New York City - Part 2: Six-Day Itinerary, Tips for your Trip, and Expenses
- aislingelizabethbyrne
- Mar 27, 2019
- 12 min read
Welcome to Part Two of my NYC blog! This will be a step-by-step description of everything we did each day, so you can see how we managed to fit everything in. It's a fairly long post! I spent weeks (no lie) learning the map and planning this trip to a T in advance to ensure that no time would be wasted during our visit, so I think these recommendations will be super helpful if you're going. Before you read on just know we didn’t spend much time shopping as it wasn’t a priority for us, and we didn’t visit outlets, so this itinerary won't be helpful for everyone. The one thing I want to recommend before going into detail is DOWNLOAD THE “ERIC’S NEW YORK” APP (iTunes / Google Play). It helped us so much with finding subway stations and lines to get from A to B, and it works offline so you won't be stuck. Overall I only spent 800 dollars in the first five days (considering we already had tickets for attractions bought before the trip) - but by the end of the 6th day when I went shopping, I had spent 1500 dollars. That's still not a lot at all for a New York trip!
Day One: Arriving in New York and Getting Your Bearings
Once you've arrived in New York and made your way to your hotel, it'll probably be around 2.30-3pm, so it's important to get out as soon as possible after that and explore.
The places you go to will probably depend on the area you stay in, but because we were on West 49th Street we chose the below options.
We had our plan for the last part of the day - dinner and drinks in BarSixtyFive - already booked about 5 weeks in advance. If you choose to go to Bar SixtyFive, and I highly recommend doing so, make sure to book in advance if you want a window table.
Quick walk around Times Square. We basically walked up Broadway from West 50th to West 40th on this day, to get a nice idea of our hotel's location in relation to everything.
Walked to Grand Central Station (East 42nd) and went in there to take photos.
Walked from there to New York Public Library. We didn't even go in but it's a fab spot for photos!
Chilled in Bryant Park (at NYPL) for about 20 minutes - this was one of my favourite feelings I experienced in New York. There was a Winter Village with an ice rink and ice bumper cars, and jazz music playing (how NYC is that?). You can see the Empire State Building from here and all the other amazing buildings too, it just was such a lovely way to start our holiday, it felt magical.
Made our way to Applebee's on West 42nd Street for some quick food. Although, later on in Bar SixtyFive the portions were quite big and sadly we couldn't eat much because we had already eaten in Applebee's. So maybe it's best not to have two dinners in the space of a few hours! Rest assured the portions aren't actually that small in Bar SixtyFive if you go there.
Walked back to our hotel to get ready for our 8.45 reservation. From there it was a few minutes walk to Bar SixtyFive - it's at Rockefeller Plaza on the 65th floor of 30 Rock. This is a perfect way to spend your first night in New York because you get to see the amazing skyline and city lights! Although, keep in mind before you book this for night 1 that you might be too tired to do anything after all the travelling. Bar SixtyFive have a dress code so we did dress up for the occasion but some others there were casual, so maybe the rule isn't enforced. If you're wondering we both ordered the sliders here and they were magnificent! Drinks here are expensive (the food actually isn't too dear) but we're not massive drinkers so our bill wasn't a huge amount. We spent $85 here which was pretty good.
Day Two: Full Day Out
Here's the map of everywhere we went on Day 2.
We spent day two out of our hotel room for over twelve hours. We didn't go back to our hotel in the evening to get ready for nighttime as we wanted to make use of every second we had in NYC! This was by far our busiest day there but we got SO much done and it was one of the best days of my life. If you're staying in Midtown like us and want to do the same things then this plan would be great to follow.
Headed out for about 8.30am. Ate breakfast at Junior's Restaurant and Bakery (on Broadway between W 50th and W 49th). Junior's became our fave local spot and we returned twice during our holiday! We never spent more than about $50 including tip here.
Downtown Big Bus Tour from W 42nd Street at Broadway (Stop 1). We bought our tickets online in advance and chose the Premium ticket (includes 48hr Hop-On-Hop-Off access on the uptown and downtown routes, as well as a choice between a one-time tour of Brooklyn, Harlem or a nighttime tour). These tickets cost $56pp online.
Got off the bus at City Hall (Stop 10) and walked to One World Trade Center to visit the observatory. We didn't by tickets in advance for this but I think it was the same cost anyway. You really can't plan for the sky to be clear on the day you visit the observatory, but we were lucky this day was actually the clearest and sunniest of our whole trip, and we could see as far as Connecticut. We chose this one over Top of The Rock and the Empire State Building because it's the highest of all 3 and is actually the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere! Reminder if you have a tripod/gorillapod on you they will take it off you at security going into the observatory but you'll get it back when you're leaving. These tickets were $44pp at the entrance (I think). Online tickets here.
Walked through the Oculus (unreal building) and out to the 9/11 memorial site to take it all in for 15-20 minutes.
Went into the 9/11 museum (we booked online and chose a guidded tour). The tour was one hour long and very informative - we definitely learned things from our guide that we wouldn't have learned walking around on our own. If you visit the museum I'm sure you'll be expecting it to be sad, and it really is - I cried at least twice. The guided tour museum tickets were $46pp online, here.
Walked from the World Trade Center down Fulton Street and took gorgeous photos of Freedom Tower/1WTC from there.
Walked Fulton Street > Broadway > Wall Street. We spent around 15 minutes on Wall Street taking photos, but I actually can't find many. P.S. If you come here you'll end up takig lots of tourists' photos for them.
From Wall Street we passed by the famous Charging Bull on our way to Battery Park, to catch the Staten Island Ferry before it got dark. The Staten Island Ferry is entirely free and takes about 20-25 minutes each way (Whitehall to St George's and vice versa). You get perfect views of the Manhattan Skyline and the Statue of Liberty for no cost whatsoever! So if I can recommend ONE thing to do in New York it's GET THE STATEN ISLAND FERRY. Note that you when you arrive at St George's Terminal on Staten Island you MUST leave the ferry, even if you are going straight back to Manhattan, then you just get back on and return! We didn't even plan for our journey to be at sunset but that made it even better, the sky looked so gorgeous that night!
Took the 1 Subway from South Ferry Station to Times Square 42nd Street Station. This is where the Eric's New York app came in handy because we could tap the Subway icon to see the subway lines on the map, in relation to our location at that moment. With that we could figure out what subway line we needed and where our nerest stop was, and how many stops it would be. This app also helps you find nearby wifi hotspots, places to eat, attractions, and so on so 10000% recommend it! We didn't get MetroCards for the subway because we didn't think we'd need them much, a lot of places in Manhattan are walkable. But if you'd rather take the subway over walking a lot then definitely do buy a MetroCard because paying per single ride costs $3 each time.
Having been out all day we were STARVING by this point and decided to eat in Olive Garden at Times Square, where we stuffed our faces with the unlimited free breadsticks and Caesar salad. We both had gorgeous pasta dishes and drinks, and after that it was time to head back to our hotel and crash. We spent about $70 or $80 including tip in Olive Garden.
We were going to visit SoHo and eat in a place there called Piccola Cucina Osteria, it's the #1 restuarant in New York on TripAdvisor, but we were so tired we just wanted a quick, laidback meal, and postponed our SoHo plans for another day.
Both pictures taken (at 50mm on my camera) from the Staten Island Ferry. How unreal is that view!
Day Three: More exploring and Mean Girls on Broadway in the evening
Our plans for this day were really affected by heavy snow but we still had a lovely day. I'll include the stuff we did but I'll also mention the other things we wanted to do and didn't.
Ellen's Stardust Diner for breakfast was our plan but we chose Junior's again. Ellen's Stardust is a famous singing diner and I hear it's amazing, but you can't book, so if you really want to go you'll have to queue outside for a long time.
We intended to ice skate at the Wollman Rink in Central Park at 10am (first session) but the snowstorm was coming so we didn't go. If you want to avoid long waits for the ice rink it's best to go early and get in the first session at 10am!
Got the Uptown Big Bus tour from 46th Street (Stop 18). The snow got really heavy by the time we reached Penn Station so we got off soon after, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We actually never got back on the Uptown or Downtown buses to finish off their routes so we didn't get the full use of the $56pp we spent, but do definitely try to do both tours in full!
Rushed through our photos at the Met Steps and went inside for warmth. We decided to explore inside the Met Museum (which is HUGE by the way!). Tickets cost $25pp.
Headed down Fifth Avenue to take some quick photos and walked into Central Park. With the snow & fog we didn't get to see Central Park for what it usually is - a scenic park with gorgeous views of the city's tall buildings all around it. But it was lovely to experience it in the snow as it was the only place the snow was sticking thick on the ground.
We walked to ShakeShack (on E 86th Street off Lexington Avenue), just to get indoors and eat some food. Sadly it was so busy in here that we ended up actually sitting outside to eat. Definitely wouldn't recommend this ShakeShack as a place to go on a snowy or wet day whatsoever! Still, the food here was yum. I can't remember the cost but it was likely below $30-$35.
Made our way back by subways. When we got off the subway closer to Times Square we went into a few shops around Fifth and Sixth Avenue and back to our hotel.
Walked a few minutes to the August Wilson Theater (W 52nd Street) in time for Mean Girls at 7pm. This show was so hilarious and worth every cent! If you're wondering, our seats were central mezzanine (the circle as we call it in Ireland) so we had a good view. No matter what show you go to you'll spend A LOT, so you don't want to spend so much money and then have really bad seats - just be careful when you buy them. Also, buy them in advance if there's a show you really want to see because you can't be sure you'll get last minute tickets! Anyway, I fully recommend Mean Girls to anyone. For two tickets it cost $223 including all fees/charges.
The tiredness was really catching up on us then so we headed straight to bed.
Both images taken at The Met
Day Four: Visiting Brooklyn and Jersey Boys in the evening
It was really hard to fit both Manhattan and Brooklyn in this map screenshot but here it is:
We were a bit lazy on this morning so we didn't go out early!
Went on the subway (any of the N/R/Q/W lines) to Union Square station to visit Joe's Pizza in Greenwich Village. We absolutely adored the Village so I highly recommend visiting this district! I think we spent less than $10 between us in Joe's Pizza.
From Union Square Station we took the 4 or 5 subway to Bowling Green station (just before South Ferry as this line doesn't stop there).
Headed to Battery Park to catch the 12pm Brooklyn Big Bus tour before our 48hr tickets expired. Unfortunately we missed it and didn't wait for the 2pm bus because our tickets expired at 12.
Instead headed into South Ferry Station and took the R subway to Court Street in Brooklyn, and from there walked to Washington Street in DUMBO.
Took amazing photos on the Manhattan Bridge from DUMBO. Fun fact, we actually saw Casey Neistat (Youtuber) on Washington Street twice this day!
Chilled around Brooklyn Bridge Park taking photos for a while after stopping at Starbucks. We were going to visit the NYPD 78th Precinct (which is the building used for outdoor shots of the 99 in Brooklyn Nine-Nine) but it was far away so we decide to go back to Manhattan.
Walked the Brooklyn Bridge back to Manhattan and had a lovely time, definitely do this when you go to New York!
Took a subway - I think from City Hall on the 6 line - to East 51st Street and from there walked West towards West 49th where we stayed.
Decided then not to go straight to the hotel, and instead walked around and went into Carlo's Bakery (West 41st). It took us about 20 minutes from entrance to exit in here.
Went back to the hotel before going to Bubba Gump Shrimp in Times Square for dinner before Jersey Boys. We spent about $90 including tip here - more expensive than most places so far and it wasn't even amazing!
We had planned to visit Bar Centrale on West 46th for some pre-show drinks, as it's a really cool hidden bar/speakeasy! If I go back to New York this will definitely be top of my list to visit.
Walked to New World Stages on West 50th (we found it really hard to find as Google Maps kept guiding us incorrectly). We made it JUST in time for the performance! Jersey Boys was so entertaining and the theatre was much comfier than the August Wilson. I don't know how much our tickets cost as they were a gift but we had Orchestra (or stalls as we call it) seating with a brilliant view!
We actually forgot to do this but our plan was to go to the Empire State viewing deck for a while! A few people told me after a show is the best time to go.
Day Five: A more chilled day
I won't include a map because we didn't go to many places on this day and I honestly can't remember much of it!
Went to a place called Thalia on 8th Avenue (just off West 50th) for breakfast/lunch. We spent about $75 including tip here.
Headed to the Flatiron Building from 50th Street Station on the 1 subway line, to 23rd Street Station. Walked East to the Flatiron District. Took some photos here and started to walk down Fifth Avenue towards the Empire State Building
We didn't really know what we wanted to do this day so we wandered in and out of shops including Macy's! I bought some stuff here and in Urban Outfitters, but we walked around for a good while.
We then decided to have a nice McDonald's (of course) and get back to our hotel to get ready for our reservation.
We ate in Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse, at 1221 Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue). This restaurant was so gorgeous (and it's huge) and their food is divine. It was recommended to us and we're so glad we actually went. It's a lovely, classy place for a date and was the perfect to eat for our last night, after eating in less fancy places every other night. Note there is a Del Frisco's Grille nearby too but this is a different restaurant so I don't know what it's like. Our bill here was somewhere around $200.
The only two photos we took on day 5, both at the Flatiron Building.
Day 6: Hotel check-out, SoHo and NoHo
As you can imagine we got up super early on Day 6 and packed our bags. Check-out time was 12pm but we checked out just before 11am. For more info on how we organised our return to the airport later that night, read here. Again I won't include a map because we didn't go to many individual or spread out places, we just wandered around the one area for the day.
Took the 1 Subway from 50th Street Station to Canal Street which is the closest station to SoHo.
Walked around SoHo (South of Houston st) which we loved, it's the most popular area in New York City for shopping! We both bought a good few bits in various shops here.
Ended up around NoHo (North of Houston St) and then it was time to get on a subway and head back to Times Square, where we wanted to buy an extra suitcase and some sweets to bring home with us.We got on one of the N/R//W subway lines at 8th Street and got off on 49th Street.
After shopping really quickly around Times Square, we rushed back to our hotel in time to get our suitcases and leave for the airport. And that was it, our perfect whirlwind holiday had come to an end!
So that's it for my NYC blog, I hope you enjoyed it - I know it was such a long read! I just hope it helps at least one person planning their trip. Realistically five days would be more than enough to do all the things I did so it certainly is possible to squeeze everything in! I don't think I left anything out of these blog posts so it really is as detailed as it can be. Thanks so much for reading! If you have any questions don't be afraid to leave a comment or send me an Instagram DM! I'll be back with another blog post as soon as possible.
Love,
Aisling
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