Is New York too much for a "weekend break"

da_mic_1530

da_mic_1530

da_mic_1530

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Thinking about taking the girlfriend away for a "surprise" trip to New York, I've already been previously and didn't think twice about an 8 hour trip Friday morning, followed by one back on Sunday evening.

After speaking to her sister (who would arrange part of the surprise) she was shocked that I was considering a long haul flight for a weekend break.

So OCUK, am I mad, or does it sound like something you'd do (or have done?)

Many thanks
 
I think 2 nights might be a bit optimistic. What about flying out on Thurs evening?
 
If I was going to go to New York I'd rather stay for a bit longer, can't do much in two nights in a city that size!
 
Personally couldn't think of anything worse. 8hr flight there. 2 days running round like a loon trying to squeeze in as much as possible. 8hr flight home. Lord no, I'd need a short break to recover from that. :p
 
Diddums said:
Isn't NY in a timezone full of jetlags?
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Only four hours behind. If you can get up at a normal time and get an earlyish flight it just becomes a long day for the first day.

A weekend would be fine with flights either side. Fly out Thursday come back Monday.
 
My personal view is that NYC for a short break is a waste of time and money. Others may disagree.

The flight costs are realistically the same whether you go for 2 days or 14 days so the longer you stay the less proportion of the trip they make up. So the cost of staying longer is actually not hugely more than staying for just 2 nights as the flight will make up the bulk of the cost.

Secondly, getting to New York is an all day event, realistically. You are not really going to do much the day you get there, depending on your flight choice you will perhaps end up just going straight to the hotel. Longhaul transatlantic flights are a nuisance and it's nice to have time to get over them. Which you don't have for a weekend because you wake up Saturday, have a day in New York then suddenly it's Sunday and its time to go home again. Whats the point?

Far better to go for 1-2 weeks instead and spread your time out - it will likely work out hardly any more expensive to do a twin or even three centre trip taking in Boston and Washington DC too.

If you are going to travel long haul make the most of it and stay as long as you can.

On a related note 2 days itself is probably fine for NYC - I've never bothered staying any longer than that - but not with a long haul flight either side of it.

If you only have a weekend there are LOADS of fantastic cities to visit in Europe where you will have just as much fun and will find more enjoyable as you'll only need a 1-2 hour flight. This is what I do, short breaks = Europe and I save the USA for the annual long trip. I think you get much more out of your time that way.
 
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[TW]Fox;28223854 said:
My personal view is that NYC for a short break is a waste of time and money. Others may disagree.

The flight costs are realistically the same whether you go for 2 days or 14 days so the longer you stay the less proportion of the trip they make up. So the cost of staying longer is actually not hugely more than staying for just 2 nights as the flight will make up the bulk of the cost.

Secondly, getting to New York is an all day event, realistically. You are not really going to do much the day you get there, depending on your flight choice you will perhaps end up just going straight to the hotel. Longhaul transatlantic flights are a nuisance and it's nice to have time to get over them. Which you don't have for a weekend because you wake up Saturday, have a day in New York then suddenly it's Sunday and its time to go home again. Whats the point?

Far better to go for 1-2 weeks instead and spread your time out - it will likely work out hardly any more expensive to do a twin or even three centre trip taking in Boston and Washington DC too.

If you are going to travel long haul make the most of it and stay as long as you can.

On a related note 2 days itself is probably fine for NYC - I've never bothered staying any longer than that - but not with a long haul flight either side of it.

If you only have a weekend there are LOADS of fantastic cities to visit in Europe where you will have just as much fun and will find more enjoyable as you'll only need a 1-2 hour flight. This is what I do, short breaks = Europe and I save the USA for the annual long trip. I think you get much more out of your time that way.
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Cheers to all for the replies. We've done many European destinations so was just thinking of something different.

Back to the drawing board I suppose

Thread can be closed :)
 
If you're not like lord YOLO up there, go for a European city. I drove to Bruges for a weekend and it worked out fairly cheap. £50 on fuel, £60 for ferry crossing and £250 for a nice room in a 4 star hotel in the middle of Bruges. Had a really nice time.
 
Why not take a week off, fly out to Boston on the Friday night Saturday, have a few days in Boston, then take the Amtrak Acela Express (The US's only high speed train, all business class) to New York City, stay 4-5 days, then fly home from New York?

That'd make a great trip and I bet it isn't hugely more than the cost of the weekend break you've been thinking of..

Could even get back on the train in New York, carry on down to DC, have a day there (Doesn't need much more) looking at the White House, Capitol Building etc and fly back from IAD.

You could do all of that in a 9 day trip using a weeks annual leave. Loads better value..
 
I'd advise against it. If you've not done New York before, you really want to give it at least 4/5 days and that's pretty much just scraping the surface of Manhattan.

Realistically, even with a 6am flight out, by the time you've done immigration, got to the hotel and checked in, it'll be at least lunchtime there and you will be knackered. You could get a late flight out Sunday, but that will get you back Monday AM, so you'll either need the day off or go straight into work and pass out at the desk.

Go somewhere closer & sunnier - do New York when you can do it justice.

*edit* Glad you've taken it off the table - how about Barcelona? Beautiful city, amazing food & drink and cheap as chips to get to and stay at. Would be top of my list for a weekend away.
 
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