by Andre Sanchez

There is so much to do and to see on a New York vacation that you have to plan your time carefully, or you will end up running around like a headless chicken due to having too much choice. You can make a long list of places you just ‘have to’ see, then find you spend so much time traveling between them that you never complete the list.

The time to start planning is when you decide to have a New York vacation. The internet makes it so easy to check out all the attractions and book your tickets. Booking your tickets for tours and shows in advance is crucial because you will generally find that everything is sold out once you get to New York.

Make a list of where you want to go, what you want to do and what you want to see. Check out what tickets are required and book them if possible. Plan yourself an itinerary so that you don’t waste your vacation time in New York trying to make your mind up, or trying to decide whether you are best traveling across city by subway or cab. Get it all sorted in advance.

Check out all the places to go like the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Fifth Avenue, Times Square, Broadway and so on, and find out where they all are. You don’t want to be crossing your tracks all day when a properly planned route could save you hours of valuable time.

A guided tour is a good way to start your vacation in New York. You can get a sightseeing cruise round Manhattan, taking in the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island then up the East River under Brooklyn Bridge then view the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings. That takes about two hours and you can take a note of what you want to visit in more detail later.

You can take a coach or cab tour round Manhattan or New York City and again note what interests you for further investigation. If your budget runs to it why not try a helicopter tour? You’ll escape all the crowds and see all the famous landmarks from hundreds of feet above. You mustn’t miss Central Park or the Yankee Stadium and come lunchtime grab a bag of grub and a bench in the park. Just relax and watch the world go by as you enjoy a relaxing vacation picnic with the family.

So, what are the things you must see in New York? You must have been to the movies and seen Grand Central Station, properly called Grand Central Terminal. With 67 tracks on two levels, this is not to be missed. The architecture is world famous and every trip to New York should take in the terminal.

If you didn’t take that cruise round the harbor, try it now. No New York vacation is complete without a trip to the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island (formerly known as Bedloe’s Island), presented to the people of the United States by the people of France in 1886. You can still climb up it, though you can’t get up to the crown any more for safety reasons. There are other attractions in the harbor like Ellis Island and the Immigration Museum, and you can travel to Brooklyn Bridge.

However, if it’s shopping you are looking for, New York boasts the most famous shopping area in the world. The 10 block stretch of Fifth Avenue, from 49^th to 59^th Street, is packed full of the best known names in the world. Sometimes completely over the top as only Americans can do, it boasts Versace and Gucci, Cartier and Tiffany, Disney and Schwartz for the kids – you name it, it is here! You can spend a whole two weeks just walking along Fifth Avenue.

From Fifth Avenue you reach the Empire State Building, once the tallest building in the world, and take the elevator to the 86th floor for a fantastic view across Manhattan. If you are getting a bit hungry now, head back to the Grand Central concourse and visit the famous Oyster Bar & Restaurant. Try the Guggenheim Museum if you are into art. If not, the building itself, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is well worth a visit.

At night there is Broadway. Take in a show if you can decide which. You have a fantastic choice of shows if you took the time to plan carefully and book in advance, since all these shows are normally fully booked.

Whatever you decide do on your New York vacation, you will never see it all, which is another reason for planning. However, if you plan your itinerary intelligently, you should be able to make the best use of the time available to you, reduce the traveling to a minimum and fit in most of what you want see and to visit. Have a great time.

Your New York Vacation Should be Planned Ahead was originally published at http://www.globallifenow.com