Whats the best way to travel to tour spots in new york city? is it possible to walk?|168450

I_m leaving on sunday and will probably go into the city on tuesday. I want to see the statue of liberty, ground zero, empire state building! I_m staying on the jersey shore. We have a rental car but would prefer not to take it into the city. what_s the best way to get there and get around?

First of all, what town are you staying in? Your best bet is to find the nearest NJ Transit station and take the train into the City for the ESB and Ground Zero. I wouldnt recommend even driving to Staten Island. I live less than two miles away from the Outerbridge Crossing, and one accident on it can cause heavy traffic even on the back roads. My advice is stay off the roads in NYC if your not used to them.

You can get the Ferry to the Statue of Liberty from NJ in Liberty State Park (exit 14B off of the NJ Turnpike). The lines are extremely short compared to picking up the ferry in Battery Park City. You have to drive there, as that there is no train. Plus if you get there early enough, there are a limited number of tickets that are availble to go up to the top of the pedestal of the Statue.


The Empire State Building and Ground Zero are far from one another. The ESB is on 5th Avenue in between 34th and 33rd streets (Midtown). Ground Zero is Downtown, a couple of miles away. Your best bet is if you want to get the Grand Tour of NYC, take the double decker tour buses. The Grey Line Shightseeing. Its on and off all day for one fee.

Or you can pay for an all day MetroCard ($7), and navigate your way around the Subway system. One trip on the subway is $2. And the stations do get very hot and steamy during the summer.


I wouldn_t recommend walking from the ESB to Ground Zero, its much too far.

You can take the trains or sight-seeing buses.

If you are an adventurer who is with a really mobile group then take the subway. It might feel confusing at first, but ever New Yorker will help you if you ask - they may not approach you first, but we will help if asked.

If mobility is an issue or you want to play it safe, there are tour buses. I had family from out of town take the Gray Line buses, they loved it (I thought it was too expensive) but it did get them all over the city, fairly quickly, and they were able to get on and off. The Gray Line is not the only tour bus, I_ve seen one or two others, so shop around.

If you_ve never driven in the city, I_d advise against it. It can be fun to drive around late at night, when the traffic isn_t so bad, but during the day parking is nearly impossible in many areas (and garages are really expensive).

See if you can drop off your rental in the city, stay here a few days, then pick up the rental from the city when you leave.

The best way into Manhattan from the Jersey Shore is go to Perth Amboy NJ
Take 440 over Outerbridge Crossing-$ 6.00 toll - onto Staten Island
North on 440 follow signs for 278 E / Verrazanno Bridge
When the Bridge takes up the sky, you really need to be in the right lane
Use the last SI exit _Bay Street_
Exit right _
Make a left and follow Bay all the way up and around to the Staten Island Ferry dock
You will need a roll of quarters for parking
and you will need to know that on the way home you need to use the 440 SOUTH!! exit -the 440 NB happens 1.5 miles earlier.
The Ferry is free and puts you right at the tip of the Island.
The #1 subway train is right there also at the South Ferry station .Both the Ferry and the subway(s) run 24/7
The Staue of Liberty Ferry is a couple of hundred yards away
Personally I would take not get off the Statue of Liberty ferry when it docks , but rather stay on it until it reaches Ellis Island and then do Ellis bc you no longer can get up into the Statue proper
A good strategy to adopt, is to do whatever can only be done before 5:00PM before 5:00PM and everthing else later such as the Empire State building and ground zero.
As far as walking goes ,NYC is the greatest walking city in America. New Yorkers walk everywhere at about 4mph
There are two basic reasons for this:
At anything under 1/2 mile it_s easily the cheapest and fastest way to get anywhere
And there are so many places that you can walk to . In effect the journey becomes the destination.
If you haven_t been here before ,NYC can be a positive sensory overload that_s best appreciated on foot.
Edit ;
See above -I don_t write well when I_m tired . I just cleaned up some of last nights text ,hopefully it_s more understandable now.

On the subway--best in the world. They_ll give you a map and anyone you ask will be willing to help--just watch--you won_t believe it.

There are these tour buses that I see around. Don_t know much about them. They are red and double decker. From what I_ve heard you pay a certain amount and can get on and off whenever you want at certain stops to see whatever you want to see. I don_t know the cost

There is no way you are going to be able to walk all around NY. You can take buses or subways or cabs to get from place to place.

Yes, once in Manhattan, you really can walk all over that island, to see sites, though probably not all there is to see, but you can easily walk to Little Italy from the east side or Wall Street. Better still borrow a bicycle.