I travelled to New York City for 4 days and set a goal to visit as many tourist destinations in that time as humanly possible. Despite this, there are still a few areas in which I would need to return to New York in summer months to be truly appreciated in all their glory. Through this blog I will give my perspective on which tourist hotspots give their bang for their buck and which are more underwhelming.
Tips and Tricks
But before this I will share a few tips from what I encountered during my stay. Firstly, Americans are thirsty for tips and generally request 20% for any service provided, including pulling a pint, as you can see I hadn't quite grasped American serving sizes at this point, with a small being considered a pint!
Secondly, USE THE METRO! Certain lines are 24/7, all at a cost of $32 per week, an absolute bargain compared to London Underground. I bought the official 4-day
sightseeing pass for the duration of my stay and attempted to travel around via the sightseeing hop-on hop-off buses. They have snail's pace speed and do not set off unless they have enough passengers, so by the time you've set off, you would have already arrived at the destination via Metro. Plus you meet some interesting characters on the Metro which just brighten up your day... and vice versa, it's a lottery!
The sightseeing pass is definitely a must; I decided to go with a multiple day rather than multiple attraction pass in case I wanted to revisit any attractions. The initial outlay is steep but it meant that I visited events included in the pass that I hadn't previously considered, plus it enables you to plan your itinerary around the pass. In planning this trip I drew inspiration from Lost Leblanc, a must watch on YouTube for any keen travellers, he gives insightful overviews for the vast amounts of places he visits and instils a lust for life for the numerous viewers of his videos.
Finally, I found the hotels in New York extremely expensive, therefore I used a hostel for the first time ever and it turned out to be one of the best decisions I made, meeting new people that I explored the city with from different walks of life which I would have never otherwise met. Originally I was eyeing up an Airbnb in the Bronx and an American friend of mine carefully persuaded me not to take it for certain reasons.
Day 1
I first arrived at Newark airport at 1100, but was unable to leave the airport due to the rigorous and excessive security checks and less than standard signalling throughout the airport, but eventually we boarded a train arriving in the centre of Manhattan. I firstly went to drop my luggage off at the HI NYC Hostel in Upper West Side Manhattan, it has really great transport links to the rest of Manhattan and breakfast is included in the price with extremely good amenities.
After dropping the bags off, the first destinations were the museums, the Guggenheim and the MET. But first, we had do get the iconic hot dog from the street vendor stands, for any Suits fans, it was as greasy and cheap as imagined, but worth it! The the Guggenheim, one of the most intriguing pieces of architecture I have seen, although in contrast the artwork on show not so much, I may have come at an unlucky time, but I was more focused on the unique building than the actual art being presented. On the contrary, the MET was vast, with one of the widest arrays of artwork I have seen in a museum; I even got lost in the museum after circling round the same monument about 4 times before admitting defeat. The MET is definitely somewhere to take at least half a day to explore for art enthusiasts.
After visiting the museums, we had planned to visit Top of the Rock(efeller Centre) blissfully unaware of the lighting of the Rockefeller tree occurring on the same day. By the time we had sifted through the endless wave of crowds anticipating the lighting of the tree, we had reached the entrance of the tower only to be told that it was closed for the tree's lighting, talk about luck (and holes in planning)! Therefore we went to check out Times Square in all its glory at night, the lights on the sides of the skyscrapers did not disappoint, although the square was much smaller than I thought, being able to walk across it in almost 5 minutes!
My expectations from the countless New York-based films featuring this famous square crumbling in an instant. In fact, one of the common themes I found with New York City, was that the main attractions barely took up a 1/4 of the area, with the rest being largely ordinary. With most other things being closed at this point, we found a buffet which really proved American portion sizes for dinner after and headed back to rest up for the following day.
Day 2
After having my first proper night's sleep in a couple days, I was ready for the busy day ahead. We went to the shopping district of Soho to see what they had to offer, another oversight we made was that most shops do not open until 1100, therefore when we arrived at 0900, we had to fill the 2 hour space looking for shops that were actually open, fortunately stumbling along a TJ Maxx. Initial thoughts were that this was a poor attempt at plagiarism relative to university, but the deals were so good that there was no need to shop anywhere else. Typically I am not drawn to expensive labels and brands (except for the occasional Jordan's), but if you are more of an avid shopper, New York definitely can cater to your needs.
After a morning of shopping we went for lunch at Boqueria, an Italian restaurant on West Side Soho. The food was excellent, however the service less so, we managed to just beat the lunchtime rush but with them just arriving, we seemed to be ignored for lengths at a time.
Reason for deciding on Boqueria was the short walk to our actual destination of the Color Factory; one of the few attractions not included in the sightseeing pass. This was unimaginably different to any other attraction we went to see, it was so bright relative to the rest of the city and a completely different experience to any other museum I had previously visited.
Calling it an Instagrammer's paradise would be an understatement to say the least, with the vast array of colours in the different rooms we went to, you could easily fill up a whole photo library in one trip!
On top of this any macaroon advocates may go into a frenzy when being presented with a conveyor belt full of them, all colours of the rainbow being attributed to a flavour, such as green for pistachio (my personal favourite). Each room also has a photo box, so don't despair camera man, you won't be left out!
Next you are led through a hallway filled with walls of coloured pins, the colour being crucial to the next step... A glass cubicle facing your partner, but this is not reminiscent of a prison scene, no plotting is going on; instead you are listening to a man with perhaps the smoothest and most sensual of voices asking you to gaze into your partner's eyes and explain what appeals to you most... it was at this moment we knew this was for couples and not just a couple of mates...
Moving on! Once the endless flattery (or mockery) has ended, you are then escorted to a dance floor reminiscent of the 80's films in which people rocked huge afros and flared sleeves and trousers would be vibing to Earth, Wind and Fire, therefore we busted out the moves,! The DJ was in shock, I would like to think of how breathtakingly elegant we were.
To round off this eclectic experience, we were met with a final room hosting a cyan ball pool and serving complementary cyan ice cream. My life felt complete, and I didn't want to leave that room, with all worries left at the front door of the Color Factory, but there were many more places we needed to fit into our limited time in New York, therefore we pressed on in our journey.
Next on the list was the coveted High Line an elevated walkway stretching from Chelsea to the Vessel. Along the way, we took a detour to the Friends apartment. Much to my disappointment, it was very much a blink it and miss it building, with no standout difference to any surrounding buildings, I even had to ask locals if that was actually the place!
This walkway being one of the attractions I could imagine being that much more memorable in the summer months when you are not being hit with a face full of ice cold winds and can take in the spectacular views of murals, spanning the height of 3-story buildings and perfectly illustrating the concrete jungle that is New York.
In order to gain respite from the wind, we found shelter in a driving range bringing back memories of a certain Grand Theft Auto, perched on the riverside, it almost felt out of kilter with no helicopter crash landing in the middle of the driving range.
Nearing the end of the leisurely stroll along the High Line, we arrived at The Vessel, a marvel of engineering, of which provided other-worldly views once you were able to scale the mountain of a structure. We were glad we arrived at night, as the structure was lit as well as the surrounding skyscrapers really providing that film-like scenery we are all used to from the Big Apple.
Once we were able to regain our breath, we ventured into the adjacent shopping centre to search for a bite before the coveted Madison Square Garden where we were going to watch the New York Knicks (sadly not the Ewing/Melo era).
We stumbled across this cafe called William Greenberg desserts. We were so pleasantly surprised that I managed to leave my wallet there, until my friend advised me that the tip may be too large, even for American standards, then we along with the mass of other New Yorkers, embraced the atmosphere of MSG in anticipation of the game to come.
This was my first time watching basketball live, and it didn't disappoint with heckling from the home fans, mainly towards their own owner, and dunks which left the rim shaking minutes after. But alas, the Knicks were outplayed by a much stronger Denver Nuggets who trampled them by 40 points, I must have missed the memo that you are meant to leave at the start of the fourth quarter with a mass exodus of disgruntled life-long fans, littered with Knicks merchandise from head to toe, reminiscing the days in which this franchise was respected and achieving a .500 record. Regardless an unforgettable experience, of which I can only imagine a game which involved a home walk-off buzzer-beater and the roar from an enthusiastic crowd.
To end the second day, we had our second attempt of reaching the Top of the Rock, this time was successful and the views didn't disappoint, I only wish I had a proper camera rather than my phone and that we arrived at sunset, I can only imagine the views (and probably the crowds). And if we thought the High Line was cold, this was a different beast altogether, perhaps another one for the summer listing.
Day 3
Day 3 started with an early trip to Ground Zero, preceded by a stop at one of the most breathtaking train stations I had witnessed in The Oculus. One thing New York definitely knows how to do is to make its architecture stand out, with this making me feel as if I were on the set for Star Trek with its futuristic feel, and after coming off the subway, this feeling was amplified, almost questioning whether I was in an extremely realistic dream. For any Harry Potter fans, this was similar to in the final instalment of the franchise, Harry briefly reuniting with Dumbledore in an uncomfortably pristine King's Cross Station.
Straight outside the Oculus was Ground Zero, immediately the atmosphere changed, with eery reminders of the ill-fated event which occurred in this very sport. Credit to them, the memorial was beautiful, with marble reservoirs in place of where the towers once stood, marked with the names of those unlucky souls on that fateful day; the mood was subdued, the audience silent, contemplating what it would have been like for the thousands of people and their families which have been affected ever since. This was one of my favourite destinations, and I especially liked the memorial other than the museum as it was a telling reminder which could have easily been paved over with new building blocks.
Next to ground zero, was the One World Observatory, this is higher than the Top of the Rock, and therefore the tallest building in all of Manhattan. The most impressive section of this building was the lift up to the observation floor of the building, whilst ascending we were enclosed within a 3-D cube of screens which displayed the history of New York's architecture over the years, including the construction of the current building, amplifying the sheer scale of the building relative to the rest of the island. I would highly encourage you to watch the video of this lift experience if you aren't able to see it in person. Once we arrived at the observation deck, we were presented with a 360 view of the city, only pauperised by the slight glare you got looking through the thick glass walls. For anyone looking at gaining the best view of the city I would recommend the Top of the Rock (and if you can get there at sunrise/sunset, even better) as the lack of glare and the open-air experience just adds to the view, plus you get a perfect sighting of the Empire State Building as this is slightly obscured at the One World Observatory, with it relatively far away in comparison. Regardless this is a great addition to seeing Ground Zero.
After having left this building, we ventured around Wall Street en-route to Grand Central Station. One difference between American and European cities are the sheer amount of skyscrapers dominating the skyline, as walking through Wall Street we felt dwarfed by these enormous structures, you definitely felt the corporate air, even if not in a trading hall.
Upon arrival to Grand Central Station, it was heaving, as coincidentally we had arrived during rush hour, therefore the station was barely visible with the large concessions of people rushing for the next underground train. As with many attractions within New York, timing is everything! Therefore I would either recommend going very early in the morning or late at night (with the help of the 24/7 subway) if you are more interested in the nightly views of the city; finding the best times in the daytime is very restricted, with short days in the winter meaning everyone is already out and about, the best I can suggest is visiting in the summer and being prepared for very early starts, and being very decisive with which destinations to prioritise.
Day 4
On the fourth and final full day of the trip, we began the day by visiting the spy museum known as Spyscape. This was an interactive experience providing insights on the history of espionage and while some of it can be recognisable from well renowned franchises like James Bond, there is obviously much more to it with real operations actually being covert and some also less so. The attractions on show varied to a great degree, all the way from Alan Turing's codebreaking machine, used in WW2 to translate German code to help the Allies win the war, to Anonymous, a more recent group which has been involved in high profile hacking scenarios exposing many high profile individuals.
We were involved in interactive games, including one which assessed where we would be placed within an intelligence organisation; I was deemed to be an Agent Handler, who manages agents and provides secret intelligence or operational support, not quite the 007, but maybe more of a Q, therefore I can do more damage on my laptop sitting in my pyjamas before my first cup of Earl Grey than you can do in a year in the field (bonus points for who gets the reference).
Next we were off to Wah Fung Oriental Fast Food, located just the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge, as we approached a large procession of people, Asian people, were in the lead up to the front door, therefore we knew this was for real! And we were right! The queue was totally worth it, after we found a place to sit down the brisk outdoor air did little to dampen our mood after enjoying the most delectable Chinese takeaway I have ever had, taking in the New York vibes, and watching basketball in the meantime before setting off to experience Brooklyn Bridge.
Now I will heavily advise for anyone hoping to see the Brooklyn Bridge in all its glory, to visit early in the morning, as it was totally packed, everyone trying to get the famous picture showing the bridge with the iconic yellow cabs beneath, the cityscape and the East River. While it is a spectacular view, the experience is somewhat, ruined by the masses of people. One thing I underestimated still was the sheer size of the bridge itself, which seemingly took an eternity to cross, therefore we were able to savour the moment, despite the large amounts of people.
Once we were across to the Brooklyn side, we ventured to the botanical gardens to discover that they were already closed, talk about planning! Therefore, we had to forgo that for at least this trip to New York and swiftly moved on to the $1 pizza, I didn't realise that this was such a revelation amongst tourists, I was thinking it would be just like any other pizza, but the single $1 slice was about half the size of a whole pizza I was accustomed to, I was stunned! How is this $1?! The next destination was a food hall, therefore after this pizza we were unsure as to whether we could eat anymore; nonetheless we made the journey still.
By the time we made it to Dumbo it was nightfall, therefore we ventured to the famous spot in which those many pictures of the bridge bounded by the two buildings is taken. This is one of those times I wish my camera was not just the one on my phone, as the shot taken couldn't truly encapsulate the remarkable view ahead, but little did we know that this wasn't even the best view in Brooklyn! As between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges is the Time Out Food Hall, with every type of food you could want and an outdoor seating area (with heated covers for winter) showing the night lights of the district of Manhattan in the distance between the two bridges, quite simply one of the best views within this concrete jungle.
To end this 4-day extravaganza, we decided to stop off at Levain Bakery before taking the train to New Jersey. At this bakery you could see the cookies during production and once you received them, fresh out the oven and still warm, I opted for the Double chocolate and peanut butter cookie, this had liquid peanut butter spilling from the inside after taking your first bite and it was heaven in a bite, I just wish I had ordered more.
Overall New York is a must see destination with a multitude of destinations from your favourite movies and TV shows to visit and enjoy, but in my opinion heavily overstated, only a few of these attractions were truly worth the price of admission, examples include the Top of the Rock, The Vessel and Ground Zero; with others seeming exceedingly average, almost to the point you would see them in most other cities. One of the biggest disappointments to me was Central Park, perhaps a better visit in the summer, I expected this to blow me away, but left me thinking Hyde Park in London was better. Walking through it in December with the lack of snow and the seemingly abandoned baseball courts gave a very eery atmosphere, which encouraged us to more pick up the pace than slow and take in the scenery.
I hope to visit many more US cities like San Francisco, Miami and Austin to compare to New York and discover the many weird and wonderful things in each, but until then please comment below what other US / North American cities you think I should explore and also your experience of the Big Apple!
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