Around the Big Apple in 0.33 days (with a baby and 4 retirees)
November 6, 2015 4:51 PM   Subscribe

My relatives are coming to visit the big apple and I would be chaperoning them around on a site-seeing tour. The problem is that they are elderly (are retired), from another culture & country (India), a group of 5 and there is a very young baby ( couple of months old) traveling with them. This makes using subways, or taking long walks or using bicycles a difficult proposition. What would be the best way to give them a good NYC experience?

They would be here for 1 day on Sunday and would like something that can be wrapped up by 8 or 9 PM.

I was thinking of one of those open top, double decker, get on-get off bus tours and would love to get to get your feedback and recommendations on various bus companies advertising out there.

If you feel there are other better options, feel free to recommend. Thanks.
posted by TheLittlePrince to Travel & Transportation around New York, NY (13 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Do they want to Tour The Entire City, or simply go do a touristy thing or two?

The classic "far-off relatives visit New York for one day" activities are Times Square, the Empire State Building, and/or maybe Central Park or going to Battery Park for good views of the Statue Of Liberty.

Do the older people have mobility issues, or are they just not sprightly spring chickens/bad with stairs/etc? If they can stand in line, the Empire State Building (or one of the other Observation Deck On A Really Tall Building options around town) is a no brainer. Take a couple of cabs to and from. Ditto Times Square or Central Park, if they can walk around in general but simply won't be able to do it quickly or far.

I've never looked into this myself, but I believe Uber and/or Lyft have ways of calling larger vehicles (to seat 6 or 7?), so that might be a better option than two cabs. If you drive and money is no object, you could also rent an SUV for the day and understand that you will be paying to park in lots everywhere you go. Definitely stay around Midtown and points north if you decide to drive them around yourself, as crowded and narrow downtown streets are a nightmare in a large SUV with out of town visitors (ask me how I know!)

My family sprung this crap on me once and we drove (in an SUV they had rented to drive upstate for a ski trip) to Little Italy for a (probably overpriced but reasonably edible) meal. It was a perfectly acceptable experience, though, again, navigating lower Manhattan in an SUV was a nightmare.
posted by Sara C. at 5:09 PM on November 6, 2015


Oh, and it just occurred to me that you could also probably book a car service that offers big SUVs, as well, as an alternative to multiple cabs or renting something. Talk to them about hiring a driver for the whole afternoon, too, they may cut you a deal. Especially if you don't plan to spend hours in any one place.
posted by Sara C. at 5:10 PM on November 6, 2015


Response by poster: I think they would be happy with the general touristy things though I would like to make it better for them.

they don't have any mobility issues, thankfully, but, I think, long walks would not be very welcome.

I dont want to drive in NYC ... and have never driven here.
posted by TheLittlePrince at 5:14 PM on November 6, 2015


If you want to take cabs, you have to think about a car seat for the baby. And transporting the seat when it's not in the cab. A car service would work much better if you can hire a car for the day/afternoon - that way you can leave the seat.
posted by tealcake at 5:41 PM on November 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


Best answer: Honestly it sounds like the hop on/hop off buses were made for you.
posted by tealcake at 5:41 PM on November 6, 2015 [5 favorites]


Best answer: Oh my god, hop on/hop off!
posted by functionequalsform at 5:46 PM on November 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


Best answer: If you do the hop on hop off (which I agree are a good idea) look into Pier A, a restaurant/bar in battery park city itself. They have tables with amazing views of the harbor if you're there for lunch or sunsets (which are practically at lunch time these days). They have great outside tables but I can't say whether they'll be out or not at this time of year (despite the unseasonable warmth).
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 5:53 PM on November 6, 2015


FWIW, you are not required by law to use a car seat in a NYC cab. Risky, of course, but worth knowing about in case you need to grab one!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:01 PM on November 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Maybe the Circle Line boat tour?
posted by brujita at 7:07 PM on November 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


Best answer: Hop on/ hop off and Circle Line are great ideas.

I would avoid Times Square and the Empire State Building with this bunch, personally. It's just not pleasant and seeing the ESB against the skyline is iconic enough.

If you want to take time do an actual NYC *something* other than one of the tours, I would choose the Met, if they are at all pleased by museums. When I've taken out of towners, I can tell it feels to them not just like a museum but like a particular aspect of the city they enjoy experiencing -- the NYC as "cultured" in the old-fashioned sense of the word, like going to the Louvre when you visit Paris or the Prado in Madrid. Easy with a baby. Lunch in the museum.
posted by flourpot at 3:44 AM on November 7, 2015 [1 favorite]


Best answer: If you do the hop on hop off, do the gray line. its the most reliable of the 3 companies.
posted by [tk] at 9:07 AM on November 7, 2015


I took one of the boat tours [I think it was the Circle Line] all the way around Manhattan a couple years ago, and while the host was a little annoying, I found the information imparted and the scenery fascinating.
posted by chazlarson at 1:17 PM on November 9, 2015


Response by poster: Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

I went for a grayline hop on hop off tour. It was fun. Very easy on the planning part and very comfortable for everyone, except when it got too cold at night and everyone had to bundle up so that they can avoid the head winds in an open top bus. The guides on the bus added to the fun and provided some interesting information for the tourists ("this famous person lived here, that famous person died there, that famous movie was shot here" ... my relatives just ate it up).

Even if you are a resident of NYC, it might be fun to take a $60 two day ticket. In warm weather of course. I loved being a complete tourist for a while and look at things from the second floor. Gives a slightly different perspective.
posted by TheLittlePrince at 11:11 AM on November 30, 2015


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