Best cheap food is all in the back of NYS version of corner shops.  Basically the fronts look like any normal corner shop selling sweets and fags and bits and bats and then the backs open out into kinda super buffets with a mix of American faves and really really really good Korean and Chinese stuff.  They’re amazing.

Broadway shows are pretty much just like the stuff in the west end - not for me in the slightest - and they’re very mainstream.  

Walk wherever you can in Manhattan - failing that take the metro.  Gives you a real feel for the place.  

 I’ll second Nina rec’s of the Brooklyn Bridge, highine (beautiful gardens on disused rail Tracks), and the Rockefeller.  Yes, the last one is touristy but if you’ve never been before then surely you’d be some kind of mad fool not to go up a massively tall tower.  It’s really awe-inspiring.

The old trade centre area is pretty interesting too. If only to see what it’s become from dust and detritus and pain and sorry.  Still feels a little eerie tbh.

MoMa has genuinely stunning, jaw dropping art.  To be able to see the most famous of modern art in the flesh is kinda priceless.

 Nintendo store doesn’t really have much in it but you know if you’re going up the Rockefeller then it’s in the complex so why not.  Times Square is best viewed from 4 or 5 blocks north and then avoided - srsly it’s a bit grim up close but so so shiny from a distance.

Take a morning walk around Greenwich and soho. Calmer and slightly more interesting buildings.


Brooklyn is cool but rapidly becoming gentrified.  So think commercially motivated arthpuse rather than actual down n dirty cool anymore.

The library is ace + ghostbusters.
Natural history museum is cool too.

Harlem is great too but can get dicey, quickly and randomly.  I spent a day and a night there drinking with a big old dude just out of prison.  He’d lost all his fingers bar one whilst he was inside. We met his friends who showed me a boot full of machine guns and wanted to know how much I’d charge to get them down town for him. I declined and no fingered dude got in a fist fight protecting me.  I ke-t my wife and family away from there when we went last year.

Oh there’s so much to say...

Doesn’t really matter where you stay - I was in a fancy boutique hotel the last time.  It was lovely but didn’t really change my enjoyment of the whole thing.

It is no longer cheap when you get there. Manhattan is now slightly more expensive than England for doing stuff like eating, drinking and shopping.

You may develop vertigo from all the fucking lifts, escalators and stairs.

Oooo.   Dive bars in the meat packing district and a bit beyond.  Great fun.

yourfavouriteuncle wrote:

Oooo.   Dive bars in the meat packing district and a bit beyond.  Great fun.

New York absolutely has the best dive bars.

Excellent help folks, thank you. My girlfriend is far more impressed by the responses here than the meagre feedback she got from friends on Facebook. We’ll have a look again at flights today. If anyone can proffer any similar advice for Toronto (which is likely to be part of the same trip) then I’d be mad grateful.

So for me, I land in Osaka on the 9th of March and fly out of Tokyo on the 30th of April. I'll be traveling with a box and in the box will be my bike.
We'll see how we go!

Will need all those food recs for Tokyo at the end tah reg

Yeah should be good I think. Not planning on taking any cooking stuff because I just want to eat all the local food!

And yeah at this stage on my own. Plan is to ride down to this place: https://kotaku.com/visit-the-real-princess-mononoke-forest-1282488846
Because it has a few nice hikes and the forest looks stunning.
Then I'll see how I go time wise and maybe ride to Hiroshima and beyond depending on time.

Thanks, I'll try

Oh cool! Yeah basic sounds good. Any recommendations for local food to try or other sights to see?

Kazuo wrote:

Excellent help folks, thank you. My girlfriend is far more impressed by the responses here than the meagre feedback she got from friends on Facebook. We’ll have a look again at flights today. If anyone can proffer any similar advice for Toronto (which is likely to be part of the same trip) then I’d be mad grateful.

Toronto is an awesome city. I spent a few days there last year.

The Beaches is exactly what is sounds like - a seaside style section of the city for sunbathing, the boardwalk etc. It's about an hour from downtown but if you fancy a bit of that type of thing it's lovely. Nice little cafe's etc.

Harbourfront has the CN Tower (we didn't go up but you should go check it out), Ripley's Aquarium (which is a pretty sweet aquarium, but not sure it deserves the #1 ranking on tripadvisor.) and the Stadium.

Toronto Island is worth a visit for sure, with some lovely scenery and cafe's, beach spots, gardens etc. You can hire bikes too.  If you're up for it you can kayak across from the mainland! Very beautiful place and offers a great view back to the city.

I'd recommend St Lawrence Market for getting cool food bits/souvenirs/random stuff. It's not the best/biggest market evs but still a cool spot to visit and a Toronto mainstay.

Entertainment District has some amazing food places and you have to check it out. Specifically Queen St West, Richmond St West, King St West and Adelaide St West. Amazing Thai place called Pad Northern Thai Kitchen is a must visit - queues out the door some times but well worth the wait.

I'd say to try and stay near the Entertainment District as there is lots to see/walk to around there for food and drink, and good transport to other areas. We got an air B&B apartment there and it worked great. You can walk to Chinatown if you're a Chinese food/culture lover (full on, massive Chinatown).

CF Toronto Eaton Centre is a massive shopping mall if you fancy that... But there is a great restaurant next door called JOEY (JOEY Eaton Centre I think is full name) which was lovely. They looked after us really well, and the food was wonderful with a varied menu.

Niagra Falls is actually only an hour or so away via bus if you fancy a day trip!

Hope that's enough dude, feel free to message if you want anything else!

acemuzzy wrote:

Miyajima is pretty cool. Nara has some sights. Two months sounds amazing, last time I had two months off was over 15 years ago

I got lucky really. Just asked for as much as they'd be willing to give me and they gave me 2 months! The trade off being I had asked for that leave over 18 months ago ( we have to book ridiculously in advance) and the only reason I had excess leave was because I broke my collarbone the other year so got a bunch of holiday leave back as sick leave.

I'd second the Rockerfeller Centre. Yes - it's touristy but it means it's set up for visitors. It's a splendid experience.  Better than Empire State because you get see Empire State from your vantage point which is pretty to look at from a distance.

We used the bus tour for hop on hop off which is a good way to just chill out and look around. The underground is more efficient at getting around if you have somewhere in mind to go.

If you want a great sandwich go to Katz's - again touristy but the grub is epic.

And if you get the chance to walk through Bryant Park do it - it's a little block of heaven - looks like the park scene in Mary Poppins. Gorgeous little square of green with elegant furniture and chess boards etc. Close to Empire State Building if I remember right.

The Staten Island ferry is free - just to say you have been on it. There's a little path to walk around on the Island to pass time before the ferry returns but it isn't long to wait. We got on it by mistake believing we were heading for Liberty Island.  Re Liberty Island - you will need to book to get inside the statue - we didn't but the Island is a pleasant enough walk without doing that.

When I was there the WTC site was still being worked on but I was impressed how understated the memorial was. Worth a visit. There is little church just close by that has a piece of tree that landed in its grounds when the towers came down - otherwise unscathed. Good for a visit as it has exhibition of how it was used as a relief centre.

St. Patrick's Cathedral is beautiful inside if you like gawping at church interiors. Its in the financial district too if I remember right.

It's such a beautiful city.
I'd go back for the Fox temple alone.

What is your plan, anyways?

Getting a gaijin rail ticket, shurely?

Thanks reg!
I figure the food will be good but wouldn't mind some special places to go to as well.

And dyno, the gaijin rail like the euro rail pass? Lets you go wherever over a certain period? I'm hoping to not train too much apart from getting to Tokyo at the end so probably not. Otherwise I'll be riding and eating my way via wherever seems good. No real plan apart from a couple of places I wouldn't mind seeing. I'll be stopping wherever I feel like it pretty much.

ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:

Thanks reg! I figure the food will be good but wouldn't mind some special places to go to as well. And dyno, the gaijin rail like the euro rail pass? Lets you go wherever over a certain period? I'm hoping to not train too much apart from getting to Tokyo at the end so probably not. Otherwise I'll be riding and eating my way via wherever seems good. No real plan apart from a couple of places I wouldn't mind seeing. I'll be stopping wherever I feel like it pretty much.

It takes about one Shinkansen return to make getting the JR pass worthwhile and the convenience and extra flexibility it opens up is amazing.

Sure have. Where you going?