"New York?............. ..." a New York City Travel Page by johngayton

Arriving in New York for the first time, coming from the North by train, this is the first sight of New York proper - residential apartment blocks across what I assume is the Harlem River.

As with any city, the outer suburbs are always a bit drab and depressing (with the exception of some of the access routes into Paris) and in this respect New York is no different. Though once you get past the industrialised areas there are some stunning views as the Manhattan Skyline takes over.

New York tends to be lumped into a huge area but only 2 miles away is New Jersey, the other side of the river, and is a destination in its own right - try this: NJ and other options

As an introduction to a city you could do much worse than arriving by train - so I will give Amtrak a quick pat on the back here - OK so the railroads were built piecemeal by the various operating company's through the late 1800's but this journey from Boston to NY is well worth doing - both for comfort and the scenery en-route (Ach, as usual a slight digression - but mor to come on my to be USA page).

Also, if anyone can tell me what bridge this is I would really appreciate it!

This is a chaos of a city - arrive Penn Station, with my eventual destination in New Jersey: there are 4 corners and some middly bits at Penn - the middly bits being signposted New Jersey Transit. This confuses me somewhat as I had worked out that my journey required a bus to New Jersey, Ignoring this new option, I surface - aiming for 42nd Street and the Port Transit Bus Terminal. I exit onto 31st street and walk a block reaching 30th, then I realise that everything is logical , retrace my steps and find 33rd street - not sure what happened to 32nd!!!

But after 33rd, 34th falls in line, then 35th and 7 blocks later here's 42nd and the Port Transit Bus Depot - now it's starting to make sense..........................

Now here is where it starts to make even more sense - instead of the total chaos that you get at some major bus terminals (Victoria in London springs immediately to mind), here the buses leave from "gates" - asking at the info desk where the bus to North Bergen Park and Ride goes the answer is very curt - "231, up the escalator, follow the signs to the right."

This place is actually really organised, once you know where you are going the whole system is pretty much idiot-proof, well it would have to be for me! I don't know how many buses this place deals with on an average day but they do seem to have it about right..

More on this eventually in tips.