New York, the Dream Holiday.
New York has been a dream holiday for me for years, always wanted to go and spend time in the Big Apple, who doesn’t? New York has things to do and food to have for every taste and budget, after spending around a week exploring and photographing this city I decided to put together some tips and tricks on how to spend some quality time in one of the most expensive cities in the world.
Starting from the beginning arrival, New York has 3 main airports around it, we arrived at the famous JFK Airport which is at 1 hour and 30 minutes from Manhattan if you decide to take the AirTrain/Subway option which is the most affordable way to get to the centre of Manhattan, at the time of writing this cost around 12 dollars each way. More information here.
WHERE TO STAY
New York has thousands of options for accommodations, from high-end 5-star hotels to hostels and Airbnbs, I think apart from the quality one very important thing is location, New York is big so you need easy and quick access to the main transport lines, for that reason we decided to stay on Hilton Garden Inn on the Financial District, it is not the more centred hotel, but has very high quality and very quick connections to Brooklyn with the Green line (4&5) and the Empire State and Central Park with Yellow (R&W) just to name a few.
WHAT TO DO
This is where New York shines, and I mean it really shines, there are things to do for every taste and every budget.
Central Park
Let’s start with probably the cheapest (it is free) and most famous place in New York, with 843 Acres Central Park is a must-visit for everyone. I would advise you to take at least half a day for a walk here, but probably one full day will be the best as in the park you can see sculptures, shows, museums, wildlife etc.
Free Walking Tour
Still on the same budget, the zero money one, I highly recommend a free walking tour, there are hundreds in New York, from movie-related ones, to food and cultural. We did the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo by Free Tours by Foot and highly recommend it, we started on the Manhattan side and crossed the Brooklyn Bridge all the way to Dumbo, the tour took around 3.5 hours, so get prepared to walk and in the end tip your tour guide.
9/11 Memorial & Museum
If you only want to do a museum I would do this one, I am a big fan of museums that represent historical events, even if they are tragic ones as they help us understand past mistakes and hopefully prevent situations like 9/11. You can get a ticket here, but I would recommend having a look at the CityPASS if you doing more than 2 or 3 attractions.
Top of the Rock & Empire State Building
I did both because we had the CityPASS, but it might become excessive, both views are pretty much the same, if you have to choose one I would recommend the Top of the Rock, for the simple reason that standing on top of it you can see the famous New York skyline with the Empire State Building, which obviously you can’t if you stand on the Empire State Building. Tickets for the Top of the Rock only can be found here.
American Museum of National History
Who never heard about this museum? Especially if you have seen Night at the Museum with Ben Stiller. The museum is huge, if you want to see every room which is worth it by the way, keep a full day available for it. My favourite part was the extinct animals. Tickets can be found here.
Time Square & 5th Avenue
To be truly honest, this is the heart of New York, no person has ever heard of New York without hearing about these two streets, however, they didn’t live up to their hype, both streets are full of scammers and performers asking for money, not to talk about the endless construction and how dirty it was, yes go there and walk but don’t make this an important point, or you will end up disappointed like I was.
Statue of Liberty
We didn’t go to the island or did the boat tour specifically to see it, what we did was we took the State Island Ferry which is FREE, the ferry will take you from lower Manhattan to the State Island giving you incredible views of the Manhattan and a fairly close view of the Statue of Liberty, the journey take around 30 minutes which way and you can either visit State Island once you get to the other side or you can simply return to Manhattan.
Random Places
New York is full of iconic places, places that most people like me grow up watching in the movies, if you have time I recommend crossing the Brooklyn Bridge by foot, visiting the Grand Central Station and The Oculus on the World Trade Center subway station, just to name a few.
FOOD & DRINK
Controversial statement but American cuisine is rubbish, however, New York has some of the best restaurants and cafes in the world. There is some places you simply cannot miss. For breakfast or lunch I 100% recommend Liberty Bagels Wall Street, by far the best bagels I ever had (check the photo below). If you like Pastrami please visit Katz's Delicatessen, New York's oldest and best Deli, yes you will pay 30 Dollars for a sandwich but it is worth every cent of it, usually has queues both outside and inside but the service is very quick.
A fantastic place for a relaxing drink at sunset is at the top of the DoubleTree by Hilton New York Times Square South, even if you are not staying in this hotel you csn just go up and grab a drink, it will be worth the view.
Some of my photos are available to buy. Check here if you are interested.
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