OK I'm moving about 38 min. north of Manhattan i have never been to new york other then up state new york for

Question

family affairs and what not. so my question is this: does any one know of any good places to go that are not very expensive. I’m a nanny and my new employers have said their small town is about a 38 min drive or a 20 min train ride from manhattan. I like museum type places and right now I live near San Francisco so if any one could give me any ideas I would love it! oh plus do you happen to know if any type of Renaissance fair or medieval fair visits the New York City area ???? thank you for any and all helpful answers!!!

Answer 1

There are a lot of great things to do in the city for little or no money. You don't have to look for them as so much as they'll find you.

But here are some resources:
http://www.freenyc.net/
There's a TV show on NYCTV (WNYE-TV) called $9.99 that shows how to spend a day with out spending $10. http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycmg/nyctv/html/shows/999.shtml
here's a list of some of the places featured on the show: http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycmg/nyctv/html/shows/999locations.shtml

You might also want to get a CityPass book...it should pay for it self if you use it enough.

Answer 2

38 mins north of NYC - this puts you into Westchester or lower Rockland, am I right?

The ONLY Renaissance Faire in the NYC area is in Sterling Forest, which is... well, the easiest way for someone who doesn't know the area is Exit 16 off the NY Thruway I-87. It runs from the beginning of August to the 3rd week of September or so. You'll hear ads for it all over the radio - especially WHUD: 100.7FM.

My advice is to get the Hudson Valley Magazine that's published I think every six weeks or so to find museums and stuff like that. I can tell ya some of the Revolutionary War ones - because I'm surrounded by them! But, as far as art museums, it might be easier to take the train into Manhattan for the big museums though.

Answer 3

You should check out the Cloisters, which is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) dedicated to medieval art. It's up in Inwood, which is kind of a hike on the subway but totally worth it. (If you take a train into the city, you'll want to get the A train uptown to 190th Street.) The Met works on a "suggested donation" system, so you can pay what you want. And if you've never been to the Met, you should go to that, too; it's on 5th Ave and 81st St.