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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tourism & Travel > New New York Ideas
 
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Chikimiki
May 14, 2009
 Greetings NYC goons! I'm gonna travel to New York in the last week of October with my girlfriend and two good friends of us, before attending a friend's wedding in Greensboro, NC. It's our first time in the US (we're french and german respectively), so we're not too familiar with how things work over the pond.

First off, accomodation: I was a bit surprised by the crazy prices in the city, so I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good, preferably cheap, hostel/hotel close to the city center. I don't mind a spartan comfort, as long as it's clean and calm. Otherwise, any good advices on Airbnb, apart from being careful with full apartment rentals? Any areas to avoid?

Second, is it worth driving down from NYC to Greensboro? Washington, DC is on the road, as well as the Shenandoah National Park, but I don't know if we would have enough time to appreciate those...
Oh, and does anyone know of a nice car rental service in or around New York? I've found some ok ones online (mainly enterprise.com), but the gringo in me would love to drive an old Lincoln or Gran Torino, if such a thing exists naturally :)

Many thanks in advance!

* # ¿ Sep 4, 2016 14:47
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# ¿ May 3, 2024 03:04
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Chikimiki
May 14, 2009

Test Pattern posted:

Hotels: Long Island City (LIC) is very close in by subway or car and has a number of reasonably OK hotels that are much cheaper than hotels actually in Manhattan.

Driving: You're looking at a good 10 hours, only the end part of which has nice scenery. If you want to do it though, do it. The trick to driving down from NYC to the south is to (a) leave NYC at a time that avoids rush hour. Super early morning is good for that but it conflicts with (b) time things so you're not hitting DC rush hour. If you were familiar with the route and US driving practices, I'd say do it on the overnight, but as tourists, maybe shoot for for 6:30 am so you hit DC after morning rush but before lunch? I dunno.

Any rental company that's going to allow point-to-point or driving out of tristate is not going to rent anything but the usual run of rental cars, sorry.

Corben Goble-Garbus posted:

Staying in the city center (i.e. Manhattan) is going to be expensive. Staying in the outer boroughs (e.g. Brooklyn, Queens) like Test Pattern suggests is the better approach. I named an area in Brooklyn above that has not-crazy-expensive options and LIC is another good place for that. You'll be a 10-20 mins subway ride from Manhattan at most.
I know you have a few people in your group but I would fly. Driving south from NYC means you're driving through Philadelphia, Baltimore, and DC. And avoiding all 4 cities' rush hours means driving very early or very late in the day. If you want to stop by Philly, DC, and some national parks for some sightseeing, then sure. If you're driving straight through, I'd rather fly or maybe take the train to DC and drive from DC. I hate driving.

Rental cars in NYC are expensive compared to other areas. I usually take a train into New Jersey and rent out of Newark Airport or New Brunswick.
West Village is such a cool area to explore I would just recommend wandering and stopping at any place that looks cool and you like the menu. If you have a particular style of food you are looking for, I can maybe suggest a couple places. NYC LAN thread is also good for that. Yesterday they were debating the best Korean fried chicken. NYC is only lacking in great Mexican and Vietnamese food imo.
I never see celebrities but any time I'm hosting friends or family, they always seem to spot them.
Yeah dress warmly (40-60°F). Might rain.
It's ok but likely everything will be more expensive than stuff you'd find at flea markets elsewhere.
Depends on the restaurant. Places like Laut are casual.

Thanks for the input! After looking at a good number of hotels, we eventually found a nice Airbnb room in Ridgewood, Brooklyn, which seems to be of rather good value (especially since we're a group of four to share it), and close to the Subway line M. Anything worthy of interest in that neighbourhood, or should we rather go straight for Manhattan/DUMBO/Williamsburg?

As for the roadtrip, I guess we'll forego the vintage car then and get something reasonable for 4 people at Newark airport - I just hope our french driving licenses will suffice to rent one.
We thought about driving overnight from New York, especially if the first half of the trip isn't very scenic... Is the driving style in the US really that different is the from the in Europe? For the record we had no problem with reckless driving throughout southern Europe, even if that was exhausting :v:
Concerning the stops along the way, we were thinking about Shenandoah NP, and either Philly or DC, plus a stop in Delaware for tax free shopping. Anything we're missing there?

* # ¿ Oct 10, 2016 22:21
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Chikimiki
May 14, 2009

Corben Goble-Garbus posted:

You should be fine. Just have a good navigator so you can focus on the road and signs. The dense highway system between NYC and DC can be an ordeal in some places but it's totally manageable.

The last two weeks of October is projected to be peak fall foliage season in southeastern Pennsylvania. You could pick up your car at Newark Airport and drive to New Hope, PA (~70 min drive) and explore your way towards Washington Crossing, PA. Lots of forest in bright autumn colors along the Delaware River. Maybe Valley Forge if you want to see where Marquis de Lafayette (our French BFF) hung out with George Washington and helped defeat the British. This would all be very different than your trip so far in NYC. Then continue on to Philly (lots of historical stuff, cheaper, good museums and food) or DC (free & amazing museums). I'd consider staying a night there before continuing on to Shenandoah.

Alright, thanks for the info! Definitely hoping to catch a glimpse of the Indian summer along the way. Personally I would have loved to check out DC and its museums, but I guess this wouldn't be possible in one day... Guess I'll be saving it for my next US trip :)

Afterlith posted:

There was an extraordinarily well-annotated map a bunch of goons put together of NYC places to go a long time ago but I can't find it anymore. Anyone who still has access to this thing? That map was responsible for some of the best times my ex and I had and I have had in my life.

That would indeed be very interesting! Anyone saved it?

Chikimiki fucked around with this message at 18:24 on Oct 18, 2016

* # ¿ Oct 18, 2016 18:17
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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tourism & Travel > New New York Ideas