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  • Writer's pictureDanielle Hardison
    • Dec 21, 2019
    • 3 min read

Free Tips and Favorites for Traveling to NYC

I am sharing all of my secrets and details to traveling to Manhattan right here, for FREE!


Travel:

I typically fly into LaGuardia when traveling to New York City. I take a taxi for convenience at baggage claim into Manhattan or I will take an Uber if I have more travel time to spare and want to save a little bit of money. Uber cannot pick you up in the taxi lanes, you have to take an airport bus to a parking garage about 5-10 minutes away from baggage claim (this may change once construction is complete on their new airport).

This most recent trip we had to fly into Newark which was new for me, plus we took our little one (who is just a year old). You can get a taxi from this airport into the city, but with it being a different state and tolls I found it would be anywhere from $80-$100 to get from Newark to Manhattan. A car service might save you a little if you can do that, but we did not want to take a carseat with us. Side note: children can legally ride in a taxi without a car seat, but Uber, Lyft, and car services require one. We found our best option was to take the Airtrain from Newark to Penn Station in Manhattan. This was around a 45 minute trip just me guessing costing $15 a person (Henry road for free). It was a very easy & unique way to travel (at least for a small town family like us). Once you get to Penn Station you can take the CTA, Uber, Lyft, taxi, or walk to your hotel. Our return to Newark to come home we took a charter bus that was one block up from our hotel straight to the airport for $17 a person and our baby for free. This was super convenient for our return, but not as unique and city like as the train.


Over all, I now no longer prefer one airport over the other when it comes to traveling to and from the city. They work out to be around the same time of traveling in my experiences.


Hotel:

My go-to FAVORITE hotel is the Hotel Grand Union or “HGU.” This boutique hotel give you all the apartment, local vibes in a safe area. The rooms and bathrooms are just #goals. The perfection does come at a price, but it’s a midrange affordable price. hgunyc.com


Our newest hotel we stayed in was the Double tree by Hilton Times Square West on 40th St. This option is right in the middle of all the action (not particularly my cup of tea) being minutes from Times Square, Broadway, and so many places to eat. The Double Tree was a very nice, clean hotel with super friendly staff. I’ve only stayed here during Christmas time when everything is crazy expensive, but it was cheaper than HGU.



These are my two recommendations that I can make from experience, but there are so many options available in the city not to mention tons of Airbnb options.

When you are looking for a place to stay consider some questions about the location: What are you wanting to do while you are in the city? Is this option close? Is it convenient to public transportation? Is it a safe area?


I have been on numerous girls trips to the city and I have learned that having close subway entrances to my hotel are a must because it makes me feel a little safer knowing I just have a short walk late at night after dinner.


I hope these tips will help make booking your trip to NYC easier!


Be on the look out for two more post coming soon: NYC restaurant do’s and don’ts and how to manage your time and see the whole city in 2 full days! Once these post are live I will link them below! Until then, see ya!

xoxo,

Danielle



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