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Are 5 days enough to see the essentials of NYC?
- Thread starter Concelhaut
- Start date
Some people are a bit confused. This is New York City separated by its 5 boroughs.
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My husband and I just came back from our 2nd trip to NYC. I say 5 days is cutting it close when it comes to seeing the essentials along with enjoying your time there.
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My husband and I just came back from our 2nd trip to NYC. I say 5 days is cutting it close when it comes to seeing the essentials along with enjoying your time there.
Boston is the most shallow, pretentious city I've ever been to. And my wife is from there, she took me all around
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Some really good Italian food there, otherwise you're right.
I don't know what the essentials are, but you could get a lot done in 5 days depending on what you want to do, the time of year, and if it's just you or if you have a family in tow. However, some places, like the Bronx Zoo, are so big and time-consuming that you'll spend nearly the entire day there trying to see everything, but decide to "tap out" and leave. The American Museum of Natural History is another offender; think you're just going to look at some dinosaur bones, but then you ending up buying tickets to some 3D nature documentary.
I was born and lived here all my life, so my opinion is skewed, but if I was visiting NYC for the first time, I would avoid the well known touristy locations (with the exception of Times Square) and check out areas like Downtown Brooklyn, catch a show at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) instead of Broadway, and do niche stuff like watching artists sculpt/paint/sketch at the Art Students League.
You could also look at some tour videos on YouTube for ideas.
I was born and lived here all my life, so my opinion is skewed, but if I was visiting NYC for the first time, I would avoid the well known touristy locations (with the exception of Times Square) and check out areas like Downtown Brooklyn, catch a show at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) instead of Broadway, and do niche stuff like watching artists sculpt/paint/sketch at the Art Students League.
You could also look at some tour videos on YouTube for ideas.
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It won't be my only time in NYC. I'll reserve the hidden gems for later trips. I'll cover the essentials first.
Take a day trip to Storm King anyone who's coming down, won't regret:
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It's beautiful. It's not in NYC though.So this is the castle I was talking about. It's called the Bannerman Castle
Isn't it gorgeous?
So this is the castle I was talking about. It's called the Bannerman Castle
Isn't it gorgeous?
Solid 1.5 hour drive out of NYC.
Side trip through Hudson Valley is good, but I wouldn't expect to do much back in NYC that day unless it's dinner and/or you're rushing
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I don't drive. There's a train. I was actually planning on going to Princeton by bus but I figured this is more interesting and closer.
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Looks like you're looking to spend a day exploring over there. Not sure you'll have time to go there and spend time exploring the city in one day.
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The subway is so much better today than it's been in the past 30 years.
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I still haven't planned anything concretely. But it will be first thing in the morning
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as a tourist eating cheap in new york is easy as hell and you're still gonna eat some of the best food you'll ever have
and even if you want to hit some touristy spots it's really not that expensive as long as we're talking bagels, pizza, chinese, vietnamese, diner shit, street shit, etc. and even spots like the typical pastrami places (katz's, 2nd ave deli, pastrami queen, etc.) will charge like $15 a sandwich, sure, but they pile that shit on there good fucking lord. if you're not going for the 3 star rated cutting edge culinary dining experience kind of thing or the old school steak house kind of thing your wallet will be fine. that's not to say you can't spend if you want just that there are soooo many fucking options you'll be falling backwards over them.
and even if you want to hit some touristy spots it's really not that expensive as long as we're talking bagels, pizza, chinese, vietnamese, diner shit, street shit, etc. and even spots like the typical pastrami places (katz's, 2nd ave deli, pastrami queen, etc.) will charge like $15 a sandwich, sure, but they pile that shit on there good fucking lord. if you're not going for the 3 star rated cutting edge culinary dining experience kind of thing or the old school steak house kind of thing your wallet will be fine. that's not to say you can't spend if you want just that there are soooo many fucking options you'll be falling backwards over them.
You can see and do a lot in 5 days.
While the subway is good, anything involving a bus or train going out of port authority or penn station you may want to add on an hour of time. Especially in March when it's nor'easter season for us
While the subway is good, anything involving a bus or train going out of port authority or penn station you may want to add on an hour of time. Especially in March when it's nor'easter season for us
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I will never forget that day but it's certainly not anywhere close to being the best thing to do in NYC.
For food..bacon/egg/cheese roll for breakfast at $3-$5, decent pizza slice + beer at $15 or Burger + beer at $20, dinner Thai for $15-20, Chinese for $10-20...
Alternatively, salad bowl or ramen for lunch $12-$20.
Or just eat forever at Xian Famous Foods, our best chain and no one can take that away from us....$12 bucks a meal, tips not needed.
You reminded me about the food. Best Thai food I have had outside of Thailand and best ramen I have had outside of Tokyo was in Manhattan.
Ramen, absolutely. Thai...yes, over the last 5 years. Prior to that, we had bad Thai. Now...very good Isaan as well as other regional authentic Thai available, but you have to search for these and not just walk into any "Thai" restaurant in Manhattan, most which are very generic. Som Tum Der in LES is very good. The best is Sripraphai in Woodside, Queens. My hood, Kensington, BK is a HAVEN for regional Thai. But you wouldn't know!
I've travelled a lot....and I was highly surprised while travelling in Munich, Berlin, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Porto etc to realize that NYC is no joke when it comes to global cuisine. What we take for granted, isn't granted at all. Even in Berlin...only very specific hoods had cosmopolitan cuisines. Closest comparison is London for me.
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Mainly the residential area and possibly the view of the skyline
You'd wanna go to Dumbo then. Take the East River ferry from the Williamsburg station to Dumbo, it's the best way to see the bridges and the skyline. Also Dumbo is right under the Brooklyn Bridge so you can decide to walk it going back into Manhattan, just please stay off the bike lanes when you're on the bridge ;-)
I went there first thing in the morning and the wait wasn't very long. I took the stairs rather than the second elevator which made it even shorter, though my legs didn't appreciate that. When I left the line was out of the building.
Don't bother with the Statue of Liberty.
I've been there in August and May, and the weather was pretty great.