My NYC itinerary... HELP and if you're an expert now's the time to show off...

[NewYorkFirstTimer]

Looking at maps. I'll try and do block days where I'm kind of in the same area each day. Going for one week next February (I hate hot weather). I'll get a 4 day pass to do the attractions, the other days I'll just be wandering around. Little Italy, shopping and eating, drinking. I've already posted a few things but if anyone can please tell me if I'm thinking on the right lines location wise I'd really appreciate it!

Day 1 (hotel is Wall Street)
9/11 memorial
Statue of liberty ferry cruise

Day 2
Empire State Building
Museum of sex (intrigued)
Madame Tussauds

Day 3
Air and space museum
Museum of natural history

Day 4
St Patrick's Cathedral tour followed by catacombs by candlelight tour underneath
Artechouse (to the left of the island so I know this is further... it's just last on the list)

Thoughts?! I'm excited... but going alone so very nervous!!

I'm looking at a Go City pass, you can have either the all inclusive where you buy a block of days and once it's activated you can go to as many attractions as you like but it runs out in say 3 days so you have to cram it all in. Could be tiring if I want a chill day in between. Or the explorer where you can select up to ten fixed attractions but spread them out all week. I'm not sure what's best for me yet until I decide for sure where I'm going. Since starting this post I've already scrapped two things!

Rockefeller is much better as then you get the iconic view of the empire state building

@NewYorkFirstTimer get the Citymapper app. It's great for directions and tells you which train and in which direction you get. Gives you a variety of options via different routes.

Also shows the next few so if you just miss one you can see next option straightaway without searching again.

The high line is good even in winter. Great walk down to Chelsea Market from USS Intrepid which is a great visit!

You've decided to scrap MT which I was going to say!

I HIGHLY recommend doing a helicopter ride - it seems a lot of money for a short period of time, but it's really amazing to see all the sights from above for yourself.

I also enjoyed little things like getting a slice of NY pizza and checking out some thrift stores.

You'll have a great trip whatever you do - don't get too bogged down trying to do absolutely everything the city has to offer - you can't 😃

oh yes! you can take the E; it’s a long route tho as it goes up thru the middle of nyc and then south; iirc the A&C are more frequent (but you’d have to get them from ozone boulevard)

tipping is a bit of a minefield. On bills you’ll also get charged sales tax, which will not be on the price displayed on a menu or on a shop price label, so be sure to budget for jt

We (dh is a new yorker, i’m not) tip 20% in sit down restaurants, bars or cafes (including diners etc) about 10% to cabs, couple of $ every other day fkr hotel housekeeping, similar for anyone who helps with bags. If you sit at bar in a pub etc they often bring the bill with each drink - usually leave $2-3 depending on cost and what it is; fancy cocktail would get more than a beer. I don’t usually tip at a coffee shop getting takeaway coffee etc unless i’ve ordered a lot and / or service is excellent

Wow. So if I sit in a diner and say a cheeseburger is 20 dollars I not only have to add on 4 dollars for a tip but have to think of another what - 8% - to include tax? Thanks so much for your help with all this. I'm actually very streetwise usually... but not when I'm 3,500 miles away lol! I'm budgeting around 250 dollars per day but I'll be sick if I actually spend it all 😁

I know I have to add on tax for clothes shopping but had no idea it was the same policy in restaurants!

Food is expensive. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch as DS was flagging a bit. We had two fish and chips and a chicken sandwich with chips, two cokes and two beers and it was about $190 including tip.

There are cheaper places obviously however, the above was just a restaurant near Grand Central.

Yep I've deliberately booked a hotel that includes breakfast and I'll be wolfing it down even if it tastes like shit! As I say I'll treat myself to a sit down meal for one night. Might even order a steak and a bottle of wine towards the end if I have £45,765,578 leftover. But I'll mainly be eating on the go, street carts etc. I've also decided I'm going to wrap up a couple of bottles of pinot in my checked luggage if I feel like a drink in the evening! So hopefully all that will help me to not remortgage my house

same - there’s a madam Tussaud’s in London, just go there. I’d definitely do Brooklyn bridge and some time in Brooklyn. Also - the Met, MoMA, Rockefeller (top of the rock), Staten Island ferry, Central Park, High Line. A show on broadway (go to the TKTS booth on the day).

@NewYorkFirstTimer top tips from me:

-don’t bother with the city passes. Book in advance to places you want to go to at a time you’d like to go. Otherwise you have to queue twice- once to swap your city pass for a venue ticket then again to get in.

-Empire state is least busy very first thing in the morning.

-NBC studio tour is awesome. Try and get audience tickets for SNL if you are there.

-Breakfast at Tiffany is lovely. Resy is the app you need to book restaurants and they open 30dats in advance. You’ll need to be on it for Tiffany’s

-Sunday service and a walking tour in Harlem is awesome. Includes the Apollo theatre. Book Sylvia’s for a soul food gospel brunch. Amazing (book well in advance tho!)

-deffo Grand central station tour

-The ride is a ridiculously fun theatre bus tour.

-walk to an original soda fountain in Brooklyn.

-at Macy’s/Bloomingdale’s go to guest services first to get a discount card valid for that day. You’ll need your passport.

-queue for on the day tickets at the theatre. Line up an hour before they open for sales - much cheaper. Or second the today Tix app.

-Beauty and Essex is a fun dinner venue. So is fining at MOMA.

-UN building tour is fab.

-buy breakfast at the local Delis - delish

Have a fab time!

Lots of great advice.

I thought the high line was ok but not worth going out of your way. Not sure what I was expecting but I was expecting more!

We did a walking food tour around little Italy which was amazing!!

@NewYorkFirstTimer I find it easier to walk and get cabs rather than the subway. Cabs are very cheap in comparison to London/UK. Food however is not so much.

Ellis Island was great.

On the city pass app it tells you which attractions you can just turn up to and show your pass and which ones you have to book in advance. So you book in advance pick a time slot etc then just turn up with your pass. Is that not right? Am I missing something? Also do you have to walk around with your passport to prove identity? I'll be buying some sort of vest to wear with zip pockets so I can carry these things underneath my coat. I'm also really pinning my hopes on queues being very small with it being February...

Can I carry my UK driving licence around rather than my passport? Which ideally I want locked in a safe 😳

During the week down on old slip / Water Street (bottom of Wall St near the water) there’s loads of food trucks on almost daily basis, for the office workers

We used to get the most amazing falafel sandwich platters which included a soda for less than $10! (No tip needed either) from a lady who drives a green / yellowy van, I think the name of the place began with an A (Ambiba or something) when I was there at end of last year she was still there. If weather is ok, you can sit and watch the views over the river from elevated acre round the corner (looks like an office block, you reach it via steps / escalator)

also round the corner from there is 787 coffee which has excellent coffee. If you want reliable chain with sandwiches and coffee, try Le Pain Quotiden or Financier whose Pain au Chocolat are amazing. They both have stores down that way too (I used to work round there)and around the city.

Loads of good suggestions here, but just wanted to say that one of the best things we did was to get matched with a Big Apple Greeter www.bigapplegreeter.org/ the first day of our first trip (we've been quite a few times since).

It's a free tour with a volunteer New Yorker and was great for orienting ourselves generally (including using the subway) and seeing some bits of the city we might not have otherwise and getting ideas for places to explore further on our own. Our greeter was absolutely lovely, with some great stories and just so generous with his knowledge and time.

Chelsea good market is worth a visit OP. Greenwich and Lower East Side. Enjoy some pizza from Bleeker Street it’s delicious. Enjoy your trip x

Food market but it is good!

I'm right by Water Street!

@NewYorkFirstTimer my city pass experience is years old. But I’d do some research as to the ‘real’ value of it. NYC is exhausting first time and you’ll want to do everything but try and rein it in and personally I’d say do more stuff independent of the tourist route as suggested on here. Check on the Macy’s etc website for the discount card terms. From memory it was passport.

I think Moma is free on Fri nights too.

I recommend visiting the Tenement Museum and Ellis Island. Amazing for learning about immigrants lives on arriving in America

Also Katz's deli for a pastrami sandwich- oldest deli in NYC, and where they did the famous scene in When Harry Met Sally.