New York City?

[RVcrazy]

We are trying to figure out how many days to allow for the NYC area. We want to see Ellis Island & Statue of Liberty, The Met & Time’s Square as well as a few other attractions. We plan on staying at Normandy Farms & taking a hop on hop off tour to connect us with the major attractions. We also plan on visiting the Hyde Park area for FDR homes & others as well as several more historic homes north of Tarryrown. How much time would you suggest? Thanks!

[DrewE]

RVcrazy wrote:
We have already done DC once, Williamsburg, Charleston, Savanna, St Augustine etc. This trip is primarily to cover the NE & NY state. Since someone said Liberty Harbor May close, we are not planning on it. We are open to a hotel for a few days, leaving the RV in Newburgh to save transit time. We will do the day tour from the park if offered. We are mostly now trying to get a feel for how many days to allow for NYC downtown. We will want to do Ellis Island & Statue of Liberty, Time’s Square, 9/11 Memoral etc as well of the Metropolitan. It sounds like the bus from the park is a good overview, but won’t replace extra time at some attractions. How long would you allow if staying at a motel for Manhattan & midtown areas. Thanks!

Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty -- I'd allow a day, though it probably could be comfortably done in less time if things work out well with tour times etc.

Times Square -- it depends, but an hour might be enough for many people. It depends on if you want to just see Times Square or you're thinking more broadly about shopping, seeing a show or two or three, etc.

9/11 Memorial -- Probably half a day, but I gather the lines for tickets can be long and the wait to get into the museum (the tickets are for a certain time) can be longish or variable. I haven't been there myself yet. A half a day maybe, perhaps more once all is said and done?

"the Metropolitan" -- I assume you mean the museum of art? For that, a minimum of one day, and two or three would not be excessive if you're interested in art.

But there's a lot more in New York. There's Central Park with many things to see, the Guggenheim museum, the MOMA, the Bronx Zoo, the Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, a bunch of other museums, more theater in one place than quite possibly anywhere else in the world, Coney Island, among many others. It's rather like Washington DC in that you could fill pretty much any length of time being a tourist without much difficulty. I would think around three or four days would be the barest minimum for what you're interested in, and at least a couple more preferable. Some time on the first day would be just wrapping one's head around the subway system; nice subway maps are available from the info kiosk in the middle of Grand Central for the asking.

Liberty Harbor may be closing eventually, but I don't understand it to be immanent; if it were, they would presumably not be accepting reservations for the time after they were to close. It is not at all hard to imagine that the plot of land could be more profitable for the owners as something other than a campground. Motels and hotels around the city are not exactly inexpensive, either. My suggestion would be to have Liberty Harbor as plan A and a hotel or motel as plan B; but of course you're free to do whatever suits your fancy for your trip.

[RVcrazy]

We have already done DC once, Williamsburg, Charleston, Savanna, St Augustine etc. This trip is primarily to cover the NE & NY state. Since someone said Liberty Harbor May close, we are not planning on it. We are open to a hotel for a few days, leaving the RV in Newburgh to save transit time. We will do the day tour from the park if offered. We are mostly now trying to get a feel for how many days to allow for NYC downtown. We will want to do Ellis Island & Statue of Liberty, Time’s Square, 9/11 Memoral etc as well of the Metropolitan. It sounds like the bus from the park is a good overview, but won’t replace extra time at some attractions. How long would you allow if staying at a motel for Manhattan & midtown areas. Thanks!

[Busskipper]

RVcrazy wrote:
We are trying to figure out how many days to allow for the NYC area. We want to see Ellis Island & Statue of Liberty, The Met & Time’s Square as well as a few other attractions. We plan on staying at Normandy Farms & taking a hop on hop off tour to connect us with the major attractions. We also plan on visiting the Hyde Park area for FDR homes & others as well as several more historic homes north of Tarryrown. How much time would you suggest? Thanks!

As most have suggested Liberty Harbor is the Spot for NYC, as it is the easiest/closest/into the city - Use only public transportation - if I were you I'd allocate a day for each attraction you are trying to See, trust me the City of New York is a really BIG National Park.

IMHO it will take time to get to - see and enjoy each , and there will be so many things you will discover while there, that you will fill every day full.

The Empire State Building is a MUST DO at Night, along with the fact that there is so Much to See and do in the evenings.

You do not say How Much Time you Have? Coming from the West Coast I'd guess you will have allocated at least a week, IMHO you will need it. As you bump down the East Coast try to make it to the Beaches - Delaware Seashore SP - or so many other options - Just use the satellite feature on the map to seethe beaches you can get to.

A few other spots many miss in a visit to the East Coast - Great Lakes - Upstate NY - Williamsburg - Blue Ridge Parkway - Asheville - Lake Toxaway area outside the Smokies - Hilton Head - Jekyll Island, Ga..........On an On.

As we have lived on the East Coast for most of the Last 50 years, the Three Things that we have enjoyed the most - DC - National Sites - Beaches, mostly Delaware and Maryland - Mountains, Rocky Gap, MD - Upstate NY - Lake Toxaway.

Issue is we also discovered the Rockies so ..........hard to be in just one place.

Sorry to get carried away, but you will need to have a lot of time - East Coast is BIG - Traffic is Terrible - Driving takes a real PLAN - CampGrounds are seldom really Good - Beach is Great!

Hope this is of some help,

edit - This should be of some help - This may help in your NYC Adventure

[DrewE]

Retired JSO wrote:
Newburgh KOA used to have a daily tour to NYC visiting SOL, TS, ESB, BW. Was very reasonable and included admission.

Let's see... :h

SOL = Statue of Liberty, I assume
TS = Times Square probably
ESB = Empire State Building most likely
BW = ... ummm ... :@

[Retired_JSO]

Newburgh KOA used to have a daily tour to NYC visiting SOL, TS, ESB, BW. Was very reasonable and included admission.

[Rice]

mike brez wrote:
Metro North train station stop is right in the center of our town and it's about a hour ride into grand central station. We go four or five times a year to see a show have dinner with friends and love it around Christmas time.

What RV park is there?

[mike_brez]

Metro North train station stop is right in the center of our town and it's about a hour ride into grand central station. We go four or five times a year to see a show have dinner with friends and love it around Christmas time. I have stayed at Normandy Farms and that is a hike from there to the city.

[DavidandDayle]

On the 1-10 scale, Liberty Harbor is 1-5-10.
Getting in through Jersey City from the north is always a headache and gets worse each year. Last year we were chugging down the left lane and suddenly met a sign "Vehicles over 12' go right".
Boat access to Wall Street in rush hours. PATH service is 15 minute walk away and goes to WTC or Pennsylvania Station area.
We usually stay 2 weeks -- a 3 week stay left us exhausted.

[All_I_could_aff]

Best way I could describe Liberty Harbor is an asphalt parking lot with RV hookups surrounded by congested urban area. However it is the most convenient place to stay for visiting New York City. You will likely be exhausted after a long day of seeing all the tourist traps New York has to offer, and you will appreciate being mearly 2 miles away from your RV when you decide you have had enough for the day

[PhilipB]

We stayed at Liberty Harbor and spent 3 days. Did city tour, broadway show, and other sightseeing. This was probably bare minimum. We took the train, or whatever it's called into Manhattan. Just a few blocks walk from Liberty Harbor.

[DrewE]

Newburgh is a bit better than Normandy Farms for touring NYC, but it's still a good ways out and you'd still spend a few hours each day you're in the city getting there and back.

Croton Point or Liberty Harbor would make more sense for the NYC part of the time, Liberty Harbor particularly for the city proper. I would pack up and move between the Hyde Park area and the NYC area sites. I will also add that I tend to do very little to set up and break camp, so moving around is not too big an ordeal for me compared to some other RVers who prefer to set up and enjoy their outdoor mats, grills, gazebo tents, chairs, pink flamingos, etc.

[RVcrazy]

Sorry, we had planned ewburgh KOA for NYC. We thought it would make sense since we want to see the Hyde Park mansions & others toward Tarrytown, it just NYC. We would like FHU since we will be in the area for a while... We prefer not to relocate once we are parked. So far, Croton Point & Newburgh seemed to make the most sense, but we are from the west coast. Thanks! Sorry for my goof.

[Big_Katuna]

I failed to mention that the walking tour of Harlem was one our met amazing and enlightening experiences.

Don’t even get me started on Brooklyn.

[esyers]

Normandy Farms is for touring the Boston area. For NYC, Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, you want Liberty Harbor. For FDR's home and that area, look around Newburgh. Believe me, you want to keep your commutes as short as possible.