messy itinerary!!!

times running out for me- we%26#39;ve 2 weeks to go and i change my itinerary daily!! this is the latest edition! we arrive on a friday -newark at 11.30am- i thought we would have loads of time for sightseeing and some shopping near our hotel(kimberly)- grand central (juniors or carnegie deli for lunch?),moma,st pats,rockerfeller centre hoping to end up in times square for dinner (where to go?)-but then i read a post on here that said allow about 3 hours to travel in to manhattan from the airport?.

saturday is fine- woodbury common then a dinner cruise in the evening.sunday we had hoped to go to central park in the mornig,fixed price lunch at trump towers,afternoon shopping at madison/5th ave and a show in the evening-this is where it really goes wrong!!-no $20 lunch at trump towers on a sunday and ive also read on here that most shows arent on on a sunday.monday was for staten island ferry,ground zero,wall st,south seaport,brooklyn bridge(grimaldis for pizza) -is this too much for 1 day and would we have any energy left to do something in the evening? tuesday- my husband really wants to do the day trip to washington-so if we do that the day and evening are taken up.wednesday- last day-we need to leave around 3pm for the airport-so i thought some more shopping near the hotel and lunch at barneys.am i leaving out anything we should do? any advice gratefully received ( ive 2 teenagers who just want to shop and a husband who wants to take in all the sites and i dont know if i%26#39;d be happy splitting up and leaving 2 18 year olds to their own devices!!

messy itinerary!!!

loopylouie - it%26#39;s not your itinerary that%26#39;s at fault. it%26#39;s more fundamental than that!

IMHO, there is only one way to settle this. You%26#39;ve got to sit the family down and establish what sort of a trip this is going to be. At the moment you%26#39;ve got a 5 day trip but only 3 of them in NYC. You%26#39;ve got a husband who wants to go to DC despite good advice from others here that it is not viable and 2 daughters who only want to shop. Either you%26#39;re coming to experience one of the greatest cities in the world or you%26#39;re not!

I think you have a selling job to do. Assuming that you%26#39;ve got yourself a good guidebook (if not, get one quickly!), show the rest of the family the fabulous places they can see and the great things they can do in NYC. It%26#39;s up to you to convince them that 5 days will only scratch the surface and to waste 2 days doing other things is crazy! There%26#39;s nothing wrong with shopping but fit it in between all the other great things that the city can offer otherwise, you%26#39;re missing out on opportunities.

Sorry to sound so domineering but this is a holiday for all four of you and you%26#39;ve got to have a consensus or else none of you will enjoy yourselves. I would prepare a list of all the attractions, sit the family down and get them to tell you which they want to do. You can then prepare a schedule which takes in the most popular items (there will, inevitably, be some which don%26#39;t make the short list but that%26#39;s how democracy works!). That way you get to see the ';must dos'; but, it%26#39;s up to you to ';educate'; the others!

messy itinerary!!!

Washington DC is not a good idea when time is limited.

The fastest way to DC is by Amtrak. You are talking a 3hr ride at $157 one-way; the cheaper 3.5 hr train is $80 one-way.

For the four of you, you are talking an extra $480.

You could go by bus, but then you are subjected to possible delays on I-95 which is always crowded. The regular buses leave from Port Authority - $40 roundtrip 4.5 hr ride. Greyhound is running a special.

The cheapest buses are the ';Chinatown'; buses, but you have to make your way to Chinatown thereby adding more travel time.

The question for you and your family is do you want to be spending 6-9 hours on the road just so your husband can ';see'; DC???

calm down

speak to the family about that all of you want to do, look at each area and then organise yourself

5 ful day and 4 people, get a fluid itinery and then oyu will get a lot form your trip

the 2 teenagers you will be safe enought ot leave shopping as long as you have points of meeting

all agree on a show

the washington trip is ok but you will all have to go and you will be shattered

Loose the DC trip. Its a really nice city but you can%26#39;t do it justice in a day, and it will leave you less time for NYC.

Don%26#39;t plan any more shopping than woodbury common. If all the teenagers want to do is shop they they should stay at home and spend the 拢500+ it is costing them to go to NYC!

The shopping will come naturally as you tour the city. Do some pretend shopping at Tiffanys - ask to try on some nice jewlery! That is what my wife is planning to do anyway as she passed up the opportunity last time we were there.

I%26#39;ve not flown into Newark before, but from the www I think you can get a train for $14 to Penn Station on NJ rail. It looks to be more expensive with Amtrak. Since there are 4 of you I think it might be benefitial to look at a car service - it mmight not be that much more expensive. Figure on clearing immigration, baggage and travel to hotel will take you until 2pm. Since I will be flying to EWR from Belfast in Otober I%26#39;d appreciate any feedback on this (from anyone!).

Bring your lunch to Central Park in the form of a picnic.

Do you fancy any of the Museums?

No mention of ESB?

Everyone will have different ideas as to what to expect. I would not want to fly 3,000 miles to spend a day in a shopping mall in Jersey, but some people would be in their own personal hell to spend 30 mins in MoMa !!

I agree with MaidstoneNic, sit everyone down and find out what everyone expects from the trip and try to give everyone something the want and will look forward to.

Good luck and keep us posted!

If your husband ';really wants to do the day trip to Washington';, I would not be inclined to talk him out of it. Compromise lies at the heart of most successful trips. The solution seems obvious to me. Your husband should go to Washington on his own on the Tuesday and you can remain in New York with your children. Unless both your husband and yourself are Siamese twins (or inextricably linked by an umbilical cord), what%26#39;s so wrong about the two of you splitting up for the day ? You can meet up later that night and over a late night dinner exchange lively stories about your different experiences and adventures in the two cities.

i did reply earlier - but i dont know where its gone.

maidstone nic - thanks for your advice -i need someone to tell me what to do - on this occasion!

ive decided to forget about washington on this trip -which will give us another day/evening- hopefully to do something for my husband- i thought of rodeobar ( as hes in to c%26amp;w) and also lucilles -any comments on either please- also any other suggestions gratefully received ( i%26#39;m going to do the hersheys name in lights) and i%26#39;m thinking about tickets for the producers - should i wait til just before we go to book online for the cheapest tickets to a show?

thanks to everybody- your comments are really appreciated as i was starting to panic- so much to do %26amp; see nad so many places to eat!