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!!

Oh and Juniors diners on and near Times Square were reasonably priced and very NYC.

I have done both. If you just want to see the statue then Staten Island ferry is fine. However I found the museum under the statue very interesting and also the Ellis Island museum, and you'll only get them on a paid-for cruise.

Random tip; take layers and not big jumpers if you’re there in Feb. When it’s winter, the heating gets whacked on everywhere and you’ll sweat as soon as you get inside. I never needed the big jumpers that I have here in the UK!

I used to layer with Uniqlo thermals, and have a good coat, socks, hat and gloves. Also fyi lots of museums and tourist places don’t allow big umbrellas or backpacks and make you check them in at the coat room. I remember going to MoMA once and the line to check them was insane.

My highlights were:
Long established John's Pizza in Greenwich village (interesting history plus great pizza!)
Empire State at dusk
The Highline
The Tenement Museum.

Was in NYC last week - really recommend Summit One Vanderbilt over Empire State (you can’t see the Empire State when you’re in it).

Central Park was amazing to walk around and is huge, I would combine that with your trip one of the museums.

You can use contactless on the subway, it’s capped over a week. Really easy to use.

The Intrepid museum was awesome! They do a free Friday each month and I think other museums so free days as well each month so May be worth checking against the dates that you’re going.

Check if your hotel has a destination fee and what that covers. Usually wifi and a restaurant credit but we got free tickets to the American natural history museum, boat tour and one world observatory (one ticket per night stay).

I'll be wearing a winter coat and a zip fleece underneath. Then just my usual t-shirts. Will also wear a hat, scarf and gloves with appropriate shoes and socks. Will be my memory foam walking shoes or I'll buy snow boots if there is snow, I'll check the forecast a couple of weeks before I fly. I won't be carrying a bag at all during the day, unless I've purchased something. Money, cards, phone and passes will be carried within internal zip pockets x

What's the cost of a destination fee please?

I agree.

@rubbishatballet

Thanks for stage greeter tip. It says you can donate online - I assume you need to rip as well? Do you know what going rate is?

It depends on your hotel but usually $30-55 per night. It might already be included in your booking.

I wouldn't miss frick collection it's in stunning classic house as well and not big.
Also the fraunces tavern, very famous room upstairs, atmospheric and on a very old street which is a good contrast to wall Street which is right by it.

You are all being super helpful thank you. I'll be re-doing my to do list... definitely not bothering with MT and am replacing it with RiseNY for a start... keep any ideas coming!

Guggenheim is great.

You really should try to conquer your self-consciousness about going to a comedy club etc alone- the thing about big cities is that they let you be anonymous and are full of all sorts of people being much, much odder than just going to listen to some jokes by themselves. I can assure you that literally nobody will pay any attention to you (especially if you are a middle aged woman, we are basically invisible anyway) or waste a millisecond of their busy city lives wondering why you are alone.

(Obviously this refers to safe places, I am not suggesting you go out and get shit faced in a backstreet club by yourself).

I did a bike tour when I visited with my sister - it's got the advantages of a walking tour in that you're there on the street, much better than seeing stuff go past from a bus or a car, but you can cover more ground than when you're walking. We cycled over the Brooklyn Bridge and all sorts. If you're moderately fit and can ride a bike in a town in the UK you'd do fine, you don't need to be a pro or anything! There are lots of bike lanes and you're in a small group with a guide.

I'd like to do a bike ride in Central Park but I'll have to see how icy it's going to be first 😊

Please go to Starr Street and get tacos at Los Hermanos as they are the best tacos ever and used to be $1 each.

Pedicab tour of Central Park was a highlight of our trip.

Also someone said not to bother with passes. We bought 10 attraction passes for our week long trip. In the end we used 8. I knew 10 would be too many but we didn’t expect the weather to be as good so I bought 10 thinking of the weather was really poor we would have a couple of options to go to keep dry and warm as we travelled in February.

I bought our passes on groupon and got cash back also from top cash back. All in it equated to £17 per attraction so a bit saving particularly when most are around £45 or so per visit. Definitely worth looking at. Don’t discount.

The only thing we had to book was ESB which we did when in the building and still walked on. We didn’t queue for anything.

I second the advice to check the trip advisor forum and post there too. You will get different perspectives and maybe some new ideas. There is no right or wrong of course, you should do whatever you want on your holiday but it never hurts to have as much info as possible.

The trip advisor forum is generally anti helicopter rides, bikes in Central Park and pedicabs in Central Park. The first I think safety/cost, the second because you don't get to see much of the actual Park since bikes are limited in where they can go and pedicabs because of the cost and the fact they're so limited in where they can go.

Food wise there are plenty of inexpensive options, food carts as you've said but also markets, delis, food courts, salad bar chains, dumpling places. Don't panic on that score.

We love the UWS. If you have a Sunday free I would suggest the grand bazaar (a flea market, if that's your kind of thing. It's not a must see at all) which is only open Sunday mornings, a wander round the area, a cookie from Levain bakery then into Central Park on foot for a walk around. You could add a visit to zabars for food for lunch/dinner and also because it is an institution! Being on the UWS also gives you options on museums/galleries too, or you can meander down towards the Lincoln Centre and on to Columbus Circle.

We like the highline, even in winter (maybe especially since it's quieter!).

Definitely try and leave some time for wandering rather than just ticking off a series of must dos. Sometimes the things you stumble across are the best.

My favourite thing about NYC when I went (admittedly a long time ago) was a kind of living Museum showing how migrants lived when they first arrived - tenement museum maybe? Sorry that’s really vague 🤣

(And I went with a toddler so we couldn’t do all the things I might have done)

day 1: 9/11 museum I thought was so interesting, it took us a full morning and still could’ve spent more time. I’d just take the Staten Island ferry (remember to stand on the correct side!) to see Statue of Liberty. It’s free and probably the right amount of time given how cold it’ll be. If you wanted to squeeze an observation deck on this day, you could do the one world observatory. It’s fully inside and has good views so definitely an option if the weather is bad.

day 2: glad you’ve decided to scrap MT. Definitely more interesting things to do in NYC! I personally preferred Top of the Rock but was glad we ticked the box of Empire State - I found it far too crowded when we went and lots of queues. But was still glad we done it.

day 3: a bit too museum heavy for me. Natural History Museum is good (but you could spend a full day in there!). I’d probably do half a day Natural History Museum, then spend the other half exploring Central Park given how close they are. Not too far from the Natural History Museum is Levain bakery which does amazing New York style cookies etc! Worth a look, also lots of $1 pizza slice places nearby for a cheap easy lunch.

I found a Broadway show in the middle of my trip was ideal, it gave my feet a much needed rest after days of intense walking! I’m sure they sell individual tickets quite cheaply nearer the time, too.

other worthwhile mentions: the met, Chelsea food market, 5th avenue shopping, there’s also a rooftop bar that overlooks Times Square that I thought was really good (forget the name, but it’s part of a hotel).

Here be barre on YouTube is really good for recommendations and explaining the subway, I’d definitely give him a watch before you go.

I very nearly booked for 5 nights but due to this thread I'm so glad I went for a full week!

Tell me more about this national geographic museum!!

I know all of the major museums in NYC fairly well and can't place this one. Could it be some confusion with the Natural History Museum?

https://www.amnh.org/

THE NEW ITINERARY

Well thanks for all your input I really have read and researched every single one. I think I'm going with the following roughly:

Day 1
2pm by the time I've checked in, unpacked and probably fucking cried with relief that I've actually arrived with no issues. This is the main part of the dream! I'll explore, do either a quick subway ride to check out Central Park before dark, walk Brooklyn Bridge, dig around Little Italy or Soho

Day 2
911 museum
Staten Island ferry ride

Day 3
Hop on hop off bus
Ride around a bit until the inevitable hangover wears off. Then disembark at Chelsea Market. Do the high line and the Artechouse. This kind of museum looks more interesting to me than art or history... neither of which particularly interest me if I'm being honest. It was more of a "oh I probably should" thing. I've seen them in London... same with shows I'm afraid

Day 4
RiseNY. This does look rather quirky
Empire State Building in daytime

Day 5
Keep free to just take it all in and do some shopping including Soho. There's a place called Perfect Picnic included on my pass so I'll be trying their sandwiches out

Day 6
Top of the rock at night. Lights!
Walk to Grand Central Station and see what that's all about
Maybe go to The Stand and see if they are selling tickets for a comedy show

Day 7
Keep free to do anything above I've not fit in because we all know the entire plan will go to shit and I'll do it all differently
If I can stretch by this point - a nice, expensive dinner and some good wine

Day 8
Daytime free so one last wander, then off to JFK at around 2pm ✈️

Food places I'd like to check out in between are Katz Deli, Ellen's Stardust Diner and Ray's Pizza.

Other suggestions or comments still very welcome 😊