First Time in New York

The Gray Line Double Decker bus tours are a great way to take in all of Manhattan. My most memorable moment was seeing Shirley Jones onstage in 42nd Street.

Quick Tips:

The TKTS booth is a great way to get cheaper tickets to a Broadway show on the same day. You may have to wait in line for a while, but it's in the middle of Time Square, so you won't be bored. If you are staying in a hotel with a concierge, they can be useful in finding a cheap out of the way place to eat. Of course, there is always pizza and hotdogs!

Best Way To Get Around:

We mainly walked. The tour bus got us to places that weren't in walking distance. A taxi will get you there fast, but can be expensive.

The hotel was in a great location: two blocks from the south entrance of Central Park. It was also about 10 blocks from Time Square and two blocks from 5th Ave. We got a package from Expedia and that made the price much cheaper.

The room was decent, not very fancy, but it was clean. The hotel offered a continental breakfast for $3 per person. I would recommend it and I would stay there again.

On this tour, you are able to hop on and off the bus at over 40 different places. This is a great way to see all of Manhattan, especially if you are only in town for a few days. The All Loops Tour is a combination of the downtown, uptown, Brooklyn, and night tours. It last for 48 hours to give you plenty of time to see all the sights. We didn't go on the Brooklyn tour, but we did go over to Brooklyn on the night tour. You can't get off the bus on the night tour. We were able to see parts of the city that we wouldn't have seen otherwise. We also added $11 for the ticket for Liberty Island and Ellis Island. The tour was definitely worth the money.

One of my all-time favorite movies is Sleepless in Seattle, so going to the Empire State Building was an absolute must. The view was at breathtaking. It was a bit of a long wait.

When you get down to the basement, there are employees there to convince you to take the Skyride. If you decide to go on it, you go straight to the second floor. It does eliminate some of the waiting. The Skyride is a motion ride that takes you for an aerial view of the city. It’s much cheaper than the helicopter tour.

Once you get to the 80th floor, you can wait in a very long line for the elevator or you can take the stairs. Once you are on top, you can walk around the observation floor. There are maps pointing out what you are looking at. There is also an option for an audio tour. We went on a hazy day, so it was hard to distinguish some of the places pointed out on the map. I was also freezing, but it was well worth it.