Driving from Wisconsin to NYC... Help Please!

I am planning a six day trip to NYC. Since airfare is out of sight my b/f and I decided to drive to NYC since it is only 13 hours away.

I have been searching and wondering where and what the best hotels to stay in NYC are? We would like to stay in the Times Square area and are kind of on a budget. Approximately $250-$300 per night on a hotel room. And since we are going to be driving in parkign will also be an issue. Do most hotels allow free parking for their guests?

Another option I was thinking about was staying on the outside of NYC and catching the subway into downtown NYC. Is that an option and what are some nice hotels on the outskirts?

What about hotels on the Atlantic and have the resort feel to them? water, sand, sun?

i%26#39;m open for any ideas and suggestions at this point.

thanks for your time!

Driving from Wisconsin to NYC... Help Please!

A few comments ...

There is almost no free parking anywhere in Manhattan.

There are no hotels on the waterfront. Yes, we have beaches, but weirdly, none of them have hotels of any caliber. No idea why, it%26#39;s a mystery.

There are arcane street parking regulations that basically make you move your car every day if you park it on the street, to facilitate street cleaning. (Having a car in NYC sucks.) Your best bet is just to drive in and park your car in a garage; there are other posters here who have a frequently posted list of reliable and reasonably priced garages.

One well known budget hotel, close to Manhattan, DOES have limited free parking - the La Quinta in Sunnyside, with is a 10 minute subway ride to Midtown. That might be a GREAT bet for you.

Driving from Wisconsin to NYC... Help Please!

It may be 13 hrs. drive, but even if you switch off the driving to avoid doing an overnight, it will take you longer than that with stops for food and bathroom. If you are prepared to spend $300/night x 6 days for a hotel ($1800) I don%26#39;t understand why you wouldn%26#39;t consider spending 1 or 2 less nights or staying in a lesser hotel or even a good hostel with private room in order to have the convenience of flying. I don%26#39;t know where in Wisconsin you would fly from or when you%26#39;re planning on visiting, but I see fares as low as $233/person on Continental non-stop from Madison at the end of August.

There are hotels outside Manhattan from which you can use a train or bus, but you won%26#39;t have the same experience especially for night life of staying in Manhattan. How old are you? When are you planning on coming?

The Travel Inn in Midtown has free parking. You don%26#39;t mention dates, so I%26#39;m not sure if it would be within your budget.

As to hotels on the Atlantic with a resort feel, my daughter and a friend just came back from a combination Atlantic City/New York City trip and had a blast (they drove as well). It%26#39;s about a 2 hour drive from NYC. And their suite (midweek)at Bally%26#39;s was very reasonable (some other friends stayed at the Tropicana for $69.00 a night !?!)

I fly from NYC to Milwaukee almost every couple months for business. The airfare I just booked for the first week in September was only $230 for a nonstop flight on Midwest.

You will spend more than that on gas and having to pay for a parking garage in the city. I think you should probably reconsider driving. The headache alone of finding parking and getting lost in the city would probably take more time away from your trip because from what I gather you don%26#39;t know much about NY or its layout to think there are resorts nearby.

I agree that you need to do a bit more research of NYC basics before you make any decisions about your trip.

';Another option I was thinking about was staying on the outside of NYC and catching the subway into downtown NYC. Is that an option and what are some nice hotels on the outskirts?';

The subway doesn%26#39;t run outside of NYC- it only runs within the city limits. Also, the term downtown specifically means lower Manhattan. Is that where you%26#39;d like to spend most of your time? Just to give you an idea, Times Square is not downtown NYC.

I%26#39;ve heard a lot lately about flights from Wisconsin to Tampa Bay, connecting in Hattiesburg,MS...

Only one hotel with free parking in Manhattan, the Travel Inn on 42nd Street at 10th Ave, on the edge of the Times Square district. The skyline hotel just a bit north of that has cheap parking for guests. All other hotels charge for parking. I%26#39;d check Icon parking and reserve something near your hotel instead of using the hotel valet parking, it will be a lot cheaper. Normal daily rates for parking in Manhattan are from $35 to $45 (and NO IN/OUT privlidges). Some hotels in Queens have either cheap or free parking. As long as they are near the subway you will be able to get into Manhattan easily and cheaply. Another option is a hotel in New Jersey near the PATH Train. Both the subway and PATH run 24/7/365, but late nigth service is less frequent than during the day.

for beach hotels try Atlantic City, wildwood, or cape may in NJ

Al

In the FAQ sticky at the top of this forum is this thread on staying outside Manahttan:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k1338069鈥?/a> Lodging_outside_Manhattan_a_collection_of_posts-

Thanks people for your comments. I am taking them into consideration and am doing research. I%26#39;ve never been to NYC so I have no idea what to expect etc. and maps give me NO idea on what it is like. (Times Square not in downtown) comment...learned alot and will be booking soon!

I don%26#39;t know how many days vacation you have or how much time you%26#39;ve alloted for traveling, but I continue to feel driving, esp. with the current price of gas and the cost of parking is not a wise option. For airfare help go to

kayak.com

They also have hotel prices and quikbook.com is another good place for hotels. Travelzoo.com will have specials if you%26#39;re thinking of doing this soon. I%26#39;ll also warn, many hotels require you at least one of you be 21 to check in. You don%26#39;t indicate your ages.