If you had to ask me at the beginning of 2023 if I could go to the airport today for an all expenses paid trip where would you go, my answer would be New York City. I choose this for a number of reasons but mainly because it just always seemed to me to be the most exciting, all rounded trip with everything to offer. Plus, because of the dollar to rand exchange rate, it always seemed so unattainable.
Needless to say, what started as a joke – a trip to New York quickly turned into something we ended up doing.
Looking back I think it had a lot to do with timing and maybe a bit of luck. From this I could give some tips of what I think helped us save and make the experience all around that more enjoyable plus what we did on our trip.
TOP TIPS:
- We travelled in October which is Fall season and in my opinion such a great time of year to experience the city. Fall offered great weather – I was able to wear long dresses and sneakers with a jacket when it got chilly which I loved. It also meant that the popular places we all grew up seeing on TV were less crazy busy – I mean it was busy but it was enjoyable.
- We made use of a Site seeing Pass which gave us access to most of the spots you want to visit but for a much cheaper rate. I must admit, some of the stuff on the pass I might not have done if not for paying for the pass but, as a first time visit you can really optimise on the access to the places on the pass and make it worth the while by doing as much as possible on the pass.
- A lot of places in New York City are free to visit which I think is really nice. Central Park, Statue of Liberty Ferry Ride, 911 infinity pools, walking around Grand Central station, New York Public Library, St Patricks Cathedral, walking down 5th avenue, exploring Times Square, visiting the Piers (which we didn’t get to), visiting Albertine bookstore which is really sweet, exploring SOHO and Little Italy, the bull at the financial district and much more. There really is so much to see without costing you a cent. Plus, you may even see someone famous – my hubby and I swear we saw Darrol from The Walking Dead. ;).
- Of course this is a no brainer but stay in an Airbnb and better yet, stay in the Bronx. I know, not what you were expecting but, the Bronx was much closer to Manhattan so we were in the city within 8 minutes and because our AirBnb was located a short walk from the metro, we had really good access to get around. Which leads me to the next point of, use the metro. I cannot stress this enough, you save so much on transport cost and time seen as New York has some of the worst and dense traffic you can imagine. The metro card also gives access to the city buses which is really useful if you a bit tired of walking but the train does not stop around the area you need to be in.
THE MOST AMAZING THINGS TO DO
There are so many incredible things to do in New York City and even more special since watching popular TV shows and movies so seeing these places in real life is seriously cool. There is such a vibe all around with so many things to see and explore. I love New York and give it a 10/10. I know everyone has a different experience but I found the city clean, public restrooms were clean, people kept to themselves but if you engaged in conversation were really nice and I found service providers helpful. The food for us was just extremely expensive – like seriously expensive which was a bit of a downer plus, the food was not all great. We did however discover Hell’s Kitchen on our last day which offered really good food. The clothes shopping was also really amazing – I did pick up a few good deals and yes we did visit Harlem to go to The Gap. 😉
My top things to do in New York City:
- Grand central station – absolutely beautiful. The main terminal building is exquisite and the ceiling painting is truly remarkable. You need to spend time in this place taking it all in.
- Central Park – I highly recommend a bike ride. There are so many interesting facts about central park and I really encourage you to go and find out some of them. For example, all the mouldings on the railings and balustrades are one of a kind so if you look closely, everything is different. On the 5th avenue side, there is a mosaic tribute to John Lennon and right across from it you can see the place where he lived – the building keeps torches on in his honour. You can visit the famous Bow Bridge and the floating Angel.
- The observations decks. As part of our pass we had access to four observation decks which was really cool. We did two in the day and two at night. It is important to note that each observation building offers its own theatre or reveal and has a special story. I am really happy we did all four. They all offer incredible views of the city.
One World Observatory: this was the first observation deck we did. It is very modern and I must applaud the story telling the building offers in terms of interactive experience. They do a grand reveal at the end which is quite exciting. The deck area at the top is enclosed as it is the highest building in New York City and is the highest building that will ever be – they cannot build higher than this.
The Edge: we visited at night which offered spectacular city lights views and had an enclosed and open area at the top. There was quite a queue and waiting period to get into this viewing – it is a relatively new building and is the only building with a literal edge hanging off of it where you can walk on. There is a glassed floor area as well which is extremely popular as you can see to the bottom from it. It was quite cold here at night. They had setup a swing with Fall decor around so there was a nice spot to take pictures.
Empire State building: I might just be an old soul but this was my favourite. The building itself is everything you see on TV. It is beautiful and sophisticated, there is soul and familiarity. It’s truly a special place and experience. There is a walk though of the famous movies the building was featured in and then lookout points before making your way to the top of the building and viewing deck which is open. The iconic looking through telescopes are there for you to enjoy. We did this in the day as well.
Rockefeller Centre: another classic and my second favourite. Although not as tall as the other buildings, it was also very special. The Empire State building is directly behind it so a great place to take nice pictures. We visited at night and saw beautiful city lights once again. I think after seeing the city from so many vantage points, ending here brought everything closer and tied it up nicely. There is a two tiered look out and observation area here and another nostalgic tourist spot as this is a famous building we are use to seeing in ur favourite TV shows and movies.
4. New York Public library: same as Grand Central Station, absolutely beautiful. Also free and a place to truly admire and appreciate.
5. Walking through the city: we were really so eager to get stuck into the city when we arrived we ended up walking 20 000+ steps on our first day. Not knowing it, we caught a bus from just outside the library down to Madison square park, walked over to the Flatiron Building, made our way down NYU, walked SOHO and Little Italy, took another bus to the Financial District and then walked over down to the pier where you can see the statue of liberty. All without spending any money except from our metro card which we used for a week. I am actually so glad we did this because it gave us the lay of the land so to say. From here we made our way to the 911 infinity pools and the Oculus World Trade Center.
6. Brooklyn bridge and Dumbo: we did a walking tour over Brooklyn Bridge and Dumbo as part of our site seeing pass and it was truly worth it. Walking with a local also gave the best experience and avoidance of overly populated areas. We also saw a great independent bookstore and learnt about the areas history which is really interesting. Plus, we saw Dan Humphrey’s apartment building from Gossip Girl so that was seriously cool and took a photo at the famous DUMBO bridge. (DUMBO stands for Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass – there is a story about this name if you interested to read up on it).
7. Various museums and other sites on the pass: Madame Tussauds Museum, MOMA, Artec Lighthouse, Big Bus, Statue of Liberty, St Patricks Cathedral, New York aquarium (absolute disappointment don’t bother), The Ride, The Chelsea Market, Washington Square Park, Prospect Park, Bryant Park, Hudson Yards, and Times Square.
Things I would have liked to still do include: the high-line, Piers, Hudson River and a speakeasy. I also would have loved to explore New Jersey and maybe even taken a train out to Connecticut. I would have also wanted to spend more time in Brooklyn.
I am so grateful I got to visit New York City, I really feel like it was a once in a lifetime experience and I loved it so much. I hope we can visit the States again (a few more times actually since the tourist VISA lasts 10 years which I think is fantastic) and I hope you found this piece helpful for resources and tips!
Happy Exploring!