Spending money for New York

[Ariel88]

I know this is a "how much is a piece of string" kinda question but roughly how much spending money do you think we would need? We're 2 adults staying for 5 nights near ESB. I'm working on the assumption of around $2000 per person but is this too little or too much?

We'll be doing all the usual attractions although most of these we'll book and pay for before we arrive. We'll be staying away from the Times Square area and avoiding eating in chain restaurants. Our hotel includes continental breakfast so it will just be lunch, dinner and snacks. We'll be doing a little bit of shopping but not too much.

[MissVincent]

For me that is too much as we dont shop in NYC. WE take around $200 per day for a couple

[scottishmum]

That sounds more than enough, even with your shopping

[PerksP]

That seems a lot if you are not shopping and accommodation is already paid for. We found the New York Pass really worked for us and allowed us to see all the sights at a good price. We walked everywhere or used the subway when our feet got exhausted and you can purchase the equivalent of a season ticket that saves money.

Food is the big cost but we found a decent breakfast meant a snack at a deli was fine for lunch and then a dinner. I guess it depends how expensive your dining tastes are

[Ariel88]

My partner seems to think we'll be doing tons of shopping but we won't have the time with everything else we want to do. I think $250 for food and drink per day will be amble, $500 each for shopping and then perhaps a little extra just for any incidentals. So around $2500 for the both of us - would that be plenty then?

[PerksP]

That would sound reasonable to me. With everything else to see we just didn't find any time for real shopping, plus we were heading down to Florida straight after so was easier to shop there. I would also put aside a bit for a West End show or perhaps a sporting even - these can be really expensive but can be booked in advance for a good night out.

[abiknox]

That seems too much to me, depends on how much shopping you will be doing as we didnt do too much.

We stayed for 4 nights in December taking just less that $2000 between the two of us. We probably spent about $250 shopping and the rest on food/drink (cocktails ect each night). We came home with $350 spare too and didn't skimp on anything

I have listed the price of meas ect in my trippy if you want to have a look!

[Big Dog]

We spend around $2000 for 4 nights inc a bit if shopping.

NYC ain't cheap, especially if you like a beer.

[sammyj7]

We took about $3500 between the both of us for our 6 days, we paid for all attractions over there did do a lot of shopping 😃

We had breakfast in our hotel (included) every morning, had something little for lunch, then a proper meal in the evenings usually between $50 and $70.

And we returned with $450 😁 so now we have to go back!

[EatandPlay]

Hotels in NYC are very expensive, it is hard getting around that. But dining is as expensive as you want to make it. There are so many excellent and famous places to eat in NYC, sometimes it can be hard to stick to a budget. But definitely breakfasts and lunch are fairly easy to do affordably...save your money for dinner! But if you've budgeted $2,000 each, you will definitely have a fantastic five days and no spend worries.