The Best of New York in 3 days!

A cheeky pre-Christmas visit to New York was in order so we flew from Manchester via Dublin to Newark which is a great way to clear US Immigration, saving time at the other end. Ireland is the only country outside of the USA to do this. So, with our valid ESTA’s in place, once we landed, we were literally off the plane and into our taxi in no time. You can use public transport, but a taxi is around $80 fixed fee into the city (including tolls) and much easier with luggage.

We checked into the Crowne Plaza HY36 W36th Street – a lovely new hotel, good location in Midtown around the corner from Penn Station and Madison Square Garden. It’s a good idea to head straight out on the first afternoon to maximise your time so we had a quick look at the Moxy Hotel Rooftop Bar before making our way through bustling Times Square to Grand Central Station which is an amazing building to see inside. We had a lovely glass of wine and an Espresso Martini at Cipriani in the station, (people watching!), before we wandered around to the Rockefeller Centre. The fabulous tree and Christmas decorations were all twinkling and the ice skaters make this a really magical time of year. I recommend pre-booking your tickets with me to the ‘Top of the Rock’ as it is a very popular landmark. The views were incredible, and it was such a clear night with temperatures of around 3-4 degrees. Amazing!

The next morning, we popped into the Wyndham New Yorker – a popular Art Deco styled hotel I sell a lot because of its great location and reviews. Following this we had a meeting at The Refinery – an elegant, boutique 5* hotel, close to Bryant Park which boasts an amazing roof top bar and restaurant with stunning views of the Empire State Building. Beautiful entrance with the most amazing scents, a fabulously chic lobby bar/jazz lounge plus an English style pub/brasserie. A beautiful hotel option.

We needed to walk off our super lunch, so we headed for the Highline, an elevated 2-mile long disused railway track running parallel to the Hudson. It is still under re-generation but a great way to spend some time seeing the city from a different angle. We ended up at the funky Standard Highline Hotel, overlooking the river with amazing floor to ceiling windows in each room and its own brewery along with two rooftop bars. In this area, you will also find the HQ’s of Google, Samsung, Apple plus Chelsea Market with its many quirky and individual shops.

Day 3 beckoned, and we were walking 20k plus steps by now each day. Using the Subway which was easy and cheap, we wanted to check out Katz Deli famed for the movie ‘When Harry met Sally’. We just wanted a light breakfast but of course, in America, portion size is huge! The area of The Bowery was famous in the 70’s for the age of Punk and New Wave. I wanted to go and see the original CBGB’s nightclub where Blondie first started out. It is now a menswear store but fascinating to see the original walls and all the mementos from that era. We then took the subway under the Brooklyn Bridge, so we could walk back over it, not before stopping to take a look at the restored 1920’s Jane’s Carousel which sits at the foot of the bridge and was a gift given to the city by David and Jane Walentas. We walked back over the Bridge, stopping to view Liberty and then onward toward 9/11. The memorial is vast and strangely atmospheric. If you want to visit the museum, then definitely pre-book your tickets as the queue was incredible. Following this we walked up to Battery Park and made our way to the East Village as we had booked a Craft & Cocktail Tour with Urban Adventures. This was a fascinating 2.5-hour walking tour and our guide was full of speakeasies and gangster stories as we visited several bars and learned how prohibition shaped New York.

Our final day and we had to get some shopping in! Just around the corner from Bloomingdales we were recommended to try the quaintest café called Serendipity. The mammoth queues on a Sunday morning confirmed its popularity. Here, they are famous for their frozen hot chocolate and desserts. TIP: Pop in and reserve a table, then go shopping when you will be ready for a sit down!

Our taxi from Manhattan back to JFK was $60 or a shared shuttle is $45. We found the JFK Clubhouse Lounge here excellent with waiter service and superb food and drink.

Overall, I found New York to be exciting, vibrant, bustling and everything I expected. Drinks can be expensive, depending where you are, but look out for Happy Hours. There’s food on every corner of course but if you don’t want fancy then there is always a Five Guys!

Please contact me if you want some first-hand advice and where to stay and what to do in the Big Apple.