Another stop I had planned for my parents and I was gonna be in New York City, as we all know its one of the cities hit the hardest, but we hope it will recover and we will get to visit it another time. But once again, here is what we had planned. Let us know, when you tried it.
Our plan for New York City was to stay in a certain area each day and check off different things in this area. That way we could keep it rather simple and more to the walking. We were gonna get a hotel pretty close to Times Square, but also a subway pass to get around the city.
Day 1 – Central Park and Upper East Side
After some breakfast we would’ve started the day with a subway ride to the Upper East Side. The place where the rich ones live, a gossip girl place. Strolling through the streets and admiring all these expensive homes and imaging the people living in there. Our next stop was gonna be for another iconic Gossip Girl moment. Yes you guessed right, its the Metropolitan Museum of Art, since we aren’t huge Art lovers, we probably would’ve skipped the inside, but a picture on the stairs (with a coffee cup) would’ve been a must.
Since we are already in the area was it just natural to check out the Central Park and the Central Park Zoo, my parents would’ve had a lot of fun and it would’ve been the perfect escape from that crazy city. Sitting in Central Park you can forget what a hectic city it is and pretend for just a few moments that you are in the middle of some country side.
On top of our priority list was the American Museum of Natural History, not because we wanted to see the actual exhibitions, but because of the movie “Night at the Museum” and all that and I found out online, that you can actually get into the museum deciding on your own how much to pay by going to the designated line.
We had ticket for Top of the Rock at 17:15, so we would’ve made our way through Central Park over there and once we were done with that it would’ve been some dinner and then back to the hotel to get some rest for the next day.
Day 2 – Midtown and Chelsea
Our second day was gonna be around Chelsea and Midtown so we would’ve gotten on the subway after a nice breakfast and headed over to the Highline. Walking along the Highline is pretty cool, they are old traintracks that are unused now and got turned into this green walking area, with tons of plants along the way. There is also this super new building along the Highline, which offers a free observation deck (tickets are available 2 weeks prior to the date). Another thing you can find while walking along the Highline is Kelsey Montagues Heart Flock Wall Art (10th Ave & W 29th St, New York, NY 10001).
At W 16th St we would’ve gotten off the Highline and walked it down to get to another one of Kelsey Montagues Wall Pictures a dog whose leash you can hold (9 W 16th St, New York, NY 10011). After all this walking we would’ve deserved some nice lunch so our way was gonna be to the Flatiron Building, a building that is a junction of a few streets, so the building actually goes super slim. Before heading back up towards our hotel, we were gonna hit Kelsey Montagues Angel Wings (200e E 23rd St, New York, NY 10010) for another photo op.
On our way to the last stop we would’ve seen the Empire State Building and many other hidden gems along the way. The end of our sightseeing would’ve been like the beginning a gossip girl moment at the Grand Central Station.
The subway would’ve brought us back to the hotel, where we would’ve gotten ready for dinner at Elen’s Stardust Diner, a diner, where currently unemployed musical actors are working and performing. And for the perfect end of the day we would’ve watched a Broadway musical (we were still debating whether we should watch Tina Turner or Frozen. Maybe you have a recommendation for us).
According to Google Maps we would’ve walked for about 1:30h around New York City, but since it would’ve been split up around the hotel day, it would’ve been doable.
Day 3 – Financial District & Surroundings and Brooklyn
In the morning we would’ve gotten on the subway and headed over to the Nutella Cafe to get some breakfast, I’ve been to their previous location and it was hands down one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had.
From here we would’ve gotten back on the subway and over to the 9/11-Memorial and Museum. We had tickets for the 9/11-museum around 9:30, because it is something that has made worldwide news, but yet we want to learn more about it, by visiting the one place that can show us most about it. We planned plenty of time for the visit, so the next thing on our plan was gonna be the Charging Bull at Wall Street, while walking down to the Staten Island Ferry, because we had tickets to get to the Statue of Liberty at 13:00.
Once we got back from there, we would’ve walked along the East River to the Brooklyn Bridge to cross it over to Dumbo *another gossip girl moment*. This spot is super popular, because it makes for some pretty cool pictures and is totally worth it. And the walk across the Brooklyn Bridge gives you some pretty views of the city and part of its skyline.
Instead of walking across the Manhattan Bridge back over, we would’ve gotten onto the subway and gotten off in the middle of Chinatown. I love to stroll these different parts of New York City, so this was the perfect opportunity. Little Italy was also on our list, so it was kind of obvious that we would check it out as well, while being in the area. And since there can’t be a day without streetart, we would’ve checked out Kelsey Montagues Peacock (126 Allen St), before getting some well deserved dinner (maybe even in Chinatown or Little Italy) and heading back to the hotel to prepare for the next day.
Day 4 – Relaxing
Today was gonna be our relaxed day. Well at least for my mom and I. The plan was to head out of the city over to Jersey Garden Mall, this is an outlet mall, where you can find an outlet for almost any brand you can imagine and the best part is, that because it is in New Jersey there are no sales taxes on clothing, so you can safe even more money. Not sure if my dad woudl’ve enjoyed it as much as my mom and I, but you gotta do, what you gotta do to make your family happy right?
Day 5 – Midtown
Our last day in New York City was gonna be just a half day, but that was ok. So after packing our stuff and storing it at the front desk, we would’ve made our way to Times Square one more time to just suck it all up. After all that noise and stress there, we would’ve made our way to the Grand Central Library to calm down in peace and quiet, while enjoying the nice library.
On our way to the next stop we would’ve had the chance to walk through Central Park and Upper East Side some more, before getting on the Roosevelt Island Tram to get another special view of the skyline and the city that never sleeps. Once back from the island, we would’ve walked some more through the streets to get a little afternoon snack/dessert at the Magnum Ice Cream Bar. For those of you, who have never been there. At this place you can choose which chocolate your Magnum Ice Cream should be covered and also a few toppings to add to it, pretty awesome and pretty tasty.
Well and that was all about our time in NYC, because we would’ve had to head to the airport around 4pm to get on our flight to Phoenix.
I hope you might get to try out our sightseeing plan and if you do so, let me know about it in the comments.
Kathi's Travel Adventure 