How to arrive

Getting there

New York City is easily the most important and the busiest transportation hub in northeastern USA and you could blindly choose any type of transport to get you there.

Try taking a bus if you are traveling to New York from within the country. All suburban and long-haul buses arrive at the Port Authority Bus Terminal at 41st Street and Eighth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. You would most likely be on a Greyhound Bus, popularized Hollywood, linking New York with major cities across the country. We wouldn’t recommend driving a car in Manhattan. Nearly 75% of the locals in Manhattan don’t own a car! So take a hint from them and avoid getting stuck in a human/car jam on Manhattan’s streets.

Taking an Amtrak and reaching Pennsylvania Station, on 33rd St between Seventh and Eighth Aves, is a good bet for getting in to NYC. The station services all Amtrak trains, including the Acela Express, Amtrak's new fast train, and the Metroliner. You can depend on the Long Island Rail Road that carries gazillion commuters each day from a newly renovated platform area to points in Brooklyn, Queens and the suburbs of Long Island, including the resort areas.

If you are coming from another country you would, per force have to take a plane, since the Titanic went out of commission! Sure, you could take a cruise liner across the pond, but flying in to La Guardia or Newark Airport in New Jersey are more comfortable choices. The busy John F Kennedy International Airport is 24km from Midtown Manhattan in southeastern Queens and services mostly domestic flights. Half hourly buses connect the city and JFK taking at least on hour per side.

Buses run every 15-20 minutes between the city and La Guardia as does a water shuttle that runs along the East River. If neither one of the above options work for you, take the subway. To get from Newark Airport, you can get a private or public bus from the city. Buses into the city run every fifteen minutes. Taxis from all three airports into the city are expensive but if you are carrying a lot of luggage they are the only choice.

The Subway Vs the Monster Cabbie

You may have heard horror stories about the NY subway (including the one about the Ghost train!) but be assured that is quite safe nowadays and still the fastest way of getting to Manhattan. Although buses are equally efficient, they are for the patient ones who think nothing of being driven about to ten different places before reaching their destination, Buy a Metrocard for the subway so as to cut time and long queues.

If you can get over the subway, the famous New York cabbies are just a little step. Although most of them are cool and just want to get you there fast and collect their tab, you might face some of the ones from all those hairy NY Cabbie stories you hear. You can cut through the situation by taking down their license number (or at least pretend to) -most cabbies fear being reported. Do be afraid of negotiating New York traffic; it's a nightmare, and rentals and petrol are pricey. If it's a scenic journey you're after, a ferry is your best bet.

Best places to stay

Before we start off rattling the whole list of places where you can park yourself before you start playing ‘tourist’ let us tell you about this absolutely fab place we found out about – The Gershwin Hotel on East, 27th Street is one of the first places you ought to try reservations at. A 13 (yeah, that number!) storey burst of pop art lead by Andy Warhol, The Gershwin blasts your senses with prints by a different artist on each one of those thirteen. Try tooth and nail for a stay here because, hold your breath, rooms start from $ 109 right down to single beds on the lower floors that come for as little as $ 40 a night!

Now, to the list:

Aim for the Kitano New York on Park Avenue which boasts of the best suites in the business. There are 3 one-bedroom suites in the townhouse that are part of this hotel and come complete with a sunken den, fab art, a state-of-the-art stereo system, and a tea maker with green tea. Get all romantic with a room at the Hotel Elysée on the 54th Street right in the heart of Manhattan or get to the Gramercy Park Hotel on Lexington Avenue (Pic left) to sleep in at the 1925 –built legend that has been recently restored with all its old world charms intact.

If you are in the mood for splurging and then some, try these on for size: New York Palace Hotel – $ 495, The Michelangelo – $ 610, The Ritz-Carlton New York – Central Park – $ 795, Trump International Hotel & Tower – $ 525 and the Ritz- Carlton Battery Park – $ 475.

This is NY and there is no dearth of places you could spend a grand for a little Rip Van Winkle time. If you got an oil well bursting out of your front lawn consider staying at the Royalton Hotel New York City for $ 1622 a night; the Mandarin Oriental for $ 1462 or The Plaza (Left)) the ultimate place to rub shoulders with celebs at $ 1050 a night. Indulgence is the other name for The Pierre which reeks old world charm at $ 837 and for just $ 612 a night you can have a fantastic weekend break at the Soho House New York.

Mid range hotels are not as mid range as you would like them to be. But by NY definitions the Night Hotel for $ 469 or The Benjamin at $ 462 fit the bill perfectly. Other choices in this bracket include: The Bryant Park, blessed with great location is a steal at $ 460, the Warwick New York Hotel for $ 450 is popular with tourists and The Grand Hyatt New York for $ 446.

Bed & Breakfasts are a great way to park yourselves comfortably in the city, get great service and all the modern facilities without having to part with your life’s savings. In this category, consider The Inn on 23rd located in Manhattan for a comfortable experience ($ 350), The 1871 House located on a quiet, tree-lined street off Park Avenue ($ 340), West Eleventh Townhouse ($ 293), Ivy Terrace ($ 265) and the Holy Family Bed & Breakfast ($ 212).

The best way to experience NY like a bona fide New Yorker would be by living in the city. The next best option is to rent an apartment like the Off-Soho Suites that have been in the business for quite some time, and experience the triumphs and travails of living in the stomach of a behemoth like NY – scales and all.