5 Ways to Take a Bite Out Of the Big Apple
If you’re traveling to the Big Apple for the first time, no doubt there are things you want to do and see. The city can be overwhelming for those not used the crowds of the big city. Unless you are staying for a month or two, there’s a good chance you won’t have time to see all that’s offered in NYC. Creating an itinerary can help you stay on track and ensure you see the things that are the most important to you. Here are five things you should include on your list:
1. Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is an American icon and must be seen at least once in a person’s lifetime. While you can pay to go to Ellis Island, you can also see it just as well from the Staten Island Ferry for free. Before you make up your mind whether you will spend the money to travel to the island, know this: the statue has been closed to the public since 9/11. Read more…
Five Budget-friendly Vacation Destinations for Fall
If you’re dreaming of a fall vacation but don’t have a lot of cash to spend, there are still some ways to maximize your budget and bring your dream into reality. Vacations on a budget can be accomplished with some careful planning and advance research. Here are our top five destinations to maximize your travel budget this fall.
Our first two suggestions are opportunistic deals resulting from this year’s tumultuous weather. When Hurricane Irene swept up the east coast in late August, all the summer “hot spots” in her path lost out on billions in revenue as tourists were forced to leave early. The hotels, restaurants, and attractions in these locations are now offering deep discounts in an attempt to recoup some of their losses, hoping tourists will return before winter creeps in. Read more…
Weird New York City: Unusual Attractions
If you are looking for a holiday that it out of the ordinary, New York offers many opportunities to participate in the strange and bizarre.
Are you bored of the usual travel destinations and tourist activities and looking to try something a little different? After so many museums, beaches and theme parks, the intrepid traveller starts to look for experiences that are beyond the ordinary and will create unique and lasting travel memories. New York City is a great place to think outside the cliché tourist box and find one-of-a-kind weird things to do.
Massive metropolis New York offers many strange and wonderful travel experiences that will amuse and delight creative and imaginative travellers. Here are some ideas to get you started on your adventures through the weird side of New York City. Read more…
World’s Most Popular Travel Destination Cities Lead Financial Recovery
After being hit by the recession, some harder than others, the world’s most popular cities are leading the global financial recovery due to their status of popular tourist destinations and their being powerful hubs connecting international travel routes. These are the findings of the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Global Destination Cities released today.
London, the overall leading city in MasterCard’s latest index, ranked first by number of visitors among the world’s cities with 20.1 million inbound travelers expected this year. The British capital city was followed by Paris, with 18.1 million inbound visitors. The Asia Pacific region has 8 cities in the global top 20, of which Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong took the following three positions in the top. New York is the only North American city to make it to the first 20 popular travel destinations, taking the 12th place with 7.6 million inbound passengers forecast for 2011. Read more…
Starwood to Open 50th Aloft Hotel in Brooklyn
On June 1st, Starwood will open its 50th hotel of the trendy Aloft brand in Brooklyn. This particular Starwood hotel chain was launched back in 2008, just before the economic recession and its impact on travel. Seeing how in a little over two years Starwood has reached 50 such venues spread across the world (including locations such as Abu-Dhabi, Baltimore or Dallas), it seems their combination of hip, limited services and free Wi-Fi turned out to be a grand success:
“Last summer, the Aloft chain bested established hotel brands such as Embassy Suites, Hyatt and Marriott in J.D. Power and Associates’ annual customer satisfaction survey. Aloft ranked No. 1 for the first year it ever had enough hotels to be considered for the list, thanks in party to its free-Wi-Fi policy and a modern design that stands out among rival chains,” reads a USA Today article by Barbara de Lollis.
Courtesy of Aloft and USA Today
Rats Are Killing New York Tourism, City Official Claims
Unlike they are funny cartoon characters and also cook heavenly, very few people can say they can stand rats, much less like the creatures. And seeing them run around the streets or through the subway stations in Manhattan, the top attraction of the highly touristic city of New York is definitely a turnoff for those visiting the Big Apple.
Rats, an NYC tourist turnoff?
As city authorities recognize the damaging impact of ever-present rats on traveler numbers and subsequently on travel spending in NYC, Manhattan Borough president Scott Stringer demanded $1.5 million to help handle this disgusting problem. Read more…
New Recreation Facilities on Fresh New York City Peer
Tourist heading to New York City have a new fun attraction to get excited about. The city is getting ready to open a new pier that stretches 1,000 feet into the Hudson River. The official ribbon-cutting grand opening event will take place this Thursday. If you’re heading to New York City and are a fan of relaxing or sporty activities around peers, make sure you don’t miss this event staged at Pier 25 at North Moore Street and West Street on the Hudson River.
Pier 25 and the neighboring aria represent a whole new section of the Hudson River Park. The spot comes with fun activities and features an 18-hole miniature golf course, snack bar, beach volleyball, playground, artificial turf lawn for junior level sports, lounge-chair seating with views of the harbor and Statue of Liberty.
And if that’s not enough, the upland part of this new park section includes a basketball court, skatepark, lawns and restrooms. Pier 25 was designed to attract even more travelers along with the far West Side of Manhattan which already is a hot NYC destination with thousands of visitors taking advantage of its bike path along the Hudson River Greenway and the High Lane and of course its vertical park levitating at 30 feet from street level.
