New York was never a place I was dying to visit, in fact, it was pretty low on my list. I just never got the hype around it. Maybe because I lived in London for most of my life and couldn’t imagine it being very different… boy was I wrong. Even though New York wasn’t my dream, it was most definitely my brother’s. He wanted to visit New York for as long as I can remember. In August 2018 we took the plunge and booked a trip there, me, my brother and Ricardo. We booked it through the Virgin Atlantic website 3 months in advance. I personally found it super cheap at £590 per person for 5 days, flights and hotel included. Not bad at all! I’ve paid more for for trips within Europe.
HOW TO GET THERE
Firstly, let me talk about the flights. Our flight to New York was with Delta and it took almost 8 hours. The plane was super comfortable, the food was actually quite tasty considering it was plane food, and they had great series and film selections, so the 8 hours flew by. The crew on the other hand, were sadly quite rude. One of them threw a bag of pretzels at Ricardo so aggressively that 3 more bags fell along with it. She also dropped a cup full of ice on him and didn’t even acknowledge it, she simply shoved some tissues in his face and moved on with the service. Me and him just stared at each other in disbelief. The flight coming back home was operated by Virgin and due to a massive tail wind we got to Heathrow in just over 6 hours. The service with Virgin crew was absolutely lovely. They were all so polite and friendly, literally the opposite of Delta. The food was equally as nice - I clearly very much enjoy plane food by the looks of it haha. Although Virgin crew were lovely, I did prefer the flight with Delta. The flight back home was in the evening and even though I was super tired, I just couldn’t relax. My TV kept crashing, the image quality was very grainy and my headphones didn’t work properly either. If only we could’ve had the Delta plane with the Virgin staff…
WHERE TO STAY
Let’s move on to my favourite bit, the accommodation. We stayed at the Intercontinental Barclay. What a wonderful hotel! I swear to you, they have the most comfortable beds I have ever slept on! I even took a picture of the brand of pillows they use so I could buy some, but unfortunately they are exclusive to hotels. I can’t tell you how gutted I was at this discovery! It’s been two years and I still talk about their beds and pillows on a regular basis. We got a Deluxe Double Double room and it was very cosy, very clean and surprisingly very quiet. The location was also brilliant, it was only a short 15 minute walk to Times Square, a 10 minute walk to the Rockefeller Centre and a 20 minute walk to the Empire State Building. Pretty much a dream location if you’re going there for the first time and want to do all the touristy things. They also have a gin bar/restaurant if you fancy having a little something before or after a day of exploring.
HOW TO GET AROUND
It won’t come as a surprise that the best form of transport there is the subway. I always thought it would be crowded and super busy, but I genuinely didn’t find it that bad at all. It’s very easy to navigate and you can purchase a MetroCard at the ticket machines. A single costs around £2 but if you’re going to be exploring the best option is to buy the weekly ticket for around £25.
Avoid the taxis where possible. I’m sure you’ve all heard the stories about New York traffic and they’re not wrong. It is manic out there! We only took a taxi twice for the sole purpose of taking us to and from the airport to the hotel. In terms of prices, there is a fixed rate between Manhattan and JFK Airport of around £45 which I think is very reasonably priced considering it’s a fifty-ish minute ride.
I have to quickly mention the hop on hop off tour buses. Please do not go on them! We spent a total of 6h sat in them on our third day. The traffic really is no joke, so please bare that in mind before you decide to get on one.
WHERE TO EAT
When it came to food we tried to keep it simple as the prices there are a little over the top. Most mornings we would have breakfast in a Pret across the street from our hotel. It was easy and saved us time walking around trying to find something else. However, we did have breakfast in a place called Lexington Brass which wasn’t too far from where we were staying and the food was delicious! We all asked for different things and I can safely say that they were all mega tasty. I asked for avocado on toast and coming from someone who isn’t that much into avocado, I absolutely loved it and would happily eat it again and again.
For lunch we would just grab something easy from the food trucks such as hot dogs and burgers, although we did stop at a bagel place once called Bergen Bagels and they were delicious! Highly recommend. Dinnertime was when we went out to proper restaurants for food. We went to Heartland Brewery and Rotisserie, it's near the Rockefeller Centre and the food was very nice. It was such a huge place, you could tell that they must get lots of people eating there after a busy day of sightseeing. My favourite place however, was Wolf & Lamb. We went there for Ricardo’s 30th birthday meal and wowza, such tasty food! They had the best mash potato that I have ever tried. The staff were also super friendly and got dessert out to Ricardo with a candle so we could sing happy birthday.
THE SIGHTS
It was our first time going to New York, so of course we had to tick off the classics. I’ll write things out based on what we visited/did each day, this way it’s easier for me to remember everything and also gives you an idea of how much you can fit into one day. The first place we visited was Times Square. Our flight got there late in the afternoon and after a little refresh in our hotel room, we headed off to see all the amazing screens. It was so packed, but it was stunning! I thought it would be something like Piccadilly Circus, but not at all, it was much, much bigger. We made a quick stop at Grand Central Station of course. I’m a massive fan of Gossip Girl, so it had to happen.
On our first full day we hired out some bikes and explored the beauty that is Central Park. It was such a gorgeous, sunny day and we had the best time! In the late afternoon we made it to the Empire State Building. This one I have to say I was a little disappointed with. It was way too crowded and it had barriers all around the building, blocking the view of the city. Ok, not fully blocking, but you know what I mean. I just didn’t expect it as I had never seen pictures of it like that. Things did get better when the sun went down and all the city lights came on, so I would definitely recommend visiting the ESB during the night. We opted not to go to the highest floor, simply because we were already high enough. We didn’t feel the need to pay an additional amount to go up a few floors.
On our second full day we wasted so. much. time! Where? On the hop on, hop off tour bus! We wanted to get this bus to visit the 9/11 memorial and visit the museum, but little did we know that it would take us almost 3h to get there! Sure, the views along the way were nice, but it was bloody freezing and we desperately needed a wee. They were the longest 3h of my life! But we made it there eventually and the place really made me emotional. Both myself and Ricardo work in aviation and it’s heartbreaking to think of what happened. We also went to the museum and spent the whole afternoon there listening and crying along to the tapes that they played. It was so beautiful but made my heart hurt at the same time.
Our third full day was the day where we had to make up for the time we spent on the tour bus. We packed as much into the day as possible! We started off with Top of the Rock. This was by far my favourite! We woke up super early to try and get there before everyone else and it worked! We went on a very windy, but mega clear and sunny day. Honestly, the view from there is breathtaking! We grabbed some food and got on the subway to visit Washington Square Park. We literally only went there to see it, snap a picture and leave, but I can imagine it being a very nice place to hang out during the Spring/Summer months. After that we headed to the transport museum, I know it won’t be on everybody’s list of things to visit, but we really wanted to go there and it was very interesting. If you have some free time while you’re out there, pay it a visit. It’s also great for snapping those coveted subway pictures without having random people in the background.
Me, my brother and Ricardo are massive Brooklyn 99 fans and so we really wanted to visit the ‘99th precinct’ - fun fact, the 99th percent doesn’t exist. It’s called the 78th precinct in real life. After making a few funny videos, imitating Jake Peralta we hurried and still managed to visit Liberty Island! We weren’t playing around LOL. I was surprised at how small the statue of liberty is, but I guess that compared to all the skyscrapers in the city everything seems small. Unfortunately we ran out of time to visit Ellis Island, but that means that we’re going to have to go back, right?
On our last day there was only one thing left of our list of places to visit and that was Brooklyn Bridge. I don’t think anything could’ve prepared us for how cold that day was going to be. It was so windy and the real feel was -16 degrees celsius. Ouch! Ricardo ended up having a frost bite on his forehead, bless him. Brooklyn Bridge was stunning though! It was so crowded, but understandably so.
RANDOM BITS
Visas! Don’t forget to take care of your visas. Maybe even try to take care of it before you book your flights just in case you have some issues. A friend of mine is Polish and had her visa application denied three times before they finally accepted it, so just bare that in mind.
Before you go make a plan of the main things you want to see and try to get a city pass ticket. It means that you can skip hour long queues and depending on what you want to visit, might even work out cheaper.
In terms of spending money, we too £300 each and joined it all, so we had £900 total to spend out there. For us it was more than enough. We even managed to do some shopping and still had money left at the end of the trip. But of course, it all depends on what you want to do there. Like I said before, we did keep it simple on the meal front. The only meal we paid separately for was at Wolf & Lamb as it was Ricardo’s birthday and me and my brother wanted to pay for that ourselves. It was 200 dollars, so I hope that gives you an idea of how much you’ll be spending if you eat out at ‘proper’ places every night.
New York ended up being my favourite place that I have visited so far! Coming from someone who wasn’t even that interested in going, I couldn’t believe how much I loved it. I would honestly go back in a heartbeat and have told Ricardo multiple times that if he ever wants to surprise me with a trip, New York is the place! So there you have it, my New York experience, tips and recommendations. I hope you found something helpful in the middle of all this.
Lots of love,
SFS.
