New York City Budget Travel Guide is created for the benefit of independent travelers who are interested to explore New York City on their own. In writing this guide, I want to assemble together details about all the places of interest in New York City. From these, you can select which you want to visit.
There is a lot to see and do in New York City. However, it is also one of the most expensive destinations in America. If you are planning to explore it on a budget, I would recommend that you do some homework, read up about the city, and get acquainted with its public transportation system - which although is excellent, can be rather intimidating to visitors.
With proper planning, you will get to see more of New York City, do more, enjoy more, while at the same time keep within your budget.
New York City is the largest city in the United States. It can be considered the "capital of the world". This is the city where news happen and fashion made.
The metropolitan area of New Yock City is one of the largest urban centres in the United States. The city consists of five boroughs of which the most important is Manhattan. Most of the tourist attractions of New York City are all located there. Manhattan is an elongated island with the Hudson River to the west and the East River to the east of it.
The famous New York City skyline is found in Manhattan, as well as famous places such as Central Park, the New York Stock Exchange, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wall Street, Battery Park, Rockefeller Center, Plaza Hotel, the Waldorf=Astoria, you name it, they are all in Manhattan, New York City.
In addition to Manhattan, the other boroughs are Queens, The Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. Manhattan is the most densely populated area in the United States while New York City is the second most densely populated city after Union City in New Jersey, which is just across the Hudson River.
Hotels in New York City are expensive. You certainly do not want to arrive at a hotel doorstep and check whether they have room for you. You will be given the rack rate, which is the highest you have to pay.
The thing to do is to book online. But before you do that, note that different Hotel Booking website actually offer rooms at the same hotel at very different prices. So how do you get the best rates? Use our free Hotel Search Box below. Key in New York City, and it will provide you a list of the estimated rate for the hotel rooms. Choose the hotel you are interested, and then the engine will show you how much different hotel booking sites are offering. By doing this little homework, you are assured of getting the lowest price each time you book.
New York City is well connected by air with flights from almost every corner of the world. Three large airports (and several small ones) serve the region. John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport are large international airports while LaGuardia Airport is a busy domestic airport. All three airports are run by The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
It is best to allow a minimum of 90 minutes for trips between midtown and the airports whether you use public transport or a taxi. Rush hour traffic in New York can be horrendously bad, especially on the congested Van Wyck Expressway to Kennedy airport. The lack of elevators at most subway stations makes lugging luggage up and down subway stairs difficult and peak hours should be avoided.
Refer to a subway map to find disabled access stations which will have elevators. Suburban shared ride vans are available: use the phones provided near baggage claim for information. If taking a taxi, go to the taxi dispatcher. Do not accept offers of rides from people hanging around in the terminal because there is a high risk of being cheated. Since only the subway runs 24 hrs, if leaving for an early flight with a two-hour check in, you may need to take a taxi. Check bus schedules carefully if your flight leaves during the wee hours.
If you are on extreme tight schedule and have to catch the flight or want something extra then US Helicopter flies you in 9 minutes (plus connection time 35..70min heli>airline, 35..120min airline>heli) from Midtown to Newark or JFK for roughly $100 one-way.
Connection to Other Airports- Connections between airports are poor at best. New York Airport Express runs buses between LGA and JFK. ETS Air Shuttle runs (very infrequent) buses between LGA and Newark Airport. A taxi is your best, although slightly more expensive, option when changing airports in New York - unless you have plenty of time!
You can get to New York City by taking the Amtrak trains or New York City's commuter trains.
Amtrak
Amtrak, 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245), operates from New York Penn Station, which is directly under Madison Square Garden, its largest hub in Amtrak's east-coast system, with dozens of arrivals and departures daily. Amtrak's Acela express train provides regular fast commuter service between major points on the east coast from Washington, D.C. up to Boston, with stops at Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Haven, and Providence. Direct Amtrak services are available to points along the East Coast down to Florida; to points between New York and Chicago (including Pittsburgh, and Cleveland); to New York State (including Albany, Rochester, Buffalo and Niagara Falls); and to Toronto and Montreal in Canada. Service to California (three days) requires a change of train in Chicago. Popular trains leaving near rush hours can fill up quickly: it's a good idea to make reservations online, or via phone, and pick up your ticket at one of the electronic kiosks.
Amtrak's Metropolitan Lounge, located near the big security desk in Penn Station, offers Airline Business Class lounge amenities (and clean bathrooms). Travelers with sleeper tickets, First Class Acela tickets, or Continental Airline Business First tickets (for travel from Newark to Hawaii, Guam, Tokyo, HongKong, or Transatlantic destinations) can use this lounge.
Tickets for Northeast corridor trains can be purchased from QuikTrack machines with a credit card. Tickets booked online can be collected at these machines (keep the credit card or reference number handy). It is best to buy your tickets in advance for popular services.
New York City is served by three commuter railroads.
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) operates from New York Penn Station with service to points in Long Island with stops at Jamaica Station, Long Island City, Hunters Point, and others in Queens and Atlantic Avenue station in Brooklyn. The main LIRR lines include services to Port Jefferson, Montauk, Oyster Bay, Port Washington, and Greenport; with a number of branch lines to other points on Long Island.
Metro-North Rail Road (Metro North) operates from Grand Central Terminal to points north and east of the city (Westchester, Putnam, Duchess Counties in New York_, and points in the state of Connecticut). The New Haven line serves cities along the coast with a branch line to Danbury. The Hudson Line serves points along the Hudson River to Poughkeepsie. The Harlem Line serves Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess Counties to Pawling and Wassaic. Trains also stop at the Harlem station on 125th street and Park Avenue in Manhattan. At New Haven, passengers may transfer to Amtrak or to the Shore Line East providing local service between New Haven and New London, Connecticut.
New Jersey Transit operates from New York Penn Station to points in New Jersey. The Northeast corridor line goes to Princeton and Trenton. Services are also available for points along the Jersey Coast and along the Hudson River to points north of the city. Connecting service is available from Trenton to Philadelphia via SEPTA or to Camden (New Jersey) via RiverLINE. Connecting service to Newark Liberty International Airport is available from some Northeast corridor trains.
Getting around New York City on a budget
Without a doubt, the best way to travel in New York City on a budget is to take the subway. Use it if the distance is too far to make walking practical. Otherwise, walk. You will be able to see a lot more, at a comfortable pace when you walk. However, as you are unlikely to have that much time to cover all the sights, take the subway whenever necessary. The fare is just US$2.00 no matter how far you travel. You can also buy the one-day FunPass for US$7.50, which allows you unlimited travel all day, or better still, the US$25.00 7-day unlimited ride MetroCard.
The New York City subway is easily the best way to travel around the city. It may look grungy and dirty, but few New Yorkers will trade their 24 hour, extensive, and fairly reliable subway system for a better looking one. The much-feared subway crimes of the 70s and 80s are for the most part a thing of the past, and it is almost always completely safe. Just use common sense when traveling late at night alone and try to use heavily-traveled stations. Nowadays you are more likely to get struck by lightning, statistically, than be the victim of the crime on the subway.
Every line is identified by either a letter or a number. Ignore the colors. Unless you restrict your subway use to the midtown area, relying on colors is a sure way to get lost.
Uptown/downtown in Manhattan- Almost all lines in Manhattan go north/south and the direction is always clearly noted on the platforms and in train announcements. In general, 'Bronx-Bound' and 'Queens-Bound' are synonymous with uptown, while 'Brooklyn-Bound' is synonymous with downtown. Station entrances will also indicate the direction (e.g., "Uptown and the Bronx and Queens" or "Downtown and Brooklyn") so be careful when entering the station. If no direction is indicated, then you can use that entrance for both uptown and downtown tracks.
Get the New York City Subway Map, also available at staffed token booths. Token booth attendants can also be very helpful in advising you which line to take to your destination. Here's a useful Subway Map that has been overlaid on top of google maps. It shows you exactly where the train stops (and entrances/exits for Manhattan). A useful map that finds the closest subway to any given address in New York City is available. Alternatively, use HopStop.com for directions on how to travel between two addresses in the city via subway, buses, regional rail, or walking based on your selection of fewer transfers and more walking, or less walking and more transfers.
Important lines in Manhattan:
The Lexington Avenue Line (4, 5, 6) are the only trains on the East Side above 23 St. Useful for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim Museum, and other east side museums (4, 5, or 6 to 86th Street Station or the 6 to 77th Street Station). Also for the Statue of Liberty (4, 5 to Bowling Green Station), Chinatown (6 to Canal Street Station), and Yankee Stadium (4, B, D to 161 St./Yankee Stadium Station).
The Seventh Avenue Line (1, 2, 3) serves Broadway above 42nd Street, and Seventh Avenue below 42nd Street. Useful for the West Village, Chelsea, and Tribeca neighborhoods as well as the Staten Island or Statue of Liberty ferries (1 to South Ferry Station) and Columbia University (the 1 to 116th Street Station).
The Eighth Avenue Line (A, C, E) serves Eighth Avenue between 14th and 116th streets, then St. Nicholas Av., Broadway, and Ft. Washington Av. starting at 125th St. in Harlem. Useful for the Natural History Museum (C to 81st Street Station), the west side of Central Park (the C makes local stops on Central Park West), Cloisters Museum (A to 190th Street Station), JFK Airport (A to Howard Beach or E to Jamaica).
The Sixth Avenue Line (B, D, F, V) runs on 6th Ave. from West 4th St. to 57th St. (or to 47th-50th Sts. for all but the F), and is useful for accessing the Museum of Modern Art, Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, and St. Patrick's Cathedral (47th-50th Sts.); and Coney Island (Stillwell Av.). Grand St. on the B and D is the best all-purpose stop for Chinatown. The D train also converges with the 8th Av. Line from 59th St./Columbus Circle to 145th St., and is useful for traveling to Harlem, or to Yankee Stadium (161 St./Yankee Stadium).
The Broadway Line (N, Q, R, W) runs down Broadway below 42nd Street and on Seventh Avenue above Times Square. The N, Q, R, and W trains are useful for accessing Chinatown (Canal St), SoHo/NoHo, NYU area, Union Square, the Empire State Building (34th St), Times Square (42nd St), Carnegie Hall (57th St.), Central Park (57th St and 5th Av stations), and the southern end of the Upper East Side. The R and W trains also go down to Financial District and South Ferry (Whitehall St).
MetroCards are stored value cards issued by the New York City Transit Authority for taking the bus and subway in New York. While it is possible to pay for a bus using exact change (in coins) you must have a MetroCard to enter the subway system. Once you enter, you can spend the rest of your life there as long as you don't leave the system. Cards can be bought online, at stations (either from a vending machine or from a token booth), or at many grocery stores and newstands (look for a MetroCard sign on the store window). Information on types of MetroCards and fares can be found online at www.mta.info/metrocard. Less traveled stations will typically only have a MetroCard vending machine or token booth on the more heavily-traveled platform (more times than not this is the Manhattan-bound platform).
Which MetroCard is right for you? It depends on how long you plan to stay, how you intend to use the system, and how often you intend using the system. The base fare is $2 which you pay when you enter a bus or pass through a station turnstile for the first time. However, most MetroCards discount this fare:
The Single Ride MetroCard available for $2 at stores and at MetroCard vending machines in stations. You cannot buy this card at a token booth.
Pay-Per-Ride MetroCards are available from $4 to $100 at vending machines and token booths. Any purchase over $7 gives a 15% bonus (every $10 gives you an extra $1.50). Transfers between bus and subway are available. This is the best option if you are spending a few days in New York and plan on using public transportation intermittently. The only way to have a Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard with an even balance is to purchase $40 (or a multiple of it) in total, giving you a $6 free bonus, resulting in $46, or 23 card swipes.
One-Day Funpass available for $7.50 from stores and MetroCard vending machines (but not at token booths). Unlimited use of subways and buses from the time you first use the card till 3am of the next day. A great deal if you plan on using the transportation system heavily over a day.
Seven-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard available for $25 from token booths and vending machines and valid from the time you first use it to midnight of the seventh day. At under $3.60 a day, this is an amazing deal for anyone spending a week in the city. Even with moderate use of the transport system, you'll break even in five days.
14-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard available for $47 from token booths and vending machines and valid from the time you first use it to midnight of the fourteenth day. If you pay by credit or debit/ATM card, the MTA will not replace the card if you lose it, however they will issue you a card with a prorated value of $3.36 per day left on your card.
Thirty-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard available for $81 from token booths and vending machines and valid from the time you first use it to midnight of the 30th day. If you pay by credit or debit/ATM card, the MTA will not replace the card if you lose it, however they will issue you a card with a prorated value of $2.70 per day left on your card.
Seven-Day Express Bus Plus MetroCard available for $41 and is good for unlimited express bus service (routes typically run from an outer borough to Manhattan, excluding Staten Island) as well as unlimited local bus and subway service for one week until midnight of the seventh day. If you pay by credit or debit/ATM card, the MTA will not replace the card if you lose it, however they will issue you a card with a prorated value of $5.86 per day left on your card.
JFK-AirTrain 30-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard available for $40 from vending machines at the AirTrain terminals and valid from the time you buy to midnight of the 30th day. Good for unlimited rides on the AirTrain to JFK for those thirty days. If you take the AirTrain nine or more times within a thirty day period, you will benefit from the initial purchase.
JFK-AirTrain 10-Trip MetroCard available for $25 from vending machines at the AirTrain terminals and good for ten trips until six months after the original purchase date at midnight. If used completely, you can save $25 from buying $5 rides individually. You'll break even if riding 5 times and start saving on the 6th ride.
Swiping Technique/Etiquette
To pass through the turnstile you must slide the card with the logo facing you and magnetic strip down. The cards are designed so that experienced users can swipe through without breaking stride. If you stand at the turnstile and try to jerk the card through the reader, you will likely fail. The trick is to hold the card out to your side in a fixed position and walk it through as if it were coming in for a landing. Beware of failure, though. It can be quite discomforting to walk into the bar if your swipe failed (you'll know it succeeded because the display will flash "Go"). If you've never used a MetroCard before it is best to ensure that there is no one behind you while you perfect your technique as a huge line can form very quickly. A good rule of thumb is, swipe the card fast. Everything else is done quickly in New York City.
Transfers
With a MetroCard, you can transfer from subway to local bus, local bus bus to local bus, express bus to subway, or express bus to local bus (but not to the same bus route or a bus route going in the return direction) during a two hour period for free. If you board a local bus and pay the $2 fare with a MetroCard, you can transfer to an express bus for $3, resulting in the standard $5 fare for an express bus. You can transfer from one subway line to another for free as often as you like at designated transfer stations (any station where you can cross over to a different line/direction without exiting through a turnstile). While the PATH system accepts payment by metrocard, no free transfers are available.
Local/Express
Some lines are express, i.e., trains don't stop at every station so make sure you get on the right train. Local and express lines use different tracks and there is always a local line accompanying the express. For example, the 2, 3 are the express trains for the 7th Avenue Line between 96th Street and Chambers Street in Manhattan and the 1 runs as a local alongside them.
The off-hour/weekend mess
Be aware that while most of the subway is available for use 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, many lines do not run on weekends or late nights. Some trains don't run with other trains picking up the slack. Express trains often run local and some entrances to the subway are closed. For a detailed look at what exactly each train line does during the different hours of the day, consult the individual line maps located on the MTA website. Track work notices are also clearly posted at stations so if you expect to be out late, look out for them. Before leaving on weekends, check the MTA website for diversions that might get you sidetracked. It's better to know before getting lost somewhere. Remember: If you do feel confused, ask someone for help. And, there's always more than one way to get somewhere, especially in New York City.
How to take a Taxi in New York City
There are two types of taxis that you can take: the Yellow Cabs and the Black Car.
Real NYC taxis are yellow, have a metal seal on the hood ("medallion"), a light with a taxi number on the roof, a meter for billing, stickers on the windshield for various licenses, special taxi license plates, and a divider in the car. If only the medallion number on the roof is lit, the taxi is available for hire. If the medallion number on the roof is not lit or the off-duty sign on the roof is lit, the taxi is not available for hire. However, sometimes the taxi will stop for you even if the off-duty sign is lit, usually if you are going in the same direction as the taxi driver to turn the cab in after his shift, so if you are desperate, it's worth a try to hail it. The meter starts at $2.50, and then $.40 for each 1/5 mile afterwards. There is a night surcharge of $0.50 (8pm to 6am) and a rush hour surcharge of $1.00 (4pm-8pm M-F). A tip of 10-20% is expected and passengers must pay all tolls. "Yellow cabs" cruise in most of Manhattan and are available at dispatcher lines at airports, but are harder to find in the other four boroughs. Some cabs accept credit cards for payment and all will be required to do so by the end of 2008.
Info on fares, flat fares, group rides and rules are available online at the NYC.gov website.
New York City Livery Cabs or Black Car
Known as car services or livery cabs, these cars may only be called by phone, are flat rate rather than metered (ask for the fare before getting in), and are not allowed to cruise the street or airports for fares. Their license plates will say either "Livery" or "TLC" on the bottom. Since yellow cabs are hard to come in the outer boroughs, limos are particularly useful for getting to the airport (your hotel can arrange one or look up the yellow pages). In some areas, livery cabs can be flagged on the street. Though this is technically illegal (the cabbie, not you, can get into trouble), it is useful in upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs and is accepted practice. Negotiate the fare before you get inside. A tip of 10-20% is expected and passengers must pay all tolls.
Tipping
Tips of 10-20% are expected in both yellow cabs as well as livery cabs. A simple way of computing the tip is to add 10% of the fare and round up from there. Thus, if the meter reads $6.20, you pay $7 and if the meter reads $6.50, you pay $8. Always tip more for better service (for example, if the cabbie helps you with your bags or stroller). Don't tip at all if the service is lousy (for example, if the cabbie refuses to turn on the AC on a hot day). For livery cabs, tip 10-20% depending on the quality of the service but you don't need to tip at all if you hail the cab on the street and negotiate the fare in advance (leave an extra dollar or two anyway!).
All licensed taxis and sedan limousines are authorized to take 3 passengers in the backseat and 1 in the front seat for a total of 4. However, some of the newer minivan and SUV yellow cabs can seat more passengers and may take more than four passengers (even though the licensed limit is posted in the cab). Larger than sedan limousines can be reserved, also useful for airport trips with lots of luggage, by calling any of the dozens of companies in the yellow pages.
Be wary of unlicensed cars (known as 'gypsy cabs') cruising for passengers, especially near the airports. While drivers may claim to offer you a cheaper rate than an actual taxi, your chances of actually getting this rate (not to mention getting to your destination safely and quickly) are slim. If you are in doubt, ask an airport staffer for help finding a cab or cabstand. Major airports have taxi information cards for passengers.
For all cabs, you pay the tolls for bridges, tunnels and highways, even if the cab has an E-ZPass to use the express toll lane. Be careful of being overcharged by cabbies for toll crossings—on some bridges and tunnels (like the Queens-Midtown Tunnel) rates are not posted in plain view. So, a crossing which actually cost the cab driver $4 is easily passed onto the unsuspecting passenger as a $5 charge. Outside the city, other than flat fare destinations and Newark Airport, meter rates are doubled (when going to Westchester or Nassau County).
There are also bizarre van and shuttle services in different parts of the city. You will have to ask where it is going and how much it costs. Usually, you will see people lining up and some mysterious van will appear and they will board. There are services between Chinatown and Queens (you won’t have to make any transfers if it goes where you need to go!), and also there are separate services in Brooklyn, and Queens. Many of these services are branded as "Dollar Vans" (actually costing $1.25), and follow major bus routes. One should use good judgment before using these vans to prevent getting cheated out of money, or something considerably worse than losing money.
There is an extensive bus network in New York offering good transport away from the subway. Bus lines are identified by letters followed by numbers. The letters indicates the borough in which the line mostly operates (M=Manhattan; Bx=Bronx; B=Brooklyn; Q=Queens; S=Staten Island). Bus maps for each borough can be found at the MTA website.
Even in Manhattan, with its dense subway network, buses can often be the best way of making a cross-town (i.e. east to west or vice versa) journey. And outside peak hours, a ride by bus from the tip of Manhattan at Battery Park to Midtown is a good and cheap way of taking in the sights.
Buses are particularly useful when going across Central Park (e.g., going from the Metropolitan Museum to the Museum of Natural History). The buses that traverse the park are the M66, M72, M79, M86, M96, and M106. These generally operate on or around 66th, 72nd, 79th, 86th, 96th, and 106th Streets, respectively; however, the eastbound M66 runs on 65th St on the West Side and 67th St. east of Madison Av., the westbound M66 runs on 68th St. on the East Side east of Madison Av., the M79 uses 81st St. to go around the Museum of Natural History on the West Side, and the M106 crosses the park at 96th/97th street and travels the same route as the M96 on the West Side.
When boarding a bus with a MetroCard, insert the card into the card slot in the top of the fare box by the driver. The fare box will swallow the card, read it and return it to you. You should see that the notched corner of the MetroCard will be in the far left corner when you place it into the fare box. It will be vertically oriented. This is different from entering the subway where you don’t stick it in as much, but slide it horizontally oriented through the swipe device, with the front toward you and the magnetic strip on the bottom.
The fareboxes also accept coins but not paper money as they are unable to read paper money, and even so, bills would be shredded in the "fare collection vacuum". As a safety precaution, drivers do not handle money. Change is not given, so exact fares must be paid. The fareboxes accepts all coins (dollar coins included) except pennies. Rarely used half-dollar coins cannot be used because the coin slots on the fareboxes are not big enough.
Joining a Local Tour of New York City
Some times, it may just be more practical to join a New York Local Tour than to go there yourself. Also, you may want an experience like no other, which can only come through a local tour. Check out the following:
Before booking a hotel room, make sure you are getting the lowest price for it. Different hotel booking websites offers the same room at different prices. If you stick with one site all the time, you could be paying more for the same room. Now why pay more?
The form below is a Research Engine. It doesn't take bookings. Instead it lets you find the hotel booking website that offers the room you want at the lowest price. You can see and compare what different sites are offering, and then click to choose the one with the best price. Do this, and you're guaranteed to save a whole lot of money on your room reservations!
Our Flight Checker helps travelers compare flights and get the lowest fare for their trips. If you're flying somewhere, use our Flight Checker to compare the rates from different airlines. To use it, enter where you will be flying from, where you will be flying to, your departure date and return date. Select the number of passengers, and then click search.
Our engine will return you a list of possible flights that you can take. You can compare the fare of different airlines for your trip. Click on your selected airline, and we transfer you to the airline website.
