Im visiting new york

Hi folks me and the better half are visiting New York from 22/12 - 31 /12 and then may be to DC or Buffalo and Niagara Falls or Boston then we leave the US for London on the 13 jan
What are your thoughts for best way between NY andDC ...TRAIN, Chinatown bus, fly... I'm thinking NY to DC then up to Buffalo back to NY around the 11th
What are people's thoughts and what shouldn't we miss
cheers Adrian(agf)

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Hey,

I would say that you have really 3 options.

Amtrak train- slower than driving, kind of pricey but it will get you from Point A to B quite comfortably.

Grayhound bus- a bit less expensive option, not as comfortable as the Amtrak train.

Check rates of these two options sometimes the train might actually be cheaper.

Chinatown bus- unless you want to experience Mordor I would stay away from it. Cramped, smelly and full of old Asian women yapping all the time. Keep in mind though it is the cheapest option however. I don't know how much space for your luggage they will have though.

Alternative option would be to rent a car with unlimited mileage option and just pay for gas and the rental. It would save you the most time in terms of travel imho.

Another option would be to propose an offer to one of our NYC members to rent their bike.

As for attractions well in NYC pretty much itself is an attraction.

I would say go visit either Top of the Rock or Empire State Building for views.

Take a stroll in Central Park. be wary though I wouldn't venture out to the park at night though. You might get robbed or worse killed.

If you have never been to Times Square I would say, don't spend a lot of time there. Not a lot to see outside of the screens and crapload of tourists.

Take a Staten Island ferry for a cheap way to see NYC downtown and Statue of Liberty for free.

Go to Bryant Park to ice skate in the rink.- Quite nice and highly recommended.

Food:

Definitely try out few NY pizzerias.

For a steakhouse, you could hit up Peter Luger. Expensive though.

There is a lot of great little cafes in Greenpoint and Wiliamsburg in Brooklyn. It's a 15 minute ride on the L train. Don't worry super safe neighborhoods.

In Greenpoint I would recommend Amber steakhouse for some fine Polish cusine. There's few Polish dishes there but still.

Karczma is a bar/restaurant that is very Polish. ie. Polish traditional dressed waitressed, all Polish food and Polish beer and wodka. Quite cheap place.

I don't know where you are going to stay but I would say if you want to save on money you can find cheaper hotels in Brooklyn and Queens. Pretty much anywhere in the Queens or Brooklyn you can get into Manhattan 45-50 minutes by the subway train. It might be worthwhile save on the hotels.

There are some neighborhoods that you should avoid. Simple google search will bring these up for you.

A nice way to get night time views of the NYC skyline is to go one one of dinner cruises that sail around the island of Manhattan. There used to be a company called Spirit cruises but they closed down one of their operations. So just check it out. Food is pretty alright there, lots of dancing and great views of the city. I worked there as a photographer so I know, lol.

I would say go to Chinatown for some Pekin duck. Skip the cheap stores. All they sell is shiete anyway.

go to NYC downtown. Lots of things to see and good places to eat. Visit South Street Seaport for food and etc. everything is in walkable distance in downtown.

You could take a stroll on the Brooklyn Bridge for views as well.

As for nightlife, well there is a lot of great bars in Greenwich village and Lower East side, Hells Kitchen.

PS- You can also take one of the self guided tours of the city by the way of a double decker bus. You can hop on and off as you wish.

Also because of the Hurricane Sandy that hit us, make sure to visit NYC MTA website to see for any changes and service of the trains.

Niagara Falls- since you are from the Commonwealth I don't think you should have any problems with visiting the Canadian side of the Falls. they offer better views.

On the American side go down to the actual falls. You can take also a tour on a boat to see the falls upclose.

There used to be a big balloon that you could actually take/ "ride" and see the panorama of the city. It was pretty cool when I been on it. I am not sure if it's still there though.

Another option for you guys would be to skip Niagara falls and instead go to Richmond in Virginia. It's quite nice there at least in the old town area. Nice restaurants. La Grotta is a fairly nice and expensive restaurant on Carey St I think. Keep in mind that driving to Niagara falls is pretty long, I would personally opt out and from DC go to Richmond.


DC:

You gotta visit the Smithsonian museums. My god I could spend a whole day in the air and space museum. Go upto the White House and the Congress. Nearby there will be Supreme Court building as well.

I forgot where it was but one of the building has a Magna Carta on display. it's the same on where the Constitution and Declaration of Independence is as well.

Check out the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. I think the Monument might be closed though, so going to the top of it is out of the question.

You can also go to the Arlington cemantary to pay respect to the service members and see the change of guard at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Thanks for all your tips so far

Niagara is well on the agenda we have been to iguazu down brazil/ Argentina way and kez has seen Victoria falls in Africa so Niagara Is almost a given ( she wants the trifecta)
DC Is fascinating coz of Smithsonian , Lib. Of Congress and so much more. I work in the state library here in melbourne so arts/historical institutions have gad a fascination for me for many many years
I went to Arlington 30 odd years ago and am keen to re visit and a few folk I spoke with at work recommend so much more as well
Now I Ned to consider Richmond too

We are staying in Chinatown/ Iittle Italy area in NY--- skating sounds like fun and there is just so much to take in
Renting a bike would be cool but we have big luggage I could do it but kez is pretty much pillion only these days she would be a bit uncomfortable being a solo rider and on the "wrong side of the road" too
Amtrak could well be the go.... We like train travel, buses suck ... we have done 12 hour trips in sth America by coach and train is much more enticing


Any thoughts about Boston ....a mate of mine in NY says Philly would be a better visit but he also says he doesn't know Boston very well
He lost his digs with Sandy and has sorta kept me up to date about local transport options but if anyone knows if intercity trains are out that'd be good to know

We figure we can't really go wrong it's all good, meeting people, talking, finding interesting places , learning seeing new things and old things in a new way

All suggestions are gratefully accepted

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If it wasn't mentioned, check out Megabus. I think they run from Boston to NY to DC or any variation as well as other places in between. If you book far enough in advance, it should be pretty cheap. There's some other bus companies but I think buses are the cheapest way to get around in the northeast.

Boston is a neat little city if you like history. Feel free to hit me up if you make it out this way.

Oh yeah, Boston > Philly IMO but I may be biased...

OneCheekRider said:

If it wasn't mentioned, check out Megabus. I think they run from Boston to NY to DC or any variation as well as other places in between. If you book far enough in advance, it should be pretty cheap. There's some other bus companies but I think buses are the cheapest way to get around in the northeast.

Boston is a neat little city if you like history. Feel free to hit me up if you make it out this way.

Oh yeah, Boston > Philly IMO but I may be biased...

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I have only been to Boston twice. First time I didn't really like it, and second time I only stopped over for lunch in one of the port areas near downtown. It seemed a lot nicer than I remembered it from the first visit.

I have never been to Philly, but one thing that Philly has going for it that Boston doesn't is the huge Revzilla warehouse full of motorcycle gear.

I also forgot to mention, but visit the Natural history Museum here in NYC. I think you only have to make a small donation to enter.

MoMa and Guggenheim museums are really worthwhile to visit as well. though i would personally prefer MoMa since I like modern art more.

You can go to Lincoln Center for some opera. Or catch one fo the Broadway shows. I recommend Rock of Ages.

When you are going to go to Downtown make sure to stop by the Battery Park as well.

if I think of more stuff I will add later.

I can't say much for your other destinations but as a former buffalo resident I can tell you the bus/ train station isn't very close to the falls. The American side has a nice state park but little else. It's neat because it has bridges allowing you to walk on a few islands in the river---- you'll really need to go to he Canadian side for any entertainment. THe Canadian side has a lot of tourist trap locations but if you do a little research there are some cool spots for dinner and nitelife. In the winter some attractions like the maid of the mist close down due to Ice build up etc.

I've only been to Boston once but I took a "duck" tour on a repurposed amphibious landing craft that went through the streets and river to show off the historic areas.

as far as Boston, I highly recommend duck tour but it is winter time so not sure if they will be operating or not. Most of the interested things are walking distance, def start at here and make your way to Boston Common than a nice walk down Newbury Street for some expensive shopping for the Mrs. agf.

Adrian, I've visited the niagara waterfall a couple of times (whilst working in Toronto) and it's well worth a visit :thumbup:
I've never been to new york (would love to one day) I guess the public transport would be reasonable in the city, but in my (limited) experience outside the city it's easiest to hire a car. IMO America is built with the car in mind, many hotels and attractions can only be reached by cars, but I guess you already know this having been there before.

I didn't read all the comments, so I don't know if it was mentioned, but one thing to keep in mind is that Niagara Falls is roughly a 7-8 hour drive to from DC, and it'll be even longer from DC.

04fizzer said:

I didn't read all the comments, so I don't know if it was mentioned, but one thing to keep in mind is that Niagara Falls is roughly a 7-8 hour drive to from DC, and it'll be even longer from DC.

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its about 7-8 hrs from boston, add 3-4 hours if from NYC and another 3-4hrs if going from DC to NYC to boston to Niagara Falls car rental will def be your best option as you can do everything on your schedule and take your time if you need to.

7UPyours said:

its about 7-8 hrs from boston, add 3-4 hours if from NYC and another 3-4hrs if going from DC to NYC to boston to Niagara Falls car rental will def be your best option as you can do everything on your schedule and take your time if you need to.

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7-8 from Boston is about right. I live in Rochester, about an hour and a half from Niagara Falls. NYC is about a 6 hour drive from here, so 7-8 from NYC, or possibly a touch more, depending on where in NYC you're coming from. I can't remember exactly how far DC is from here.

Haha giving tours of Northeastern cities isnt my specialty but buses to get around (Especially Philly to NYC) sure is!!!!

Philly is a great city but you really need a good tour guide to get the most out of it. (There are all kinds of tours here including the bus tours that someone mentioned NYC having). Great city if your into lots of history and Philly is a city that I think everyone needs to visit once. Why I say you need a good tour guide is because even some of the areas in Center City can get kind of grimy and leave you with a bad impression of an otherwise great city (Just dont go to North Philly unarmed though, haha). For a first time visitor I would say also to make sure you wander down to South Street.

Boston I think you may just need to visit a couple times before you appreciate it. Ive been there I think 3 times and just like PosterFZ6,the first time I didnt really like it. The second time it was eh, not too bad and then the third time I enjoyed myself. I can see going a forth time and having a blast haha. Ive been meaning to go visit again and would like to in the near future.

DC like Boston I think Ive been to somewhere around 3 times. Great museums and cleaner subway system aside, I never really liked DC for some reason. Ive never been into touristy stuff so maybe your opinion will be vastly different than mine. Maybe I just dont like it because I never got a good local tour guide though That after all is the biggest reason I can see someone not liking Philly.


I go back and forth on the buses all the time (Trying not to pile too much mileage onto my bike and now with winter upon us its getting too cold for the 1.5 to 2 hour ride) since I live in Philly but work in NYC.
Amtrak is way over priced. If money is no option its the fastest option and I always did have a thing for trains. There also is the option of combining the local trains from NJ Transit and Septa but it takes twice as long as Amtrak and still takes quite a bit longer than just taking the bus. Plus pricewise its still probably at least twice as much money as taking a bus. This is how I used to go back and forth many years ago before I knew about the Chinatown bus.

Many Chinatown buses have been shut down. The one from NYC to Boston I think is still running (Fung Wah) but I still cant find a Chinatown bus going from Center City Philly to NYC (there is one that will go from North East Philly but that is quite a ways out of the way) Usually the buses that went down to DC also stopped at Philly so I THINK its the same bus and shutdown but since I never go to DC there could be other companies that do it. Personally I think Chinatown buses have a reputation worse than they are, or maybe Im just used to them. Personally I still think their customer service is better than Greyhound, god I hate Greyhound... At least with the Chinatown buses you know that your bus may smell, that people will rush and bunch up trying to get on the bus before seats fill up, and the people running it dont speak perfect English. After commuting back and forth for a few years Ive never had a problem with the Chinatown bus other than a delay here and there. Ive had more delays with Greyhound and Ive been on WAY more Chinatown buses than Greyhound ones. I REALLY miss the Philly to NYC Chinatown bus. They always had another bus leaving every half hour to hour tops.

Even if you buy the ticket in person (for most Chinatown buses I would recommend it) a good site for seeing if there is a chinatown bus where you want to go is http://www.gotobus.com

Other bus options:
Greyhound: Like I mentioned I hate Greyhound with a passion. Maybe I just expect more out such a big company and am harder on them then the Chinatown little guys but everyone that works there is always so miserable and it shows terribly in their customer service. Sure for a one time deal everything may work out ok but they have screwed me over way too many times. Only bonus to Greyhound is you have a nice warm (although the one in Philly is a bit smelly sometimes) station to wait for your bus in compared to the curbside buses. My personal thing with Greyhound is to only take them when there is no other option (Greyhound runs some late night buses for example and obviously goes more places). In recent years they have been slowly getting nicer buses which are mostly used as express buses for the bigger cities. See: Greyhound Express

Also note, Greyhound has started another bus line that is made to look like a Chinatown bus called "Yo Bus!" that goes from Philly to NYC Chinatown area. I dont have too much info about them and havent taken them yet. Supposedly they leave from the Greyhound terminal in Philly (which neighbors Chinatown) but I dont see too many of their buses when Im forced to take a Greyhound bus. As Chinatown is close to where I work in NYC I need to look into them soon.

Curbside buses: Both of the next two buses have prices that change depending on how busy that bus is. The earlier you buy your ticket the cheaper it will be. Its possible to get a $1 ticket if you book super early but people buy those seats up right away. No printout necessary just show them the code given to you when you buy your ticket, most people just show their phone.

Boltbus I havent taken for quite a while because they drop off at 30th st station and thats on the other side of the city from where I live. From what I remember they were always nice buses and on time and such. Even though they seem better managed they are still owned by Greyhound...

Now the best for last and my personal favorite Megabus for anywhere that they travel (Check out their site Megabus.com as they aways seem to slowly add more and more cities to the list). Coach USA is their parent company and is a very large bus company that also own alot of the tour buses in Philly. Their drivers always seem to be in a better mood then the Greyhound drivers and the buses always seem to be very clean. Double decker buses seem to be very rare in the US but Megabus has lots of them. Philly to NYC is a very busy route so they almost always use a double decker bus. The one time I took them to Boston from NYC it was a double decker too. I thought that was cool the first time I was on it. The bottom of the bus seems to be a slightly nicer ride though and your less likely to bump your head. I also find the Megabus the easiest of the buses to fall sleep on. Im actually not really sure why but I almost always seem to fall asleep every time I take them, even when I dont mean to.


Oh and as for Revzilla in South Philly: I love them and think they are awesome, always super nice and always try their best to help. Ive dealt with just about every person that works in their showroom as I always buy from Revzilla before anyone else. I just wish they had more stuff on the showroom floor because half the things I want to look at are in the back. I recently found out that the main reason that they even have a showroom at all is because a lot of the brands they stock require a physical location you can visit (to prevent just anyone in their basement from selling things?). The positive of this is that the owner focuses mainly on the website sales and the people working in the showroom genuinely seem to like their jobs and are not trying to fill a sales quota while pressuring you to buy stuff NOW (and you dont feel bad for wasting their time just asking questions and buying on the site later when you have the money as I sometimes do). Unless you have a car or motorcycle they are a bit out of the way however. First time I went I had a little trouble finding them because they are on an industrialish back ally. I think, as someone who knows that area, it was just because I didnt expect to find any showrooms or stores on that street.

You lucky buggar Ade!

Have a ball

Well well well

On Friday night we had a family dinner coz mrs agf and I will be away for Xmas
I was talking to my bro ( who I do the radio show with) and his wife Barb,
So I get a text today and they are now booked on the same flight to New York
So a flint brothers and wives Xmas in New York
I gotta say I am somewhat blown away

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