Day 1:
We arrived by Amtrak in the afternoon at NYC Penn Station from Washington Union Station. As soon as you get out of the station (which is located below Madison Square Garden), all your senses are like assaulted (in a good way). Yep, you are in New York.
Since we were staying close by at the DoubleTree Suites – Times Square, we decided to just walk there instead of taking a cab. We ended up walking a lot during this trip. I would definitely recommend this hotel for its convenient location.
After having lunch and taking a couple of hours rest we decided to do “Top of the Rock” first which is basically the observation deck on top of the GE Building on Rockefeller Plaza.
If you are planning on visiting multiple attractions in cities like New York or Chicago, its always a good idea to research different types of discounts available for tickets. I had researched extensively for different types of passes available such as the CityPass, Go Select Pass etc. Finally I had purchased online a 3 attraction Go Select Pass (Top of the Rock, Empire State Building, Circle Line Cruise) for $270 (for 4 people). The published prices of tickets for these 3 attractions was around 40$ more. So quite a bit of savings there. In some of the locations, you have to swap the coupon for a real ticket at the ticket counter and in some you can show your email printout of the pass and get in.
Some people like to visit the Top of the Rock or Empire State Building during daytime and some during night to get a great view of the lights. I would recommend going to Top of the Rock an hour before dusk so you can get a view both during sunlight and after dark. Top of the Rock has great views of the Central Park and you must get here during daylight to see it.
After having our passes scanned at the ticket counter and getting tickets, we took the quick elevator ride to the top of the 67th floor of the building (you have to walk the remaining 3 floors up for even better views).
By the time we reached our hotel after seeing Top of the Rock, followed by dinner around 9 PM, we were welcomed with the sights of Times Square.
After hanging around in Times Square for an hour we called it a night.
Day 2:
After breakfast, we walked from our hotel in Times Square to Pier 83 (cross of 42nd Street & 12th Ave). We had a pass for a semi-circle cruise around Manhattan Island (1.5 hours approximate duration) by Circle Line. I would highly recommend it for anyone who is visiting New York for a short time. Since we were staying here for just under 3 days, we were not planning to allocate a half day for Statue of Liberty and so the next best thing was to see it up close during the cruise.
After getting off the boat, we were hungry for some New York Pizza. I had asked our boat tour-guide for some recommendations for best pizza place in Manhattan and he recommended John’s Pizzeria in Midtown, close to Times Square. We liked it a lot although I don’t know about the “best”.
After lunch, we took a cab to the financial district. I was not about to visit New York for the first time in my life and leave without seeing Wall Street and World Trade Center Memorial site.
Day 3:
This was our last day in NYC and so we wanted to make the most of it. We were planning to cover only two landmarks today – Empire State Building and Central Park.
Our pass gave access to the the 86th floor observatory at the Empire State Building. You have to buy a separate ticket for the 102nd floor.
After spending about 2 hours at Empire State Building, we took a cab to Central Park.
We walked around the park for about 2 hours and pretty soon it was time for lunch and then to JFK airport for our flight to Buffalo.