2015 New York Honeymoon

bailey&joseph

The wedding is 12\05\15 and we decided to have our honeymoon in New York because it will be right before Christmas so it will be beautiful and I love the cold. I was hoping to get any ideas for maybe some activities to do, restaurants to go eat, and even places to stay. We do not want to stay anymore expensive because we would rather enjoy the city than spend multiple hundred dollars on a hotel room.

climbingsingle

Check out Airbnb for a place to rent if you don't want to stay at a hotel. Do you have an area of the city you'd like to stay in? 

Activities - there are literally hundreds of options. Museums, plays, musicals, live music, shopping, etc. 

daria24

Be very careful about the neighborhood you stay in-most of the cheaper hotels are either near the airports and very far from the city, or in some areas of Long Island City that, while safe, are not ideal. At that time of year, quite frankly you aren't going to find a room for under $250 in Manhattan. Even AirBnB is going to run you close to $200 a night. 

If you don't care about some travel time, I would look into hotels at Exchange Place in Jersey City, they are still pretty pricey, but will be less. And the PATH is a much faster way into the city than even staying in some places in Brooklyn and Queens. 

What sorts of things to do you like to do, to eat, etc? My typical recommendations are:

-Do Top of the Rock instead of the Empire State Building. Waaaay better views. Buy your tickets online.

-TKTS for theatre tickets, though at that time of the year, shows are harder to come by. There is a TKTS app that shows you what is available that day. Surf it a few days before and see what is usually available. Mon-Thursday are better days to get cheap tickets, as well as Saturday matinees. Tuesday or Wednesday matinees always have the best available seats/ discounts. You can get tickets for the Radio City Show at TKTS, save your money.

-The Tenement Museum is really interesting. They have different "experiences"-book at least a day ahead.

-The Met is awesome, but overwhelming. My favorite time to go is Friday or Saturday evenings, it's open until 9. After 5 it always clears out a lot. Choose a few galleries and just visit those, I have some personal favorites if you need recommendations. 

-If you want to go to the Statue of Liberty Crown, you need to book those tickets at least a month in advance, if not more. They sell out quickly. If you just want to get a good view, take the Staten Island Ferry (Free!). You get nice pictures. The Statue tickets also get you into Ellis Island, which is worth it.

-For gods sake, don't eat in Times Square unless you absolutely have to. There are a few places on 9th Ave in the 40s that are good, but in general it should be avoided at all costs.

-I always love Watson Adventures, which does Scavenger Hunts around the city, at museums, and in neighborhoods. It's a great way to explore the area while learning some history. And in the museums they show you so many things you never would have noticed.

As far as food, I need some genres, there's too many to just outright list.  

daria24

Also, as far as holiday shopping-

There are three big outdoor holiday markets: Union Square, Columbus Circle, and Bryant Park. There are some gems in those stalls, but most of it is mass-produced. You have to look pretty carefully for the handmade stuff. Google "holiday pop-up markets" and you will find a few indoor ones that are set up around that time-those have handmade/vintage stuff. They move every year so I can't tell you where they will be this year. There is usually one in Chelsea Market though.

The best holiday-related experience I can tell you is walking down 5th avenue realllllly late at night. No crowds, just lovely lights. About 2am on a weekday is perfect  

Rosebubbly

In regard to hotels, there are quite a few new hotels in Brooklyn that are going to be decently less than manhattan and super easy to get around. I know there is a Hampton inn, a Hyatt place and an Aloft recently opened in Brooklyn that should be reasonably priced (for NYC standards anyway).
Also if you want something ritzier there is a nice fairly inexpensive W right across the river in Hoboken. Good restaurants in Brooklyn and Hoboken too!
If staying squarely in manhattan is a priority I always find the hotels in lower manhattan to be cheaper than midtown area.

majesty318

I loathe NYC at Christmas but hopefully you will disagree!

daria24 said, there are way too many restaurants to list, but I will throw out some of my faves below. And I agree with her to avoid eating in Times Square!

• Boqueria (there are 2 locations, Soho & Flatiron) - authentic, amazing Spanish tapas in a trendy atmosphere.
  
• Otto - near Washington Square Park - Mario Batali's cheaper restaurant, great pizza, pasta, & gelato and a massive wine list.
• Artichoke Basille's Pizza (a few different locations) - it's not "traditional" pizza but it's fantastic and we always take people there when they visit.
  

caitlinmca

Where is cake boss (TV show) located? NY? If so, you have to check that out!! mmmm pastries! Also at the Rockefeller Center there is an ice rink if you two are good at skating.

When I went in 2008 for a senior class trip, we did Ellis Island, saw the Statue of Liberty, we went through Central Park, we did the Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, Times Square, went past 9/11 area, we saw Grease, we did Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center, St. Paul's Chapel, we went down near Wall street. ChinaTown, and a few museums and other buildings.

daria24

caitlinmca said:

Where is cake boss (TV show) located? NY? If so, you have to check that out!! mmmm pastries! Also at the Rockefeller Center there is an ice rink if you two are good at skating.

When I went in 2008 for a senior class trip, we did Ellis Island, saw the Statue of Liberty, we went through Central Park, we did the Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, Times Square, went past 9/11 area, we saw Grease, we did Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center, St. Paul's Chapel, we went down near Wall street. ChinaTown, and a few museums and other buildings.

Cake Boss is across the river in Hoboken. The lines are insane and the baked goods aren't that great. Also they aren't made on site anymore, they have a warehouse.

Yes you can skate at Rockafeller Center, it's tiny, expensive, and crowded. Bryant park is a much bigger rink, and it's free! Though you have to pay for skate rentals, unless you bring your own. There are also two rinks in Central Park-the one on the northern end (Lasker) is where the locals go, it's a pool in the summer.

AprilH81

I think the Cake Boss has a small shop in Times Square now...

The last time I went to NYC I stayed at the Millenium Hilton down in the financial district (right next to the World Trade Center site).  It was nice and quite and there was a subway stop right outside the door so you could easily get to different parts of the city.

By NYC standards the rooms were huge.  

KatieinBkln

AprilH81 said:

I think the Cake Boss has a small shop in Times Square now...

The last time I went to NYC I stayed at the Millenium Hilton down in the financial district (right next to the World Trade Center site).  It was nice and quite and there was a subway stop right outside the door so you could easily get to different parts of the city.

By NYC standards the rooms were huge.  

They do. I work across the street from it and it's a horrific shitshow with too many people and no discernible system in place. I walked in once for a coffee and walked out after 5 minutes of milling about watching the staff wander around without taking charge. A friend went to get a cake and it took 45 minutes just to point at a pre-made one and buy it. Seriously, stay the hell away from Times Square if you value your sanity and if you've ever seen a tall building before. 

DO: look at Zagat, Time Out New York, and New York Magazine's Best Eats websites for delicious places to eat at all price points. 

DO: Make a sojourn to an outer borough. I'm partial to Brooklyn for obvious reasons, but there are cool things to see and do in Queens, The Bronx, and even poor forgotten Staten Island if you have the time. 

SKIP: The Statue of Liberty. It's not so fun up close and you'll spend all day in lines. Instead, take the Staten Island Ferry (it's free!) which passes RIGHT by. Or take a Circle Line boat tour around the entire island of Manhattan--I did this with my family and it was beautiful, informative, and funny. They also do NY Harbor tours which I believe also go right by the Statue.

MAYBE: The Empire State. I went up with my family and was very surprised and please at how fun it was, and how truly great the view was. I went on a Sunday afternoon and the lines weren't too crazy, although the observation deck was quite busy. People keep moving though, so you should be able to get a great view from all sides.

DO: The parks! Even if you're from a place with "real" nature, the NYC parks are all really well designed and fun to traipse in. Central Park is delightful, of course, but so is Riverside Park and Madison Square Park (hit up Eataly afterward!). Prospect Park in Brooklyn was designed by Olmstead and Veaux (same as Central) and it is my favorite park in the whole city. In general, stay out of the parks after dark, but they are all quite safe in the daytime.