And finally, here is the essential information and a few tips:

Flight time: Just over 8 hours with a huge choice of airlines!

Vaccinations: At the moment the Fit For Travel site recommends you just have all your regular jabs up to date, with perhaps a tetanus booster.

It is always worth checking with the NHS website or with the nurse at your GP surgery, as they give up to the minute advice.

Currency: US dollar.  September 2011 exchange rate - $1.55 to £1. 

Time zone: Eastern Standard Time which is 5 hours behind London time

Drinking water: The water may be safe to drink, so you can enjoy ice in your drinks and brush your teeth with the tap water, but I would always recommend drinking bottled water - just because it takes anybody time to adjust to a new water system - and you don’t want that time to be on your holiday. 

Language: English.  Sorta.  

Getting around - transport: Manhattan has fantastic public transport - the subway and buses, but cabs are so cheap that you start to understand why you always see everyone in movies jumping into them rather than onto the subway.  If you have a pay as you go subway card you could be paying a couple of dollars for each ride - which means that if there are 2 or 3 of you a $5 cab ride may well be cheaper!

Getting around - directions: Most of Manhattan is laid out on a grid system, with the streets running all the way from one side to the other, and the avenues running downwards converging in the south.  Which means that if you tell a cab driver you want 53rd Street they will look at you like you are an idiot.  You need to give both the street and the address - imagine the avenue is like the A3 and the street is like the junction.  Saying it’s on 5th Avenue is like saying it’s somewhere on the A3.  Eventually you’ll start giving addresses such as 53rd and Broadway, or East 85th and Fourth... how very New York of you!

Taxis: Make sure you know the cross street.  You may find the odd cab driver who likes a challenge (see my Lady M odyssey), but he was also the kind of cab driver who actually got out to take my case out of the boot - rare!

Subway: Get a good subway map.  Although if you are used to the London Underground or any other similar system you will get used to it, the NY subway varies in that what looks like one line - i.e. the green one, may well be called by several names - e.g. the 4, 5 and 6, depending on how far the trains go.  It’s also well worth remembering that a line may have a slow train as well as an express train.  We could have made it down to Battery Park in a lot less time if I’d known!

You can either buy an inclusive 7 day pass for $29 (or longer passes) or a pay as you go card which you top up.  I bought 2 x $10 cards as I left one in my shorts.  (Although that’s mainly because I got bored and started using cabs - I could have saved more if I had used the subway and buses all the time with an inclusive 7 day pass even though we were only there for 5 days.)

Safety: New York is one of the safest cities in the world, but it’s always worth being on the safe side.  I never once felt anything other than completely safe in Manhattan, but use your own common sense and intuition.

For a great sunset view: Try the top of the Rock, it’s wonderful to see the ESB light up, although there may be quite a crowd!  Next time I’ll be checking out the view from a boat!

The tourist information: Although Penguin offer a pretty decent street by street map, I tried about 4 different guide books for New York and the one that came out the top for restaurants, sights and... stuff is the classic Top Ten DK Eyewitness Guide.  It even has pull out maps for the nights out when you want a map you can pop in a clutch bag.

Visa: If you have a British passport and do not have a visitor’s visa you are covered under the Visa Waiver Program, however you do need to apply for authorisation before you travel.  You can do this online at the Homeland Security website.  You’ll need your passport and a credit card to pay the $14 (£9) fee.  If your application is turned down you’ll only be charged $4 (£2.60).  This is only valid if your stay is for less than 90 days.

Adaptor: Make sure you pick up a US adaptor - if you find yourself in need of one there are a lot of electrical stores that can help (and you might find they’re a lot cheaper here!)

Credit cards: It’s important to advise your credit and debit card providers that you are heading to the States as you could find they have blocked your card for security reasons if not.

Tipping: Tipping is a big deal in the States.  Let’s start with bars, it used to be a dollar a drink, but some bars may expect a minimum 15-20%, which could be more than a dollar if you’re going for exotic cocktails.  Restaurants will often add the tip to the bill especially if you are a big party.  For services such as manicures and pedicures once again 15-20% is expected.  For cabs I tended to round up or throw in an extra, as most of my fares were under $10.  If you are heading to or from the airport check for the standard fare - this excludes tolls and tips - but is still pretty good value.  ...but don’t forget that maitre d’s, concierges, tour guides, even doormen who hail you a cab may all expect (or at the very least will appreciate) a tip too.

City Pass: New York can be pricey and one good deal is the City Pass - as well as giving you a bulk discount on 3 attractions in the city it’ll also give you a really good idea of some of the different attractions on offer.  The downtown bus tour was great value, and next time I’d love to try the Harlem tour to see another side of New York’s history.