Travel guide: New Orleans

Last visited: July 2013 (4 days)


Things to do:

You have a lot of options both inside and outside of the city. Within the city, visiting the French Quarter would be an obvious choice. You can explore on your own, do a self-guided walking tour, or take any one of a number of guided tours. Haunted tours, historical tours, cocktail tours, voodoo tours - you name it, it's available. Further out is the Garden District, which is easy enough to visit on your own (and a fun ride on the streetcar trolley) or to visit as part of a tour. This area has a lot of nice older homes, an easily accessible cemetery (yep, cemetery tours are also available), and a number of interesting nearby shops. You can also go on tours which take you into a Mardi Gras workshop. Outside of town, if you haven't been into swampland before and want to see some alligators, there are a number of swamp tours that will pick you up in the city and take you out for a day. If it's your first visit, I'd probably try to cover the French Quarter, a Mardi Gras workshop, and voodoo (it's pretty easy to find a tour that combines all three - that's what we did when I first visited as a kid). If you've been before, maybe check out the Algiers Ferry for a free ride across the river.

Getting around:

The streetcar trolley is handy if you're just sticking to the main tourist areas but in general you're looking at either walking around or taking a cab. Keep the number of a cab company handy if you're going to an unfamiliar area so that you can call one to pick you up if necessary. 

Where to stay:

We stayed at the Marriott on Canal, between Decatur and Chartres, which was quite a good location. You're at the edge of the French Quarter so have easy access to the chaos without actually being in it. For atmosphere, you'll want to look for a place that's actually inside the French Quarter itself, or maybe someplace out in the Garden District, which would be quieter. 

Eating and drinking:

Cafe du Monde or Cafe Beignet - You want a beignet. It's fried dough covered in powdered sugar. Don't wear black and don't put anything down on the tables (sticky). You might also want to check out New Orleans chicory coffee.

Cochon Butcher - Really good sandwiches. If you want to try a muffaletta, I can't imagine that other places could outdo what's being served here. I didn't have a chance to try Cochon, the attached sister restaurant, but have heard good things about it.

Galatoire's (Friday lunch) - I didn't go but this sounds pretty ridiculous and therefore fun. Google it, I don't really know how to explain. It's like, a weird posh lunch with locals.

Hansen's - You want a sno-ball, especially when it's hot. I asked a woman in a shop where to get a sno-ball because it was ridiculously hot out and she pointed me to Hansen's. I stood in line, got the 2nd smallest cup, ate my sno-ball, got back in line and got a small cup. The owners are incredibly nice and noted that I am certainly not the first to get multiple sno-balls. These are like, the best sno-cones ever. There are other good sno-ball places around town, this just happened to be the one that I was happily pointed to.

Bacchanal - Hop a cab, it's a bit out of the way in relation to where you'd likely be as a tourist. This place is awesome! Step in and it appears to be a little wine shop - order some wine and/or cheese if you feel like it, then step out into the massive back patio with your wine/cheese to grab a table and listen to some music (dixieland jazz when we went). Feel like eating more? Head to the walk-up window on the side to order from a ridiculously good menu with your dishes brought out to your patio table. Not feeling the wine? Head upstairs to grab a tasty concoction from the cocktail bar. There need to be more places in this world like Bacchanal. Seriously.

Some other restaurants I've heard good things about: SoBou, Sylvain, Commanders Palace. Mr. B's had a good brunch too. Basically, there's a ton of good food in New Orleans. Po'boys are readily available, as are things like jambalaya, gumbo, miscellaneous crawfish dishes, and soul food. However, the downside of all this is that I find food to be pretty heavy in New Orleans so you may not actually get to eat as much as you plan to. It's ok, you can skip a meal and grab a drink instead. As the birthplace of the cocktail, you owe it to yourself to destroy your liver at least a little during your visit.

Sazerac Bar - Order a Ramos Gin Fizz! This is by far the best rendition I've ever had (normally I don't even like this). It's sort of like drinking an orange julius. The bar is posh and old-timey (as is the hotel it's in). We went early on a Thursday night and the place was basically empty, which was perfect.

Carousel Bar - If you're lucky, you get to sit at a revolving bar! Most people will not be lucky because this place seemed to always be crowded. Not a bad place to get a sazerac if you want to try one.

Dickie Brennan's - Frozen Bourbon Milk Punch! Wandered into this place randomly and chose this drink randomly. It's sort of like an alcoholic frappucino. Bourbon milk punch isn't a bad cocktail order to keep in mind for New Orleans, it's a pretty mellow drink.

Party time!

Bourbon Street - It's pretty gross but you're probably going to wind up here at some point. Just remember to drink water at some point.

Frenchmen Street - Live music everywhere, super-busy and popular but without the raging insanity of Bourbon Street. The photo above was taken at an evening street market on Frenchmen. You're likely going to need a cab to/from here.

Vaughan's - Definitely more of a lower-key, local vibe. It's around the corner (walkable) from Bacchanal so best bet is to do a 2-for-1 and hit both places on the same night since you're most likely hopping a cab out to Treme.

Why I like my city

Let's get this out of the way first - Toronto doesn't have the best of anything in particular. Pick any random thing and you can probably easily find some other city that has a better version of that thing. But we have a little bit of everything and chances are it's all close to where you live. Consider:

 

• WE HAVE GLOW IN THE DARK DINOSAUR MONEY!
• We are pocket-sized with big city things! I'm lazy and only like to wander within a 30 minute walking radius but that gives me access to pretty much all of our fun city stuff. Expand that to an hour's walk and I think that would cover all of our fun city stuff.
• We have so much food! In terms of variety and cost I haven't found anywhere else in the world quite as satisfying. My biggest constant complaints are that there aren't any Taiwanese restaurants downtown and that I haven't found a place that serves samosas at 2am.
• We have music! Most bands will drift through at some point and it's generally pretty easy to get tickets to stuff.
• We have movies! Over 70 film festivals each year on top of the normal movie theatres and the rep theatres. Not to mention the gigantor which is the annual Toronto International Film Festival.
• Actually, we have all sorts of arty things! Musicals, plays, art galleries, museum parties, opera, ballet, symphony, literary festivals. There's plenty of things to keep you entertained without being overwhelmed!
• Our weather is less terrible than you think! Downtown Toronto doesn't actually get much precipitation - rain or snow - and summers here can get suprisingly hot (30+C / 90+F)
• You can easily leave! If you're bored or want a more awesome version of something we have here, just leave for a while. We're Canada's main transporation hub so it's easy to escape!
• Brunch is a critical part of our lives! Toronto's pretty food-obsessed in general; the battle to have more varities of street food is as big a political issue as public transporation. And we have two weekly event listings devoted to food. Yeah it's kind of weird but we are a simple people.
• Our public transportation is ok! Yeah, it's not particularly good. But choose the right location and there's a good chance you'll rarely use it. So I don't mind that it's kind of crappy because riding transit is basically just a novelty for me.
• Cross-border shopping! Our prices are too high, but the border is right there so you have easy access to what is overall the best shopping in the world just by popping down to the U.S.
• We won't hurt you! Probably! It's pretty safe downtown, biggest issue I've had is avoiding drunk clubbers.

When I travel, I wind up slipping into semi-residential life for the place I'm visiting and I've found that Toronto holds up pretty well in comparison. The key here is ease of living. I'm not sure we have "world class" anything (although National Geographic would beg to differ) but I'd rather have a decent version of everything than have two world class things and a pile of crap. For "world class" whatever, I'll just travel to the source - but for daily life I want as many conveniences as close as possible and for that, I haven't found any place with easier living than Toronto.

IF CITIES WERE CLOTHES, TORONTO WOULD BE YOUR PYJAMAS!

Travel guide: Philadelphia

Last visited: July 2011 (1 day)

Yeah that's right...1 day...

Things to do:

Not to shortchange Philly; there's actually a lot of things to do in the city which can keep you occupied for a while. The one-day trip was a bit of a lark and it wasn't my first time to the city. If you're into history, then the Old City area is a no-brainer, just make sure you get tickets in advance where possible. Tickets are generally free for things like seeing the Liberty Bell, but getting a ticket in advance should help minimize the amount of time you spend in line. 

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is huge (there's actually a main building and a smaller building that you can either walk to or ride to via a free shuttle bus). The city also has a number of murals and there's a company which runs mural bus tours, or they also have an online guide for a walk that takes you through several of the murals (Philadelphia Mural Arts Program). And Franklin Institute is cool! I remember visiting when I was a kid. Science museum.

If you're looking for something a bit different, Eastern State Penitentiary is awesome. I cannot emphasize enough the awesomeness of this place - it's an old prison which has been taken over by the state and reopened as a tourist attraction. Amazing for photography, plus there are various art installations throughout the year, different types of special events and *drumroll please* a self-guided audio tour narrated by STEVE BUSCEMI. At this point you either think this is the best thing ever, or else you're still wondering why anyone would ever visit an old prison. If you are the latter, then maybe you'd prefer an aquarium or a battleship?

From Penn's Landing you can hop a ferry to the other side of the river - Camden, New Jersey. The ferry ride is $7.00 round-trip and although it's short, it's still fun. In Camden, you can visit an aquarium or take a tour on a real (decommissioned) battleship. Haven't been to either so can't vouch for what they're like.

Getting around:

Philly has a bus system but you could be waiting 30 minutes between buses, so I wouldn't count on it. There's also a subway system but I didn't use it so I'm not sure how useful it would be. The commuter train goes out to the airport, which is useful. If you're just staying around Old City, everything is walkable. Getting out to the museum area is a pretty far walk from Old City so I would be inclined to just cab it. Cabs aren't too expensive since most of the places a tourist would go are pretty close together. Maybe around $10 - $15 if you're going from the far end of Old Town out to Eastern State Pen?

Where to stay:

Old City is the priciest location but if you don't have much time and are focused on the main tourist attractions, then it makes sense to stay there. But personally, I'd rather stay by Rittenhouse Square - it puts you between Old City and the museum area. It also keeps you in easy striking distance of the main shopping and nightlife area - and you're just far enough away from Old City to not feel like it's tourist central all the time. Pretty much all the sights and restaurants are walkable from this area.

Where to eat:

Cheesesteak - Sorry, can't help. I like cheesesteaks, but the city has more interesting stuff on offer so I kind of ignore them. Go forth and google for this one.

Di Nic's - Di Nic's is in Reading Terminal Market, which is a fun place to eat through in general. But roast pork sandwiches seem to be what many Philadelphians think of as their sandwich, not just cheesesteaks, and Di Nic's is a favoured destination. There's two types of sandwiches - if you go early, one type will be ready but the other may not be (I think....sliced pork is ready but pulled pork isn't?). I went early and what I had (sliced) was still good, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. HOWEVER. I am going to warn you that the sandwich handed to me was the heaviest sandwich I've ever held. It's...I dunno...like the weight of a jar of pickles. Whatever, this is some serious shit, so don't say I didn't warn you when you're faced with a monster sandwich. You may also be faced with a monster line, everyone knows about this place.

Paesano's - Um...two locations? Maybe three? I've only gone to the one in the Italian Market. FOR SANDWICHES! I can't even explain, go look at their online menu. I had the lasagna sandwich topped with a fried egg (uh huh, you read that right). I would visit as many times as it takes to work through the menu. Might be a wait, this place is popular.

Isgro's - Speaking of the Italian Market, I'm not actually a big sweets person so I've had maybe only three cannolis ever. And let's face it, most cannolis are kind of lacking...the shell often just seems kind of...lame. But Isgro's cannolis are not lame. They are awesome. I only bought one, thinking it would just be some strange, sweet, slightly mushy thing like the others I'd had, but then I was sad because I ate it and didn't have any more. Be prepared to wait and remember to grab a number when you walk in.

Fish - Duh, come here for seafood. Popular, so you may want to reserve ahead although we were able to just walk in and eat at the bar (two people). Good cocktails, good seafood, interesting preparations. Little Fish is their sister restaurant, not sure where it is - Fish is in the Rittenhouse Square area.

Various dinner / lunch - I've heard Kanela is good (Mediterranean), Zahav (Israeli), and Han Dynasty (spicy Chinese dry hot pot). There's also a couple of Jose Garces places (Iron Chef). Village Whiskey is supposed to have an amazing burger and one of the Village Whiskey chefs told me that A.Kitchen has really good food also.

Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. - If you're looking for a drink, this is a faux speakeasy. Everyone working there is friendly, although I'd argue that cocktail quality is just 'ok' vs other faux speakeasies. Fun for the novelty of wandering into a semi-hidden place and because you're guaranteed to get a seat.

Oyster House - This was interesting because I ate raw clams here. I didn't know you could eat raw clams since I'd never seen them on a menu. They even had two different types. Oh and they have a late night happy hour for oysters. I had an octopus appetizer - it wasn't very exciting but it wasn't bad.

Travel guide: Montreal

Last visited: May 2012 (3 days)

Oh Montreal, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

Travel guide: Chicago

Last visited:  July 2011 (4 days)

Places to stay: 

You'll most likely wind up either on the Magnificent Mile or in the Loop if you're staying in a hotel.  Both areas are great, you can easily get around by transit or walking and a lot of the main tourist attractions are nearby.  Unlike other cities, where staying in a main tourist area kind of sucks (ahem, NYC Times Square), staying in this area is actually really nice in Chicago.  The lake, river and Grant Park are all within a few minutes walk, at most, so it's pretty awesome.  Alternatively, you could stay in a bed and breakfast in one of the other neighbourhoods where it's a bit more residential.  My pick for a residential area would probably be Wicker Park, it's a nice contrast to the Magnificent Mile / Loop area.  If you need a cheap place to stay, the HI Chicago is by far one of the nicest hostels I've ever stayed at.  For a fraction of the cost, you're getting a location which is better than many hotels (the hostel is basically across the street from Grant Park). It's clean, they have cheap or free tours, tons of discounts, good security.  Shockingly good really.

How to get around:  

Pretty basic, just take the L (elevated trains - although, they do occasionally dip underground).  Both Midway and O'Hare airports have an L line stop but if you want to take a taxi, FYI Midway is way closer to downtown than O'Hare.  The only tricky thing about the L is that the various lines will often have stops with the same name.  So, for example, the Kedzie-green stop is nowhere near the Kedzie-orange stop.  Buses are also straightforward and I found that the CTA employees were all pretty helpful in giving directions.

Taxis aren't too pricey and are useful for getting around since Chicago is a bit spread out.  A car can also be helpful depending on where you're going. 

Things to see:

Museums - The Chicago Museum Campus is ridiculously good.  I loved visiting as a kid and on my more recent visits always wished I had more time in the city to explore.  In that area you have: the Shedd Aquarium; the Field Museum and Adler Planetarium.  Right at Grant Park you have the Chicago Art Institute (Love Ferris Bueller's Day Off?  Want to try and recreate it?  You're not the only one!).  There's a lot more museums, but these should get you off to a good start.

Navy Pier - This is so cheesy and crowded, but it can be fun. Especially if you're with friends and rent a bike car thingie.

Boat rides - Oh man, you have to do this!  There's like a million of them, just go with whatever, they're all pretty much the same.  You just want an excuse to get on the river (bonus if your tour gets you onto the lake too).  If you don't see Chicago from the River then you don't deserve to be in Chicago.  I went to the Chicago Visitor Center and they have a ridiculous amount of information, including information on like, every single boat tour in town. 

Grant Park / Millennium Park - You'll be here at some point or else you haven't actually been to Chicago (seriously, you may actually be in a different city, you should check).  Not only do they have an array of events running year-round, they have ridiculously awesome art installations.  If an art installation was my best friend, it'd be the big silver bean (don't worry, you'll find it, it's kind of hard to miss).

Tall buildings - Here's a sneaky trick we discovered by accident.  Go up to the lounge in the John Hancock building and go to the bathrooms.  Best views ever!  And obviously, if you're recreating Ferris Bueller's Day Off, a stop at the Sears Tower is obligatory.

Sports - Hell, even if you're just walking past Wrigley Field it's pretty cool to see it.  For a schedule of sporting events, why don't you try googling, hmm?

Got the blues? 

Kingston Mines - This place is awesome, two stages and a blues band always on.

Green Mill - Al Capone's old speakeasy, the space is great and they're serious about jazz.  Like, "no talking while the band is on" serious.

There's a ton of places to go out at night in Chicago.  Blues, jazz, comedy, miles of bars - you name it, it's there.  And it's fun!  Be prepared to stay out late.  My nights in Chicago always seem to run longer and get more out of hand than anywhere else (Well, the company I keep is partially to blame ;) but everywhere I've gone has always been fun.  We even wound up on a posh rooftop bar that was packed and it was still fun and not obnoxious.

If you want a good drink, head over to the Violet Hour.  Possibly the best pseudo-speakeasy in North America (Is it bad that this is something I feel qualified to judge?).  I'm not going to tell you exactly where it is, you can figure it out for yourself.  Great drinks, super friendly bartenders and doormen and unlike most pseudo-speakeasies, the interior is actually quite pleasant and spacious. Beer drinkers, check out the Map Room; the beer list here drove my friend to making happy squeaky noises.

Deep-dish and more: 

Chicago is an amazing food city.  I'm going to ignore deep dish because I'm not really a fan.  The alternatives are so much better.  Italian beef sandwiches are amazing (I think I went to Al's for mine).  Chicago-style hot dogs are ridiculous (I don't know where The Wieners Circle is but when it's 3:30am and you're confused, tell the taxi driver to come here, he'll know where to go).  Hot Doug's is....Mecca for encased meats?  Read more about it here.  And Mexican food in Chicago is really good.

For high end, the obvious choices would be Alinea or Next (if you can get a reservation).  Aiming a bit lower, any of Rick Bayless's places are worth a try. I went to Mexique for brunch and liked it better than the brunch at Frontera though. Schwa is fantastic! Highly recommended if you can get a reservation, I still think about dinner there...rabbit and strawberries?! (this is an awesome Schwa-related article)  General consensus also points to Paul Kahan's restaurants as being very good.

Travel guide: Rio de Janeiro

Last visited:  February 2010 (4 days)

Places to stay:

When I visited, I stayed in the Arpoador B&B.  It's a very small place, only two rooms - I stayed in a twin room, bathroom in the hallway (but not shared) while the other room had an ensuite bathroom and a Queen-sized bed.  I had a pretty good experience here, the location is excellent and the area quite safe.  But you would have to try and ensure that you're in the main B&B because I met some people who were staying close by in a different apartment who didn't seem to like it as much.  Arpoador is between Ipanema and Copacabana, so it's pretty ideal.  Maybe five minutes in any direction and you'll hit one of the beaches.  Plus you're super close to Arpoador beach which is quite nice and a bit hidden.  I think this is the area where sufers go.

While staying in Arpoador was fine, if I were to return to Rio I would almost definitely stay elsewhere, I think Botafogo might be ideal for me.  Botafogo seemed to be in the middle of all the different areas I visited.  The samba bars seemed more concentrated over in Lapa / Santa Teresa, but that area is a bit more dodgy and transit a bit less convenient.  But Botafogo is a quick taxi ride from either there or Ipanema / Copacabana.  Basically, it seemed to me like Botafogo has places to eat, stuff to do, was pretty safe and is convenient to the more popular areas.  Haven't actually stayed there though, so can't say for sure.

You could stay in Santa Teresa, but getting around seems a bit annoying if you want to get out of Santa Teresa.  And you can actually stay in a favela - the Maze Inn is well-established and quite popular.  I don't think I'd recommend it for a first visit because Rio is massive and it's nice to be centrally located to get your bearings, but I would totally want to stay here on a future visit.

How to get around:

You can get around quite easily and effectively by using the subway system.  Buses and mini-vans are a bit more complex but dirt-cheap and depending on where you're going can be convenient.  Taxis aren't very expensive - probably your best option when going out at night.

We didn't have any trouble with any of the transit options when we visited.  Once we hopped on a bus going in the right direction but we didn't have an actual destination, we were just going to ride until we saw something we felt like stopping for - but the conductor and driver were really nice and kept checking on us to make sure we hadn't missed our stop.  Also, everywhere I went, either by myself or with my friend, people were quite happy to call a taxi for us and talk to the driver to make sure they took us to the right place.  We never actually asked them to call the taxi for us, but the guidebooks do indicate that radio taxis are safer than hailing a taxi on the street.

Oh and take the bonde (tram) up or down Santa Teresa, just because it's awesome.  I guess this can be classified as "things to see" also.  If you haven't seen Black Orpheus yet, it's worth watching - plus, you can actually go into the bonde museum and see some of the old trams like they had in the movie (up in Santa Teresa).  Umm, again, I guess this is actually "things to see."

Things to see:

Cristo Redentor - ride the little train up all the way to the top.  Sit on the right-hand side (away from the mountain) for a better view.  Take entertaining photos with the big Jesus.

Sugarloaf - I wound up going twice.  First time up, the clouds covered everything but then started parting to show ridiculously awesome views of Rio.  Then I went up again, but only halfway, and it was a clear day and the views were again ridiculously awesome.  Sometimes, in the summer, they have parties or movies up here.

Helicopter ride - This is the reason I was halfway up Sugarloaf.  I was by myself and needed at least two more people to get on the helicopter ride and the Sugarloaf heliport is the busiest.  THIS IS TOTALLY WORTH THE MONEY.  Even just going on the shortest ride is worth it.  I also got stuck with the crappy middle back seat with no window and it was still worth it.  That photo above?  Yep, taken from the helicopter.  Seriously, this is one of the most awesome things I've ever done.  Best seats are either next to the pilot or behind the pilot.  Behind the pilot is probably best if you want photos (at least on my flight, that's how he circled Cristo Redentor).  And my seat was actually better than the person sitting to my right (back seat, away from the pilot) because the lady sitting there barely got to see Cristo Redentor lol.

Hang gliding - I didn't do this but there are lots of options for it, just google.  If I had more time, I probably would have tried it.  And fyi, I thought that you get to hang glide around Cristo Redentor, but that is not at all true, you are actually pretty far.

Favela tour - Up to you to decide the relative merits of this, just do some googling to make sure you're going with an organization who are actually working to improve things instead of just setting up a tourist trap.  Zezinho is a good guy.

Shopping - Shoes!  Shoes in Brazil are reasonably priced and amazing!  Well, for girls at least.  Not sure for guys.  And you can get custom-made Havaianas also, you pick the colour of the shoe base and the part for your toes and can also pick pins to stick on it.

Football - This was so awesome!  I went on a football tour my first night with Robert Shaw (brazsoc @ hotmail dot com) and it was fabulous!  He's a British ex-pat football journalist and gives you not just background on the teams and players but also gives you a mini-tour around Rio.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.  You can go to the matches by yourself pretty easily but it's a lot more fun going on this tour because you get so much info.  Just email Robert to see if he's running a tour when you want to go.

Places to eat:

I can't remember where we ate.  Which is unfortunate because we ate somewhere really good in Ipanema, it's just off the main street, on a corner, halfway through Ipanema (or slightly closer to Arpoador) and had a bunch of different salads and stuff you could pick.  Anyway.

You can eat at "por kilo" places - choose, weigh, pay, eat.  And you can eat at rodizios - all you can eat meat or all you can eat sushi.  Or you can eat at small places that serve a variety of dishes on the menu.  WARNING - after a while in Brazil, I noticed that a lot of dishes are meant to be shared.  So like, you might pick something from a menu and it's a giant plate of fish nuggests.  Knowing Portuguese will help you avoid this.

YOU MUST EAT ACAI.  Acai is everywhere.  But you must pick the frozen acai.  And then select delicious toppings such as granola or bananas for it.  And if you see a street vendor selling it, go up and just nod to all the toppings.  I miss acai.  Eat as much of it as you can before leaving the country.

Love the nightlife? Got to boogie?

Be prepared to stay up late.  Like, until dawn.  I went to the Carnival winners parade and it started at 9pm and went until 6am.  Pretty much what you'd expect, people eat late and go out even later.  Google is your friend for event listings but you can also find flyers and booklets while you're there.  Samba is amazing, go find a good club and park yourself in there one night.  There are other options too, but I'm not sure what because we pretty much just kept going to samba clubs (well and it was right after Carnival so there was Carnival stuff too).

Safety

It comes up as a big issue when reading guidebooks and stuff about Brazil, but we didn't have any issues.  As mentioned before, I found that people actually went out of their way to help us get to our destinations safely.  Just use some common sense and you should be fine.  We didn't have an SLR, so that's the only thing you might want to be careful of since they're kind of gigantic and obvious.  I think maybe someone tried to pickpocket my friend once in the metro, but I don't remember if that was in Rio or Sao Paulo.  He didn't lose anything.  I was with a friend half the time and spent the last few days by myself, no issues either way.

Language

Learn some Portuguese (I mean really, I would argue that it's a bit rude going to any place if you don't learn to at least say hello and thank you).  Spanish can help you squeak by.  If you're only in town a week or less you should be fine even with mostly English since you'll likely be in well-touristed areas.  Rio is really big.

Travel guide: New York City

Last visited:  November 2013


Places to stay:

Umm, usually I stay with friends or family.  But once I stayed at a Marriott in Brooklyn, it was right by the bridge so it's a pretty good location and cheaper than staying in Manhattan.  The cheaper B&B / hostel options all seem to be up by Harlem or Columbia University, but it's not the most convenient area so if it's your first visit, you'd probably want to be more central.  Anywhere on the south side of Central Park is basically fine for getting around to tourist places.

How to get around:

The subway is handy and gets you to most places quite well.  Just remember to check the signs to see if you're heading uptown or downtown, and also to check if you're on an express or local train.  Note also that if you overshoot your destination and want to ride back the other way on the subway, you can't do that for free at all the stations - for some of them, the entrance to the train going the opposite direction requires and extra fare.  Lots of automatic vending machines for the swipey subway cards but if you're paying with a credit card, it'll ask you for your zip code - not sure how this would work for foreign cards.  There's also a max amount of change the machines will give you, so you might need to get smaller bills.

Taxis are also pretty cheap in NYC, especially compared to Toronto.  To get from St. Marks up to Columbia is less than US$30, I think.  So if you're feeling lazy, just take a taxi.  But for getting to/from the airports, you can get to La Guardia, JFK and Newark by public transit or by airport shuttle bus - lots of info on these if you google.

Things to see:

I'm not going to bother listing all the tourist stuff, you should be able to figure that out yourself.  But keep an eye out for reduced or free admission (e.g., MoMA is free on Friday nights).  And keep an eye out for "suggested" admission prices (e.g., the Met admission is suggested, you can actually pay whatever you want).

The photo above was taken from Governors Island, they have miscellaneous events throughout the year and it's also just a fun place to hang out.  Free ferry leaves from the building next to the Staten Island ferry building.  The High Line can be fun too, although I got bored with it pretty quickly and wandered into Chelsea Market instead (mmm food).  Note - if you're walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, the subway entrances are actually a bit of a walk from the entrance to the bridge walkway itself.  Umm, I dunno, just wander around NYC, you'll find stuff to do.

Places to eat:

Oh man, where to start?  Hmm let's start with high-end.  There's lots of places to choose from, but if you want a blow-out dinner and don't have a particular preference, I like Eleven Madison.  NYC also has a ridiculous number of options for high-end dining at bargain prices, especially if you're free for a weekday lunch.  If you want to test out how you feel about high-end dining, I'd pick Jean Georges for lunch.  If you know you want high-end but don't want to pay dinner prices, then I'd pick Eleven Madison for lunch.

On the lower end of things, I'm pretty obsessed with the tater tots at Crif Dogs.  My favourite is getting a deep-fried bacon-wrapped Crif Dog and pairing it with a dipping sauce from Pommes Frites down the street.  The tater tots are a large portion, so you'll probably want to share.  There's nothing particularly special about them except for the fact that they're deep fried and therefore awesome.  There's about a zillion places to eat in the city and most of them are really quite good, so just poke around and you'll find something good.

If you feel like venturing out and exploring, eat your way along the 7 train. Trust me. 

Love the nightlife? Got to boogie?

Again, about a million options here.  For drinks, I spend most of my time bouncing between the faux-speakeasies because I like cocktails and the random entrances make me laugh.  They all have pretty different atmospheres, so just do a search and pick one you like.  Flatiron Lounge is by far the easiest one to find.  PDT is probably one of the harder ones to get into because of the size, but it has the most entertaining entrance.

Note that a lot of the museums have bars and parties, just dig through some NYC listings and they should pop up if there are any when you're going.  I'm pretty clueless when it comes to NYC clubs, the only one I've been to was years ago and my friend brought me there.  As usual, google is your friend.  If you're looking for something quirky though, look up Dances of Vice.