Planning a Trip

One of the few constants about New York City is that things are always changing. If it's not new stadiums for the Yankees and Mets, it's a change in taxi fares. One beloved restaurant closes down . . . and another hot, trendy joint takes its place. Hotels refurbish, reinvent, and get built from the ground up. One season there's a new museum, the next a new governor. You need to keep up with these things!

This entire guide is designed to help you plan and enjoy your trip, and this particular section focuses on the "ready, set . . ." part before you go. Whether you're a first-time visitor or someone who's been here many times, take a look at the information below. It outlines our best advice for planning your trip, whether you'll be arriving from an international destination (all the better to take advantage of the favorable currency exchange rates) or from down the road.

If you haven't been here in some time, here's a basic reality check: New York City is cleaner and safer than ever before. It's also more expensive.

Bring money. Bring comfortable shoes, because walking is one of the best ways to get around. Bring your appetite, your party clothes, your intellect, and curiosity. Bring your patience and sense of humor. Before you know it, you'll be discussing the finer points of your favorite new ethnic cuisine and navigating the subway like a pro.

Visitor Information

Before you leave home, your best information source (besides this guide, of course) is NYC & Company, the organization that fronts the New York Convention & Visitors Bureau (NYCVB), located at 810 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10019. You can call tel. 800/NYC-VISIT to request the Official NYC Guide detailing hotels, restaurants, theaters, attractions, events, and more. The guide is free and will arrive in 7 to 10 days. (Note: I've received complaints that they sometimes take longer.)

You can find a wealth of free information on the bureau's website, www.nycvisit.com. To speak with a live travel counselor, call tel. 212/484-1222, which is staffed weekdays from 8:30am to 6pm EST, weekends from 8:30am to 5pm EST.

We include a fold-out map of Manhattan with this book, and you will also need a transit map, which you can get at the Times Square Visitors Center or at most larger subway stations. We also include a map of most of the Manhattan subway lines on the inside back cover of this book.

For U.K. Visitors -- The NYCVB Visitor Information Center is at 36 Southwark Bridge Rd., London, SE1 9EU (tel. 020/7202-6367). You can order the Official NYC Visitor Kit by sending an A5-size self-addressed envelope and 72p postage to the above address. For New York-bound travelers in London, the center also offers free one-on-one travel-planning assistance.