Getting There

By Plane

Three major airports serve New York City: John F. Kennedy International Airport (tel. 718/244-4444) in Queens, about 15 miles (1 hr. driving time) from midtown Manhattan; LaGuardia Airport (tel. 718/533-3400), also in Queens, about 8 miles (30 min.) from Midtown; and Newark International Airport (tel. 973/961-6000) in nearby New Jersey, about 16 miles (45 min.) from Midtown. Information about all three airports is available online at www.panynj.gov; click on the "All Airports" tab on the left.

Even though LaGuardia is the closest airport to Manhattan, it has a bad reputation for delays and terminal chaos, in both ticket-desk lines and baggage claim. You may want to use JFK or Newark instead. (JFK has the best reputation for timeliness, such as it is, among New York-area airports.)

Almost every major domestic carrier serves at least one of the New York-area airports; most serve two or all three. Among them American (tel. 800/433-7300; www.aa.com), Continental (tel. 800/525-3273; www.continental.com), Delta (tel. 800/221-1212; www.delta.com), Northwest (tel. 800/225-2525; www.nwa.com), US Airways (tel. 800/428-4322; www.usairways.com), and United (tel. 800/864-8331; www.united.com).

In recent years, there has been rapid growth in the number of start-up, no-frills airlines serving New York (and 2008 brought the demise of some of them, so definitely check and see whether the following are still flying when you are planning your trip). You might check out Atlanta-based AirTran (tel. 800/AIRTRAN); Denver-based Frontier (tel. 800/432-1359; www.flyfrontier.com), Milwaukee- and Omaha-based Midwest Airlines (tel. 800/452-2022; www.midwestairlines.com), or Detroit-based Spirit Airlines (tel. 800/772-7117; www.spiritair.com). The JFK-based cheap-chic airline JetBlue [ST] (tel. 800/JETBLUE; www.jetblue.com) has taken New York by storm with its low fares and classy service to cities throughout the nation. The nation's leading discount airline, Southwest (tel. 800/435-9792; www.iflyswa.com), flies into MacArthur (Islip) Airport on Long Island, 50 miles east of Manhattan.

Choosing Your NYC-Area Airport -- It's more convenient to fly into Newark than JFK if your destination is Manhattan, and fares to Newark are often cheaper than those to the other airports. Newark is particularly convenient if your hotel is in Midtown West or downtown. Taxi fare into Manhattan from Newark is roughly equivalent to the fare from JFK -- both now have AirTrains in place, but the AirTrain to Newark from Manhattan is quicker.

Immigration & Customs Clearance -- International visitors arriving by air, no matter the port of entry, should cultivate patience and resignation before setting foot on U.S. soil. U.S. airports have considerably beefed up security clearances in the years since the terrorist attacks of September 11, and clearing Customs and Immigration can take as long as 2 hours.

By Car

From the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95) and points west, there are three Hudson River crossings to the city's West Side: the Holland Tunnel (lower Manhattan), the Lincoln Tunnel (Midtown), and the George Washington Bridge (upper Manhattan). From upstate New York, take the New York State Thruway (I-87), which crosses the Hudson River on the Tappan Zee Bridge and becomes the Major Deegan Expressway (I-87) through the Bronx. For the East Side, continue to the Triborough Bridge and then down the FDR Drive. For the West Side, take the Cross Bronx Expressway (I-95) to the Henry Hudson Parkway or the Taconic State Parkway to the Saw Mill River Parkway to the Henry Hudson Parkway south.

From New England, the New England Thruway (I-95) connects with the Bruckner Expressway (I-278), which leads to the Triborough Bridge and the FDR Drive on the East Side. For the West Side, take the Bruckner to the Cross Bronx Expressway (I-95) to the Henry Hudson Parkway south.

Note that you'll have to pay tolls along some of these roads and at most crossings. If your state has an E-ZPass program (www.ezpass.com), as most states in the Northeast do, your pass will allow you to go through the designated E-ZPass lanes.

Once you arrive in Manhattan, park your car in a garage (expect to pay $20-$45 per day) and leave it there. Don't use your car for traveling within the city. Public transportation, taxis, and walking will easily get you where you want to go without the headaches of parking, gridlock, and dodging crazy cabbies.

By Train

Amtrak (tel. 800/USA-RAIL; www.amtrak.com) runs frequent service to New York City's Penn Station, on Seventh Avenue between 31st and 33rd streets, where you can get a taxi, subway, or bus to your hotel. To get the best rates, book early (as much as 6 months in advance) and travel on weekends.

If you're traveling to New York from a city along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor -- such as Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, or Washington, D.C. -- Amtrak may be your best travel bet now that they've rolled out their new high-speed Acela trains. The Acela Express trains cut travel time from D.C. down to 2 1/2 hours, and travel time from Boston to a lightning-quick 3 hours.