"drxym's new New York Page" a New York City Travel Page by drxym

I'm sorry to say that I didn't like Manhattan that much. The biggest problem? The price!

I don't think I've travelled anywhere including other major US cities where everything is so damned expensive. Meals aren't cheap to begin with costing $30 per person but when you add in tax and tip it can cost an $40+ a person to eat IN A CHEAP PLACE! Breakfast and lunch can be expensive too unless you want to subsist off hotdog stands.

Shops are little better - the sales tax and the already inflated prices are a killer. Fortunately my girlfriend and I went during the January sales when there were genuine bargains to be had. At other times department stores and most of the stores along Fifth Avenue seem to cater for people with more money than braincells. That is the only reason I can think of why people will shell out ludricrous amounts of money for stuff that costs half in any "normal" store or on the web.

Perhaps the way to survive the madness is to get away from the centre altogether. If you're booking a hotel in Manhattan, please don't make the mistake we did for the first couple of days and stay close to Times Square. Buy a guidebook and travel further afield - a subway ticket only costs $1.50 - and experience restaurants and shops priced for the locals not the tourists.