I would say the best tour we found for the money was Grayline Tours. You paid a price of $50 for two full days. You could hop on/off as much as you wanted. They went outside of New York also. Depending on what you wanted or were looking for, I am sure you would be satisfied with this tour bus. They hit all the tourist attractions plus some.

The double decker buses are a joy to ride on, especially during good weather. You really do get a great view of the city being on the top of one of these buses. The tour guides are very informative and are very personal. They describe what it was like during 9/11 when they pass ground zero, tell their favorite places to eat, and give interesting historical information. Oh, and they also tell you where to shop if you are interested in that. I highly recommend a bus tour for anybody new to the city.

If you do nothing else in this city, you must take the Gray Line Tour. It is truly the only way to see everything in one visit. I would take the 48-hour hop-on, hop-off, and be sure to do all loops. Don't forgo the night loop, which takes you out of Manhattan and gives you a fabulous view of the skyline on your way back in. The best part is that you can hop on and hop off--no trying to find cabs or subway stations. It is truly the greatest way for a first-timer to see it all. Heck, I've been five or six times and still love to go on these buses, as each tour guide has a different story to tell and a different landmark to note. This will be the best money you spend if you are truly going to see it all.

The night tour is very good and it takes in a lot of the sights from the uptown, downtown, and Brooklyn tours but, yes, you’ve guessed it, at night.

You need to pick your timing here. The tours start from around 6pm, but if you want to start the tour in the dark, you need to allow for this. We went in September and started our tour at 6.30pm, which meant that the sun was just starting to go down, but it was still light. The tour starts and finishes in Times Square, so if it is not quite dark when you depart, don’t worry, you will see it all again in all its glory when you return at the end of the tour.

We travelled around Times Square, and as we went down one of the roads, we caught the top of the Chrysler Building. The sun was just setting, reflecting off the building and making it look like it was made of gold – stunning.

We went past the Empire State, which lights up different colours depending on the special event or occasion. We went past when it was pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Week. We then went through Greenwich Village, Soho, China Town, Little Italy, and then across the Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn.

From Brooklyn, you have the most fantastic views of the Manhattan skyline at night. We did this tour on the evening of the third anniversary of 9/11, and they had the beams of light stretching up through the sky. The sight was awesome and would have been worth the price of the whole tour just for that. When we pulled over to get the best view, most of us on the bus just sat and stared in awe - the guide had to remind us to take photos. This will be one of the lasting memories I take away from this trip.

After a quick tour of Brooklyn, we returned across the Manhattan Bridge and then travelled alongside the East River towards the East Village and onto the main roads of Manhattan. Here you get great views of the Empire State Building, and many other buildings, all lit up. You then head up towards Central Park. The change in temperature as you round the corner of the park is shocking. It dipped several noticeable degrees, and the darkness of the park at night is quite strange.

After the park, you venture back Times Square with all its lights blazing and flashing. It is stunning by day, but at night, it comes alive.

The night tour is well worth doing, but even in the summer, remember that you may need a jumper as the night draws in, as it can get chilly. We had 85-degree weather by day, but were shivering on the tour in t-shirt and shorts at night. Our tour guide was excellent; very friendly and happy to answer questions. I can definitely recommend this tour.

We decided to start our tours on our first full day in the city so that we could get a feel of the place and perhaps find places on the tours that we could later go back to. We started with the uptown tour.

The tour guide on this bus was am energetic elderly lady who had lived in NYC all her life and was very informative and funny. She kept telling the driver to slow down, stop, speed up, and more. As this was an older bus without a built-in microphone, every time someone wanted to get on or off, she had to wind the cable up and escort people up and down the stairs, then re-attach the microphone and start again, which she made very amusing.

The tour started at the back of Times Square and headed out towards the Hudson River where large liners were docked. We then headed to Columbus Circle, which has a couple of glass skyscrapers that are very beautiful and stunning. We then went past the building where Regis and Kelly do their morning show. We were told of many more famous homes and work places, but as Brits, we didn’t know many of those mentioned. After this we headed towards Central Park and went past the Dakota Building, where John Lennon was killed. Strawberry Fields, part of Central Park, is directly in front of this building. Yoko Ono still lives here.

We drove along the west side of the park where there are lots of expensive apartments and where many famous people reside. We then drove into the Harlem area, which from a British point of view, has quite a bad name for itself. However, the area has some beautiful buildings, particularly churches, and some great parks, so it was well worth seeing via the tour. The tour then goes towards Cloisters and then comes back into Harlem and picks up on the north side of Central Park.

You then travel along the east side of the park along museum mile, which, amongst many others, has the Guggenheim Museum. After this, you go along the south of the park, and then back into the centre of Times Square. Keep an eye out for the Naked Cowboy, who strums his guitar in his underpants and is usually surrounded by women having their photos taken with him.

I would definitely recommend this tour, as you see sights that you perhaps wouldn’t see normally because many are quite out of the way, baring in mind that most visitors don’t venture further north than Central Park and most will not go into Harlem, which is a shame as there are some lovely churches and parks there. We were lucky and had a great guide, which made it even more interesting with her funny stories, but you should enjoy this regardless.