Advice needed - first time in New York

Hi All,

My daughter (21 years) and myself will be in New York from 1st Aug to 18 Aug 2006. We are budget travellers and our main mode of transport is train, coach and public transport.

Append below is our proposed itinerary and need your advice on the best form of transport in and out of the various destinations and also recommendation for clean and safe hotels (preferably less than US$100 per room per night)

Day 1 -Arrive New York

Day 2 %26amp; 3 -Washington DC (2 nights in Washington DC)

Day 4 -Fly to Buffalo, Niagara Fall

Day 5 -Niagara Fall (2 nights in Niagara Fall)

Day 6 -Buffalo fly to Orlando

Day 7 %26amp; 8 -Orlando (3 nights in Orlando)

Day 9 -Orlando to Miami (1 night in Miami)

Day 10 -Fly to New York

Day 11-18 -New York City, Philadephia

Thank you in advance.

Advice needed - first time in New York

I wanted to try to help... but, I can%26#39;t help mention that this seems like a totally crazy itinerary.... New York, to Washington, and then to Buffalo, then to Niagara Falls, then to Orlando, to Miami, back to New York, and Philadephia. Huh??? All in 11 days. You%26#39;ll be completly and totally exhausted, and won%26#39;t see much, you%26#39;ll spend all your time just on planes!!!

Advice needed - first time in New York

Sorry, my itinerary was not very clear, it should be 8 days in New York city

Hi Karlic,

These are basically the places we want to visit and we are open to any suggestion.

Thank you

Hi again!

Can you drive?

If you are budget travelers, I would think it is much MUCH more economical, (and more enjoyable) to drive from NYC to Niagara Falls -- rather than fly. Time-wise, it will be just as long to fly, by the time you factor in getting to and from airports, and renting a car to get from Buffalo to Niagara Falls. If you just drive up, it is about 5-6 hours. Once you are about 1 hour out of the city, it is a very easy, very relaxing and beautiful drive. Along the way you%26#39;ll see beautiful upstate NY and can go right through the Finger Lakes region.

Then, once you%26#39;ve seen Niagara Falls, you can drive back down to Philadelphia directly from Niagara Falls... and then possibly Washington DC if you still plan to go there. You have to remember that these places are all quite far away from each other, however, and your itinerary still seems overly ambitious to me. It is just my humble opinion, but, all of these places have so much to offer, you%26#39;%26#39;ll find a lot to do in each place. I have been to all of the places you want to visit --- and they are great, just so far away from each other.

Can you fly TO New York, and then leave FROM Florida?? This would make much more sense --- instead of taking what amounts to a %26#39;side trip%26#39; to Florida.

If you MUST cram in all of these I would think something like this would work better:

Arrive NYC --- spend 4 days or so exploring the city

Rent a car and drive to Niagara Falls. Stay 2 days or so, then, drive to Philadelphia for 2 days, and Washington, D.C for a couple of days. You%26#39;ll incur a ';drop charge'; for renting a car in one city (NYC), and leaving it in another (DC), but, time-wise, it is really the only option that makes sense.

If you must also get to Florida, I would then Fly from D.C. to Orlando.

Fly from Orlando to Miami --- and then leave to go home from Miami.

Going ALL the way back to New York from Florida just seems crazy time-wise, and very cost prohibitive.

My recommendation would be to NOT go to Washington, D.C. and save that for another trip, and the same with either Orlando, or Miami. I think you might just want to pick one. They are quite far away..... something like an 8 or 9 hour drive from Orlando to Miami.

If you CAN%26#39;T leave from Florida, I would just say: Stay in the Northeast and go to Florida on another vacation.......

You%26#39;ll find plenty of good hotel options in Niagara Falls, in the Finger Lakes, and in Philadelphia too. NYC and DC will be expensive.

Good luck!!!

Another option, if you do not drive: Take an %26#39;excursion%26#39; bus (tour bus) from NYC to Niagara Falls. There are many companies offering these. Flying to Buffalo, it would be difficult to get to Niagara Falls if you don%26#39;t drive. If you find a tour bus company, you could take a 2 night excursion bus trip out of the city and back to NYC. THEN, you could take a train to Philadelphia for a couple of nights, both NYC and Philadelphia are public transportation ';friendly';. Then, if you %26#39;skip%26#39; Washington, you could fly down to Florida (and back) Again, you might find tour companies offering quick 3 night Disney trips. From NYC it shouldn%26#39;t be too hard. BUT, trying to get down to Miami for one night, is where you are looking at a lot of travel for just one night. Orlando, and Miami are far away from each other.

Thanks Karilc, really appreciate your help.

I don%26#39;t intend to drive,so will follow your 2nd option. We will keep Washington DC %26amp; Miami for our next trip cos our air tickets are to %26amp; from Newark.

Regarding hotel rooms in NYC, we understand that the rooms get cheaper as we go north of the city. Can you please recommend some %26#39;clean %26amp; safe%26#39; hotels that fit our budget.

Thanks a million.

Hi! Have you heard about Chelsea Lodge? It is definately budget style accommodations, but, it looks very cute, and if you look it up on Tripadvisor, you%26#39;ll see it gets great reviews. I haven%26#39;t stayed here, but, I%26#39;ve heard good things about it. It is VERY cheap (most NYC places are about $300 and up a night). The drawback is shared toilets in a hall (like public bathrooms), but, it seems to get consistently good reviews, and is in an easy neighborhood to see the sights from!

Here is their website, and I also would look it up on tripadvisor to see the many reviews. http://www.chelsealodge.com/

One other idea, is to stay ';downtown';. I have stayed at this Holiday Inn -- the rates are really good compared to uptown or midtown manhattan, and it%26#39;s very close walking distance to a subway stop. It is RIGHT in the middle of Soho, and Chinatown/Little Italy. We loved it! We could walk right out the door and into Chinatown, or over to Mulberry Street/LIttle Italy. It is easy to hop the subway, or get a cab if you want to go up to see a show, etc.. etc... Also, Chinatown is a great budget location food-wise. You can find small little restaurants, for very inexpensive meals. The rates start at like $169 I think.... (amazing for NYC) It%26#39;s a very NICE Holiday Inn. Here is the website: http://www.hidowntown-nyc.com/rooms.php#rates

Thanks Karilc, will check it up.

cargo