Things To See And Do

Stay tuned and updated on all my new travels and experiences during the following 14 months.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Week 7: Tai Pan Tours - New York, Shopping 3-Day Tour

If you've never heard of Tai Pan Tours, they are a Chinese travel agency that "specialize in air ticket arrangements, tours to USA, Canada, Europe and Asia, cruise vacations and hotel bookings."  (www.taipantours.com
I've taken different types of tours from one hour tours to 14 day tours with various companies.  I know someone who had taken a Tai Pan Tour for 4 days to Washington and they were pleased with it.  So, I went to their website and was shocked at the low prices.  I'm not used to taking the bus anywhere let alone all the way to New York, but for $159 and the thrill of experiencing something new I figured it was worth it. 

Day 1: 

-Chinatown pick-up at 5:30 a.m.
-2 hour wait at U.S. border (it sucked)
-Buffet Chinese lunch in New York State
-Shopping at The Crossings Premium Outlets (I got a cute Coach bag for less than half price)
-8 p.m. arrival at Marriot Hotel in New Jersey (very nice)

Day 2:

-6:30 a.m. bus leaves for New York City
-Breakfast in Manhattan (We were amazed to find a Tim Horton's.  We ate our Tim's while watching a Justin Bieber music video; and they say WE are influenced by Americans.)
-City tour from bus (highlights included NBC, Wall Street, Chinatown, United Nations building, site of The World Trade Center and Memorial Building, Broadway, Park Avenue, Empire State Building, Chelsea Piers)
-Statue of Liberty boat cruise (highlights included Staten Island Ferry, Ellis Island, Governor's Island, Manhattan skyline, Jersey City skyline, Statue of Liberty)
-Free time to check out Manhattan (Times Square)
-Shopping at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets (one of the largest outlet centers in the world with over 200 stores; I didn't buy anything, ironically)

Day 3:

-6:30 a.m. bus leaves for long drive back
-Shopping/lunch at Waterloo Premium Outlets in New York State (I didn't buy anything again, unless you count a Subway sandwich)
-Duty Free & Canada Customs
-5:30 p.m. drop off in Mississauga


Here's a brief video to give you a taste of what life was like on the bus as we were driving through Manhattan.



These pics highlight the sights we saw.















This is a map of the outlet that had over 200 stores.  You name the store and they have it.

This Versace belt retails at $1375!  Really?


4 comments:

  1. I was disappointed that you didn't pick up the Versace belt - it was a steal!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Was the tour as a whole thumbs up or thumbs down? Am I looking in the wrong place for your "synopsis"?

    I do regret not making the trip to NYC while I lived in Toronto...but as a student, I didn't even have the $159 to spare!

    ReplyDelete
  3. A girl from the indian groupFebruary 5, 2017 at 4:14 AM

    We were also there in the same tours in the same bus. wasnt it fun

    ReplyDelete
  4. I heard you stayed in New Jersey with Taipan Tours.
    Can I get the name of the hotel? Was it a good hotel?

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete