New York. For the First Time. On a Budget.
I'm back! I know, I'm just as surprised as you are.
This blog post is dedicated to my recent trip to New York. I'd never been to New York (or America for that matter) before this trip, so it will cover most of the usual touristy things. We were also on a bit of a budget, but despite that there are some little gems in here so do read on...
We arrived on the Monday evening and had Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to explore the City before we moved on to visit family and friends in Connecticut and New Jersey. On the Saturday we headed back into the City for one final day before flying home late Sunday evening (overnight flights are hell).
Monday evening
We flew to Newark from Heathrow (with British Airways) which all went relatively smoothly, apart from a slight delay and some horrific turbulence. On the plus side, we purchased these neck pillow things which made it a little more tolerable and I even managed to have a little snooze. I also watched The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society which was such a great film. I would highly recommend (I shed a little tear mid-flight).
There was a HUGE queue at customs and then a delay with the trains, so what felt like a million years later we arrived at Penn Station and had a little walk to our hotel (the Millennium Broadway) which was right on Times Square! Such a great location:
Tuesday
We got up early and prepared ourselves for a long day of walking - we had a lot to get through! Planning your trip beforehand really helps. We planned our days around specific areas to make sure we covered maximum ground and had enough time to see everything we wanted to see.
Stop number one was a coffee in Bryant Park - I fell in love with this little place! We popped back there a few times during our trip as it was so close to our hotel:
Afterwards, we strolled up to Central Park which was just incredible - such amazing juxtaposition with the lush gardens surrounded by a ginormous concrete jungle (sing it, Alicia). We also had to stop at the Boathouse for a coffee (Carrie Bradshaw fans understand).
Our next stop was supposed to be The Met (aka The Metropolitan Museum of Art). Now, we had been told that we could pay 'a donation' on entry, the value of which was our choice. However when we got there we soon discovered that this was no longer the case and it was a set price of $25.00 to access the galleries. Considering there was only one painting I really wanted to see (and to say Mark was uninterested is the understatement of the year) we decided against it. After this fail, we cheered ourselves up with a Shake Shack.
After lunch we strolled down Columbus Avenue which was surprisingly peaceful! Once we reached Colombus Circle which is on the edge of Central Park, we popped into the Mandarin Oriental (another recommendation - thanks Kirstie!). Mandarin Oriental is a hotel, but you can access the bar for a drink and the views are AMAZING. Mark and I ordered the cheapest drink on the menu (tea) and stared out at the view/rested our feet for a good hour here:
We then walked back to Fifth Avenue and strolled past all the super posh shops, buildings and hotels (The Plaza, Trump Tower, Tiffany's etc.) before heading back to our own hotel for a freshen up. At around 5ish, we headed to Madison Square Garden to watch The Rangers play Ice Hockey which was such a cool experience. The atmosphere was electric and - although I didn't have a clue what was going on - by the end I was shouting and cheering with the rest of them!
Wednesday
Another early start ready for another day of walking! Our first stop was to walk The High Line, but before that we needed breakfast. We strolled over to 9th Avenue and started walking in the hope that we'd stumble across a little gem. We spotted somewhere called Westway Diner which had a bit of a queue so we decided to give it a go! And it was great. I had a ridiculously big portion of pancakes (totally unnecessary) and lots of coffee - perfect start to the day:
We then got on The High Line and walked the entire length - it was amazing. It's full of cool art work and great views and the weather was beautiful! This is a must-do:
It ends at Greenwich Village, so naturally we had to take a minor detour to check out 1) Carrie's apartment and 2) the Friends apartment! Also, Greenwich Village is just a really cool place to walk around - it's got a much more 'hipster' feel about it and was lovely and quiet mid-week. If I was to come back to NYC again I'd try and stay around there.
We then made our way down to the World Trade Center complex and visited the 9/11 memorial museum. I won't say much about this as it's hard to describe the feeling, but you should visit it at least once if you can. We left feeling extremely sombre.
We then took the ferry to Staten Island (it's free btw). Once we got there, we got straight back on and came back again! It's a good way to see the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty. Ok, I know what you're thinking: that's a lot of walking. And you're right! We were knackered - but we'd promised ourselves we were going to walk everywhere and we had a few things left to cover. So we strolled through China Town and Little Italy and then onto East Village for some dinner and a drink. East Village is expensive, but it has SO many cool places to eat and drink. Worth a visit for sure. After a long, LONG day we hailed a cab and headed back to the hotel.
Thursday morning:
We had a train to catch in the afternoon, but we wanted to squeeze a couple more things in before we left. We stopped for a coffee at The Standard (which has the most beautiful decor - extremely instagrammable) before heading to Chelsea Market. Mark had read about these tacos which were supposed to be amazing, so we had to give them a try. And the internet was right. THEY WERE AMAZING. BEST TACOS EVER:
After that we walked back via the Flatiron Building (v. impressive) and then made our way to Grand Central Station to catch our train and spend some time away from the City...
Saturday evening/Sunday daytime:
We were running late when we arrived back into the City on Saturday, so rushed to our hotel and then rushed to dinner with Mark's family. We went to a super fancy restaurant called Tao (Uptown) - it was incredible and felt like somewhere famous people would hang out (disappointingly we didn't see anyone famous). If you have heaps of money, I'd recommend (we were lucky enough to be treated to this dinner). After dinner we went for a drink at a very hipster place called Cafe Select.
On Sunday, we walked across Brooklyn Bridge and explored Dumbo. This is definitely up there in my top 3 recommendations for NYC. I also have a lunch recommendation for you: Atrium. Really yummy food for a reasonable (ish) price:
So...that's it! An incredible trip which (I hope) has justified this really long post and given you some things to try if you're off to NYC soon.
Love, Alice x
This blog post is dedicated to my recent trip to New York. I'd never been to New York (or America for that matter) before this trip, so it will cover most of the usual touristy things. We were also on a bit of a budget, but despite that there are some little gems in here so do read on...
We arrived on the Monday evening and had Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to explore the City before we moved on to visit family and friends in Connecticut and New Jersey. On the Saturday we headed back into the City for one final day before flying home late Sunday evening (overnight flights are hell).
Monday evening
We flew to Newark from Heathrow (with British Airways) which all went relatively smoothly, apart from a slight delay and some horrific turbulence. On the plus side, we purchased these neck pillow things which made it a little more tolerable and I even managed to have a little snooze. I also watched The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society which was such a great film. I would highly recommend (I shed a little tear mid-flight).
There was a HUGE queue at customs and then a delay with the trains, so what felt like a million years later we arrived at Penn Station and had a little walk to our hotel (the Millennium Broadway) which was right on Times Square! Such a great location:
We were both very hungry and a little grumpy from a long day of travelling, so we took it easy on the first night and went for dinner close to the hotel (at Bubba Gump - very American!). We went for a little post-dinner walk where I spent most of the time gazing upwards! It sounds so cliché, but it really does feel like you're in a film; it's (literally) awesome.
Tuesday
We got up early and prepared ourselves for a long day of walking - we had a lot to get through! Planning your trip beforehand really helps. We planned our days around specific areas to make sure we covered maximum ground and had enough time to see everything we wanted to see.
Stop number one was a coffee in Bryant Park - I fell in love with this little place! We popped back there a few times during our trip as it was so close to our hotel:
Once we were sufficiently caffeinated, we walked to the Rockefeller Center to do the 'Top of the Rock' experience. We'd been recommended this instead of the Empire State Building by a number of people, mostly because you can actually see the Empire State Building whilst you're up there so clearly a much better photo opportunity:
Afterwards, we strolled up to Central Park which was just incredible - such amazing juxtaposition with the lush gardens surrounded by a ginormous concrete jungle (sing it, Alicia). We also had to stop at the Boathouse for a coffee (Carrie Bradshaw fans understand).
Our next stop was supposed to be The Met (aka The Metropolitan Museum of Art). Now, we had been told that we could pay 'a donation' on entry, the value of which was our choice. However when we got there we soon discovered that this was no longer the case and it was a set price of $25.00 to access the galleries. Considering there was only one painting I really wanted to see (and to say Mark was uninterested is the understatement of the year) we decided against it. After this fail, we cheered ourselves up with a Shake Shack.
After lunch we strolled down Columbus Avenue which was surprisingly peaceful! Once we reached Colombus Circle which is on the edge of Central Park, we popped into the Mandarin Oriental (another recommendation - thanks Kirstie!). Mandarin Oriental is a hotel, but you can access the bar for a drink and the views are AMAZING. Mark and I ordered the cheapest drink on the menu (tea) and stared out at the view/rested our feet for a good hour here:
We then walked back to Fifth Avenue and strolled past all the super posh shops, buildings and hotels (The Plaza, Trump Tower, Tiffany's etc.) before heading back to our own hotel for a freshen up. At around 5ish, we headed to Madison Square Garden to watch The Rangers play Ice Hockey which was such a cool experience. The atmosphere was electric and - although I didn't have a clue what was going on - by the end I was shouting and cheering with the rest of them!
Wednesday
Another early start ready for another day of walking! Our first stop was to walk The High Line, but before that we needed breakfast. We strolled over to 9th Avenue and started walking in the hope that we'd stumble across a little gem. We spotted somewhere called Westway Diner which had a bit of a queue so we decided to give it a go! And it was great. I had a ridiculously big portion of pancakes (totally unnecessary) and lots of coffee - perfect start to the day:
We then got on The High Line and walked the entire length - it was amazing. It's full of cool art work and great views and the weather was beautiful! This is a must-do:
It ends at Greenwich Village, so naturally we had to take a minor detour to check out 1) Carrie's apartment and 2) the Friends apartment! Also, Greenwich Village is just a really cool place to walk around - it's got a much more 'hipster' feel about it and was lovely and quiet mid-week. If I was to come back to NYC again I'd try and stay around there.
We then made our way down to the World Trade Center complex and visited the 9/11 memorial museum. I won't say much about this as it's hard to describe the feeling, but you should visit it at least once if you can. We left feeling extremely sombre.
We then took the ferry to Staten Island (it's free btw). Once we got there, we got straight back on and came back again! It's a good way to see the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty. Ok, I know what you're thinking: that's a lot of walking. And you're right! We were knackered - but we'd promised ourselves we were going to walk everywhere and we had a few things left to cover. So we strolled through China Town and Little Italy and then onto East Village for some dinner and a drink. East Village is expensive, but it has SO many cool places to eat and drink. Worth a visit for sure. After a long, LONG day we hailed a cab and headed back to the hotel.
Thursday morning:
We had a train to catch in the afternoon, but we wanted to squeeze a couple more things in before we left. We stopped for a coffee at The Standard (which has the most beautiful decor - extremely instagrammable) before heading to Chelsea Market. Mark had read about these tacos which were supposed to be amazing, so we had to give them a try. And the internet was right. THEY WERE AMAZING. BEST TACOS EVER:
Saturday evening/Sunday daytime:
We were running late when we arrived back into the City on Saturday, so rushed to our hotel and then rushed to dinner with Mark's family. We went to a super fancy restaurant called Tao (Uptown) - it was incredible and felt like somewhere famous people would hang out (disappointingly we didn't see anyone famous). If you have heaps of money, I'd recommend (we were lucky enough to be treated to this dinner). After dinner we went for a drink at a very hipster place called Cafe Select.
On Sunday, we walked across Brooklyn Bridge and explored Dumbo. This is definitely up there in my top 3 recommendations for NYC. I also have a lunch recommendation for you: Atrium. Really yummy food for a reasonable (ish) price:
So...that's it! An incredible trip which (I hope) has justified this really long post and given you some things to try if you're off to NYC soon.
Love, Alice x
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