Thetownend.com

Alright chaps.

I am off to the US in a couple of weeks. Going to be flying into Boston on Saturday 9th October and having lunch with friends before travelling to New York for 3 nights. I was supposed to be staying with a friend but that has fallen through so it looks like I may be going solo in the Big Apple.

Some questions for people who have been to NY. Can you recommend a decent hotel which is central but won't cost the earth? Also, what are the Must see things in the City, I assume its the usual Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building etc etc?

Also, I have just booked my flights to Vegas next year for a wedding. I am going to be flying into Vegas in March and flying out of San Francisco 2 weeks later. I'll be spending 3-4 days in Vegas and then looking to visit the West Coast/California area. So far I have pencilled in San Francisco and San Diego to see, and of course the Grand Canyon and the wine area of Cali are also on the agenda.

Has anyone got any tips of where I should definately go?

I can recommend http://www.michelangelohotel.com/ as somehwere to stay as it is in the middle of Manhatten (5 min walk to Times Square), but still very quiet inside so you are not kept awake by sirens going off all night!
For the sights you can take the Statten Island Ferry (free) which goes past the Statue Of Liberty, and can also recommend "Top Of The Rock" at the Rockerfeller centre as it gives you fantastic views of the city (empire state, central park, and statue of liberty if you have good weather).
It is also worth taking one of the "hop on, hop off" tour busses!

Speaking of Boston. I had no idea Lloyd Grossman was from Boston. I always thought he was English.

Definitely a 'hop on hop off' bus in New York

They do coach tours out to the winelands from SF

Give LA a miss (it's a great big freeway)

San Fran is ace. Definately visit Union Square, and Alacatraz. Just a great vibrant city.

It's shame the seals have left pier 39, as that was a sight and smell!!

If you don't have much time, I wouldn't bother with the Statue of Liberty, as the queues there are horrendous, but you can take boat trips round Manhattan which will take you round the Statue for good photo opportunities. I recommend a boat trip http://www.circleline42.com/new-york-cruises/browse.aspx?type=&groupid=1
The 3 hour full island trip is good value.
Again if you don't have much time, Empire state can have you queueing for hours unless you have a fast track pass which is expensive but you just get to junp all the queues. Top of the Rock is usually less crowded but still with great views as Rich the ref said.
Central Park is also a great place to visit, and the Roosevelt Island Tramway is a good and unusual way of seeing some of the skyline too.
You'll love your trip.

Cheers all, thats really helpful

rich, looked at that hotel but it was going to cost about 1,700 dollars for 3 nights, its a little out of my price range!!

That's a massive understatement there. A hell hole of a traffic jam with no redeeming features other than Universal Studios. Hated the place, never going back in my own time (thankfully it was a work thing).

NYC = not much to add. Staten island ferry goes past the statue of liberty if you can't be arsed with a pleasure trip. Empire state building was crazy busy. Grand Central Station is worth a look/picture inside; Would mention the whispering wall by the oyster bar but you need two for that. Coney Island is a delapidated blackpook :)

SF - Brilliant place with one drawback - homeless bums. But other than that its great. I would love to go back there!

Stay off Manhattan - if you stay in the Doubletree in Jersey state it's half the price and is right next to the 10 minute tube for central manhattan ($750 with View of NYC)
http://doubletree1.hilton.com/en_US/dt/hotel/EWRWTDT-Doubletree-Hotel-Jersey-City-New-Jersey/index.do

Do the helicopter tour $125 worth every cent.

Don't bother with the Empire State - even with fast track it doesn't get you all the way to the top - you have to pay extra for that. Do the Rockafella instead - cheaper and better

Do the trade centre visit (sadly it hasn't got the same view as it used too ;) )

Do the Beretta gun shop - even if you don't like guns it's one cool place to go for bespoke items you don't find anywhere else...

Lots of bars to choose from

There are some good micro breweries on the front where piers are which do good grub and good beer. Also eat the hotdogs they are great. The hop on and off bus is a really good way to get around.

This is where we stayed in NY - 5 mins from Grand Central/Subway, 5 mins from Bryant Park and 10 minx max from Times Square. http://www.marriott.co.uk/hotels/travel/nyces-courtyard-new-york-manhattan-fifth-avenue
There is a superb cafe next door called Cafe Charlie for Breakfast all the locals use it - amazing place and very reasonable.

If you get a chance it's worth doing the 'Bike the Bridge' thing in San Fran.

It's not a particularly hard ride if you get the ferry back from Sausilito ;)

Only other thing I would say is don't try to drive Hwy 1 too quickly, you will miss so much. And be prepared for the Fog

Cheers for all the responses, very helpful.

Is there any chance at all I'll be able to watch the Bristol Rovers game on Monday 11th October? Guessing Irish bars may be my best bet, not holding out much hope that lower league English football will be shown anywhere.

Yea there's a few British/Irish "pubs", simple google search will find them.

If you are looking to save money then i would stay in Brooklyn or Queens, same standard accomodation as Manhatten will cost you 30-40% less and its only a few minutes from Manhatten on the subway.

Staten Island ferry is free and provides the best views of Skyline and Liberty, try not to go during rush hour though as locals dont like tourists slowing their commute.

If you are driving from Vegas to West Coast I would consider:

For scenery:
- Hoover Dam (NM)
- Capitol Reef (Az)
- Grand Canyon (Az)
- Zion National Park (Utah)
- Arches National Park (Utah)
- Bryce Canyon (Utah)

West Coast:
- Coronado
- Monteray - Carmel (17 mile drive)

OK, anyone know of any sports bars in New York that may show the Bristol Rovers game on the Monday?

I can't remember any of the names but most of the Irish bars in NYC have SkySports.
Just pick out some from this list and give them a call.
http://www.sportstavern.com/newyork/nyc.html

Nice one grubby, thanks.

In Ny I would stay at the Hotel 41.  Rooms are weeny but spotless and when we stayed there they threw in a free cont breakfast.  The hotel is about 30 seconds from Time Square and should be more reasonable than many of the hotels.
One place we always go to is the China Regency on 7th Avenue.  Recommended by 2 different concierges.  Looks like a bit of a shithole but the scallops with black bean sauce are out of this world. 
We stayed at the Venetian in Vegas.  All of the hotels are cheap in the week but while this one was spectacular, there is no buffet so might be easier to stay in one which does if you are on a budget.
We were in Boston last week funnily enough and loved it.  We stayed at the Lenox which wasn't cheap but which was lovely.  Got ripped off in Abes and Louie's steakhouse but most of the bars seemed to be showing the English games.  Tip there would be to hire a car for a day and drive out to Cape Cod.  Lovely.

I have booked the Paramount hotel in NY which was about the cheapest decent looking hotel I could find. Worked out at 200 dollars a night which for a Hotel on Times Square seemed good value (not sure I quite understand the various taxes in NY though, crazy!)

I am staying with friends in Boston so no need for hotels there! Relying on them to show me what the City has to offer.

I hadn't realised Boston to NY was so far away. Booked the bus today and its over 4 hours. Still they have free wi-fi to keep me entertained!

Really looking forward to it, tomorrow can't come soon enough!

God loves America.

Allah doesn't.

If you're staying in the US and you want a hotel, definitely use www.hotwire.com
You pick an area and a price, but they only tell you which hotel after you've confirmed. It's so much cheaper, but we stayed in the Four Seasons in Boston for a fraction of rack rate.

For a different experience, try www.airbnb.com, which has apartments let by private owners. We rented a studio right on Central Park for less than the cost of the cheapest hotel room.

i thought san fran was a fucking dump, full of junkies bums and cunts, if you want to go to alcatraz book now, when i went it was sold out for 28 days, fucking idiots, the only cunting tourist attaction apart from a shit severn bridge and its sold out for a month.

Starting to get the next American adventure planned now.

FWIW, I thought New York was fabulous, I did a lot of what everybody else suggested and had a great time. I also loved Boston as well, which is totally different to New York of course but I felt totally at home there. Would go back in a Heartbeat.

Have now decided to go from Vegas to Seattle in March (can get an internal flight for £90), spend 3 nights there (including Paddy's day so guess there will be some sort of parade) and then drive down the West Coast to San Francisco. Want to go to the Big Sur area and if time allows to San Diego if possible. Guessing the coast drive in this area is definately worth making the effort for?

Strange how people see places differently. I really liked SF, thought it was great, couldn't stand LA though.

Think I am probably going to avoid LA based on the comments from the people on here!

Yea i would if i was you.

San Fran and San Diego are far more interesting than LA i thought.

Bracknell is more interesting than LA.

Well nearly.

We did the Pacific Coast Road trip in the summer.

We spent a few days in San Fran, did the Alcatraz trip (well worth doing), biked the bridge (which was also V Good).

Then spent several days driving down the Coast Road (which was excellent), to LA (which wasn't).
We stopped at Santa Cruz, Carmel & Pismo Beach on our way down.

After a couple of days near LA (Buena Park), we went down to San Diego, but only for a couple of days which included a trip to the Zoo (which was also good), and to watch an American Football game.  

In hindsight I would have spent longer on the trip down & spent longer in each location, but our trip included & drive back up to Valencica (to go to Six Flags), and then on up to Yosemite for a few days.

If you have any specific questions about stuff we did feel free to PM me & I will try and answer if I can.

Fuck that, you want to go to Compton.

Chill out with the homies on the corners and that

[url width=330 height=317]http://www.flashnews.com/newsimages/Jiggaboo04.jpg[/url]

You could chill with him/her

(Didnt realise eazy-e came back from the dead)