Travelling in New York and Europe

[Tobias Funke]

Hey guys, my mate just got into an acting academy in New York, and as such I've decided to save up and embark on a trip to New York and possibly Europe as well to visit and just travel.
This will be during November/December before Christmas to avoid the holiday peak and also the fact that we're all dead by the then anyway and I was basically hoping for tips regarding

a) Cheap/Still okay places to stay
b) Best stopover flights to go on
c) Cool places to go/eat/see
d) Other

Anything is appreciated really guys

And if anyone has been to NY or Europe before, I wanna know how much I should be expecting to pay for expenses even if I'm like going to the youth hostels and all that, realistically.

Cheers
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[theory]

I travelled a few countries in Europe by car. More expensive to hire a car than other kinds of transport, but then you have the option of winging it and driving to whichever country takes your fancy on the day. From Germany, for example, most countries are only an 8 to 10 hour drive from memory. We didn't even plan the trip. Landed in Germany, picked up the car and went from there. And best part is you can sleep in the car... or get a van even.
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[Tobias Funke]

Problem there is I only just got out of high school and have 40 hours to my L's, dang sounds cool and impromptu though
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[theory]

Ahh fair enough. You can still wing it if you're that way inclined. Trip spontaneity is pretty cool if/when you have time to play around.
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[Spanca]

You can still be pretty spontaneous with trains. You can get anywhere in Europe by train, and cheaply too. You rarely need to book either, and when you do the morning before or night before is often sufficient. Don't be afraid of catching the local trains either, as opposed to the "intercity" ones. We did that in Italy and it cost us $5 to get between Florence and Rome (and other similar trips) instead of $40-50 on the intercity train. They use the same lines, the intercity ones are just the 'local' or suburban trains with shit carriages.
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[Tobias Funke]

Thanks, yeah thats some great knowledge right there, and did you mean the intercity ones were the better looking carraiges? Much time discrepancy?

Know much about accomodation dude?
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[Jedi_Amara]

When I was visiting NY we found accommodation on Manhattan was really expensive, so we stayed just over the state border in NJ instead and there was a shuttle every few minutes that got us into Manhattan for $2.50. Might be something to look into. There are some cool museums and stuff around there if you're that way inclined, and you should see a musical on Broadway, but mostly I just visited every Gamestop I could get to.
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[Cyph]

My honeymoon in NYC wasn't a cheap trip so I can't help there, but I would recommend a City Pass so you can see the main attractions. Also, there is an awesome hot dog stand near the ice rink in Central Park. NYC has many great restaurants, I loved Tao if you like fusion.

[mikezilla2]

fusion?
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[Cyph]

As in Asian fusion

[Jedi_Amara]

Be careful with your hot dog stands, some of them are ripoffs at $3 each but the 99c ones are just as good (or even better)
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[ObsoletE]

i'd probably avoid cars in Europe altogether. i mean sure, if you're planning on getting off the beaten path, then you might want to, but if you're going to the usual touristy cities, then good luck finding reasonably priced parking. even using the hotel parking is around 30-50EU per night, so you'll likely find it slightly cheaper to catch trains around. (and some cities won't even let you bring a car in, as a tourist.)

i'd also pass on getting a Eurail pass too - they're not too bad, but with a bit of research and planning, you can get around MUCH cheaper. but even if you want to wing it, you'll usually come out ahead too - but i guess look into it - i was there during ultra-offpeak times (October - and wasn't near Germany), and most the trains were under half full, so i probably saved a bunch in this way.

and don't forget that even flying is cheap as chips around europe. if you can't get to somewhere by train, have a look at where you could go instead by plane. you might end up further than you thought, but hey, who cares?

when i went, i had booked all my hotels in advance, and left all the travel in between to chance, and had no trouble - but as i said, i was there in October... even coming into Summer like that, you'll probably want to structure your plan a little more than i did.
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[ZBAU]

When the missus and myself travelled thru US and Europe we pretty much did most of our bookings thru here http://www.venere.com not flogging their website, just info for you to consider... Some where crap, but most of them I say 90% of our bookings where excellent. Mind you we did travelled for 6 months, so there we're a lot of hotel bookings that we made.

Travelling thru Europe is great by train as you can relax and look out the window and don't be afraid to talk to the people on the train, they pretty much think you're awesome if you're an Aussie travelling thru their country.

Do agree with ObsoletE that a Eurail pass is good value, but generally with all things you probably could get it cheaper.

Just remember before you leave OZ to do your research on the country/countries that you're visiting so see what you're planning on doing and wanting to see otherwise when you get there you can become stuck for ideas at times.

In all, enjoy your trip and it's want you make of it that will be fun or not.

[jprockbelly]

If you wanna do Europe on the cheap (and meet people) hostels are the way to go. Never been to the states but hear that hotels are better and cheaper there.

http://www.hostelworld.com/
http://www.hostelz.com/

Also +1 for europe by train, it's really easy.

oh yeah and cheap airifares
http://www.ryanair.com/en
http://www.easyjet.com/EN

As to budget it is hard to say, some contries are worse than others. I think I spent 2k in a week in switzeland and about the same for a month and a half in spain. Although that was 5-6 years ago so things are probably different now, what with the euro crisis and stuff.
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[subbastard]

NYC is easily accessible from New Jersey. My wifes Grandmother lives in New Jersey so every time we've been to NYC we've just stayed there. It's about 40 minutes from Maplewood NJ to Penn Station NYC by train. Staying in Manhattan costs $$$, but then again you are closer to the action. I've found that if I got into Manhattan at 9am I was buggered by 3pm anyway.

There is a lot of walking to be done in Manhattan. Penn station is around 32nd, Central Park starts around 60th, the Met musem at 80th and Harlem at 110th st (where the Bobby Womack song got it's name). It's pretty usual to walk 100 blocks in a day I found.

Here's the best advice I can give you. Public toilets are very hard to find. Sure Starbucks has them, but there is often a line and they are grotty. Go to Trump tower around 57th and 5th ave. Pink marble dunnies ftw.

Don't miss going up the Empire state building. Buy your ticket online and arrive as soon as it opens to avoid a massive line (although it'll be less busy in winter). Try and get into the foyer of the Chrylser building if you like art deco. Go to Tom's Restaurant if you like Seinfeld - 112th street and Broadway. Visit the Met. Go to the NYC public library and spook central (55 central park west) for some Ghostbusters flashbacks.

Lots and lots to do.
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[Spanca]

+1 for cheap airfares in Europe (did that a bit myself) but bear in mind the train stations are generally in the middle of the city because they've been there for so long. Airports are typically further out, so you've got to factor in extra time and money to get to/from airports to the middle of the city. We generally stayed around the major train stations and there are usually a lot of hostels in those areas.
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[Cyph]

[sobriquet835]

+1 for hostels in Europe, although you need to be a bit careful with them in some places, as some are much nicer than others. Hostels are pretty cheap, just make sure to pack some thongs because you will need them in community bathrooms.

[subbastard]

Yeah, don't stay at the Anchor in Amsterdam.
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I'd be apathetic, but I can't be arsed.

[Tobias Funke]

How cheap is accomodation in New Jersey? Like how low can it go?
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[Jedi_Amara]

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ This site is really good for finding cheap airfares, though you can't book through them.
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[subbastard]

[THEMAN]

when I was in NYC with a mate; we used EXPEDIA's last minute/secret room deals and scored a hotel room in the 6.5/10 days DAYS hotel - it was so cheap that it was the cheapest accomodation we had all through our 3 week USA trip - yes; even cheaper than hostels. Worked out to be about 43/per person/day. we shared a queen bed, but we didn't care.

and it was located in the upper west and near central park. It was an incredible deal. It was secure, it had a safe, it wasn't a skanky backpackers.

it had its own shower/bath and airconditioning too. It wasn't a top class hotel but it was bloody cheap and excellent value! Hostel beds in NYC are anywhere between 60-70/night in a dorm!!

* so yeah; expedia secret hotel deals!!!
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[Tobias Funke]

Any idea what it was called?

I've decided I'm going to hit up LA as well, I've got relatives there and I really want to check out AMEOBA - Anyone know anything of the Public Transport there?


THanks for everything up until now guys
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[Jedi_Amara]

LA public transport as far as I can tell is shitty. We hired a car for the week we were there because it seemed like it was going to take 4 hours to go anywhere otherwise.
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