - London ones considerably better but fabulous shopping can be had downtown (along with better restaurants/bars, music etc)

Fabulous city, worth getting away from the TikTok spots:

[speedchick]

We had 2 full and 1 half day in NY 2 weeks ago. Hotel was just off Times Square.
We did Lower Manhatten 1st day, did 1 World Observatory at sunset (made for stunning photos).
Mid Manhatten 2nd day (including TOTR). Then did Intrepid, had some food and did the Circle Line harbour lights cruise.
Wasn't impressed with Macys and Bloomingdales, but loved the M&M shop!

[Louis Balfour]

Thank you for all the responses so far chaps, very helpful.

[fourstardan]

Can I come? I doubt you'll notice with the amount you are looking to spend lol.

You've covered everything...consider doing one of the skyscrapers at night after dinner as they are mostly big queues to get up for small amounts of time and gauping up there. Also do these after a few days in to appreciate the scale of them.

Sound of the cars at the top of empire state is amazing.

Do the US have Easter holidays like the UK with higher prices etc?

[Louis Balfour]

fourstardan said:

Do the US have Easter holidays like the UK with higher prices etc?

Inevitably. My wife would not have suggested it otherwise.

[Alexandra]

fourstardan said:

Do the US have Easter holidays like the UK with higher prices etc?

Spring break here is 8-14th April.

[InitialDave]

ecsrobin said:

.

£2752pp flights London to New York 01 April - 08 April

For economy? That seems high.

[ecsrobin]

InitialDave said:

For economy? That seems high.

That’s straight from google flights (and as mentioned based on x4). Flights with virgin. Having recently booked flights to Florida prices are eye watering at the moment.

[InitialDave]

ecsrobin said:

That’s straight from google flights (and as mentioned based on x4). Flights with virgin. Having recently booked flights to Florida prices are eye watering at the moment.

I though the pp meant "per person", sorry.

For 4 flights that sounds about right.

[ecsrobin]

InitialDave said:

I though the pp meant "per person", sorry.

For 4 flights that sounds about right.

Ah apologies I started doing PP then realised would be easier basing it on 4 and must have missed that one. Now edited.

[Martyn76]

I'd recommend "The Ride", it's a night time coach tour of NY, at certain points there are theatrical elements with actors on the street and the tour guides are very funny.

https://experiencetheride.com/

[Mazinbrum]

The Easter bonnet parade on 5th Avenue is worth a look.

[GCH]

Stature of Liberty - time consuming with the lines, security, and boats. Also be aware if you don't pre-book one of the very limited crown tickets you CANNOT go up past her feet, and you can't buy on the day.
You would be well served doing liberty early, like the first boat if possible, as it will be significantly quieter and quicker.
National 9/11 Memorial (and Museum). Worth the visit, be prepared for some heavy emotions.
These two (well, battery park, where you get the liberty ferry) are abut a 12 min walk from one another, and while you are down here, you may as well do One World Observatory too right by the memorial. If you pre-book it you won't have to wait in any lines. In my opinion it is worth it for the perspective of the bridges which you don't get from the talls uptown. If you are doing top of the rock, then skip the ESB and do one world observatory instead.

A sightseeing Cruise seems highly recommended
Circle line is the one, but even something like taking a water taxi will give you some decent views for a mere $2.75 each. Also don't forget the staten island ferry - take it out, and then right back - which is free, and it goes past liberty island.

Guggenheim Museum - worth a visit, but then so are most of the museums. Do your research carefully as to which ones are worth your time. You will also have to pay for museums, as only locals can pay as you wish.
Central Park - is big. Very big. Put it this way, I've been here years, I walk several miles through it most days and evenings making a conscious effort to not do the same routes, and I'm still finding and seeing new stuff, every time. It's big, and has lots and lots of stuff. You have the uber-touristy parts, and then the not so touristy parts, where it's just a nice quiet park with new yorkers/raccoons/crackheads/celebrities, just doing new yorker/raccoon/crackhead/celebrity things. If you time it right in April, it might also be cherry blossom time here, which is spectacular in places, and will unfortunately be instagram influenza hell.

Empire State Building - the express pass is useful and works to bypass all the lines, and consider going to 102. Note that this is (or used to be - haven't been for years!) open very late, like 1am or so depending on season, so you can go when it is very quiet. If you are doing top of the rock too, then the ESB might be a let down or a much of muchness.
Top of the Rock Observatory - it's a great view, and a different perspective, and the big plus over the ESB is that you get a view of the park and downtown, but then you also get an impressive view of the park from the bar at the mandarin oriental (you can have tea/coffee - you don't have to drink), or from darling, or the downtown city view from a multitude of other rooftop spots that don't have an entry fee.

Broadway - is very, very long, and diagonal. Oh, you mean a show? Pick an evening, and you are spoilt for choice, and usually not cheap. Try the queue laden tkts booths, or the gametime app. Couple this with your visit to...
Times Square - do it to say you've done it, get the photos, then get the hell out of there. Seriously.

Shops - Macy’s, Bloomingdales, Apple, Saks 5th Avenue.
Get the tourist card from macy's and bloomingdales from the visitors centre which saves you 10%, so everything is basically tax free. Don't waste your time with the apple store - with the current exchange rates, and the sales tax, you won't save much, if anything. Department stores are a bit meh, aside from the sales depts which can yield some ok deals on occasion. Better shopping downtown.

There's a load of other stuff to be recommended too - the highline, the brooklyn bridge (do this absolutely first thing or suffer the inane crowds - trust me on this), parts of brooklyn, soho, the garden/barclays centre for some sports, cheap tickets for the yankees/mets, intrepid, ...and thats before you even get to the endless food choices, brunch, shopping, and all the seasonal and unique stuff that makes this city one of the greatest in the world. You are spoilt for choice.

Edited by GCH on Thursday 2nd February 21:16

[zarlak]

If you book ticket in advance you can climb the spiral staircase inside the Statue of Liberty and see the view out of the crown. We did it few years ago and it was well worthwhile.