New York! (Let’s pretend covid doesn’t exist lol)

[Saddlesoap]

Ohhhhh I love New York. We've been 3 times and were supposed to be going back next year, but we decided to cancel it. My husband proposed beside Rockefeller tree, so definitely holds a place in my heart.

My thoughts, stay in Manhattan, but not in Times Square.
Book a Broadway Show.
Walk Brooklyn Bridge - Grimaldi's Pizzeria is Brooklyn was lovely.
Top of the Rock at night/sunset, Empire State in the daytime.
Wander around shops in Greenwich/Soho
Katz Deli! (Harry Met Sally fame)
Central Park
9/11 memorial is very sobering, we didn't do the museum, but we will next time.
Walk Highline
Figure out the best way to get from the airport, first visit we took a taxi (from Newark I think and cost us a bloody fortune!)
Ellis and Liberty islands
Jane's Carousel and Central Park Carousel
Washington/Water street in Brooklyn can get the photo of the Empire State building through the Manhattan Bridge.
Go into Grand Central Station and look up!

 

[Sugarhoney]

Take a trip to Coney Island by subway!!

 

[theghosttown]

DEFFOOOO high line and Katz deli for a sandwich.

 

[FlipFlop0706]

Love NYC and like you am planning another trip in the eternal hope that covid decides to bugger off soon!

Stayed at Yotel. Cheap, clean and short walk from Times Square.

9/11 museum is a must. Sobering but informative.

Wall Street. Great for a walk around and there’s a sandwich place called Pisello that does the best sandwiches


Empire State at day and night- you can get a sunrise sunset ticket. We got a yellow cab at night to time the last admission and pretty much had it all to ourselves. Perfect.

Rockefeller Centre.

Walk the Brooklyn Bridge at Night

The free Staten Island ferry for views! Get on, wait for a bit at Staten Island then come straight back.

Juilianas in Brooklyn. It’s next door to Grimaldi’s and in my opinion much better!

Grand Central is beautiful, there’s a cafe under the bridge which does great American breakfasts.

Central Park is huge! Lose yourself in it and be prepared with comfy shoes!

Friends building and Carrie Bradshaw if you are a fan of the shows!

Controversial but I would not recommend the high line. We went in January so it wasn’t lush and green. Just full of “monks” scamming tourists for money. Nothing special but I’m not sure if it depends on the time of year.

Same for American museum of national history. Full of diorama’s and dull. My brother was looking at what he thought was a fossil in a glass casing. The curator in that part of the museum came over to explain it to him. Told him it was a REPLICA and that it wasn’t the real thing. After that, we soon lost interest!

Ooh get the city pass and the 7 day metropass.

 

[hrh89]

Everyone’s already recommend the main tourist things! If you’re going for four days plan well because there’s so much to see. We went for 8 days but really needed about two weeks there was lots we didn’t do. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn which was about 10 mins from Times Square. The open top tour buses are a great way to see the city and you can hop on and off.

 

[AnnaLee]

I’d recommend flying to JFK especially if you’re Irish as you can do preclearance which I love! Taxi from JFK to Manhattan is flat fare of $52 + tolls of $6 + tip. Uber works out about the same price so I found it safer to get an actual taxi.

I stayed in Edison on west 47th between 7th and 8th. Good prices, clean and safe, great location! Recommend paying for a better room as these are much more spacious and recently refurbished.

Duane Reade are great for snacks and drinks and I didn’t find them too expensive. Lots of nice restaurants in Hells Kitchen. You could eat for $10/day or $500/day, it depends on what you like eating and your budget.

Get one of those prepaid dollar cards (or use Revolut). My husband tried to pay for $9 of snacks with a $20 and they didn’t have enough change in the till!

Wear comfortable shoes and clothes. It’s sweaty in the summer and chilly in the winter so dress accordingly.

I’ve never bought one of those bus tickets - we walked most places or got the subway. I’ve never taken the subway at night but during the day it is safe. I’m not that fit but I found I saw much more of New York by exploring on foot.

I love Central Park Zoo, Top of the Rock, Chelsea Market, Soho, shopping on Fifth, Intrepid museum. EST building was a disappointment for me. Madison Square Garden tour was interesting.

 

[GiftedNotFree]

New York is such a thrilling place to visit! It’s an expensive city but there’s a lot of free amazing things to do and see and ways to save money.

- for any sports games, check Stub Hub before you go as you can get tickets really
Cheap. Last time I was there I saw the Mets for £19 including fees per ticket.

- food: the portions can be insane so for lunch / breakfasts often 1 meal can be split between 2 rather than buying 2 separate meals.

- 230 rooftop bar - amazing view of the city and just a fun and relaxing place.

- definitely get the New York pass if you’re going to do the majority of the touristy stuff eg. 9/11 museum, Empire State, top of the rock, the met, the Guggenheim, downtown bus tour, sunset boat tour of Manhattan. It saves so much money and the Harlem gospel tour was wonderful.

- if you’re a Sopranos fan, take the tour! It’s fantastic and I would do it again.

- there’s loads more but most of it has been covered by the other comments so I’ll leave it at that!

Ps. If you use Monzo, don’t take loads of hard cash out in dollars. You can use Monzo for most transactions (with no fees) and the exchange rate is very competitive. Obviously you will need some cash for tipping etc.

 

[Pot2PeeIn]

I detested the place. Went for Christmas, don’t know what was expecting but it was disappointing for me personally but maybe I’m just not a city break kinda person. Vegas was more enjoyable.

 

[GiftedNotFree]

I detested the place. Went for Christmas, don’t know what was expecting but it was disappointing for me personally but maybe I’m just not a city break kinda person. Vegas was more enjoyable.

. Have you been to New Orleans? Similar to Vegas in terms of it being a “party city” but such a fun and charming vibe to the place — I really enjoyed Vegas but New Orleans was better!

 

[Pot2PeeIn]

No I haven’t been but it looks amazing- definitely on the list of where to visit without the kids and husband along with Bali, Penang, Morocco... the list is pretty endless really.

 

[Tinkerbell cat]

Hello everyone!
My partner turned 30 this year but obviously we couldn’t actually do anything / celebrate wildly.
I’ve saved a load of money in lockdown and I’m thinking of taking him to New York for a 4 day blow out trip. This is totally not something we ever would have been able to do in normal times (sorry if anyone feels I’m being insensitive here, I have been shielding and working full time due to a lung condition so have been able to save a lot more than I usually would!)
I’ve never been to NY before but we’ve always wanted to! I wondered if anyone has any legit good recommendations? Hotels / restaurants / special things etc - open to anything )
Thanks in advance! X

My partner and I were supposed to go in June for his birthday however obviously it didn't happen... we want to hopefully get this year all being well at some point. Will follow this thread for tips

 

[LinaLamont]

Oh I’m glad I found this thread. I’ve always wanted to go to New York but a couple of people I know went separately and absolutely hated it. They both were taken aback by how rude everyone was. Did anyone else find this?

 

[Gembo]

Oh I’m glad I found this thread. I’ve always wanted to go to New York but a couple of people I know went separately and absolutely hated it. They both were taken aback by how rude everyone was. Did anyone else find this?

I’ve been to quite a few places in America and on the whole find Americans super friendly, I think in New York everything is just much faster paced, I didn’t find people rude but some just seemed a bit more hurried. That was my take anyway.

 

[AnnaLee]

Oh I’m glad I found this thread. I’ve always wanted to go to New York but a couple of people I know went separately and absolutely hated it. They both were taken aback by how rude everyone was. Did anyone else find this?

I don’t think people in New York are rude, they just do less ass kissing than in other parts of America.

 

[RachelCa]

New York is my favourite city in the world! It depends what time of year you go, there will be different things to check out.

Summer is great. You can do all the classics... top of the rock, Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island, Central Park zoo, 5th Av. One of my favourite things to do it just spend the day in Central Park, it’s an amazing place.
Christmas is obviously good for every reason you would imagine. All the decorations, dyker heights in Brooklyn, Bryant park winter village and Rolf’s restaurant is amazing for the Christmas decor.

Be prepared to do a minimum of 15000 steps a day whenever you go. Try and do it by area so spend a day for example doing... 9/11, Wall Street, Statue of Liberty & Ellis island.

 

[openbook1]

When we can travel again, I would love to go NYC so am following this thread.

 

[AnnaLee]

When we can travel again, I would love to go NYC so am following this thread.

I’d highly recommend. I’ve been three times and I’d love to go back again.

 

[Hendrix]

Oh I’m glad I found this thread. I’ve always wanted to go to New York but a couple of people I know went separately and absolutely hated it. They both were taken aback by how rude everyone was. Did anyone else find this?

New Yorkers are more polite than Brits

Never came across one rude person in the 7 days I was there, everyone was friendly.

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

Oh I’m glad I found this thread. I’ve always wanted to go to New York but a couple of people I know went separately and absolutely hated it. They both were taken aback by how rude everyone was. Did anyone else find this?

Im clearly in the minority but yes I did find them rude. The ones working for tips will kiss your ass but the others nope. We asked for some help with trains at Penn Station and the person working there could not be less interested, rolled her eyes and tapped her nails.

Also in Macys waiting in a queue, 2 cashiers free but wouldnt call anyone forward as they were having a chat. Found it very odd. Service industry very polite and eager to please for there 15-20% tip.

It wouldnt put me off returning though.

 

[LinaLamont]

Im clearly in the minority but yes I did find them rude. The ones working for tips will kiss your ass but the others nope. We asked for some help with trains at Penn Station and the person working there could not be less interested, rolled her eyes and tapped her nails.

Also in Macys waiting in a queue, 2 cashiers free but wouldnt call anyone forward as they were having a chat. Found it very odd. Service industry very polite and eager to please for there 15-20% tip.

It wouldnt put me off returning though.

One of the women I know went into a coffee shop and asked if she could please have a green tea and the cashier just said no and stared her out . It wouldn’t put me off going either though, you get rude people everywhere