{"id":1801,"date":"2018-12-22T21:01:10","date_gmt":"2018-12-22T21:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.travelwithanda.com\/?p=1801"},"modified":"2018-12-22T21:07:41","modified_gmt":"2018-12-22T21:07:41","slug":"traffic-in-new-york-city-how-to-get-around-manhattan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelwithanda.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/22\/traffic-in-new-york-city-how-to-get-around-manhattan\/","title":{"rendered":"Traffic in New York City – How to get around Manhattan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most of people come to New York City by plane and then wonder how to get to Manhattan from JFK, whether to rent a car, buy a Metro card or hire a Taxi. You have several options of transport; however, it is also good to know how to get around Manhattan later on. In this post you will find out that driving a car in Manhattan is not such a good idea, that calling a taxi is not that sexy as you might expect from the movies and that using metro can be both fun and a nightmare if you don’t read the city map carefully.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Getting from JFK to Manhattan <\/strong><\/p>\n

The cheapest option<\/strong> to get from JFK to Manhattan is by Subway (Metro).<\/strong> Unfortunately, it is also the longest one and can cause a headache or two if you don\u2019t plan your trip carefully. First of all, you need to take AirTrain<\/strong> from JFK to Jamaica station – for this you need to buy a special card which costs 5$.<\/strong> From there on you take a Subway to Manhattan (you can either buy one-way ticket for 3$<\/strong> or weekly MetroCard for 32$<\/strong> in one of the machines) but before you do that, find your hotel on the map so that you know when to get off or transfer. The whole metro ride from JFK to Manhattan can take from one hour to hour and a half, depending on where your hotel is located. If you want a hassle-free option and you are not on a budget, take a Taxi<\/strong> which will cost you around 52$ (the so-called fixed rate doesn\u2019t include tips and extras for rush hours). Uber<\/strong> is also a good and slightly cheaper option, especially if your hotel is located in the lower Manhattan.\"\"<\/p>\n

Using Subway in Manhattan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trust me, even if you have never taken a bus or subway in your life, you will want to (or need to) use Subway in NYC. First of all, taking Subway is the cheapest way to get around Manhattan and second, busy streets of New York can cause massive traffic jams. As I mentioned above, the smartest thing to do is buy a MetroCard<\/strong> (especially if you are in the city for at least 5 days) which allows you limitless rides to all lines (also to Brooklyn or Queens) for 7 consecutive days. At first, the Subway map<\/a> will seem like a huge maze, but you will be able to handle it in a day or two. What you need to know is which entrance<\/strong> you need for the direction that you are headed: it usually says \u201cuptown\u201d or \u201cdowntown\u201d. If you are not sure, check the map what is the final destination. The other thing worth paying attention to is express vs. regular subway train<\/strong>: don\u2019t use the express train unless you are sure that it is going to stop off where you want it to. While the regular train stops at all stops on the map, the express one will skip around half of them.<\/p>\n