Instead of taking a cab, call your Hotel and see if they have shuttle service. Most of the Hotels, do. This would only cost you a small portion of what a cab would....and they will be there waiting for you when you leave the airport. You just need to let them know ahead of time.

I haven't ever attended the Macy's day parade but know lots of people who have....their advice GET THERE EARLY. I know one group who arrives at the parade route at 4 in the morning.

If at all possible...figure out what you want to see or must do...and plan your itinerary to visit other places nearby. There are tons to see and do...but on opposite sides of the city...and you'll spend most of your time walking if you don't try to group places together.

Have fun!

I'm so excited for you! I went to NYC for the first time about two years ago, I went in June. We had fabulous weather every day! I would love to go back for the holiday season, I have always wanted to see the store fronts decorated!

We did the bus tour, I know that is such a tourist thing, but it turned out to be awesome because we jumped on and off when we wanted to and there were always buses going by!
We didn't go to the Statue of Liberty, but we rode the Staten Island Ferry so we could see it and it was FREE!

I had always wanted to go to Serendipity and I'm glad I did, had the frozen hot chocolate and it was yummy! The wait to get in there was ridiculous! We actually put our name in and went to eat at a Mexican restaurant and when we came back we had to wait about 10 min more!!!
We didn't eat at Mesa grill in NY, but I ate at the one in Las Vegas for brunch, it was really good, but it had alot of stuff I wouldn't normally eat!

Some of the places we ate were Tao, Rosa Mexicano, Plataforma.

We saw Wicked and The Wedding Singer on Broadway and they were both excellent!
Someone suggested we take a car service instead of a taxi from the airport and it worked out great for us!

We did the carriage ride in Central Park, that was nice, but pricey!
St. Patrick's is something to see, it still kills me that they have a gift shop right in the church though, but the place is amazing!
I didn't get to see or do nearly as much as I wanted, I need to go again!

Can't wait to hear about your trip!

Thanks for the tip! I've suggested it to the other girls. Sounds like a better idea than a cab :)

Thanks! I might need to go book shopping :) But of course, I'll leave the books tucked safely up in my hotel room so I don't look like TOO much of a tourist lol

4?? That's insane!!! But I will do it lol. I've watched this parade on tv every year since I was little. I always called it the "christmas parade" because it had Santa Claus and Thanksgiving is in October here lol.
Yeah I have a big problem trying to figure out what to do, when. NYC is just so huge and I have no idea where anything is or how long it takes to get anywhere!

Christmas in New York has always been my dream :D My best friend and I are soooooo obsessed with Christmas, so that just had to be when we go! We are planning on doing the holiday lights tour which takes us around to see all the store displays.
Is there usually a lot of snow there in late november?

Manhattan is not so huge...you can get a street map (in one of the books I mentioned earlier) and can see the layout. It really is not confusing. :)

That calms my nerves a little bit, thank you! I will also be taking my laptop with me so we can try to scout out routes to places from the hotel. Thank goodness for Google :D

Is there any place to get cheap tickets for broadway? I'm assuming you'd be able to get them cheaper like the day of the show, right? But what are the chances they wouldn't be sold out? We're just discussing it right now, whether we should buy tickets before going or get them there. I just checked prices and we want to go to two shows, and right now it would cost us each over $300 :eek:

There is a discount ticket place called TKTS in Times Square that sells day of tickets. You can also try going directly to the theater for day of performances. You could always call the theater to ask them their policy on day of performance tickets. Some theaters have drawings and such. We did it for Wicked and it was such a disaster and waste of time. Honestly, if there was a show that you really wanted to see, I'd go ahead and buy them. The holiday season is so busy and they'll probably sell out and if they didn't, you'll be absolutely miserable waiting in the TKTS line as it is always insanely long. Good luck! What are you hoping to see? :)

Thanks for the advice! We were wanting to do Mesa Grill and a broadway show in the same night, and since we need reservations for our dinner we thought we might as well get our tickets early too, so we can have our night planned without hassles. We have decided on Wicked and The Lion King :)

How fun! Good luck! I love Wicked but The Lion King is my absolute favorite. They are both amazing.

I love Christmas here too. Generally the city is dirty but at Christmas time it looks so pretty with all the lights and the tree. Go ice skating in Rockefeller, go to FAO Shwartz i love that toy store , go to Central park, walk around 5th ave and in Soho, there's tons of stores. Also what kind of music do you like? Theres tons of clubs and bars here, it all depends on what you like. In November i don't think there will be snow yet, it might be very cold but snow usually comes dec-feb. If you have any ques. about how to get around here or need help or anything holler:p

omg Wicked is sooooo good, i LOVED that show!! i saw it back in like 2004