Everything & Anything New York City

marias1981

My 1st NYC TRIP REPORT!!


Back From my 4 Nights in the city and it was AMAZING!!!! I wanna go back right now!!!

Day 1
We Landed at 12.30pm and got a cab back to hotel in Times sq. We stayed at the Hilton Garden inn which was lovely, 5 mins walk to times sq but far enough from hustle and bustle!! (When we were checking in i mentioned that we came for my hubbys 30th and later that evening once we got back there was a hamper of cupcakes and a card in our room!!! whoop whoop!!) ONce at the hotel we got freshened up and headed downtown (took subway) to the brooklyn bridge and saw the most amazing views (only walked half way)! We then took the staten island ferry to see the view of the lady liberty (i had to pinch myself a few times because i still cudnt believe i was in nyc!). Before heading back to the hotel we headed into Century 21 and got some great bargains hubby bought levis 501's for $9.99!!! luckly they had one left and it was his size. Also got some fridge magnets and some dkny t shirts for my 3yr old son ($8.99) (if anyone is planning on going to century 21 buy all your souvineers from there, its so much cheaper. i saw the same magnets i got from there for $1.99 for $5.99 at a tourist shop in times sq!!) Before heading back to the hotel we had a meal in china town, which was yuk!!

Day 2
The next day after allot of humming and harring we decided to go to Woodbury Common. Got the 10am bus from port auth bus terminal (which was a 5 min walk away)It took about 40mins to get there. Once there we got the most amazing bargains!! Hubby bought 2 pairs of Timerland boots for $46!!!!! Got some levis jeans, bought myslef a guess handbag for £50 and a matching wallet for $27. Bought my son loads from the ralph lauren kids store (1 pair of jeans, 2 polo tops and 3 tshirts all for under $55!) Got some nice bedding from the ralph lauren home shop and my sister bout the most beautiful bracelet from swarovski reduced from $180 to $17 (yes thats right $17!!!). Got my son 2 pairs of trainers from nike outlet for under $40. I think u get the point! There wer loads of bargains! The tax there was lower too (1.something %). Got the 6pm bus back into the city, dropped our bags and headed into times sq, m&m world, toys R us ect.

Day 3
Walked to moma and top of the rock. Top of the rock was great, no ques and it wasnt busy at all and the views were breathtaking (thats thanks to all your helpfull tips otherwise i was going to go to esb!) We wer tempted to do the nbc studio tour but not sure why we decided against it in the end (has anyone been? whats it like?). After that we popped into Magnolia Bakery and had some cupcakes (yum) And walked to macys. Went to a few shops in the area like Daffys, victoria secret, forever 21, h&m ect

Day 4
After breakfast at the diner opp the hotel we walked to central park and then went to bloomingdales, nike town, dylans candy bar and a few other shops. Popped into Crumbs bakery and i have to say they wer the most delicious cupcakes i have ever tasted in my life!! YUMMMMMMMYYYY

Day 5
Our return flight wasnt til 10pm and unfortunatly it was raining non stop!!!! But that didnt stop us! Popped into Crumbs bakery again, had a few cupcakes and a couple of coffees. Went to the natural history museum, had a light meal then headed back to the hotel to collect bags and got cab to jfk.

And now, im back in the Uk and all i can think about is NYC. It was our first time and i knew id love it but not this much, i miss it so much!!! Wanna go back asap. Gonna have to start seriously saving!!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed my trip report. I just wanna thank everyone for all their helpfull advise. And helping me plan my trip.

I LOVE NY!!!!

thatsfabulous

Welcome back Maria, I have been excited awaiting your trip report!!

First of all, fantastic that your hotel gave your hubby some birthday cupcakes that was lovely of them. I didnt think they would be at all bothered his birthday was just a few days before/after your visit.
Its very surreal when you get there isnt it, looking up at the buildings in amazement.

Nice to see you got lots of bargins at Woodbury Common, if the brands are there you like and your bargin hunter then you really can get some great stuff. I love getting Guess when am there too its so expensive in Europe compared to US and outlet prices. Your bracelet was a fantastic price!!

Hope your hoilday blues go soon, am sure they will just before you next trip Lol

Glad you had a great time and the BA strike didnt affect your flights and actually gave you more hours in NY on your return.

jimmyeatblink

Hi Guys, have found this thread to be really usefull. Thanks for all the great info. :T Me and my friend are going to New York in May for 9 nights/10 days, flying from Bristol and staying in the New Yorker hotel. Could someone look over my mini plan who has been before and see if it looks feasible or any suggestions. We are going to pre-book most of the activities through expedia (get money back from cashbackkings.com). Most evenings will be spent going to bars and watching movies.

Day 1, Arrive in NY at 13.20, get to hotel, have a wander, visit ripleys believe it or not in times square

Day 2, Empire State Building in morning, statue of liberty in afternoon, visit Brooklyn for some pizza

Day 3, top of the rock observation in the morning, all loops tour in afternoon, maddame tausards after that in early evening

Day 4, on location tour, films and movies in the morning, nbc studio tour after that, then shopping on fifth avenue. Have a look around the financial district in the evening

Day 5, tour of madison square garden in the morning, then go and visit coney island in the afternoon

Day 6, Central park and the zoo in the morning, go and visit little italy and china town in afternoon, try and find where flight of the concords was filmed

Day 7, Visit Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Morning, American Museum of Natural Art in the afternoon

Day 8, MOMA in the morning, King Tut exhibition in afternoon, early evening

Day 9, Trip to Woodbury Shopping Outlets, afternoon and evening more shopping and grand central station

Day 10, More shopping and flight back at 6.30

randomtask_2

@jimmyeatblink

Consider some live music (your user name suggests you like Jimmy Eat World and Blink 182). Check out the gig calendar in May for the Bowery Presents venues (http://www.bowerypresents.com/fullcalendar) as an example.

I'd also suggest if you're absolutely going to do two observation decks that you do one at sunset for a different backdrop to the iconic and quite wonderful skyline in NY.

jimmyeatblink

randomtask wrote: »

@jimmyeatblink

Consider some live music (your user name suggests you like Jimmy Eat World and Blink 182). Check out the gig calendar in May for the Bowery Presents venues () as an example.

I'd also suggest if you're absolutely going to do two observation decks that you do one at sunset for a different backdrop to the iconic and quite wonderful skyline in NY.

Thanks Randomtask. I had looked for some gigs/shows going on while we were there with little luck. Thanks for the site, i have already seen two potential ones to see. Good idea about the sunset. Will swap one around.

*pinkie*

I d say go to statue of Liberty as early as possible. Even at 9am there can be an hour queue for the ferry (that was the case when i was there May 2008). We got there at 9am for the ferry and didn't get onto Liberty Island until about half 11.

I d try and aim to get there between 8 and half past to get to the front of the queue. Also if you want to go into the monument i.e up to her feet, you have to get an extra ticket from the ticket booth. If you have pre bought your ticket it will only be valid for the ferry and to get onto the island. Again you need to be there early as possible to get your hands on one of these as there is only a limited amount available per day and they are snatched up quick.

Id agree with randomtask about doing an observation deck at sunset. I did it last year for Top of the Rock and doing the same again when i go next week. Sunset is scheduled for 7.30pm, so i have purchased my ticket for 6.45pm entry. You get the best of both worlds then, the view in the daylight, at sunset and in full darkness if you stay long enough.

Hope that helps

thatsfabulous

Hi there,
My only suggestions would be on day 2/3. As already stated would prob be better to do statue of liberty first thing if you are paying to get off on liberty island ( Not getting ferry) due to queues etc.
Also views from top of the rock are amazing so defo this in daylight. Views from Empire state are not as good as top of the rock however nice to do both so if I were you would concider doing Empire State Building in the evening so you can see the city in the day and night- all lit up.

Philippa36

Thats an incredibly busy trip you have planned there jimmyeatblink! Good luck with that!

I would say that definite must sees are the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island tour, Grand Central Station, Central Park, Moma, Guggenheim & the Natural History Museum, Empire State Building or TOTR.

I don't recommend Little Italy - restaurants are awful, tourist traps - go elsewhere for decent italian food. Check out menupages for some suggestions.

jimmyeatblink

thatsfabulous wrote: »

Hi there,
My only suggestions would be on day 2/3. As already stated would prob be better to do statue of liberty first thing if you are paying to get off on liberty island ( Not getting ferry) due to queues etc.
Also views from top of the rock are amazing so defo this in daylight. Views from Empire state are not as good as top of the rock however nice to do both so if I were you would concider doing Empire State Building in the evening so you can see the city in the day and night- all lit up.

Thanks, will swap the statue of liberty to first thing on day 3. Im so glad i asked in here, thanks for the tips guys. We will be prebooking pretty much every activity. Does $1300 sounds like a good budget for travel, food and gifts. We have prebooked travel to and from hotel already.

jimmyeatblink

Philippa36 wrote: »

Thats an incredibly busy trip you have planned there jimmyeatblink! Good luck with that!

I would say that definite must sees are the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island tour, Grand Central Station, Central Park, Moma, Guggenheim & the Natural History Museum, Empire State Building or TOTR.

I don't recommend Little Italy - restaurants are awful, tourist traps - go elsewhere for decent italian food. Check out for some suggestions.

Hey Philippa, when you say busy. Do you think i am being a bit too adventerous for fitting it all in? We don't want to be rushing around too much