DRIVING NEW YORK CRAZY

This one's only for the brave, the courageous and, dare I say it, the really foolhardy. Getting behind the wheel of a car in New York City simply has to be one of the world's most challenging driving experiences. It would test your reactions, your awareness and your skill in a way that no Amazonian jungle track or desert trail ever could.

There's no real reason for any foreign visitor to mix it with the nearly three quarters of a million vehicles that descend on the tiny island of Manhattan every day. But if you choose to visit, you can get to see the experts take on the world's densest automotive jungle first hand by doing something very simple: hailing a Yellow Taxi cab.
You'll need to frequently do this if you're to quickly get about the place. After all, though the Subway's very good (best advice is to buy an 'unlimited use' Metro ticket that'll cost you around $30 a week), it leaves vast areas of the city uncovered. Which, unless you use a taxi, will often mean a long and traffic dodging walk to your final destination. True, the major tourist spots are well served with reasonably close subway stations, but on my visit, I was determined to get away from the well-beaten holiday trail and show my family the real New York, which meant a lot of Yellow cab rides - and a real opportunity to pound the streets of this bustling urban metropolis.

“A driving experience that doesn't require the stress of driving”

And not only the streets. No visit here is really complete without pounding the waterways too, namely the Hudson River that surrounds the city's main Manhattan island and offers arguably the best way to view famous sites like the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and the imposing Freedom Tower that's been constructed from the ashes of the World Trade Centre. If you are going to hit the Hudson, go large, as we did, and try 'the Beast, a fast, fun and frantic powerboat ride that takes in all the major landmarks and will leave you breathless, exhilarated - and almost certainly very wet! You can check it out on www.ridethebeast.com.

The only other New York routes not really covered by Yellow cabs are those in Central Park, the Big Apple's iconic shimmering green square of Uptown real estate. These are generally restricted to pedestrians, horse-drawn carriages and the pedal bikes that are now everywhere around the city. Getting on two wheels is certainly the best way of exploring Central Park: unless you really are a dedicated walker and have plenty of time, it's too vast a place to properly...