Things to do in New York/Chicago

kingofvillan

Could i get some peoples advice on things to do in New York/Chicago, im gouin in a few weeks and would like some interesting suggestions of things to do!
P.S.
i don't want replies saying "go to the empire state building", thats a given. I want things that aren't obvious that not everybody does but which are still fun!

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

segadreamcast

Go to the empire state building

kingofvillan

thanks for that dave and noel, u can rot in hell- no midnight excursions for u( its an in joke )
Everybody else keep ur suggestions coming in

Darren

In NY, go and see -

The USS intrepiid, West side Mid towm, 42 street if I remember correctly

South Street Seaport.

ChinaTown

Rockafella Plaza for Ice skating.

Central Park.

Brooklyn Bridge.

Battery (Do you wanna buy a watch) Park is worth a visit. Forget about the statue of liberty. Before 911 it was a nice trip but now with all the security it is an all day affair and not really worth the time.

Woodbury common for shopping. (There is loads of threads about this place already)

Have a nice time.

KdjaCL

Get a pic with the semi naked dancin singin cowboy , a must
Try find an non irish bar in Times Square area (a challenge for you)

Get drunk and skip around the city singing "NAH NAH NAH NAH New York" in your best gremlin voice.

DONT buy anything in the City go to Woodbury Commons , Bring 2 LARGE empty suitcases , trust me

kdjac

Ro

NY:
There's free movies in Bryant Park on a Monday night at about 9pm:
http://www.bryantpark.org/

(If you go don't sit at the back. They've opened this bar up in the corner that plays music right through the film)

China Town - Canal Street - if you're looking for watches or Gucci handbags.

Woodbury Common - Very cheap clothes, bus is $36 though from the Port Authority:
http://www.graylinenewyork.com/sightseeing.cfm?tour_id=268&mode=tour_detail

The Beast:
http://www.circleline42.com/index.ihtml?page=beast

Yankees:
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=nyy

Best way to get around is the Subway, you can get an unlimited 7 day metrocard for $21.
http://mta.info/

kingofvillan

thanks for all those recomandations, one thing(u may see this in the thread above) is it necessary to book any of these things in advance? And please keep more suggestions coming in and has nobody any information on Chicago.... Come On People!!!!

BuffyBot

You can book Gray Line stuff online, but you can also book it from the office directly when you arrive (just up the road from the Port Authority Bus Terminal)

Recommend Woodbury Common if you're in the mood for some shopping.

Ro

Originally posted by kingofvillan
And please keep more suggestions coming in and has nobody any information on Chicago.... Come On People!!!!

The Sears tower is worth a look. I'd recommend going to see the Chicago Bulls, but they're not playing again until November. The Hilton on Michigan Avenue is very nice if you need a hotel.

http://www.thesearstower.com
http://www.united-center.com

netwhizkid

Hi,

A few place to visit in New york are, The Empire State Building, Ground Zero, Central Park, Cross the 59th street bridge, in a cab or bus, or ride the cable car the runs along side it. Visit Toys R' Us in times square you'll find plenty of stuff to buy for the kids back home.

Book your empire state building tickets here as the wait in the queue can be up to an an hour 20 mins, they cost $12 when i was there in April, the wait after getting the tickets can be upto 1 hr 30 mins to get to the top. Bring quarters to work the telescopes up top and a bottle of soda to keep cool as the wait in the queue is hot in the narrow corridors.

Regards netwhizkid

Concorde

The "history of science" museum in Chicago is definitely worth a visit. On one of the days it's free admission (it was Tuesday back in 1998 when I was there). And it closes early another day (that was the day we went and we got a shock as we were only there 2 hours). Find out when you arrive there. It is well worth a visit, there is so much to see.

Concorde

Also, if you've got transport, pay a visit to any of the many factory outlets there are outside Chicago. Clothes and footwear are dirt cheap, and good quality - I'm actually still wearing some of the clothes I bought then!

Raskolnikov

Originally posted by Ro
I'd recommend going to see the Chicago Bulls, but they're not playing again until November.

Unless you're willing to pay $100's for the pleasure of it, then forget it.

Keep away from Navy Pier in Chicago, it's a ripoff toursit trap with very little to see. The highlight of my visit to Chicago was going on the Jenny Jones show (you'll have to have someone in the US book tickets for you in advance) :cool: You can get some fantastic deep pan pizza there too.

midget lord

as dave said, the staten island ferry is free so you should take it. particulary at night, quite romantic. The helipcopter is good but since 911 you cant go over the city so you just stay over the Hudson. If you have a good camera you can get some great shots from the top of the empire state.

Darren

NYC is also home to one of my favourite restaurants

http://www.carminesnyc.com/

lynchie

Isn't the ice rink at the Rockerfella center only there during winter?

USS Intrepid is well worth the visit, as is the submarine thats there too.

In Chicago,

The Hankcock building in chicago is well worth the visit, as is the sears building. If you get a windy day, the top of the hankcock is great as the building slightly sways!!

The museum and aqarium (forget their exact names) are quite good too.

Third_Echelon

In NY...

Most definitely the movies in Bryant Park are great... everyone sits out on the lawn with their blankets etc.. really nice evening...

Take a trip to see the Mets or the Yankees play...

A nice subway trip is the No.7 from Times Square to Flushing. You can get off at Shay Stadium (The Mets Stadium/US Tennis Centre/Worlds Fair Park(Scene in Men In Black where the space ship crashes at the end)) and get the subway back...
Its a nice trip as most of it is over-ground and you get to see some of the real new-york... i lived in this area and while i was there they were filming spiderman 1 on my street... so watch spiderman before you go...

The USS Intrepid is definitely worth a vist. Its a WW2 aircraft carrier turned into a museum. There are loads of planes etc on it. its pretty cool. The USS Edison (Frigate) and the USS Growler (Submarine) are also part of the tour. The sub is pretty cool, but clostraphobic...

Central Park is a must... there are so many different areas in it that it all must be explored.. theres always something going on in there...

Shopping on 5th Ave.

Statin Island Ferry.

The Beast. This is a pretty cool speed boat ride around the island of manhattan.

Museum of Modern Art. There is one in midtown and one in queens. if you are into that type of thing.

Chinatown. good food. nice area.

The village. loads of cool bars and cafes etc. ('The Friends' part of manhattan)

all the others mentioned in the thread are all worth doing... i have to say one of the best views i remember of the city is getting a taxi ride across the 59th St bridge to queens... its pretty spectacular.. especially at night...

the guide books are really good for the non-touristy things. get the lonely planet guide to new york.. its all in there... and have a great time...

hopefully ill be back someday....

Originally posted by Darren
In NY, go and see -

The USS intrepiid, West side Mid towm, 42 street if I remember correctly

South Street Seaport.

ChinaTown

Rockafella Plaza for Ice skating.

Central Park.

Brooklyn Bridge.

Battery (Do you wanna buy a watch) Park is worth a visit. Forget about the statue of liberty. Before 911 it was a nice trip but now with all the security it is an all day affair and not really worth the time.

Woodbury common for shopping. (There is loads of threads about this place already)

Have a nice time.

I'm just back.
Can recommend all that.
The intrepid and the growler as above are pretty impressive,you go on board decommissioned vessels including a nuke sub ( without the nuke of course )

I'd highly recommend woodbury common also, its about an hours drive north of New york and is laid out like a shopping town with factory outlets for all the famous names.
Bascically they are the autumn stock being sold off in the factory outlet in the spring ie they are a season behind.
But not always... I got a very nice Gant jacket for $370 and to my amazement I found the exact same jacket in their fifth avenue store for $1199 :eek:
Thats an idea of the savings and remember the euro is around $1.20 which is good.
Theres a sony shop there with everything under sun .
Sony home theatre 5.1 systems for $100 (€80) and all you need after that is a voltage adapter to convert the 220 here to 110.
nice minidisk players for $49 and there were combined dvd and video players for €60 all unsold from the main stores or re furbished.
Theres a north face store there too for example.

mada999

you gotta go to a yankees game at yankee stadium absolutely brilliant! went and seen the mets game at shea stadium but it wasn't as good.

You also gotta go and get a hot dog! make sure its a Sabrett one (youll see the yellow and blue umbrellas anyway). Also make sure you don't buy one on times square, it'll cost ya a fortune, just go around the corner and youll get one for a 1.50!

goto central park and see "strawberry fields", or just hang around and get into a game of footie thats what i did, was playin' with russians, germans amercians and french until it got dark and the fire flies came out!

goto madam thessauds wax works pretty good!

kingofvillan

This is all great people thanks alot but i want more so come anybody else whos been to new york or chicago give some suggestions