NYC Trip Report: Gray Line Tour, Ground Zero, Night Tour

Day One

Gray Line tour: We opted for the All Loops Tour, which we loved. The tour is in a double decker bus and we always sat on top, which gives you a great view of the streets and neighborhoods as you're passing by. I won't go into all the places we saw, but it pretty much covers all the touristy, must-see things that first time visitors want to see.

Because this is a hop-on, hop-off tour, it served as two days of transportation for us as well. In fact, because of this tour and our Times Square location, we never saw a subway while in NY (which disappointed my son greatly). We cabbed it a time or two and walked quite a bit and that was it.

Cost of 2-day All Loops Tour for four: $156. That price reflects a $20 discount for booking on the internet.

Ground Zero: We chose to hop off the tour at Ground Zero. The site is basically a large construction site with tall, chain-link fences around it. The viewing platform has been removed so there aren't any good, ground-level places to view the actual site.

The PATH station has recently been reopened in front of the site. There are some placards up with the timeline of the day and some more boards with the names of the victims. It all has a very temporary feel to it.

I understand that there are plans for a memorial in the works but it saddens me that we are nearly five years out from the attack and there is nothing much at the site; no real way to pay your respects. It's pretty much reduced to reading those placards in the midst of the people pouring out of the PATH station. Having visited the Oklahoma City Memorial with it's amazing museum, I was hoping more would have been done at this point.

We did visit St. John's Church, which is adjacent to the World Trade Center site and was a place that the rescue workers went for rest and food. The church has a pretty incredible group of displays that documents the role it played immediately after the Trade Center was attacked.

Night Tour: Our Gray Line tour included a night tour, which is not to be missed. The route takes you across the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn, so you can look back and see the light-up Manhattan skyline. Truly breathtaking.

The city has a totally different feel to it at night. We pretty much hated Times Square during the day, but at night it takes on a really festive feel with the video boards, etc.

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