I just got back from a week's trip to New York. Half of it was spent in upstate New York and the other half in New York City. Before I left my quiet hometown in Missouri, I was terrified of the Big Apple. By the time I left, I joked that I was a "seasoned New Yorker". Not quite... but definitely a confident traveler.
I've put together several tips and tricks, plus stories, about my New York trip. I hope if you go there, you'll heed my warnings and not be a pesky New York tourist that we hear so much about.
First things first: Where to stay in New York City?
I poured over hundreds of hotels on hotels.com, orbitz.com and priceline.com before I finally settled on The Hampton Inn at Madison Square Garden. Where you stay in NYC is important because the bedbug epidemic has hit the city very hard. I also didn't want to pay more than $200 per night (several NYers told me this was impossible- but I did it!) I checked it on bedbugregistry.com, and checked the hotels.com deals- there was a 20% off deal for my travel dates! I booked everything for $203 per night! I booked it, even though the deal was nonrefundable- sometimes you have to take risks!
Myth: New York City isn't safe! FALSE.
Actually, NYC isn't even one of the top 25 most dangerous cities in the United States. In fact, my own Kansas City is on this list- and NYC isn't. A good explanation for this is that NYC has installed security cameras and crime has dropped 19%. Of course, NYC is not without crime- you have to be observant, confident and self-aware. I felt 100% safe walking down the street during the day and night.
Myth: New Yorkers are so rude! FALSE.
I asked several NYers for directions when we got turned around and every single one of them was helpful and nice. At one point, I was on the wrong subway and ended up in Brooklyn. I found the first person I could that looked friendly and asked her- and she sent me on the right train. I always looked for cops, construction workers, friendly looking chubby motherly types, or young girls. When none of those were available, I went for couples or bicyclists. At one point, a lady gave me wrong directions for the subway. She told me to get on the #2 train when really I should be on the #1. I thanked her and went down the steps to the trains. She came running after me, about 5 minutes later, out of breath. "I told you the wrong train!" she said. She was so worried that she had sent me the wrong way!
Myth: Everything is expensive in New York City! True/False. NYC is expensive in the regard that you're eating out every meal, you're not driving so you must either walk, take the subway ($2.50 per single ride), or take a cab (3.00 + .40 per 1/4 mile). The subway was my favorite mode of transportation, as it got us everywhere we needed to go for much cheaper than a cab ride. Cabs were good, too, though, when it was convienent and you were going somewhere directly- or didn't have time to get to a subway.
Food Tips for Eating in NYC:
The first night we were in NYC, we had pizza. Adam, who drinks like a fish, sucked down 3 Pepsis and I had 2 Dr. Peppers. When we got the bill, we were shocked to find that they had charged us for every refill- $2.50 a pop! $12.50 worth of soda on one bill! We drank water the rest of the time in NYC.
Don't eat at chain restaurants. You're in NYC. Why would you eat at Red Lobster??
Go off the beaten path- we went to 9th Avenue to an area called "Restaurant Row"- tons of restaurants for much cheaper than in Times Square- Adam and I both ate dinner and an appetizer for $30.00.
Try the street vendors! - We ate hot dogs, by the slice pizza, and chicken kebabs from street vendors- for cheap!
Check out restaurant.com for gift certificates. Before I left I went to restaurant.com and purchased gift certificates for $25 at the low price of $10- and we ate well at restaurants that we probably wouldn't have found without the site.
Indulge. New York City is a great place to indulge, so have a budget, but spoil yourself. In a city of such great food and drink, there's no reason to deprive yourself.
In my next post, I will write about the sites we saw and the touristy things we did! Stay tuned for more!
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