In regards to hotels. There are thousands to choose from. However, if you want to stay in the heart of it all, may I recommend staying at the Marriott Marquee Hotel, which is located right in the heart of Times Square, just steps from the TKTS booth.In regards to must see sites and shopping. May I recommend the following.Landmarks-Empire State Building-Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island-Rockefeller Center and the Top of the Rock Observation Deck-Times Square (no trip is complete without a visit to the Crossroads of the World )-Lower Manhattan/Wall Street Area-United Nations-Central Park-Brooklyn Bridge (you can walk across it too)-Grand Central Terminal (largest railroad terminal in the world)-A Ride on the Staten Island Ferry (its free and you can see the Statue of Liberty as the ferry crosses the harbor)-Sightseeing tour on a Double Decker BusMuseums-Museum Mile (Fifth Avenue from East 82nd to East 103rd Streets)-Museum of Natural History and the Rose Center for Earth and Space (formerly the Hayden Platerium)-MoMa-Whitney Museum of American Art-New Museum of Contemporary Art-Madame Tussaud Wax Museum-New York City Fire Museum-New York City Police Museum-Transit Museum-The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum-The Bronx Museum of the Arts-Brooklyn Museum-Milk Gallery-American Craft Museum-Museum of American Folk Art-Museum of the Moving Image-The Paley Center For Media (formerly the Museum of Television and Radio)-The Municipal Art SocietyShopping-Macy s (West 34th Street and Broadway in the heart of Hearld Square)-Bloomingdale s (Lexington Avenue at East 59 and East 60 Streets)-The shops along Fifth Avenue (just don t max out you credit cards)-FAO Schwarz-Toys R Us in Times Square-Lord and Taylor (5th Avenue at East 38th Street)-Chinatown/Canal Street Area (if you want to go on the cheap for the stuff you can t get on Fifth Avenue)-NBA Store (for the basketball fan - 5th Avenue at East 52nd Street)-The Apple Computer Store (East 59th Street and Fifth Avenue)-The Time Warner Center (West 59th Street - Columbus Circle)-Hershey Store (for those with a sweet tooth)-M M World (49th Street and 7th Avenue)-Grand Central Terminal (for the shopping)-H M-Century 21 Department Store (Church and Cortlandt Street)-forever 21-Barneys New York (660 Madison Ave)-Abercrombie Fitch (5th Avenue @ 57th Street and Water Street between Fulton and John Streets)-American Eagle Outfitters (4 locations in Manhattan)-Urban Outfitter (8 locations in Manhattan)-Manhattan Mall-Queens Center Mall-Queens Place Mall-Roosevelt Field Mall (on Long Island)-Fulton Street Mall-Kings Plaza Mall-Woodbury Common Premium Outlets-Garden State Plaza-The Westchester Mall-Palisades Center Mall-Westfield Sunrise Mall-Green Acres Mall-Jersey GardensIn regards to place to eat in New York City. There are thousands of restaurants in the Five Boroughs of New York City. Depending on your taste, your budget and your preferred location, may I recommend the link below.http://www.menupages.com/ -- MenuPages.com is the one of the best website on the online. It included menus with prices, as well as restaurant reviews. Bon appetit!I hope this information is very helpful.Good luck and happy holidaysNative New Yorker
there are quite a few sites that you can search that will likely show you great hotels at the best prices available. check out the website BookMe and you will be able to compare prices on all the reputable travel sites in just a couple minutes. it s very convenient and will save you a bunch of time and money. Also, make sure you buy them online... otherwise they charge much higher fees for phone orders. good luck.
Take the bus tours, they are fun. Try one of these companies...http://www.citysightsny.com/http://www.newyorksightseeing.com/
Go visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, two landmarks of New York City. To get there by the ferry, you need to purchase round-trip ferry tickets at Castle Clinton National Monument in Lower Manhattan. Ferries from New York operate on a loop, stopping first at Liberty Island and then at Ellis Island before returning to Battery Park, New York.Directions to get the ferry dock:http://www.nps.gov/stli/planyourvisit/pu��Go visit the Empire State Building, one of the many landmarks of our city. It is located at 350 5th Avenue. To get there by MTA subway, take the 1, 2, or 3 (Seventh Avenue Lines), A, C or E (Eighth Avenue Subway) to 34th Street/Penn Station. Or take the B, D, F, N, Q, R or Path to 34th Street/Avenue of the Americas.Go walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, which is, if I m correct, which I might not be, is the oldest structure in the city. If not the oldest structure, the oldest bridge. To get there, and walk across it, take the 4, 5, or 6 to the Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall stop. Another option would be to take the J, M, or Z to Chambers Street.Go visit Coney Island, the home of the world famous Cyclone roller coaster. The amusement park will be closed, especially in the winter time, but the aquarium is open year-round, and sometimes the pier is open, so you can get some snacks -- they have fantastic corn dogs on the pier. To get there by train, take the D, Q N or F train to Stillwell Avenue, which is the last stop. This takes about 45 minutes from midtown Manhattan, and sometimes longer, depending on where you are coming from.Go for a ride on the Circle Line. There are numerous different cruises �C one is the Full Island Cruise, which takes you around Manhattan on a three-hour cruise. The Semi-Circle Cruise sets sail on a two-hour cruise down the Hudson offering a stunning panoramic of the famed New York skyline and a close-up view of Lady Liberty. The Liberty Cruise turns 75-minutes into a quick and inspirational way to see New York��s highlights from the water. There is also a Harbor Lights Evening Cruise, which allows you to view the hotspots of New York City from the water at night. Then, there is The Beast. It��s a boat that travels at forty-five miles per hour down the river to the Statue of Liberty. Both cruises are fun and informational, and are a great way to kill some time if you don��t have anything to do.Here is the Circle Line schedule:http://www.circleline42.com/site/schedul��Circle Line special events:http://www.circleline42.com/site/browse.��Go to visit some museums. There are so many, that listing directions to all of them would be a waste of your time and my time, so instead, I will give you a list where there is a list of all the museums of New York City. You can pick some that sound interesting, and then you can find directions to that place, either from the website, or from Google, simply by typing in directions to and insert the museum you would like to go to beside it. Museums in New York City http://www.ny.com/museums/all.museums.ht����New York City Zoos and Aquariums��http://gonyc.about.com/od/zoosaquariums/�� Top 25 New York Boutiques http://nymag.com/visitorsguide/shopping/����Top 25 New York Shopping Destinations��http://nymag.com/visitorsguide/shopping/����Shopping in New York City��http://gonyc.about.com/od/shopping/Shopp�� Best New York Boutiques As voted by customershttp://newyork.citysearch.com/bestof/win�� The Top 100 Boutiques in New York http://www.luckymag.com/sites/cityguides����Best New York City Picks��http://nymag.com/bestofny/food/��The Best Restaurants in NYC��http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/rest����New York City Attractions��http://www.lovetoeatandtravel.com/site/u����Things to do in New York City��http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-27��Since I am not a shopper -- I m more of an explorer -- I don t know too many good boutiques to find some good apparel and accessories and stuff. There is one place I know, called Tibet Bazaar , which is on Amsterdam, between 82nd and 83rd. I ve gotten some Christmas presents for relatives there before, and it s a beautiful store with beautiful clothes and wallets and things like that, and it s run by the nicest lady in the world, and it s nice, friendly, and calm. It s not really hole-in-the-wall, but it certainly does not receive as much credit as it should. Tibet Bazaar Official Website:http://www.tibet-bazaar.com/index.html Best of New York City This is a website I found that has a guide to the best food, the best shopping, the best tours, and et cetera. For the best of both worlds, visit this website for the highest rated restaurants in the city, the best tours, the best bars, and the best everything:http://gonyc.about.com/od/bestofnewyorkc��Note: Maps of New York City are at every newsstand, and newsstands are all around New York City. Also, for transportation, there are maps in subway cars and on subway trains, and there are also maps in buses. The maps at bus stops are usually just for the bus route.All the best ?