Battery Park, WTC, SoHo & Chinatown

My daughter and I are planning on going from Battery Park to the WTC then to SoHo and on to Chinatown. Should we plan on catching a taxi, a bus, or a subway between any of these locations? I went this past weekend to a map store and bought an EXCELLENT map of midtown Manhattan (it shows every store, restaurant, Starbucks, etc.) but I don%26#39;t have a map of these areas and could really use someone%26#39;s advise on the best plan of action since our time is limited. I appreciate your help! :)

Battery Park, WTC, SoHo %26amp; Chinatown

If you are not pressed for time and the weather god shines down on you - I think that you could easily walk these areas over the course of the day. If not, the subway is very easy and there should be a complete subway map in your Manhattan map.

Helen in Aus

137

Battery Park, WTC, SoHo %26amp; Chinatown

hopstop.com will tell you how and how long using all the options you list.

There%26#39;s a free shuttle bus downtown that could be helpful. Info here

www.downtownny.com/gettingaround/?sid=19

A map of downtown is (imo) far more important than midtown. Midtown is a simple grid with numbered streets that%26#39;s easy to navigate. Downtown is more higgeldy piggledy and a challenge for me. ;) Get a decent map online or go back to the bookstore. ;)

You can get two FREE and EXCELLENT maps of downtown directly in front of the WTC, at the little visitors%26#39; kiosk. Or, if you have time, you can order them FOR FREE at this website:

http://www.downtownny.com/mapsguides/

Order the Downtown New York Fold-Out Map (on first page) and the restaruatn and shopping maps. (2nd page)

Actually, I notice they don%26#39;t have the one I really like. It is black on the outside, and includes a description of every freakin%26#39; hsitorical site, building, statue, etc. You can def get it at the kiosk. I love that map!

Or, you can take a virtual cyber walk around the area:

http://www.downtownny.com/?sid=323

Not to be outdone, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp has its own webstie, guides and virtual tour (on right side of page)

http://lowermanhattan.info/about/

I wrote a long description of walking from the Staten Island Ferry (Battery Park) to Fulton Street in this post:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k827858-鈥?/a> -Itinerary_lower_manhattan-

Once you have the map, I hope you can follow along.

Anyway, you can def walk from Battery Park to the WTC to South Street Seaport or the Brooklyn Bridge. Then, it depends on your stamina. You can eat lunch at the South Street Seaport (nice views of Brooklyn Bridge, plus Abercrombie and Fitch, lots of teen shopping, etc.) then soldier on.

Or, what I would do is take the train one stop to Chinatown, and then walk to Soho.

Take the R or W train at City Hall uptown one stop to Canal Street. (I%26#39;d usually reco the Cortlandt Street stop, but it is closed until Spring 2007.) Or you can take the #6 train at Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall uptown one stop to Canal Street. (DON%26#39;T take the #4 or #5 - they are express lines and do not stop at Canal.)

Here is a link to a great map of Chinatown:

www.explorechinatown.com/Gui/Content.aspx鈥?/a>

If you are too tired to walk from Chinatown to Soho, take the R or W train uptown one stop from Canal Street to Prince Street. This will be right inthe heart of Soho.

Here is a shopping map of Soho (I think it%26#39;s getting a littel outdated.:

http://artseensoho.com/map.html

If you do plan on walking the whole way up, I%26#39;d reco Broadway, or switch over to Lafayette St. north of City Hall.