After London New York is my second favourite city in the world. Our first trip here was for our honeymoon and we have been back several times since, in various seasons.
I would recommend reading ‘Visiting New York for the first time’, ‘Top 5 things to do in New York’ and ‘Rookie mistakes in New York City – and how best to avoid them‘ if you are planning your first ever trip to New York.
But even if you have been before and are planning a subsequent visit, there are still loads of places to see, things to do and foods to eat in New York City. I am certain there is something for every one here, so enjoy the read.
Visiting New York without visiting Central Park? Unthinkable. I mean you only need to look at a map of Manhattan or check the subway map and there it is: A big green blob slap bang in the middle.
So next time you visit New York, make sure you set aside enough time to explore Central Park properly. Because there are loads of things to do, despite the obvious ‘Going for a walk’.
New York City is great and I absolutely love it (but you knew that already). And as we are preparing for another trip to New York next week, I decided this was the perfect time to share with you my favourite food destinations in New York City. So, if you are wondering what to eat in New York City, this is for you.
Obviously New York has an array of delicious, cool, unusual and sometimes rather pricy restaurants. And if you are a regular on Instagram and Pinterest, I am sure you’ve seen all the pretty foods showing up in your feed. From crazy unicorn shakes to flower shaped ice-cream, pink lattes and weird burgers.
But whilst these for sure are all great and the perfect addition to your Instagram grid, this is not the food I am talking about (doesn’t mean I wouldn’t try some of it if I happen to come by). What I am talking about are my personal favourite foods in New York City. Tried, tested and approved by Mr T and I over several trips to New York (and all paid for with our own money, so whilst this is advertising by mentioning the places, I did not receive any payment or even freebies for said mentioning).
When in New York heading for a true Italian pizza seems the obvious choice, doesn’t it? OK maybe not. But when an Italian living in New York recommends an Italian restaurant you sure go and check it out. Or at least that’s what we did.
When heading to New York, chances are you’ll spend most of your time in Manhattan. But New York has so much more to offer. Venture out to the other boroughs and see for yourself. And whilst you are out there, try the food on offer. Brooklyn has become a bit of a trendy area over the last decade or so. Plenty of individual coffee shops, local craft beers and organic food places.
So, if you find yourself in the area of Flatbush Avenue / Dekalb Avenue, I would recommend you visit the Dekalb Market Hall.
We stumbled across it by chance during our recent trip to New York.
Battling jet lag the first night, we decided to make the most of being wide awake at 4am. So we wrapped up warm and headed out into the night. To experience the city that never sleeps first hand and explore Times Square by night. More so as it was just a few blocks away from our hotel.
Any time of day or night Times Square is a weird world of its own. The lights, the hustling and bustling, cars, noises and millions of people. For sure a place you have to see for yourself once in your life.
To see? Yes. To actually enjoy? Maybe not so much… unless you are the kind of person that loves being shoved around… not this girl though.
So obviously we’ve been there before both during the day and in the evening. But going there in the middle of the night? Totally different thing. You can actually walk around and, believe it or not, you can see the ground.
It doesn’t come as a huge secret if I tell you that I love New York. I always did… or at least I always loved the thought of New York City. It wasn’t until our honeymoon in 2012 that I actually manage to visit New York for the first time.
At the time the idea was to have an extended stay (we stayed 11 nights) to see it all and get it over and done with… been there, done that, got the T-shirt kinda thing.
But little did I know. Yes, by the time we got back from our honeymoon we felt so overwhelmed and tired (I mean how many miles can you walk in a day for days on end without losing the will to live) that I would have totally subscribed to that ‘been there done that’ idea… but as time passed (and my muscles stopped hurting) I started longing for New York again. And the rest is history as they say. We have been back a few times since and are preparing for yet another trip in the New Year.
So what better time to share with you some tips for your first trip to New York City.
Whilst I am still enjoying my few travel free weeks in the run up to Christmas (such a rare thing not to travel for a whole month), I am already preparing for more trips in the New Year.
For a few days (or was it mere hours?) I thought things would eventually quieten down a little in 2018, but looking at my diary now, I’d say far from it.
Looking at January and February, everything is already back to normal with trips booked for pretty much every single week.
But it is not all work. Hubby and I will go to New York for a week. Yes… again.
I love New York. And I love being a tourist in New York City. After all, there are loads of things to do and places to see that you know from TV and movies or have read about… so take your time to explore them all. But be careful not to waste time and money. I have already talked about my Top 5 Things to do in New York City a few weeks back, so this time I want to share the other side of the coin. Things that are not worth spending any money on. To help you avoid the same rookie mistakes in New York City that I made.
After London New York City is my second favourite city in the world (can you tell I’m a city girl at heart? Who would have guessed I grew up in the countryside)
First time we went to New York was for our honeymoon. A long trip with the intention to see it all and tick it off the bucket list once and for all. Little did I know this was just the start of an ongoing romance.
We’ve since been back twice and I can’t wait for the next time (Christmas shopping in New York would probably be next on my bucket list)
There is a lot to see and do in New York, so today I share my personal Top 5 things to do in New York City with you
