what to do?

i realize there are a gazillion things to do in new york city, but i only have 3.5 days and want to have the best trip possible. my husband and i (both 30) are going for our fifth wedding anniversary. we are from toronto. the only thing we have planned so far is that we have tickets for wicked on a thursday night. i would just love for someone to give me an itineray of what to see and where to eat. i know we all have different taste so i realize that%26#39;s next to impossible. we are staying at the casablanca hotel in time square. we arrive thursday morning and leave sunday at noon. i%26#39;d love to do a little shopping, sightseeing and EATING! oh! and because it%26#39;s a special occassion money isn%26#39;t an object for food, although i don%26#39;t want to be eating three fancy meals everyday while we are there. i%26#39;d like to vary it a bit with some meals from just great local restaurants and of course, the local hot dog stand! i think i%26#39;d like to have brunch one day at balthazar, dinner one night a babbo and lunch sometime at the river cafe. what things can i do around these areas? any help would be appreciated!!! i feel so lost already!

what to do?

Let me suggest reading trip reports from couples, on the top of the forum page put together by our great expert Queensboulevard.

This will give you some idea of various itineraries, because it would be impossible for anyone to tell you what you should see. I will, however, make some recommendations:

#1 - book those restaurants now. The River Cafe, Babbo, Balthazar are all very popular. I would also highly recommend The Gramercy Tavern for a very special meal, and I say this from both personal experience and from the trip reports on this site. I would do dinner at the River Cafe and not lunch, just my opinion from my own experience, this is a very special place.

#2- Visit Brooklyn Heights%26amp; walk the Brooklyn Bridge, which can be done prior to or before your River Cafe lunch or dinner, depending on which you choose.

#3 - Visit a neighborhood and walk it.

#4-The harbor lights Circle Line cruise is very nice, there is nothing like seeing NYC from the water.

#5 - Visit Top of the Rock or The Empire State Building (my preference is Top of the Rock because there is virtually no wait).

#6 - Make time for Central Park - a must when visiting NY.

#7 - Some music venue?

I hope this is a good start, post back about your ideas, and we will try to advise you as best that we can.

Happy Anniversary!!

what to do?

A couple of other thoughts:

There are 2 bus tours that people seem to like, you could do it on Friday and get a great overview of the city. Here are the sites:

www.newyorkpartyshuttle.com

www.kingofnyc.com

Booking a Big Apple Greeter may fit the bill also, it is a ';free'; service pairing visitors with volunteer ';friends'; to show you around town.

By the way, there is a greeter program in Toronto based on our program.

www.bigapplegreeter.org

thank you so far for your suggestion. they all seem great! the only one i%26#39;m sure my husband wouldn%26#39;t care for is the bus tour. he thinks things like that are %26#39;geeky%26#39;. i, on the other hand, have no problem being a touristy geek!

i tried booking some of those restaurants but i can not book further than a month in advance. we are going aug 24 -27th. i will start researching some of your suggestions. thanks!

question: would you recommend the circle line cruise day or night tour? are there restaurants in that area?

also, what restaurants are by wicked?

The Harbor Lights Cruise is very nice.

Check you options here.

www.circleline42.com/index.ihtml鈥?/a>

What type of food? THere are lots of places in the area.

are any of the aforementioned restaurants near that area?

also, how much time can one spend in time sqare? is it a whole day thing? shops etc?

i%26#39;m horrible with directions and can%26#39;t seem to wrap my head around the different neighbouhoods.

Check out this dinner cruise, gets good reviews here:

www.spiritcitycruises.com/ny/bridge.jsp

Batueax Cruise

Times Square is best seen at night. Prior to seeing Wicked have a walk around. Not much shopping, just the touristy places, would not spend a lot of time there, way too crowded, but of course worth a look, and much better at night.

There are lots of places to eat with a 5 block radius of the theatre.

okay,so far this is what i%26#39;m thinking...

we arrive thurs at 10:30am at la guardia. i%26#39;m not too sure how long it%26#39;ll take us to get to our hotel, casablanca. i was thinking, go there, drop off bags, go to time square, grab a quick lunch (john%26#39;s pizzeria) and then head toward rockefeller center (top of the rock), visit st. pat%26#39;s, go back to hotel, get ready for dinner (or maybe light bite), go to theatre and then either crash or have dinner.

then i have two full days left for sight seeing/shopping.

in those days i%26#39;d like to see:

grenwich village

soho

the boat cruise

central park

brooklyn heights

where can i find a good map of new york. i%26#39;m only finding bits and pieces online.

thanks for your help!

Sounds like the plan is coming together.

If you head to Brooklyn Heights walk the bridge,it is a must do.

As far as a map, I would purchase one, or get a guide book that has one, this may be helpful to you.