THE definitive New York City guide for airport transfers

One of my pet peeves as a frequent traveler is making complex transfers in from airports into the city. The worst is when I just assume that the metro attaches to airport, I can just mosey down from my gate, into the subway, out and into my hostel or hotel — only to find out that you have to take minibus k22 from terminal 1 to the city’s suburban center, transfer to a rickshaw then take that 4km into the city.

When I was younger, I was shocked when I found out that America’s largest city didn’t have direct subway connections to their airports (I heard that this was because the city wanted the profits from the cab companies — anyone else hear that?). So I had to figure out how to get out from LaGuarda or Newark or JFK into Manhattan, a task not too difficult but daunting for a first time visitor. I still get mixed up at LGA between the Q45 and Q33 buses.

Luckily, we now have our good friends at Flyertalk who have put together an excellent guide on transfer in from the city’s three co-terminals. At the Flyerguide, users take a comprehensive look at options, prices and routes, all in a convenient wiki form so that it can be maintained and updated en masse.

I wish they had one of these for every city.

Fastcheck Arrival Guides: Excellent, Free City Guides

Tired of paying for bound travel guides? Maybe you’re planning on hitting several cities in several different countries and travel guides don’t make sense? Just like getting stuff for free? No matter what your rationale, you should check out Fastcheck Arrival Guides.

Available in several languages and written by local journalists, Arrival Guides are city-specific guidebooks available in PDF-form for dozens of destinations, from Aarhus to Zurich. Complete with detailed maps and useful contact information, each Arrival Guide provides key information about eating, sleeping, drinking, and shopping. Moreover, the Guides detail cool events occurring throughout the year, to help you plan your trip.

I checked out the Miami guide, and I was impressed with the content. Of the 14 pages, 2 were full-page ads (don’t print ’em!), but the remaining 12 were full of good information. Bookmarked!

[Via Backpackers]

Wallpaper* City Guides

Just when you start to sleep on Wallpaper* they go and make their debut in the publishing world with these nice little City Guides. Their reason being, after 10 years in the game uncovering the best new design and urban travel spots globally, packaging that decade of experience into well-thought out yet simple guide books was only obviously. They make it clear that the traveler’s time is as important as their own and they don’t waste it chucking in massive quantities. It’s about quality and they very best. The first 20 were published this past September and another 20 will be published every six months after that. Current titles include Mexico City, Los Angeles, NYC, Madrid, Bangkok and Stockholm to name only a few.

The books can be purchased at Phaidon. Don’t see what you’re looking for? Stay tuned for the rest in 2007!