Before I visited New York I was dubious as to whether I would actually like it. I imagined it would feel threatening and overcrowded. Despite my sister living there on a work placement and absolutely loving it I really went with low expectations. Maybe this was a good thing, as not only were my expectations most certainly exceeded, I fell in love with this city big time and I often think back on our trip and long to return. We visited New York for five days, which we maximised by squeezing in every iconic New York attraction we had ever heard of! I won’t go into much detail about each landmark as that would be boring, so this blog post details our itinerary for each day and the order we did it to make this achievable.
Firstly the background information - we flew from London Heathrow to JFK on a Wednesday evening, arriving at about midnight in New York. We took a fixed price yellow cab into the city, to our hotel, the YOTEL just behind Times Square, the closest Subway being Port Authority. Although the room was on the small side, it suited us perfectly, it was clean, modern, well located and reasonably priced. The hotel provides the start and end point for each of our days in NYC. Our return flight was the early evening the following Monday, which gave us 4.5 days in the Big Apple. We walked lots and crammed so much into the days, coming back very tired but feeling that we could well and truly say ‘We’ve done New York!’. We visited in November, and whilst the weather was on the nippy side, we packed (faux) fur lined coats and layers, and we were fine. We purchased three day New York City passes, which we used for days 2, 3 and 4, and included unlimited rides on the very informative red tourist buses plus two boat rides, as well as entry into our choice of six of the main NYC attractions. This I have to say was well worth it and the open topped bus meant we got to cover a large area over ground.
NEW YORK 5 Day Itinerary.
Day 1 - Thursday - 19km 27159 steps walked.
Walk the high line eating breakfast bagels. Walk to and around the Meat Packing District and then Chelsea Market. Carry on walking to Greenwich village where you can check out the exterior of the apartment block from the TV series Friends and Carrie’s house from Sex and the city. Get a cupcake at the Magnolia bakery. Continue by foot to Washington Square Park and then walk up Fifth Avenue from the start, stopping to admire the Empire State Building (from the base). Stop at Eataly for a late and well deserved lunch, which is opposite the Flat Iron Building. From there have a look around Macy’s world’s largest department store and then the spectacular New York City Central library.
We then had 99c pizza slices from a very basic and grubby looking place near our hotel, they were delicious, cheap and so stereotypically New York, that we didn’t care! When in Rome and all! Finish the evening looking around Times Square and Madame Tussaud’s, followed by dinner at nearby Counter Burger.
Day 2 - Friday - 12.3km 17573 steps
Take the Sight Seeing Bus down Fifth Avenue through TriBeCa, Soho and Wall Street to South Sea Port. Walk to Stock Exchange and the Wall Street Bull. Go through the Financial District to the 9/11 Memorial and One World Observatory, which we entered using the city pass, and after looking around we enjoyed the view over a glass of champagne in the bar. Take the tourist boat included in the city pass, from the pier near the One World Observatory. The boat passes the Statue of Liberty and you can get off it, the other side of the Hudson in Brooklyn. Stop for pizza at Grimaldi’s (not far from the pier). Walk back to Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge. Take the subway back to the hotel. Visit the famous Plaza Hotel on the edge of Central Park for dinner and cocktails in The Palm Court.
Day 3 - Saturday - 22.7km 32885 steps
Walk to the Rockefeller Center, stopping to look at Radio City. Check out the views from the Top of the Rock. Then walk to Fifth Avenue, joining the road by St Patrick’s Cathedral, which you can enter. Check out the iconic Saks Fifth Avenue, before walking to the end of Fifth Avenue where it becomes Central Park. Look at The Plaza in the daylight from the outside before entering Central Park. If you’re a fan of Home Alone 2, find the bridges / various spots where it was filmed, along with other attractions in the park such as Belvedere Castle. Exit the park for the Natural History Museum, then re-enter to walk across to the Guggenheim. We then went to Serendipity in a cab, but didn’t manage to get a table so had a look around Bloomingdales instead before heading back to the hotel for a rest and to get ready for the evening. Included in the city pass we took a night cruise around Manhattan and Statue of Liberty. The city looked magical in the dark. We then had a wander around the Grand Central Terminal (the station) admiring the architecture, before going up the Empire State Building. We decided to visit at night as it opens late, so we avoided the crowds. As we had already been to the Top of the Rock and One World Observatory, it was nice to see the city that never sleeps under the cover of darkness. As romantic as it could have been it was windy and cold at the top!!
Day 4 - Sunday 10.6km 15204 steps
On our last full day we took the subway to back to ground zero area. Have a look to see if any designer bargains take your fancy in Century 21, and then go to the shopping mall in the Oculus Building to admire the full price versions, whilst soaking in the beauty of the building. We then picked up the Downtown Bus tour from Battery Park which was just before where we had previously got off a few days before. We took the bus from the Lower East Side to Rockefeller. From there walk to the MOMA. Whilst we were visiting there was a really interesting exhibit about modern fashion and its influences. Late afternoon, take the Uptown Bus Tour from the starting point, doing the full route around Central Park and through Harlem. This is a great way to see another area of NYC without devoting too much time or energy. On our last night, we went to the renowned chef, Dan Barber’s restaurant Blue Hill, which is located in a Townhouse close to Washington Square. The ingredients are sourced from local farms just outside the city and it’s certainly telling in the delicious dishes served. Make sure to reserve in advance, you won’t be disappointed.
Day 5 - Monday - 10.2km 14266 steps
For the final half day in the city take the subway to Canal Street. From there explore Chinatown and Little Italy by foot. At this point we weren’t hungry for any of New York’s Chinese or Italian food offerings, so we worked up an appetite by walking back to Washington Square Park, then up Fifth Avenue back to the Flat Iron building where we had a lunch in Eataly - there’s so much choice we just had to revisit! From there, we bought cannolis to go and ate them walking back to the hotel to collect our luggage and meet our airport car.
By this point we were totally exhausted after walking so much but felt very satisfied at how thoroughly we had explored this amazing city!
Maps - Letts’s maps of North and South of New York, showing grid system road network.
Two highly detailed late 19th Century plan of the city of New York on two separate sheets - New York (South) and New York (North). They depict the entire city in remarkable detail, noting individual streets, important public buildings, rivers, squares, piers and neighbourhoods. A key lists the various locations marked on the map. The plan is colour coded into wards. Original outline colouring, in very good condition, one original fold with wide margins. Each sheet measures approximately 430mm x 365mm and has one original fold. Email for prices and more information.
