From Wikitravel

For other places with the same name, see Long Island (disambiguation).

Long Island is, literally, a long island stretching eastward from New York City. The largely suburban area is approximately 115 miles long from Brooklyn and Queens at the western end, to Montauk at the easternmost point. At its widest the island is approximately 20 miles from north to south. While Long Island geographically includes Brooklyn and Queens, politically Long Island in general includes Nassau County and Suffolk County of New York State only.

The primary tourist attractions are the large number of excellent beaches along Long Island Sound to the north and especially along the Atlantic Ocean to the south. The North Fork is also home to many wineries. Other attractions include harbor towns such as Port Jefferson, where a variety of eateries and small businesses thrive in a bohemian atmosphere.

Contents 1 Regions 2 Cities 3 Other destinations 4 Understand 4.1 Further reading 5 Talk 6 Get in 6.1 By plane 6.2 By train 6.3 By boat 6.4 By car 7 Get around 8 See 9 Do 10 Eat 11 Drink 12 Stay safe 13 Get out

Regions

• Brooklyn
• Queens
• Nassau County
• Suffolk County

Cities

Long Island is essentially a suburban area throughout (except for the Twin Forks region, which is rural) and has few major cities.

• Brookhaven
• Great Neck
• Huntington
• Islip
• Smithtown
• Mineola
• Garden City
• Riverhead
• Manhasset
• Massapequa

Other destinations

• Fire Island
• The Hamptons

Understand

Further reading

• Long Island Alive Anyone reading this wonderful guidebook will have to agree that Long Island is not only about beaches.

Talk

• The daily, Island-wide newspaper is Newsday, which provides a detailed history of the island at www.lihistory.com.
• News 12 on Cable TV (Cablevision) also covers local news.

Get in

By plane

• MacArthur Airport in Islip is a convenient regional airport centrally located on Long Island. If Islip does not provide a convenient connection from your departing city, then consider one of the three major airports serving the New York City area.
• John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), [1].
• LaGuardia Airport (LGA), [2].
• Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), [3] is located to the west of the Island (and New York City) in the state of New Jersey.

By train

• Long Island Railroad (LIRR) [4] provides service to and from the New York City area to most major towns on the Island. Be aware, however, that the farther from New York City one travels, the more sporadic service becomes.

By boat

• Ferries from north shore of Long Island Sound.

By car

• There are many controlled-access highways that run through New York City from Connecticut and New Jersey. It is advisable, however, to travel on routes that do not cross Manhattan Island (where traffic is perpetually horrendous). From New Jersey, I-278 runs across Staten Island to Brooklyn where major roads (including Route 27 and the LIE) can be reached. From Connecticut, take I-95 South to I-678 and the Throgs Neck Bridge. Once into Queens, nearly every major thoroughfare is encountered while still heading south on 278.

• A convenient way to bypass most traffic is to take a car ferry from either Bridgeport, CT to Port Jefferson (on the North Shore in the center of Suffolk County) or New London, CT to Orient Point (on the North Fork).

Get around

See

• Atlantis Marine World Aquarium - Located in Riverhead at the end of the Long Island Expressway. Has stingray and shark petting, large tank with sharks, moray eel, turtles and manta rays, outdoor exhibits including emus and tortoises. Many conservation efforts.

• The Americana mall (popularly called the Miracle Mile, like in the Billy Joel song "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me). Some of the richest people on the island shop in this stretch of conspicuous consumption, beautiful store layouts, and mind-boggling prices. On Northern Boulevard in Manhasset.

• Long Island has some great villages, like Great Neck and Huntington where you can just wander around and see cute little stores and take in nice views.

• Port Washington has a beautiful bay with a public park where you can see all the boats and the water.

• Drive around Old Brookville and look at how gigantic the houses are.

Do

• Splish Splash water park at exit 73 of the LIE.

Eat

Long Island is a lot like New Jersey and parts of Connecticut inasmuch as a there are a lot of 24 hour diners that serve pretty much anything whenever. Young people congregate in these diners at odd hours, and they can be found spread out on the major roads like Jericho Turnpike or Sunrise Highway. Long Island is also like a lot of suburbia as some of the most popular restaurants are just classy chain restaurants.

The restaurant at the Jedediah Hawkins House in Jamesport is really good and in a beautiful setting. [5]

The really amazing New York restaurant, Il Mulino, has a location in Roslyn.

Kitchen Kabaret in Greenvale, while not the best ambiance for a restaurant, has great food to take out. Very popular for rich kids getting lunch and upscale north shore catering.

The Cider Mill in Laurel on Route 25 has the best pies.

Drink

Drinking on Long Island is tough because you need a car to get around and public transportation isnt fantastic.

The south shore has some good bars, but the north shore is notoriously at a lack for popular hangouts.

Stay safe

Get out

Manhattan is okay, too.

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