I have been to New York twice at the point of writing this, the first time in 2015, and I was here for the 14th anniversary of the twin tower terrorist attack on September 11th. The second time I came for my 40th Birthday in May.
The first time round I came with a friend and being the first time here, for both of us, we wanted to cram as much as we could into the 3 days we had. We ticked off the big highlights; Grand Central Station, The Lion King Show on Broadway, Central Park, The Empire State Building, The Rockefeller, The World Trade Centre, Trump Tower and more! So, the second time I was excited to return but this time we had slightly longer, and I wanted to do things at a more relaxed pace. I returned with two different friends this time who had both been to New York more than once and that was great as we didn’t necessarily need to tick off any of the main attractions and were able to have more time for other things. We were able to see a baseball game, go to some nice restaurants and street food markets.
At some point in the next 5-8 years, I want to do a bigger tour of America and would certainly return here for a couple of days. Unusually, as most of my trips are solo trips, both times here I have been with friends, which is always great. But I would like to spend two or three days here by myself and ponder around!
The pace of life is just so fast though, and if I am being honest, I don’t find the locals very friendly or all that tolerant of tourists (especially the British).
Sep 2015 / May 2019 
3 Days / 4 DaysSuch a stunning tribute! It is hard to explain the feeling you get when you enter the area, but there is something special about the memorial.
From the moment you walk up to the area, you can just sense that such a tragic event happened here, its such a surreal feeling. No picture or video can ever really portray just have vast these pools are, which are obviously the footprints of the old twin towers.
This was the only thing that I was keen to see again (from my first visit) and unlike the first time I wanted to see it at night lit up. I had brought the book on how the whole tribute was created to commemorate the victims of the 911 attacks and reading so in depth makes you look at the memorial from many new perspectives.
The 911 museum is situated below ground between the two memorial pools. To see the whole museum it takes about 3 hours to get around. You get to see the foundations of the original twin towers and insight into the towers themselves, then you get a walkthrough of the day, from what was seemingly a usual day to the terror that fell on the city. A lot of the museum you are not allowed the take photos out of respect.
I was very interested to see this and go inside as when I visited the first time the exterior had only just been completed. Inside it’s a shopping centre and underground travel hub built on the World Trade Centre site.
One World Trade Centre (also known as World Trade Centre or Freedom Tower) is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Centre complex in Lower Manhattan. It is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, and the sixth-tallest in the world.
I have been up to the top of the one world observatory on both my visits to New York, the view is breath-taking. This time we went up at sunset, the view from here by far beats the views from the Rockefeller and the Empire State Building.
There are various ferry cruises around New York and this can be one of the best ways to see the city skyline. Whilst there are many variations of a harbour cruise, the Satin Island Ferry is free, and leaves from the tip of Lower Manhattan to Satin Island and back (around 30 minutes each way). When we went the ferry was very busy, so it was hard to get a seat or standing position at the open windows. You get a good view of Lower Manhattan skyline and also a close up view of the Statue of Liberty.
Whilst we passed the Statue of Liberty on the Satin Island Ferry, we didn’t go to the island itself. I had already done this on my previous trip to New York and personally I wasn’t keen and felt like we wasted half a day. You can’t get decent pictures from the foot of the statue because it’s too big and you are too close, the walk halfway to the top wasn’t anything significant either. Much better doing a harbour cruise or the Satin Island Ferry that gets close, you’ll see much more of it from that perspective.
Now this IS a steak place! Very popular and you do need to book, it’s worth the visit just to see all the meat lined up in the window and such a great Instagram opportunity. You literally feel like it’s a butcher’s! I had fillet steak with creamed broccoli and fries, and it was one of the best steaks I have ever had.
Recommended as one of the top 10 places to eat breakfast (2019) and it didn’t disappoint. There are 3 locations in total around New York, we visited 2 but my favourite was the one outside Hudson Yards. For breakfast always opt for savoury rather than sweet, but I just had to try the pancakes, they are not just delicious but Instagram gold.
Chaos! Times Square is just packed with millions of people throughout the day. If you like personal space this isn’t the place for you. The first-time visiting was at night-time and you can see it all lit up, its like nothing I had seen before.
I revisited Times Square on our last day first thing in the morning and it was a lot less busy and the best time to take photos.
When I went to the top of the Empire State Building it was on a very dull day, furthermore when you get right to the top you’re within a sort of cage which does slightly ruin your view. I suspect it’s because this is a very old building, whereas newer buildings like the One World Trade Centre and the Rockefeller are purposely built with viewing platforms in mind with large glass windows. Top tip; go up the Rockefeller instead, its a very similar view but you get a direct view of the Empire State Building!
We decided to go up the Rockefeller at night, having done the Empire State building during the day, on my first trip in 2015. It was fantastic to see New York at that height at night. There is a great viewing platform that’s outside with big glass windows, so much better than being at the top of the Empire State building.
An old railway track made into a lovely walkway down the east side of the city. A few areas to stop off along the way and admire the views. It was a lovely hot day when we walked the full length right from Hudson Yards to Chelsea Market.
If you love street food Chelsea Market is an absolute must! Lots of little eateries in a quirky industrial setting. The Chelsea Market complex fills an entire city block. In addition to the retail concourse, it also provides standard office space for tenants, including Google who have moved into some of the second, third, and fourth floors along with its subsidiary YouTube on the fifth. So much choice and so hard to choose where to eat, but because of the long queues it makes it impossible to try different food outlets which is a shame. However the place we chose to eat, did deep fried Oreos!
This had only just opened the month before our second trip so we were excited to be one of the first (first few million anyway) visitors. The walk to the top isn’t hard or tiring as it’s all done in small chunks. There aren’t really any views from the top because it’s surrounded by skyscrapers. But it’s an impressive structure, and it’s free, so you can’t say it isn’t worth the money!
The friend’s apartment building is located in the Greenwich area and worth seeing if you are a fan of the show. There is nothing else to see here and to be honest, I am not sure that you would even know from just looking at it that it is the apartment in the sitcom.
Both my friend and I are mad on street food, and after having visited Copenhagen together, we were very excited when we saw there was a street food market similar to Reffern in Copenhagen in Williamsburg, so we decided to make the trip across the water. The views in this photo are right next to the street food market and give a fantastic view of Upper Manhattan skyline.
Running twice a week in the summer this street food site is amazing. So much choice of food and drink and in the most beautiful setting overlooking upper Manhattan. Its very expensive though, a drink and a small tray of food is roughly £10, so its not all that feasible to be able to try various foods. I had half a lobster with sauce, and it was delicious.
Crazy and busy is the only way to describe this. You walk down the middle of the bridge, half of the track is reserved for cyclists who really don’t want you on the bridge. Obviously a very typical tourist thing to do which I didn’t get to do on my first visit. Glad I did it, but I don’t think I’d do it again. I’d personally just sit in the park in the Dumbo area of Brooklyn where the views over the river and city are spectacular. Before stepping onto the bridge, I purchased a Pretzel from a street cart, it was massive, and it took me the entire walk of the bridge to eat it!
I was determined to see a sports game whilst in New York no matter what it was, the only one on whilst we were there was a Mets baseball game at Citi Fields stadium. I can’t honestly say we had any interest in the game itself, but it was certainly one of my highlights. Soaking up the atmosphere, it was a sunny/hot afternoon in late May with friends and drinks. Entry price was fairly cheap but drinks in the stadium itself were extortionate!
Central Park is the most visited urban park in the United States, with 40 million visitors in 2013, and one of the most filmed locations in the world. Massive in size to walk around and a fair few things to do, a zoo, a castle. But best of all it’s just such a nice place to chill on the sun and sunbathe. We didn’t venture too far into the park (stayed on the south side) but it was still vast!
The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH), located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City, is one of the largest museums in the world. Located just above Central Park West, if there is any natural history museum to visit in any city in the world, this is supposedly the one. We only spend a couple of hours here mainly looking at the dinosaurs, but a full day could easily be done.
