How to Find the Best New York City Tours

My first trip to New York City was in 1996. We were traveling to several different states during a two week vacation. While we were in New York we tried to tour the city by car. I was a nervous wreck being unfamiliar with the traffic. I had never seen so many cars and people. We had a difficult time finding parking when we wanted to explore an area and ultimately missed several places we wanted to see. I wasn't sure I even wanted to visit again. I was awe struck by the size of the buildings and all of the people, but very stressed about just getting around.

The next time I went to New York I had a completely different experience. We went in 2006 and this time we flew. We also decided on this trip that we would not rent a car because I wanted to experience New York the way the New Yorkers do. We decided to take some of the numerous tours available. During our week, we walked a great deal, took the subways, buses and even hailed a taxi once or twice. We never missed having our car and were relieved not to worry about traffic or parking.

My absolute favorite tour was the two day double decker bus tour. We had the best time. When you choose this tour you can hop on and off wherever you choose along the tour for 48 hours from the time you purchased the tickets. Tickets will cost you $85.00 for adults and $58.00 for children although you can find some discounts advertised on the New Your Tours website.

You can "see Downtown, Uptown and everywhere in between" according to the site. The tour bus travels to all of the favorite sites such as the Empire State Building, and to take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. The tour goes to places such as Macy's, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, World Trade Center site, Union Square, Brooklyn, Greenwich Village, United Nations Bldg and many others. You can see all of New York City in those two days. They also have a night tour that takes you around town to see the night lights and more of the "city that never sleeps." The night tour doesn't permit you to get on and off but you will still love this tour if you enjoy the city lights.