I'd planned a solo trip this time but my Dad got FOMO and decided to join me. We spent four nights (4.5 days) in the city, arriving at lunchtime on Thursday and leaving late on Monday night.
For more inspiration, check out my NYC weekend guide (I'll be updating it soon!), my reflections on my 28-year (now 29-year) love affair with NYC, my New York specialty coffee guide and 17 years of my New York blog archives!
THINGS TO DO IN NYC
Recreate an iconic photo on Top of the Rock
The Top of the Rock observation deck has long been one of my favourite viewing platforms in New York. You can get clear panoramic vistas of both Central Park and Manhattan, including the Empire State Building, and there's enough room at the top to enjoy the view. On recent trips, I tried out the Edge in Hudson Yards, which was fantastic. But the Top of Rock has a couple of new attractions I wanted to experience.
First was the Beam, a ride that allows you to recreate an iconic 1932 photo featuring 11 workers eating their lunch on a beam perched 69 stories above 30 Rockefeller Plaza. We arrived at the Rockefeller Center at 8 am, having pre-booked entry tickets and the Beam upgrade. It wasn't too busy and it was a cool but gloriously sunny morning.
After reaching the 69th floor we headed to the Beam, picking up some props (hammers and bagels) and then getting strapped into our seats on the Beam. Once we were ready, the Beam elevated us 12 feet up into the sky, rotating us around to give us an incredible view of Central Park and then turning us back around for our photo opp.
The whole experience took about a minute but because my Dad had missed the photo call and there wasn't a queue, we got to have another go. NB: we got to go on the Beam alone but you may have others with you during busy times. They include two digital photos in the fee, but you'll need to pay extra if you want more photos. I do wish the ride lasted a little longer but it was still an unforgettable experience — and now I'll be better prepared for my poses next time!
We then also decided to go on the Skylift, another new Top of the Rock experience. This is a circular, open-top glass lift that looks a little like a crow's nest and that slowly rotates while elevating three stories above the 70th floor. Lasting a few minutes, this ride was a little better value than the Beam and very enjoyable.
It's certainly the highest I've ever been above Midtown Manhattan. They take some photos of you but you'll need to pay extra (I think we paid $30 for all the photos from both rides) but for this one, you're probably better off taking your own photos and videos.
In total, we paid $40 each for the basic ticket, $25 for the Beam and $35 for the Skylift. If I had to pick just one of the two experiences, I'd probably go for the Beam, just because it was the most unique. You can save time by pre-booking tickets online or via GetYourGuide.
Take a stroll over Brooklyn Bridge
Every time I visit New York, I have to walk — or run — across Brooklyn Bridge at least once. This time, I did it three times. If you're only going to walk one way, I'd recommend heading to Brooklyn and then walking back to Manhattan to get those unforgettable city views.
We met at Court Street station (N, R and W trains) so that we could first stop for breakfast — divine rose pistachio croissants — at L'Appartement 4F and wander through the still pumpkin-populated brownstones of Brooklyn Heights. Depending on where you're travelling from, you could also head to Clark Street (2 and 3 trains — don't miss Drip Coffee Makers inside the station!) or High Street for the A and C).
Since my last visit, cyclists now have a separate lane, which makes walking over the bridge a little less stressful. I'd still recommend going earlier in the day — and it gets especially busy at weekends and for sunset. Don't forget to bring your camera — and be prepared to stop every few moments when you spot an even better view.
I was staying in TriBeCa, a five-minute jog from the Manhattan entrance to Brooklyn Bridge. Heading over to Brooklyn, across to the Manhattan Bridge (enjoying the view of Brooklyn Bridge) and back to my hotel made for a lovely 5K (3.5 mile) run, especially as it was such a bright, if crisp, autumn morning.
I've always hated 'last days,' especially in New York, and I always try to fill mine with as many activities as possible. As I didn't need to leave for the airport until 6 pm and as my hotel was so close, I managed one last walk to the bridge, just missing sunset but enjoying the golden views as the city lights came on. It was the perfect way to say goodbye — or au revoir, at least — to my favourite city.
Explore the High Line and Greenwich Village
Since the High Line first opened to the public in 2009, the elevated former freight rail track has been one of my favourite places to visit in New York. There's art, green places, spaces to relax and great views. This time, we entered the walkway at the north end, at Hudson Yards, around West 30th Street, and walked all the way down to the Whitney Museum of American Art, at Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District. We didn't go into the Whitney this time, but the rooftop terrace is a great place for city views (the exhibitions are usually great too).
We then spent a couple of hours walking around the West Village and Greenwich Village, probably my favourite neighbourhood in Manhattan. I love checking out the fantastic eateries, coffee spots and shops, as well as trying to pick out my dream house from the lovely, characterful brownstones. It's beautiful year-round but I think the autumn colours suit the Village particularly well. Don't miss Washington Square Park, where there's always something going on — jazz during our visit.
If you prefer to walk with a guide, check out the Bowery Boys' Greenwich Village Walk and Lit Pub Crawl's Bohemiam Culture Walk. Sadly, neither was running during our trip, but the former also offers lots of other walking tours, with a focus on history.
Soak up art, history and/or culture at a museum
I like to visit at least one museum every time I'm in New York. Some of my favourites include: the Tenement Museum (I particularly like their food tours, but if they're fully booked there's a similar food tour here), the Frick Collection, MoMA and the Morgan Library & Museum.
This time, we decided to try something different and dipped into the Barbie exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design. The exhibition spans several floors but will only take 45 minutes or so to walk through. There are, of course, many Barbies — and clothes, houses, cars and other accessories — on display, as well as plenty of history and information.
I couldn't resist the opportunity to ride in Barbie's car and enjoyed posing with Malibu Barbie's surfboard. I was surprised to find that my pink scarf was even pinker than Barbie's accessories! #BrightSpringProblems. If you're visiting with younger people, beware that the well-stocked gift shop can get quite pricey!
The Museum of Arts and Design is at Columbus Circle, making it very handy for a stroll through Central Park afterwards — especially lovely with the resplendent fall foliage and light on the pond.
Take in a Broadway show
When I'm in New York with my family, we usually go to see at least one play or musical. This time, the stars aligned for us to go to see Stereophonic, the much acclaimed (most Tony-nominated play of all time!) Broadway play that dramatises a Fleetwood Mac-like band's recording of a legendary album. My Dad is a fan of Fleetwood Mac, I like the music of Will Butler (formerly of Arcade Fire), who composed the music, we had great seats...
Sadly, the show was rather underwhelming. First, it was much too long, second, there was no real pay off at the end — the characters weren't very likeable and, with one exception, there was little in the way of growth or arcs — and third, there wasn't enough music. It is, as I noted above, a play with music, not a musical, but I was disappointed with how little music there was. The songs were great when we got them, and the performances and setting were good too. It was just a shame that the script didn't have a better editor — and that the (expensive) seats weren't more comfortable.
Shop 'til you drop
I didn't do quite as much shopping this time as I often do. The exchange rate with the pound has been terrible for us Brits for some time. And for almost every chain we also have in UK — Lululemon, Patagonia and Anthropologie, to name but three — it was either the same price or even cheaper (after tax) to buy the same items in the UK. Apple is still cheaper than the UK, though, and I got a new Apple Watch. And now that we no longer have bricks-and-mortar J. Crew stores in London, I took the opportunity to stock up on a few basics.
As for some of my favourite shops, I really like: Fishs Eddy (unique, quirky ceramics and homewares — great for gifts), Paragon Sports, Baggu (colourful bags and accessories — slightly cheaper than the UK), Marine Layer (cosy clothes), Greenwich Letterpress (lovely cards and stationery) and La Sirena (Mexican crafts and homewares). New York has some amazing independent bookstores, including: Three Lives & Company, McNally Jackson, Rizzoli and Books Are Magic.
If you're in New York (or the US) and looking for a gorgeous gift — or gift to self — check out my friend Sarah's Squids Ceramics collection. Her unique and colourful designs include cups, bowls, vases and candles. Sarah gave me one of her stunning cobalt candles, which is enjoying the view from my TriBeCa hotel room in the photo below. She often exhibits at markets: keep an eye on her Instagram to see where you can find her.
WHERE TO EAT & DRINK IN NYC
One of the main reasons I like spending time in New York is to experience the city's ever-changing and expanding food and drink culture. My 'to visit' list of bars, restaurants and other eateries is positively Sisyphean — each trip, I seem to add more venues than I can possibly check out! But I had some particularly memorable food and drink experiences this trip (and specialty coffee too!).
On my first day, an early supper was in order to help fend off the jet lag. I went to Carnitas Ramirez, a nose-to-tail taqueria in the East Village. After scanning the menu and feeling lost (despite having decent Spanish), I naively asked the server whether they just had 'regular carnitas' but it turns out that the real question is which part of the pig would you like in your taco.
Luckily, they have a menu explainer, and I opted for the costilla (rib), carnudo (extra-crispy pork belly) and surtido (a bit of everything). I followed it with a gordita de chicharrón, a lard-fried corn masa ball mixed with pork meat and filled with chicharrón (deep-fried pork belly). Everything tasted great, the staff are very friendly and it's a fab spot for a casual meal.
Continuing the Mexican theme, I headed to Superbueno, a Mexican–American cocktail bar where the cocktails take their inspiration from Mexican street food. I nabbed a seat at the beautiful bar where the charming bartender whipped me up a mole negroni — one of my favourite cocktails of the year, a perfect blend of smoky, sweet and bitter.
I'm known for my dislike of mushrooms but it's the texture not the flavour that bothers me so I had no hesitation in ordering the mushroom margarita (mezcal, orange liqueur, huitlacoche, lime and lava salt), which was delicious. They serve food too, although I was too full from my tacos! It's no surprise that Superbueno ranks among the World's 50 Best Bars.
Speaking of the World's 50 Best Bars, I'd been wanting to visit Double Chicken Please, in the Lower East Side, for some time. The best area is the Coop at the back but on a Friday evening, you either need to have booked well in advance or showed up at 5 pm to get a walk-in slot.
When my friends and I got there at 5:45 pm, there was a four- to five-hour wait. The wait for the Free Range section was more like two hours, so we put our name down and went to grab a bite to eat somewhere else while we waited (it was fine but not worth a call-out here).
Just under two hours later, I got a text summoning us back to Double Chicken Please, like chickens heading home to roost. The cocktails in the Free Range section are inspired by cartoons and they're really good. I had the Pooh (named for Winnie the), which took me right back to the Hundred Acre Wood with its gin, pine, birch, honey and clarified-milk flavours.
The Pocket of Sweet (inspired by Doraemon, a robotic Japanese cat), was delicious too: a creative take on an Old Fashioned, with a cute matcha-filled wafer on top. There are bar snacks available, but the Coop, with its chicken sandwiches and food-inspired cocktails, is better for a more substantial feed.
As we were celebrating my birthday — a few days early — we had a lovely, leisurely lunch at ABC Kitchen. We shared a pizza to start and then made up for the lack of chicken at Double Chicken Please with the fried chicken in hot sauce and crispy potatoes. We probably only needed one caramel popcorn sundae between the three of us, but let's just say we managed! The fruity cocktails were tasty too.
After that epic lunch, I didn't really need dinner but I'd been wanting to eat at Thai Diner in Nolita. I assumed it would be fully booked but a spot at the counter opened up pretty quickly. The Uncle Boon's Kao Pat Puu (crab-fried rice with spicy seafood sauce) was delicious, my Aces Go Places cocktail helping to temper the moderate spice. I'll have to go back when I'm hungrier, for sure!
On the 'queuing likely' front, we couldn't stick out the epic lunch line for L'Industrie Pizzeria in the West Village, but did get to Hamburger America in SoHo early enough to get two seats at the counter in only 15 minutes. The burgers at this retro-style diner were great, although I'd recommend going for the regular cheeseburger or the smash burgers over the steamed 'cheese burg.'
It was the white cheddar of the latter that tempted me but the fried burger and toasted bun of my dad's smash burger were tastier than my Vienna roll. It was fun to sit at the counter and watch the theatre — and the 'bun toaster and butterer' (need one of these at home!).
Other shout-outs go to: Dante (a family favourite in Greenwich Village, where we had an excellent last lunch of pappardelle and burrata), Butler (great breakfast and brunch options, like the bacon, egg and cheese sandwich pictured below) and Loveless (Bushwick coffee shop that also does fab brunch — more on this in my NYC specialty coffee update).
WHERE I STAYED IN NYC
There isn't really a cheap time to visit New York any more, but November definitely isn't it — January to March is generally a little more affordable. To get the best deals, you need to book a long way in advance. When I booked in July, there weren't really any bargains to be had.
When I used to come for work in the Financial District, I often stayed at the Hilton Doubletree Downtown (perfectly fine, close to good transport links and with great views from the higher-floor rooms), the Hilton Garden Inn NYC Financial Center or the Club Quarters World Trade Center. For this trip, the rooms at these (and their sister locations and equivalent chains) were around £200 per night.
The next price band up is the 'budget boutique' category, where you get more character, comfortable and chic rooms, good dining and other facilities and teeny, tiny rooms, even for New York. I considered staying at the Arlo (with locations in SoHo, NoMad and Midtown) but opted instead for the Walker Hotel TriBeCa — both were about £250 per night.
In the case of the Walker, this was for a Queen room (the second-smallest room category) and included a $15 food/drink credit, to be used in the in-house restaurant Mostrador, the speakeasy Saint Tuesday or the lobby cafe. When a croissant costs $8 (and a ham and cheese croissant costs $15!) this doesn't go far, but is better than nothing!
The staff were friendly and helpful, and the location — just south of Canal Street and SoHo, and close to several subway stations — excellent. They also have a sister location in Greenwich Village, and both venues organise lots of fun events like astrology dinners!
As for my room, it was indeed small, but had incredible views north to SoHo and Midtown from the 10th floor. The bed was comfortable, the shower powerful and the room quiet and well-appointed. It's definitely better suited for those travelling light — I had to keep my small suitcase under the bed.
As I always say, if you're spending a lot of time in your room, you're not doing New York right — but my room at the Walker was a lovely place to catch up on those Zs and enjoy the million-dollar view of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler (pictured above at golden hour).
NEED TO KNOW
For NYC packing tips, check out my recommendations of tried-and-tested products for travel.
Electricity
The United States uses two types of plug socket: type A (two flat parallel pins) and type B (two flat parallel pins with a grounding pin). You may also need to use a voltage converter, if you're bringing appliances like a hairdryer.
Getting there & around
I got a good deal on return British Airways flights in World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy). Even better, I was able to upgrade both legs to Club World for small additional charges. The total cost was about £1,400 — not cheap, by any means, but you're unlikely to get a better return price in business class on BA.
Better still, as my Dad was flying in First, I could join him using the First security and lounges. The Concorde Lounge at Heathrow T5 was lovely and relaxing — much quieter than the Galleries lounge, although the food was really the same (hash browns were rebranded as potato rosti!), but served in comfortable, private booths, and I had an enjoyable Marmite Martini.
At JFK, the food (lobster bisque and excellent burger) and craft cocktails at the Chelsea Lounge at T8 were fantastic. With its pretty cocktail bar, the overall effect was more classy NYC restaurant than hectic airport lounge. My Club Suite on both flights was great, although the return journey was extremely turbulent, so I didn't get much sleep. I felt much better after a shower and breakfast at the arrivals lounge at Heathrow T5, though.
From JFK, my Dad and I took a taxi into Manhattan, which cost about $80, including tolls, and took about 45 minutes to my hotel in TriBeCa. We arrived early, getting into the taxi around 12:45 pm — when I've arrived slightly later, the traffic is often a bit slower. The return journey, around 6 pm on a Monday evening, took around an hour and cost $100. NB, the Uber price at the same time was around $120, so it's worth shopping around.
Money
At the time of writing (November 2024), 1 British pound (GBP) is worth about $1.26. The exchange rate has been poor for us Brits for some time, sadly. I was able to pay by contactless, Apple Pay or credit card everywhere — and note that some venues are cash-free — although it was handy to have some small-denomination bills on hand for tips.
You will need to factor in 8.875% sales tax (a combination of city and state tax) on restaurant and bar bills and on most purchases (except clothes and shoes that cost under $110 per item). Tip at least 20% in restaurants, bars and coffee shops — more if the service was really good and if you're able to do so.
Time zone
New York is on US Eastern Time, five hours behind GMT: Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) in the spring/summer and Eastern Standard Time (EST) in the autumn/winter. Note that daylight savings time doesn't start and end at the same time in the USA as in the UK, Europe and Australia.
Weather & when to visit
I truly believe that New York is a great city to visit (almost) year-round and I've visited multiple times in every month of the year. For work, I used to come regularly in January and February and it was usually cold, sometimes very snowy and sometimes just crisp and sunny. Room rates are also usually cheaper in January and February and it's easier to get tickets to big shows and tables at restaurants.
My favourite times to come are late spring (April and May) and autumn (October and November), when the respective pretty flowers and fall cosiness make the city particularly lovely. July and August can be very hot and humid, so I'd avoid those months if you can — or plan to spend a lot of time in the air conditioning!
Wifi & mobile data
I bought a 7-day 3 GB eSIM package from Airalo, my eSIM provider of choice. This lasted for my whole 4.5-day trip, with a few MB to spare (I also tried to use wifi when downloading podcasts or watching videos). I was connected to the T-Mobile and Verizon networks and had great coverage throughout my stay. Want to try Airalo on your next trip? Sign up using my referral code — REBECC3024 — and we both get $3 credit.
Craving more NYC inspiration? Check out my NYC weekend guide, my New York specialty coffee guide and 17 years of my New York blog archives!
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