Bristolians take a Bite out of the Big Apple !
After previously been here for work over the years, now was time to do the sights, experience the food and take in all New York had to offer…
We booked the flights from LHR to JFK through Booking.Com in November and found out Virgin Atlantic had a sale on so happy days (found out since that most major airlines have sales in late October & November). Once again we used the Booking.Com taxi booking service so the driver was waiting for us when we landed.
Midtown Manhattan is the perfect location for a New York city break and the iconic New Yorker Hotel is smack bang in the middle, 10 minutes walk to the Empire State Building, 25 minutes to Central Park, 15 minutes to Times Square and a subway station right on the doorstep. We usually book hotels via Booking.Com but this time found a great deal on a site called Catchit.Com which turned out to be a big saving for this hotel…but be warned any price you see for any hotel in NY does not include the city tax which you pay on arrival. I would recommend to upgrade the room if you book a standard as the room size is rather “compact”, the staff are really accommodating and will try their upmost to give you a free upgrade….I mentioned that I was a return guest to the hotel (nearly 20 years ago) and managed to get an upgrade to a suite overlooking the Empire State Building !!….you don’t know unless you ask😉
So we (well Lou mostly 😊) planned a flexible itinerary covering 4 days so after a hearty breakfast in the American Tick Tock Diner adjoining the hotel we set off early on foot to visit the World Trade Centre Memorial, words failed us and was very emotional but we had to see and remember !
We continued on foot in the freeeezing February sunshine (had to buy a hat 🥶) towards the Hudson River walking under the monumental Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges ready to pick up the ferry, which we booked on Groupon, for our boat tour taking in the Statue of Liberty, NYC Skyline and Ellis Island.
Still on foot (take some comfy walking shoes or trainers), we then headed up to China Town and then into Little Italy which was Bellissima !!… it was like you had stepped onto a film set ! We stopped for a spot of lunch at a lovely little romantic Italian restaurant called Paesano’s in Mulberry Street, with a few glasses of wine…of course !
Heading back towards the hotel we (Louise) HAD to go and see the apartment from the TV series Friends in Greenwich Village which is a lovely trendy area and very different from the hustle and bustle of Midtown. From there we walked the New York High Line which is an elevated walkway from the Meatpacking District right up to 34th Street on Manhattan’s West Side. A picturesque walk with great views and no traffic !
To end a very busy day it had to be Times Square; the lights, sounds, sights and bustling streets were exactly as expected…memorable.
Day 2 was a more relaxed affair, taking the subway up to Central Park and walking through the still snow covered paths and alongside the frozen lakes…. Oh yes we had to visit the fountain from the opening scene in Friends too !! There were people ice skating but unfortunately I had forgotten my boots, so we had to give it a miss 🤣! Leaving the Park we went up 5th Avenue past Tiffany’s and Trump Tower towards Central Station and then on to Bryant Park where hot dogs and beer were enjoyed.
Day 3 involved the Empire State Building, Macy’s, Rockefeller Centre and walking the High Line again back down to Chelsea Market and Greenwich Village. There are many sites selling tickets for the Empire State but the official site and the cheapest is esbnyc.com/tickets.
There are so many places to eat and so many different cuisines in Midtown and we only scratched the surface. We found the New York Bagel & Coffee House which was amazing and just a 10 minute walk from the hotel…I never knew so many types of bagel and filling existed ! Literally a 2 minute walk from the hotel was a great typical American bar “The Tailor Public House” which had a great atmosphere, good food and reasonably priced. We had to go to the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square for the ribs and the cocktails which were soooo good !
After a busy but memorable few days with lots to see and do and a tick off the list we headed back to JFK. Fully recommend NYC for a city break but defo have an itinerary otherwise you will end up walking around and not know what to see next..oh and don’t forget your ESTA visa application before you travel !
Bristolians Abroad 