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AirTran Airways Flights from Atlanta (ATL) to Newark (EWR)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on AirTran Airways, which operates 4 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Atlanta (ATL) to Newark (EWR), departing between 8:05am and 10:50pm. Usually a Boeing 717 or Boeing 737-700 is flown for this route. The average travel time from Atlanta, GA to Newark, NJ is 2 hours and 10 minutes.
During your Newark vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
New York Botanical Garden
A National Historic Landmark, the 250-acre New York Botanical Garden was founded in 1891 and today is one of America's foremost public gardens. The setting is spectacular -- a natural terrain of rock outcroppings, a river with cascading waterfalls, hills, ponds, and wetlands.Highlights of the Botanical Garden include the 27 specialty gardens, an exceptional orchid collection, and 40 acres of uncut forest, as close as New York gets to its virgin state before the arrival of Europeans. The Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, a stunning series of Victorian glass pavilions that recall London's former Crystal Palace, shelters a rich collection of tropical, subtropical, and desert plants as well as seasonal flower shows. There's also a Children's Adventure Garden. Natural exhibits are augmented by year-round educational programs, musical events, bird-watching excursions, lectures, special family programs, and many more activities. Best of all is the annual Holiday Train Show (Nov 19, 2004-Jan 9, 2005), where railway trains and trolleys wind their way through more than 100 replicas of historic New York buildings and attractions -- such as the Statue of Liberty, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Garden's own Enid A. Haupt Conservatory -- all made from plant parts and other natural materials. There are so many ways to see the garden -- tram, golf cart, walking tours -- that it's best to call or check the website for more information.
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library, adjacent to Bryant Park and designed by Carrère & Hastings (1911), is one of the country's finest examples of beaux arts architecture, a majestic structure of white Vermont marble with Corinthian columns and allegorical statues. Before climbing the broad flight of steps to the Fifth Avenue entrance, take note of the famous lion sculptures -- Fortitude on the right, and Patience on the left -- so dubbed by whip-smart former mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. At Christmastime they don natty wreaths to keep warm.This library is actually the Humanities and Social Sciences Library, only one of the research libraries in the New York Public Library system. The interior is one of the finest in the city and features Astor Hall, with high arched marble ceilings and grand staircases. The stupendous Main Reading Rooms have now reopened after a massive restoration and modernization that both brought them back to their stately glory and moved them into the computer age (goodbye, card catalogs!).Even if you don't stop in to peruse the periodicals, you may want to check out one of the excellent rotating exhibitions. Call or check the website to see what's on while you're in town. There's also a full calendar of lecture programs, with past speakers ranging from Tom Stoppard to Cokie Roberts; popular speakers often sell out, so it's a good idea to purchase tickets in advance.
Rockefeller Center
A streamline moderne masterpiece, Rockefeller Center is one of New York's central gathering spots for visitors and New Yorkers alike. A prime example of the city's skyscraper spirit and historic sense of optimism, it was erected mainly in the 1930s, when the city was deep in the Depression as well as its most passionate Art Deco phase. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1988, it's now the world's largest privately owned business-and-entertainment center, with 18 buildings on 21 acres.For a dramatic approach to the entire complex, start at Fifth Avenue between 49th and 50th streets. The builders purposely created the gentle slope of the Promenade, known here as the Channel Gardens because it's flanked to the south by La Maison Française and to the north by the British Building (the Channel, get it?). You'll also find a number of attractive shops along here, including a big branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Store, a good stop for elegant gifts. The Promenade leads to the Lower Plaza, home to the famous ice-skating rink in winter (see next paragraph) and alfresco dining in summer in the shadow of Paul Manship's freshly gilded bronze statue Prometheus. All around, the flags of the United Nations' member countries flap in the breeze. Just behind Prometheus, in December and early January, towers the city's official and majestic Christmas tree.The Rink at Rockefeller Center (tel. 212/332-7654; www.rockefellercenter.com) is tiny but positively romantic, especially during the holidays, when the giant Christmas tree's multicolored lights twinkle from above. The rink is open from mid-October to mid-March, and you'll skate under the magnificent tree for the month of December. Overlooking the rink, and with a terrific view of Prometheus, is the excellent Sea Grill restaurant .The focal point of this "city within a city" is the GE Building, at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, a 70-story showpiece towering over the plaza. It's still one of the city's most impressive buildings; walk through for a look at the granite and marble lobby, lined with monumental sepia-toned murals by José Maria Sert. You can pick up a walking tour brochure highlighting the center's art and architecture at the main information desk in this building. On the 65th floor, the legendary Rainbow Room is once again open to the public on a limited basis.NBC television maintains studios throughout the complex. Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Conan O'Brien originate in the GE Building. NBC's Today show is broadcast live on weekdays from 7 to 10am from the glass-enclosed studio on the southwest corner of 49th Street and Rockefeller Plaza; come early if you want a visible spot, and bring your HI MOM! sign.The 70-minute NBC Studio Tour (tel. 212/664-3700; www.nbcsuperstore.com) will take you behind the scenes at the Peacock network. The tour changes daily, but may include the Today show, NBC Nightly News, Dateline NBC, and/or Saturday Night Live sets. Who knows? You may even run into Tom Brokaw or Stone Phillips in the hall. Tours run every 15 minutes Monday through Saturday from 8:30am to 5:30pm, Sunday from 9:30am to 4:30pm (later on certain summer days); of course, you'll have a better chance of encountering some real live action on a weekday. Tickets are $18 for adults, $15 for seniors and children 6 to 16. You can reserve your tickets for either tour in advance (reservations are recommended) or buy them right up to tour time at the NBC Experience store, on Rockefeller Plaza at 49th Street. They also offer a 75-minute Rockefeller Center Tour hourly every day between 10am and 4pm. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and children 6 to 16; two-tour combination packages are available for $21.Other notable buildings throughout the complex include the International Building, on Fifth Avenue between 50th and 51st streets, worth a look for its Atlas statue out front; and the McGraw-Hill Building, on Sixth Avenue between 48th and 49th streets, with its 50-foot sun triangle on the plaza.The restored Radio City Music Hall, 1260 Sixth Ave., at 50th Street (tel. 212/247-4777; www.radiocity.com), is perhaps the most impressive architectural feat of the complex. Designed by Donald Deskey and opened in 1932, it's one of the largest indoor theaters, with 6,200 seats. But its true grandeur derives from its magnificent Art Deco appointments. The crowning touch is the stage's great proscenium arch, which from the distant seats evokes a faraway sun setting on the horizon of the sea. The men's and women's lounges are also splendid. The theater hosts the annual Christmas Spectacular, starring the Rockettes. The illuminating 1-hour Stage Door Tour is offered Monday through Saturday from 10am to 5pm, Sunday from 11am to 5pm; tickets are $16 for adults, $10 for children under 12.
Make your reservations for discount hotel rooms in the
Newark area, including:
The Muse
Here's a boutique hotel for travelers who desire the tone and service a boutique hotel can offer, but find no appeal in the often hard-edged modern design that usually goes hand-in-hand with the concept.You'll know that the Muse is something different the moment you step beyond the avowedly modern exterior into the warmly contemporary, mahogany-paneled lobby. Management has done away with the traditional front desk in favor of sit-down concierge service that makes everyone feel like an extra-special, warmly welcomed guest. An attentive bellman will familiarize you with your well-equipped room. Each one features attractive classic-meets-contemporary decor rich with warm woods and soft pastel tones; a hand-screened duvet adds a unique and arty touch. In keeping with the hotel's emphasis on "anticipatory service," everything is designed with comfort and functionality in mind. Pluses include plump feather beds, CD players, cordless phones, business cards personalized with your name and in-house direct-dial line, and handsome, well-outfitted bathrooms.Off the lobby is District, one of Broadway's best restaurants, with warm, comfortable interiors by David Rockwell (Nobu). A star on every front.
The Melrose Hotel
This was once the most famous hotel in New York -- for women only and known as The Barbizon. It first admitted men in 1981, and in 2002, after a $40 million renovation, became the Melrose Hotel. The Barbizon was the first stop in New York for professional, educated women, including Joan Crawford, Grace Kelly, and Candice Bergen. Designed as an eclectic mix of Italian renaissance, Gothic, and Islamic architecture, this lovely old building, with its twin deco towers, stands out majestically amongst the glass and steel of its Upper East Side location. From a dorm-size petite room to a stately, sprawling tower suite, the range of rooms and the corresponding rates can also be considered eclectic. You can spend as little as $150 a night or as much as $1,700. All rooms, no matter the size, are well kept, offer plenty of light, and are equipped with all the basic amenities. Standard and superior rooms come with small workstations, while the magnificent (and very expensive) tower suites come with terraces, some as large as 500 square feet. There is a very good Equinox Fitness Club and Spa, with a nearly 60-foot-long pool on the premises; inexplicably, guests must pay an $18 fee daily to use it. The Library Bar in the lobby serves light snacks throughout the day and the hotel has a "Sign and Dine" program with some highly rated local restaurants. A few blocks from Bloomingdale's, Madison Avenue, and Central Park, The Melrose is a nice midrange alternative to other more pricey hotels in the area.
The Stanhope Park Hyatt New York
When you have the good fortune to be located directly opposite the Metropolitan Museum of Art, you had better do your best to complement the grandeur of that structure -- the Stanhope is more than up to that estimable task. This elegant, grande dame built in 1926 has been expertly run since 1999 by the Park Hyatt group, providing ultra-attentive service without being stuffy or overbearing. The rooms, which were renovated in 2003, are spacious, with a soothing, old-world, European design (just like its neighbor across the street). Bathrooms are roomy and equally elegant, with Italian marble and European fabrics. Suites are even more luxurious and come as large as two bedrooms. The lobby is small with very little seating, but there is a cozy, clubby reading room off of it where coffee is available every morning, and an intimate lobby bar that is a popular refuge for many Fifth Avenue residents. In the spring and summer, The Terrace at Melrose features a Parisian-style outdoor cafe where the people-watching can't get much better. To add to the hotel's already romantic feel, every spring and fall, cabaret performer Steve Ross becomes the resident singer and pianist. And along with the Met, the Guggenheim, Whitney, Cooper Hewitt, and Frick museums are all within walking distance; you can't do better if museum-going is your thing.
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