August 3rd, 2010 by
admin
TripAdvisor recently published its list of the top ten “sweetest attractions” in the U.S. The list was picked by TripAdvisor editors who got it all wrong. As always happens when anonymous “editors” make critical decisions on ranking, the safe pick always wins while fans are left to powerlessly gnash their teeth over the injustice that pervades our world.
In this case the number one spot went to a perennial favorite: Hershey’s Chocolate World, in Hershey, PA.
OK, so it’s unclear if this list (or even one like it) has ever existed before, but if it had, you’ve got to believe the folks at Hershey would be on it given how long they have been at it and the fact that they have an amusement park and you can work into your visit to Hershey’s. So they will be a perennial favorite in future years assuming TripAdvisor keeps it up. And will probably hold the number one spot except when there is a political statement to be made or when the reporting on this ranking starts getting complacent.
Coming up in second place was the Jelly Belly Factory Tour, in Fairfield, CA. Personally I still get a bit queasy thinking about the time I over-ate their product. This was back at the height of Jelly Belly mania during the Reagan years. I had actually thought they had gone under when Clinton anointed the cheeseburger as the official Presidential Food, but apparently not. And while still not for me personally, perhaps through their strong showing they will attraction the attention and subsequent support of the Obama administration (either through stimulus money and/or by a triumphant return to the Oval Office desk).
Rounding out the top three is New York City’s own Food on Foot Tours with their Sweet Tooth Tour. This tour lets you spend a solid three hours hitting some of New York City’s best locations for sweets (for the health conscious, never fear: there is a bit of walking involved, so it’s all good). And if you want to start with something other than desert, the folks at Food on Foot also offer an International Express Tour, a Food Fast Tour, Midtown Mix Tour, East Village Variety Tour, and a NY Over Noodles Tour.
Personally, Food on Foot should have won. I am not saying that just because this is a New York City focused blog (OK, so that a big part of it). But I am saying it also because of my belief that if you asked them nicely, the Food on Foot guys would make sure you got some Hershey’s and some Jelly Bellies on the tour. So you could check those boxes without having to schlep to Fairfield, CT or Hershey, PA. Two perfectly nice towns. But Frank Sinatra never sang about either of them. So enough said.
Other notables on the list include “M&M’s World” in Las Vegas (FOUR stories or retail space dedicated to selling M&M’s?), Eli’s Cheesecake World in Chicago, and the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Vermont.
And for the record, you can get Eli’s (at ShopRite no less), a la mode it with a little Chunky Monkey, and cover it with M&M’s. All with out leaving the Big Apple.
For some reason TripAdvisor doesn’t appear to have put the list on their own site, but here’s a link to the press release where you can read up on all 10 sweetest attractions. Rumor has it that a list of “top 10 Medical Tourist Destinations: the Dental Edition” is in the works.
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August 2nd, 2010 by
admin
There are many great ways to see New York City. On foot, on a tour, from the water: they all offer great views and opportunities to capture your memories with a camera. But if you are looking for something a little different, you probably should consider a helicopter tour.
The Big Apple Tourby Liberty Helicopters is one of our favorites. You get an unparalleled view of one of the United States’ most famous landmark, the Statue of Liberty. You also get a birds-eye-view of the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Woolworth Building, the Met Life Building, and, well, pretty much all the buildings since in a helicopter you have pretty unobstructed views! You also get fantastic look at the George Washington Bridge and Central Park. It’s an amazing way to start or finish your visit to NYC.
Helicopter tours are not cheap to take because they are not cheap to run. Fuel, a skilled pilots time, the helicopter itself — all add up quickly and put you well north of $100 per person. But recently the Big Apple Tour got added as an option to the New York City Custom Explorer Pass. This let’s you build your own ticket to New York by selecting the things you want to see and do and putting them on a custom ticket built just for you.
It saves you money, because by adding 2 or more things, the rates you get come at a significant savings to what you would normally pay by buying tickets directly from each place. And in addition to Liberty Helicopters, you can choose sights like the Empire State Building and the Intrepid; museums like the Met and the Guggenheim; tours like CitySights’ hop-on/hop-off bus and Uncle Sam’s walking tours; even the New York Water Taxi and the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Everything you need to build your own personal pass to the City of New York!
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July 29th, 2010 by
admin
Most people who buy sightseeing passes or city passes like the New York City Explorer Pass do so because it is a way to save when they see the sights and take in tours and activities. But there are added benefits that people don’t always realize exists until after they have bought and used the product. These go beyond the savings offered.
Besides money, what is the most precious resource on vacation? Memory for your digital camera? Room in your stomach so you can over-eat? Resilient leg muscles to get you around to everything you want to do? Sure, but a better answer is time. In fact, time is arguably the most precious resource since while you can earn more money but no one has yet figured out a way to earn more time. And especially while on vacation, the more time spent having fun the better.
So what’s typically the biggest time sink that gets in the way of having fun on vacation? Assuming you see sleep as a prerequisite for being able to have fun, then it’s standing in line.
Think about it. You fly all the way to a city like New York and you want to see and do all the great things that the city has to offer. But of course unless you’re lucky enough to take vacation when nobody else can, you’re surrounded by like minded people. These people also want to see and do all the great things in New York City. And so you all end up standing in line to get in.
But if you have a New York City Explorer Pass, you can actually skip a lot of those ticket lines, particularly some of the longest ones. Because in addition to saving you money, the Explorer Pass comes with the ability to skip the line at places like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, Top of the Rock, the Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum, the Museum of Natural History, Madame Tussauds, NY Waterways Cruises, and the Guggenheim Museum. That’s a lot of time that you get back and can devote to doing things a lot more fun than standing in line.
So with Explorer Pass you’re not only smart enough to realize that paying whatever price someone wants to charge you is not the optimal way to travel, but that waiting in line to do so isn’t either. So save money and save time on your trip to New York City with an Explorer Pass.
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May 25th, 2010 by
admin
When King Tut made his first visit to New York City thirty years ago, the glittering display of artifacts from the young Pharaoh’s tomb turned Tutankhamen into a pop sensation. Huge lines formed to get a look at the treasures that had survived centuries untouched until their discovery in 1922.
Tut is now back in NYC at Discovery Times Square. While no one has (yet) tried to reprise Steve Martin’s musical ode to King Tut, the lines are again forming to get a look. The exhibition runs through January 2nd, 2011 and after that there’s no telling if it will be another 30 years or more before Tut returns.
Unlike most other Egyptian Pharaohs, Tutankhamen’s tomb was not plundered by robbers and so it yielded a dazzling array items and artifacts when it was uncovered. Many of these items are on display at the exhibit, along with additional antiquities associated with his family and historical contemporaries. In all, some 130 artifacts are arrayed across 10 galleries.
Highlights include the canopic coffinette which is not only synonymous with King Tut but has since become as iconic an image of ancient Egypt’s as the Sphinx and the Pyramids. There is also the crown that was on his head when the tomb was opened, his gilded coffin, and many other finds from the tomb.
And even if you did manage to see the tut exhibit 30 years ago, there is still something new this go round. There is a gallery devoted to the latest scientific research on Tutenkahamen and what ultimately killed the young king (he was only 19 at the time of his death). The New York Times has a on the newest science around King Tut.
Admission to the King Tut Exhibition at is free if you select it as one of your choices with a New York City Explorer Pass. This pass will also let you skip the lines at the Exhibition (you’ll probably be glad about that). And you can use your Pass to get free admission to your choice of over 45 different museums, sights, and tours.
One great way to use the Explorer Pass is to visit the Egyptian Galleries and the at the Metropolitan Museum of Art either before or after you take in the Tut Exhibition. The Explorer Pass again gets you in free and lets you skip the lines at the Met too.
And if you still have a desire for even more Egyptian art and artifacts, the Brooklyn Museum is another good bet, not least because they currently have a long term installation on display called “” that promises to let you “go under the wrappings.” And again, the Brooklyn Museum accepts the NYC Explorer Pass for free admission.
Be sure to also check out the new “build your own ticket” option for any and all of the above ways to get in touch with your inner Pharaoh.
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April 20th, 2010 by
admin
We get the benefit of seeing a lot of travel oriented deals, both in New York City and elsewhere. The good news for travellers is there are a lot of good deals to be had. But every now an then we come across an insanely great deal.
The folks at CitySights are a NYC fixture. Their buses provide a network of tours across the city, including hop-on hop-off type tours that are extremely popular because they not only provide a tour, but they give tourists a handy form of transport.
While we are fans of many of the CitySights tours in their own right, they have a special deal that is really in a class by itself. It is a combo package called the “All Around Town Tour” which is a lot more than just a tour. It includes a 48 hour ticket to all of the following:
- The NYC Downtown Hop-On Hop Off Tour
- The NYC Uptown treasures & Harlem Hop-On Hop-Off Tour
- The Brooklyn Tour
- The Night Tour
- A Circle Line cruise of New York City’s harbor
- A ticket to the Museum of the City of New York
The tours — by land and sea — are a great way to get a narrated view of New York from almost every angle. Plenty of photo opportunities along the way as well as hop-on/hop-off privileges on two of the tours. Adding a free ticket the Museum of the City of New York is a nice touch. You can go before taking the tours and use your new found knowledge to rate your guides (I’m sure they love that!) or go at a later point to fill in the details around sights you saw on your tour(s). It really is an amazing combo and a great opportunity for first time visitors in particular.
Perhaps best of all, if you have a New York City Explorer Pass, you get the whole deal for only $12. To be clear, you need to buy a New York City Explorer Pass. But its a deal all on its own, getting entry into 3, 5, 7, or 10 museums, sights, and tours for a flat money saving price. You simply use of one of your admissions for the All Around Tour, pay the $12 fee, and then use the remaining admissions on your Explorer Pass to go to the Empire State Building, the MET, the Natural History Museum, or any of the other 40 plus choices available.
Have a great trip to the Big Apple!
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New York?
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New York Travel Blog.
March 11th, 2010 by
admin
“City Passes” — sometimes known as “Sightseeing Passes” or “Attraction Passes” — are becoming more and more part of the travel landscape. While long a part of the European travel scene, they are a more recent arrival in the U.S.
In many ways they are overdue. Nobody walks into a hotel to request a room or walks up to the airline ticket counter and expects to get the best price, and yet that is still largely the case when it comes to people purchasing things to do while on a trip. City Passes let people buy their admissions in advance to get the best deal and to do so in a more convenient way that trying to by individual tickets separately.
The basic idea behind any city pass is that it bundles together the entry tickets for multiple museums, sights, and tours and puts them on a single ticket. In doing this, the pass provides a discount compared to the cost of buying separate tickets. It may often have other benefits such as the ability to skip lines and/or come with a free guidebook.
One popular example is the New York City Explorer Pass. Nearly 50 of NY’s top sights accept the Pass as an admission ticket. Customers pick the number of sights they want to see and buy a pass for that number of admissions. Then the pass then works for that many admissions for whichever of the participating sights the holder wishes to visit. For example if a customer bought a 5 choice Pass, they could then use it to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Empire State Building, the Ground Zero Museum, Madame Tussauds, and a hop-on/hop-off bus tour (or any other combination of 5 sights they wanted).
Other examples include the Musee Pass which covers 60 museums and monuments in Paris, the Go Oahu Card with 30 sights and activities in Hawaii, the Smartvisit Card that covers sights in and around Sydney, Australia, and so on.
In addition to being available directly from their own websites, these passes are available from leading travel sites. There are even sites like Smart Destinations that are dedicated exclusively to selling city passes and offer them for a variety of destinations. They also have a video explaining how passes work, so if you need more info access the video on their home page.
And for those who don’t want to plan ahead, passes can often be bought directly in their locales. The New York City Explorer Pass discussed above lists eight locations where it can be bought in the City.
If your next trip involves taking in the sights, its worth doing your research on your in destination activities just like you would for your flights and hotels. The savings can be significant.
Planning a trip to
New York?
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New York Travel Blog.
January 26th, 2010 by
admin
Smart Destinations and Marriott Hotels of New York City are offering an exceptional getaway package. The package, called “Explore Your New York” is designed to provide visitors a perfect weekend in the Big Apple buy combining a weekend’s hotel stay with breakfast for two and two New York City Explorer Passes. The NY Explorer Pass let you visit any three of fourty participating museums, tours, and attractions.
“We wanted to find a great partner in New York City to work with us in offering a package that delivers exceptional value for today’s traveler,” said Cecilia Dahl, founder and President of Smart Destinations, the creator of Go City Cards and Explorer Pass, which aggregate all the best museums, tours, and attractions onto a single money-saving ticket.
“Marriott has a wide variety of brands to suit all kinds of travelers, and their hotels are located in great locations all around the city. Pair that with the New York City Explorer Pass and people really get an amazing experience, while saving hundreds of dollars.” Dahl adds that the Explorer Pass not only gets visitors in to the Top of the Rock, Empire State Building, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Natural History, and over 40 other top sites, but comes with skip-the-line privileges, as well as shopping and dining discounts.
People like to do a little of everything when they come to New York and Marriott hotels have long been an ideal base for visitors to New York City, with a broad range of choices, including Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Courtyard by Marriott, Renaissance Hotels and Residence Inn brands.
Using the Explorer Pass, you can see the city by guided tour, bus, or bike. Visit top attractions, museums, or national monuments. Check out movie location sites or take a back stage tour. Whatever you want to explore, we make it easy with the Explore Your New York package - allowing you to choose three participating attractions plus discounts at world-class shopping and restaurants, “skip the line” benefits and much, much more.
To purchase the Explore Your New York package visit Marriott’s dedicated web site.
Package includes:
- Two adult NYC Explorer Passes for the price of one, each with the holder’s choice of any three included attractions, from a list of over 45
- Breakfast for two or $50 Bonus Bucks (Varies by hotel)
- Two or more nights accommodation at participating New York City Marriott Hotels, rates based upon availability
It is a great way to take in the Big Apple.
Planning a trip to
New York?
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New York Travel Blog.
November 20th, 2009 by
admin
“Leonardo da Vinci’s Workshop” opened today in New York City. Marking its world premier, this one-of-a-kind exhibit features life-size, interactive models of Leonardo’s inventions and machines drawn directly from the pages of his notebooks.
Visitors will get to see dozens of Leonardo’s ideas brought to life from the iconic drawings he put down on paper at the height of the Renaissance. Highlights range from weapons of war to flying machines imagined centuries before the Wright brothers. Hundreds more of Leonardo’s ideas are presented through interactive touch-screens, giving a clear representation to the breadth and depth of the thinking of one of history’s most prolific geniuses.
Far from being a kitschy display, all of the physical replicas were built not just to look like the drawings and notes left by Leonardo, but actually have been built using authentic techniques from his day and using materials that were in use in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Leonardo da Vinci’s Workshop can be visited at Discovery TSX located at 226 West 44th Street in Manhattan. The exhibit will run from November 20, 2009 through March 2010. Tickets are available for $19.50 (adult), $17.50 (child 4-12), and $18.50 (senior over 65) – or get in free when selecting Leonardo da Vinci’s Workshop as one of your choices with a New York City Explorer Pass.
Planning a trip to
New York?
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October 6th, 2009 by
admin
With the upcoming movie release of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, New York City is going Wild. October 12 to 16 has been declared “Wild Things Week” across the Big Apple’s five boroughs and there are a variety of activities parents and kids can participate in.
One of the highlights is the Morgan Library’s display of sketches and early drafts of Sendak’s classic children’s book (October 6 - November 1). While over at the Museum of Modern Art there is exposition on the work of Where the Wild Things Aredirector Spike Jonze (October 8-18). Most of the City’s children’s museums are participating in the fun as well with a variety Sendak themed events and readings.
The folks at NYC & Company has a great resource on their site to help you join in the fun, just go to http://www.nycgo.com/wildthingsweek for complete details on what’s happening where. This is a great excuse to get out with your kids and enjoy the early fall weather! To get in the mood, you can see the preview for the movie here.
Planning a trip to
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August 19th, 2009 by
cecilia d
NYC and Company and American Airlines have joined together to invite residents from five US cities to plan a value filled trip to this fall with specially discounted fares.These fares are available only through Friday August 21, so book now to secure your seat. Fares are priced each way based on a round trip purchase: from LA and San Francisco o $109, Dallas/Fort Worth $99, Chicago $84, and Miami $69.“There’s never been a better time to visit and take advantage of the world-class and diverse experiences that can be found throughout the five boroughs,” said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. “With these special travel offers from American Airlines and new travel itineraries from NYC & Company, visiting and navigating the world’s most exciting City has never been easier.”With a deal like this, who can resist?Pack your bags and EXPLORE NYC! For all of the details, travel dates and fine print visit : http://www.nycgo.com/itineraries
Planning a trip to
New York?
Read about attractions, tours, discounts, and more with the
New York Travel Blog.
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