Hi,

Next year sees both Lady Vella and I celebrate our 50th birthdays, and we are planning a couple of trips to celebrate.

We'll be visiting Las Vegas in February, and New York in November. We will be taking our youngest daughter to New York, as she will also be celebrating her birthday, (17 years old) during the trip.

I guess the title of the thread should give you a clue as to what my question will be, but... do you guys have any suggestions of places to visit while we are there?

Your suggestions can be either places you've been, or places you'd love to visit, but please do say whether you have been.

Please note that anything which involves renting bicycles is a complete no-no.

Thanks in advance.

If the weather is nice, walk the high line

If you like big craters there’s a museum about the atomic testing that went on in Nevada and you can go out and see the massive crater made by the last test - it’s got a viewing platform.

Not been myself but a guy I work with has and recommended it.

My suggestion would be to not visit Las Vegas.

I've been to both.

Vegas - this was on a batchelor party for one of my friends. We mostly visited pool parties and nightclubs. Remainder of the time was split between lying by the pool or gambling inside the hotel we were staying at. A small group of us did do a bit more and we went around the malls locally, we saw the Bellagio fountains, and we went to an outlet shopping centre for discounts on branded clothes. Can't help much more than that.

New York - I went with swmbo about six months ago. We visited the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Highline, Chelsea Market, Greenwich Village, Brooklyn Bridge, China Town, Little Italy, Financial District, Central Park, Grand Central, saw the UN building from outside, NY Public Library, Natural History museum. Also visited all of the major department stores. There's probably other things we did but it was a while ago and we were there for four nights only. The only thing I didn't get a chance to do was visit the Rockefeller Centre and that was because we got there at 1800 and the next tickets to go up were for 2230. It's the only one where I should have booked in advance. Similarly, Statue of Liberty - you can get tickets on the day to visit but if you want to go inside the museum at the base (the pedestal), you have to book weeks in advance. If you want to go to the top, book tickets now.

If you want specific info (esp with NYC), happy to help on here or via PM, but the tripadvisor forum was very helpful.

Edited to correct a typo.

I've done both too.

I can't say I was that impressed with Las Vegas, but my stay there came at the end of a 2 week road trip. IMO unless you are really into gambling and/or people watching you can see everything worth seeing on the Strip in a day. However it is close enough to use it as a base for trips to more interesting places like the Grand Canyon and the Hoover Dam.

I've been twice now to New York and would love to go again. It's much more my kind of place than Las Vegas. Loads to do, and still loads that I haven't managed to find time for. Unlike most places in the US be prepared to do a lot of walking, it's the preferred mode of transport unless you are going a very long way in which case use the subway and/or buses. There is so much to see whatever your interests, so my advice would be to buy an up-to-date guide book and check out whatever takes your fancy (which is what I did). I'd also investigate renting an apartment for your stay rather than a hotel as it gives you a much better flavour of the city, and for more than 2 people staying it nearly always works out a lot cheaper. On my second visit there were 6 of us, and my share of the huge 4 bedroom apartment half a block from Central Park was less than half what I paid for a single room in a hotel on my first stay.

Agree with this and

Vegas
Go to the dam - we did a sunset helicopter flight - OK not cheap but it was part of my 50th Birthday so a treat and it was spectacular
The big hotels all have their own "spin" - so Dolphins at one, Rolla coasters at another etc - look tem up and plan to do their "speciality" it is worth it. Just accept that Vegas is OTT and tacky at the same time - of hes and there are lots of shows to see so book a few of them

New York
As above - we didn't go tot eh statute of Liberty but the free ferry to Staton Island and then back - almost as good and free
If you like food then do some research as there are a lots of places to go and some good foodie walking tours

Thanks, everyone. I'll talk to the boss lady, and show her the suggestions.

If anybody thinks of any other places to visit, or things to do, please do post it here.

Thanks again.

New York: if you're thinking of going to the top of the Empire State consider the Rock - the Rock gives you views of Empire State building as well as an amazing view of Centra Park

https://www.rockefellercenter.com

Make sure you have the to go to Macy's and take your passport when out shopping as you'll get a discount.

Also if you're thinking of doing the tourist buses make sure you get the one that includes a boat trip around Manhattan. If you want good views of the Statue of Liberty consider taking the Staten Island Ferry which is either very cheap or free (I can't remember now).

How long are you going for?

If I ever go to New York I'll really want to go to the Intrepid Museum.

I did that. Quite enjoyed it even though I'm not into planes and boats

Apologies, Caz, I hadn't seen this post. Not sure how long we'll be spending in New York, as I haven't booked that yet.

We have decided, following the accident last week, that we won't be doing the Grand Canyon helicopter tour, but we will do the coach tour, as a couple of colleagues have done both and both, (independently) said that the coach trip is much better.

Just had a thought... must go online and check if there are tickets to see Penn and Teller...

Update: We are going to New York on the 8th May, for a week. I have collected all of the suggestions, (thanks again) and compiled a preliminary itinerary, for Mrs. V.
One thing I know we'll be doing is going to see The Who, who are playing MSG while we are there. Woohoo - it's The Who! Sorry, couldn't resist.

That sounds awesome.

I've been to a few places and with the exception of the Maldives, New York is the only other place I really want to go back to. I have no idea why.

I finally went to NY at the end of last year.
I didn't take to the city itself, or the shopping mania they have. But I'd recommend the Museum of New York, the statue of Liberty (after the museum), the 9-11 memorial and the Intrepid Museum.

I found central park over rated, and time square and the Rockerfella centre vastly over rated.

There's lots of nutters on the subway too*, as is 'should genuinely be in a mental hospital' nutters.

* The first day we were on there one bloke was shouting up and down the carriage that he'd been in prison for twenty years and his favourite hobby was dragging dead bodies around.