New York help please!

pixie-gem

Gold Member
Hi guys,
My husband and I are going to New York in Feb for our wedding anniversary and there are a couple of day trips that we would really love to do.

1st is a trip to Washington DC - now this costs $308 each from the holiday company (Virgin) and most of the websites, but i went on Amtrak myself and the cost of 2 return tickets to Washington DC is $196, which is obviously a massive difference of nearly $400 (i think my maths is right lol) and doesn't leave until just before noon so you only get a couple of hours there, whereas if going by ourselves then we could arrive for 11am and not leave until 8pm so would have much more time.

2nd is a trip to Niagara which is again around $350 pp, but works out about $250 doing it alone.

How easy is it to do this ourselves do you think? Will we lose out/miss out on anything by not going with a tour company?

I'm very much the type of person that thinks there are far too many amazing places in this world to keep returning to the same place year after year, so highly doubt we would be going back anytime soon.

Also any helpful tips/ideas/info would be very much appreciated!

Thanks :D

p.s - my hubby works for network rail, if anyone has any knowledge of the fips (think thats what it's called) and whether you are entitled to any discounts on US trains, that would be super helpful please :)
 
Hi. Go for it yourself!!!! Plan it a little before hand if you can but these organised trips are just a rip off in my opinion. My husband went to NY a couple of years ago and was going to go on a trip by boat past the Statue of liberty * the cost was something stupid like $40 each!!!! We had a little mooch around ourselves and discovered the Staton Island ferry that goes right past the statue, and it was FREE!!!!! Have a great time, we did :D
Jackie xx
 
hi,

Defintely arrange yourself - they are crazy prices. A website you might find useful for trips / bus tours etc is viator.com
They have the tours you are looking at as well.

New York Tours & Things to Do in New York City | Viator.com

Personally where possible I like to arrange these things myself as you are not under any one elses timeframe to get places and you are free to explore everything that you want to see. I only go on the tours if the sights match what I want to see when there.

Enjoy NYC and all it has to offer.
 
Thanks guys, your advice is much appreciated :D
 
Going for a week, have set aside 5 days for NY but DC has loads of military history for hubby!
 
New York was fab, albeit very very cold (damn hubby for picking February!)

We never made it to DC in the end, barely saw any of New York that wasn't in Midtown or Manhattan. Tiny place but so much to see, we just ran out of time.

My advice would be to plan meticulously that which you definitely want to see and stick to it. We kinda fumbled and went wherever we wanted that day, but due to that, we didn't see as much as we wanted.

We were up at 6am everyday and not getting back to the hotel until 10pm and still wanted to do loads more than we managed!

We did the usual suspects. Empire State, Rockefeller Centre, Met, Statue of Liberty (from a boat as closed after hurricane sandy) 5th Ave, Madison Square Gardens, Times Square, Brooklyn Bridge (again from a boat because it was our last day and we hadnt had a chance to get over there) Broadway, 9/11 Memorial. Lots of other small places whose names elude me right now.

So no Brooklyn, Bronx, Chinatown or any of the surrounding areas :(

It really is true, there is so much to see, you just can't do it on one trip. So I just have to go back lol :p although maybe at a more pleasant time of year :)

Have fun in October, I am sure you will love it, just as everyone seems to.

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to respond to my question. Your time and effort were very much appreciated :) xx
 
Off to NYC in 2 days for amir khans wedding can't wait :)
been before and love it
 
Hello, my Mum is taking me to NYC next June for my 40th birthday. Can't wait! I want lots of pictures with me looking great and slim so going to try and remember that as part of my will power :)
 
Have a fab time guys! You will love it :D
 
Fraid not. We never got round to using it. Hopefully someone will be along who can help though :)
 
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