New York!!

Oooh how long are you there for? We were there last Christmas and New Year for our honeymoon and had a fab time. Where are you staying?

Hope you have a great time! We went 3 years ago and loved it.

Key tourist sites:

Empire State Building - pay extra and go to the 2nd level, it's worth it

Staten Island Ferry (free) - for the best pictures of the Statue of Liberty

Walk the length of Fifth Avenue and pass Grand Central Station, Public Library, Chrysler Building (I think?)

Central Park - walk up to the Jackie Onassis lake, turn right and visit the Guggenheim art museum

We were so tired each night we didn't go to any posh or well known restaurants although Little Italy has some great places and there's an unusual ice cream place off Times Square.

We did a bus trip (one where you can get on and off) - was well worth the money for the 2 days as just gradually saw everything!

Try to see the ground zero site if you can - very moving but I was 'glad' I saw it.

x

Ice skating at Rockerfeller

A wander round central park

Dinner at the Kobe Bar & Grill for a tremendous steak

Dinner at The Gramercy Tavern for the best fine dining experience in NYC

A visit to Saks Shoe Studio

Hudson Bars at the Hudson Hotel

They would be my top 5 ?

Have dinner at Good in Greenwich Village - the food is wonderful. http://www.goodrestaurantnyc.com/

Have breakfast at Cafe Bonboniere on 8th Ave at Jane and 12th Streets - if you're lucky you might see Ethan Hawke there, and the french toast is to die for.

I luuuurve NY and am hoping to convince Mr ET that he really wants to go, so I can return. I'd recommend seeing who's on at the Greenwich village theatre as they have some great comedians on there. I was in NYC with my sister for new year in 2006 and we saw Dave Gorman doing the Googlewhack show, it's a lovely little theatre.

Also a great club not far from Times Square is 'Show', a burlesque / cabaret styled venue with a good selection of interesting drinks available.

Not sure if your hubby is a shopper but we enjoyed the little independant stores in greenwich and soho, and there is a great Korean restaurant near the Greenwich theatre, they do a mean singapore noodle buffet - yum yum

As you are going at Christmas ice skating is a must. I've skated at Rockerfeller and in Central Park at the Woollman rink and I'd say I enjoyed it more in the park. The Rockerfeller is quite synonymous with the big apple but I loved skating round looking up at the buildings surrounding the park. There are also loads of brilliant Christmas trees all over the place, so it will feel massively festive. You'll love it!

We stayed at Hotel On Rivington ( not sure if you have a hotel sorted?), it was amazing.

- I've been to New York a few times now and much prefer the Rockefeller Centre Observatory over the Empire State Building. We went at sunset and the view was amazing.

- I'm not a fan of the hop on/hop off buses - i'd have a better few hours just wandering around a neighbourhood, taking it in (love the Lower East Side for cool bars, restaurants and boutiques).

- We walked across Manhattan Bridge then got some ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory (beside Grimaldi's pizza place, pretty famous) and took in the view, then walked back across the Brooklyn Bridge. This was summer though so if you're likely to find the two bridge walks a lot in the cold, just get the subway across and walk back.

- Love shoppping in SoHo, great cobbled street boutiques and high street and designer places.

- Our best meal was at the Modern (restaurant in the Museum of Modern Art). The Museum was fab too but the tasting menu (about a 12 course meal) was just brilliant. Other places we ate were Buddakan (really stylish Asian food), Schiller's and Balthazar (owned by the same chap) - great food and really nice buzz about the place, Union Cafe, River Cafe (by the Brooklyn Bridge, lovely view back to Manhattan), cheesecake in Junior's in Grand Central, DuMont Burger in Williamsburg (amazing pulled pork burger and mac 'n' cheese), Neptune in the Upper West Side (the best French toast ever, possibly), Supper.

- Favourite museums: MoMA, the Met, Lower East Side Tenement Museum (great place!)

- We got a helicopter ride across Manhattan and while it was nice, it wasn't as spectacular as just hanging out at Top of the Rock.

- We hired rowing boats on the Lake in Central Park but you might be better off ice skating!

- I'd avoid Times Sq like the plague, i find it's a complete tourist zoo. Look once and don't go back!

- Greenwich Village has lots of nice coffee places and little shops.

- Stay out of midtown and hang out in Upper West Side and Downtown - much more 'real'.

- Avoid most food places in Little Italy and Chinatown.

We are there for five nights and staying nor far from the Empire State Building!! I am so excited!!

We have just got back from 4 nights in NY and loved it.

We stayed at the Library Hotel which was really nice and clean, small rooms but then I think thats the same with most hotels. The best bit was free snacks/drinks all day long and then free wine and cheese from 5pm till 8pm.

Anyhow we did all the usual stuff - Empire State, Grand Central, Ground Zero, Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Rockefeller, St Patricks Cathedral, Chrysler Building, Union Square, Greenwich Village, Tiffanys, Toys R Us, FAO Schwartz, all the shops (Macys, Bloomingdales, Berfdorf, Saks, Barneys) etc.

Highlights - pizza at Johns on Bleecker St, cupcakes from Magnolias on Bleecker, seeing Jack from 24, getting bargains in Century 21, walking in the park up to the reservoir, lunch in the park at Tavern on the Green, seeing the whole city from the top of the Rock.

Things I wouldnt bother with - going to the Oyster Bar in Grand Central which was recommended in the guide books but disappointing.

Just to add - we did the Circle Line boat tour for 3 hours, it was interesting seeing the whole of Manhattan but it was quite long so would probably be best to do a shorter version.

Make sure you take lots of warm clothes in Dec as it will probably be pretty cold but all the walking should warm you up.

Oh we've got 2 subway cards with credit still on them if you'd like them.

Have a great time.

What kind of subway ticket did you get? Most of them have 1 month expiry on them so they'd be no good at Christmas time. Best just to give them to a New Yorker on the subway as you leave!

They are $20 ones and have an expiry date of 30 Sept 09.

If you go to the Magnolia bakery on Bleeker, don't just get cupcakes - get a tub of banana cream. Heaven in a pot.

I'd agree with Hickory re: avoiding Times Square - absolute hell and not the real NYC. And re: the Rockefeller - the views are fantastic, much better than from the ESB.

I still salivate over the pizza I had here Lombardi's :https://www.firstpizza.com/newyork.html

Enjoy your trip.