Author: Annabel Ede Dates travelled: 26th January 2019 - 30th January 2019 Who's this for?: City break lovers looking for the perfect combination of visiting famous landmarks and hidden gems. Hotel: The Westin New York at Times Square The Big Apple, The Concrete Jungle, The City That Never Sleeps. New York is on every city-break lover’s bucket list. I was lucky enough to visit NYC in January 2019 to celebrate my 21st Birthday, having already visited when I was younger to celebrate my Dad’s 50th Birthday. It truly is a celebration city, perfect for any special occasion because of all the incredible things you can do and see there. This is no budget trip though, expect to be spending a fair amount on hotels, attractions and food and drink, as is natural in any cosmopolitan or capital city. In this blog, I will be giving you a run-down of some of the best New York tourist sites, as well as some hidden gems that don’t make it onto the top NYC attractions lists, all in the time span of a 5 day trip! Day 1: We landed in New York the previous evening and spent the evening popping to the McDonalds in Times Square to grab a Big Mac before heading back to the hotel and passing out from our long day of travel from London. On our first day in New York we took advantage of our early wake up (don’t you just love jet lag!) to go to Woodbury Common Premium Outlets. Woodbury Common is around an hour and a half outside of Manhattan and you can get a coach from the Port Authority Bus Terminal on the corner of 42nd Street and 8th Avenue. A return trip costs $42, and if you love a bit of outlet shopping I highly recommend visiting as there is a vast array of different designer shops to find some bargains! I picked up a lovely Ralph Lauren half-zip and a Tommy Hilfiger rugby shirt, both with a great discount! Top tip: go early! It can get very busy at the bus terminal queueing for the next bus to the outlets, so take an early bus that gets you to the outlets just before opening! That evening, we celebrated my 21st at STK Midtown. STK is a well-known luxury steak restaurant with locations around the world. The steaks are amazing quality, the food and cocktails are to die for and you can also get dressed up if you want to make an occasion of it! Day 2: On our second day, trying to recover from a late night in the hotel bar after STK, we walked the High Line. The High Line is an old out-of-use elevated train track that has been converted into a raised walkway for visitors to experience nature, art and design, whilst walking through the high rises of Manhattan. It is a mile and a half long and there are some amazing murals along the way, as well as beautiful views of the city. You can join the High Line between 11th and 12th Avenue and 34th Street. We walked to the end of the High Line which ends in the Meat-Packing district, at which point we then head straight to Chelsea Market, a bustling indoor market with fresh food, drinks, homewares and fashion independent ‘hipster’ shops; I would describe it as a more eclectic and fashionable version of Covent Garden. They also had a Flea Market of temporary pop-up stalls with fashion, accessories, stationary, music and jewellery, where I found an incredible pair of iridescent perspex hoop earrings and some vintage vinyl records to add to my collection. We then got a taxi to Grand Central Station, which took around 15 minutes. Grand Central is a NYC sight you have to see, it’s beautiful interior makes you forget it is even a train station. That evening, we went to see The Lion King on Broadway. It was an incredible show and I’d highly recommend going to see any of the Broadway shows if you are a fan of musicals. I went to see Wicked there when I was younger and that was equally as spectacular! Next time I venture to The Big Apple, I will definitely be going to see Hamilton! Whatever musical you choose, you are sure to be in for a treat, do not miss out on the opportunity to go and see a Broadway musical. After the show, we then went to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel at Columbus Circus, and visited The Aviary, an incredible 35th-floor bar that offers weird and wonderful cocktails all with a view over Central Park. This is a great place for a celebration, but you have to book in advance and pay a deposit which then gets taken off the bill. Drinks are also quite expensive, however this is a given considering the luxury decor and cool cocktails. Day 3: We started off our morning at Ellen’s Stardust Diner, which is a New York institution, famous for their singing waiting staff who are all aspiring broadway performers. They treat you to Broadway hit after hit, sung live, walking around the diner, whilst also serving you amazing breakfast food. Feeling full of pancakes and full of joy from the incredible performances, we walked to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for a day of culture and history. The Met is most well-known for hosting the annual Met Gala, and you can visit the Costume Institute to look at the exhibition that the Gala celebrates the opening of. We then walked back down 5th Avenue for some much needed retail therapy before heading to the Rockefeller Centre to watch sunset over the city at the Top of the Rock. I would highly recommend going to either the Top of the Rock or up the Empire State Building during your trip, however we chose the Rockefeller Centre so we could get pictures with the Empire State in them. The New York sunset did not disappoint: I promise these photos are not photoshopped! We then walked back towards our hotel, with a quick stop at Times Square to see all the massive billboards and flashing lights at night. Day 4: Day 4 was all about classic New York attractions. In the morning, we took a picturesque, albeit freezing cold, stroll through Central Park (it was around -2°C that day). The lakes and fountains were completely frozen over and we were wrapped up warm in our thermals and puffa jackets but we succumbed to the freezing temperatures, only managing to make it through half the park! Central Park is around 2.5 miles long so make sure you spare a good amount of time to explore properly. After this we did some more shopping (can you tell I like shopping?) in the famous flagship Macy's store between 6th and 7th Avenue. We then stopped off at our hotel to drop off our new purchases before heading to Pier 83 on the West Side of Manhattan to go on a Circle Line boat tour. We took the Landmarks Cruise which took us down the Hudson River, past Ellis Island and the iconic Statue of Liberty and around the bottom of Manhattan, spotting the financial district, the new One World Trade Centre and Wall Street before going up the East River to see the Chrysler Building, Empire State Building and pass underneath the Brooklyn Bridge. This is a great trip if you don't have the time to visit The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island separately. Day 5: We were due to leave for the airport for our flight back to London at around 3pm, so we decided to spend our morning at the Natural History Museum, exploring the wonders of the natural world. The museum is also famous for being the setting of the Night at the Museum films, a true classic from my childhood, however no dinosaur skeletons or Easter Island heads came to life during our visit. We sadly then headed to JFK airport, ending our 5 day birthday stint in New York. I did, however, feel glad to touch down safely in London having watched the ground crew at JFK airport blasting hot water onto the frozen wings of our plane due to sub-zero New York temperatures. Below I have listed some of my other recommendations for great sights to see in New York that we didn’t manage to squeeze in during our 2nd visit, but did see them on my 1st visit for my Dad’s birthday, so I can highly recommend these.
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