New York, Washington, Philadelfia and Niagara Falls

Dear Friends,

I am planning to go on vacations to NY this summer (July) and I am looking to a circuit that includes Washington, Philadelfia and Niagara Falls. So I have several questions:

1. Can a USA travel agency makes me a proposal for that circuit ?

2. Hotels in USA doesn%26#39;t include breakfast, where should we go to eat at affordable prices ?

3. Can anyone suggest me some places to lunch and dinner at NYC for a budget traveller (I confess I prefer to spend money on museums, new experiences, shopping and ice cream) ?

4. I would like to have one day visit to Boston, what is the best way to do it (train, greyhound)?

5. Spending 4 days in NYC, what should be my tourist priorities (museums, places of interest) ?

New York, Washington, Philadelfia and Niagara Falls

How long will you be spending in the US for this trip? That will determine many aspects of your planning as well as the advice you%26#39;ll get here and elsewhere.

In answer to question #5, see this thread from FAQ about ';must-dos'; in New York:

tripadvisor.com/Travel-g60763-s409/New-York-鈥?/a>

And this thread about museums in NYC (since you mention them):

tripadvisor.com/Travel-g60763-s410/New-York-鈥?/a>

New York, Washington, Philadelfia and Niagara Falls

Hi there,

My partner and I have just arrived back from our trip, visiting Wasington DC, Niagra Falls, Ithaca and finally NYC. If you decide to organise your trip without a travel agent I will happily provide you with any contacts we obtained for transport, accomodation etc.

We did not use a USA travel agency, instead we made all arrangements ourselves. We flew to JFK, stayed over in a near by hotel and flew to Washington DC the morning after. We spent 2 days, 1 night in DC and found this to be enough time to visit the sites. We then flew to Buffalo (which is the nearest airport to Niagara Falls) from Washington DC. Our flight made a connection at Phillidelphia; so this may be of interest to you.

Most hotels do not automatically provide breakfast, you are right. However food in the US is very cheap (I am comparing this to the UK). I would not be concerned if I was you because wherever you go there are cheap diners, cafes etc that sell good food at a cheap price. (For example, in Niagara Falls we payed $6 for a breakfast buffet). NYC is the same in that food is very cheap and you are never stuck with finding a place. Most eating places provide a menu outdoors so you can check the price before you enter.

Tourist priorities in NYC depend on what you interests are. Personally I would strongly recommend a visit to the top of the Empire State building. The first time I visited the city I bought a %26#39;City Pass%26#39; which allows entry to many museums and places of interest - I would recommend this.

As for choosing hotels, we used trip advisor to find a place within our price range. We also used www.kayak.co.uk to search for flights within the states. We used the Greyhound service for transport between Niagra Falls to Ithaca and then Ithaca to NYC. We found this to be completely adequate.

Hi -- I assume your name is a reference either to the guitarist Baden Powell -- a personal favorite of mine -- or to the founder of the Boy Scouts.

Anyway, to get to your questions (I live outside NYC, spent a year just outside DC and lived in Philadelphia for 6 yrs):

1. I am sure that a travel agency could do it -- but you really don%26#39;t need one (and they will probably charge for ticketing you). Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York City and Boston are all along the ';northeast corridor'; service of AMTRAK (the US national rail service) with frequent trains (I know nothing about how to get to Niagra). You can also take the Greyhound bus if you want to save some money -- the trains are nicer but many, many people take the busses. See www.amtrak.com and www.greyhound.com.

You can easily book your own hotels -- very probably for less -- by doing some reasearch here on TA.

2 %26amp; 3: In NYC the streets are full of cheap, good places to eat, everything from carts to small delicatessins to bagel shops to inexpensive restaurants for breakfast %26amp; lunch (and dinner)

4. The other poster gave you good references for museums. Since you%26#39;re a budge traveler, keep in mind that the Metropolitan and the Natural History museums are by donation and you do not have to pay the suggested donation. If you expect to make frequent visits to, for example, the Metropolitan, which is huge, then I would not feel guilty paying what you think is fair. Keep in mind that the museums have cafeterias but they are relatively expensive. From the Natural History museum, if you go out and walk over to Amsterdam Ave or Broadway you%26#39;ll find cheaper places to eat. From the Metropolitan, exit and walk over to Lexington Ave and you should find less expensive places.

1. Yes but you can arrange for it yourself. You can easily fly between NY, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and, for Niagara Falls, Buffalo, NY.

The train (amtrak.com) from NY%26#39;s Penn Station to Philadelphia%26#39;s 30th street station costs between $43 and $122 depending on the time of day and the speed of the train. The trip takes between an hour and an hour and a half.

The train from Phila to Washington, D.C. takes between 1 -1/2 and 2 hours and costs between $42 and $91.

You could also go by bus (greyhound.com) for these 2 routes. The ride will take about twice as long but cost half as much. (The train will be more comfortable since you will be able to walk around and eat/snack on the train).

From Washington to Buffalo, you should fly: Southwest.com flies into Baltimore airport (BWI) -- outside of Washington -- for $70 -- 1 hour flight.

Find hotels on tripadvisor.com by typing in the city name followed by the word HOTELS in the SEARCH BOX in the upper left corner of this page. Then, on the next page, click on the confirming link in the center of the page that says: HOTELS IN (the city you selected). On the page that follows, in the center column, are hotels ranked by your fellow travelers (first is most preferred, and so on).

2. Some hotels do include breakfast. If not, I would imagine that reception at the hotel could recommend some places for breakfast.

3. Tell us the type of food you like and how much in U.S. dollars you%26#39;d like to spend for lunch and dinner.

4. A train to Boston will take 4 hours each way, A greyhound will take about the same. That%26#39;s 8 hours of commuting which isn%26#39;t going to leave a lot of time for touring. You could fly (about 1 hour, 10 minutes each way at a fare of around $75 each way including taxes and fees (go to jetblue.com)

good luck!

I agree with everything that%26#39;s been said. There are some companies (tours4fun.com) that offer a package tour of these destinations. They tend to cater to the Asian market and they use very cheap hotels, usually not in the center of the cities. You haven%26#39;t told us how long you plan to visit or your budget, but my guess is you don%26#39;t really have enough time to visit all these places and you may not realistically have the budget to do it.

Boston is NOT a day trip from NYC. The ONLY place on your list that%26#39;s a day trip from NYC is Philadelphia.

Niagara Falls is very far and is best reached by FLYING to Buffalo, NY and taking a taxi or bus tour from there. The best views of the falls are from the Canadian side so you must make sure you can reenter the US without a special visa.

While on Lonely Planets Forums, I%26#39;ve heard of the Chinatown buses. Apparently they offer the most economical means of getting back and forth between NYC and Boston, Philly, and DC.

I don%26#39;t have first hand knowledge of them, but if you go on lonelyplanet.com and access their thorntree forum, you can ask information there as well. Be specific about how much time you have to travel and what you like to do. Some people there can be helpful, others can be annoying.

Please read this article before using the Chinese busses washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20鈥?/a>

You seem to be on a budget, and if so, Niagara Falls is going to add a lot of expense as well as taking up a couple of days. You can very easily spend more than 4 days in NY City, so why not just spend more time there. As another poster noted, Niagara is very far from NY City, and would require a flight. Getting back and forth from the airports in NY is not easy or cheap. I would recommend that you save Niagara for another trip focusing on Canada.

My Dear Friends,

Grateful for your answers and in consequence of them, I must let you know something more about post and ideas.

1. I use the name of Baden Powell because I am a Portuguese Scout, therefore the name of our founder is always present.

2. About my budget, I prefer to spend money in museums, expositions and shopping. So I intent to pay meals at 15US dollars as average, or less if possible.

3. I have already booked my holidays, I will arrive NYC on the 26th of June and I will leave next day to a circuit that visits Niagara Falls, Washington, Philadelphia and again NYC, where I will stay till the 7th of July.

4. New questions:

A - What to do in the 4th of July in NYC ? Is everything closed ?

B - I intent to visit a city or a place outside NYC in one day trip, what suggestions do you have for me ?

C - Does the NYC stores, museums and restaurants closes on saturdays and sundays ?

D - Big Mac Menu (normal burger, fries and drink) is used as benchmarketing all over the world. What is the average price of a Big Mac menu in NYC (in Portugal is equal everywhere, but I know that it changes in NYC) ?

There will be a new bus service between NYC and Washington that will be starting towards the end of this month- It%26#39;s called Bolt. the fee is $1 if you book early. Supposedly in April they will be adding routes to Boston and Philadelphia too- keep this in mind. You can find mentions of it in this forum.

If you ask locals and the hotel front desks, you%26#39;ll find out where to get the best local cheap meal. I would suggest that in NYC, when you do go out to eat, you sit at the counter or bar abd chat up locals- they%26#39;ll be happy to share their favorie spots with you.

The 4th of July is usually a big family day for us. Most store will be closed, as will be many restaurants. you might want to get in touch with your New York Consulate and find out if they have any parties. There%26#39;s also a massive celebration on that day in NYC- it%26#39;s free.