New York weekend

[magicstar1]

My 50th is early next year, and DH & I thinking of going to New York for a weekend in January - Friday to Tuesday.
I was looking at the Virgin Hotel, but does anyone have a different recommendation for hotels?

What would you definitely include as a must do on the weekend. We want to do some shopping, try a few diners, have a nice dinner etc.
Thanks.

We visited in mid February last year for a week. For 6 of those days it was t shirt weather.

I wished we’d booked breakfast with the hotel, that way it’s out the way and you can get on with day, we did try a couple of diners - not great, best breakfasts were from a bakery, the good ones tend to have queues out the door and very limited seating in the mornings. If we went back I would definitely do bed and breakfast.

I went to Chicago in February before and it was fab! Museums were empty and loved seeing the snow. I wouldn’t let the cold weather put you off. Just make sure you wear warm clothes.

I don’t mind still coldness. We’ve been to the Antarctic. What I’m less keen on is a whistling cold wind that freezes you. We had it like this in March one year. DD lived in NY for a bit and found the winters cold. Global warming means it’s unpredictable I think.

Some great recommendations and thoughts here…thanks

Pack some waterproof boots for the slushy pavements.

We were in NYC for a few days in April.

If you love art MOMA is a must - it has an astonishing collection and your entry fee also covers any permanent exhibition.

We really loved the Highline - really interesting walk and great views over the Hudson. You can walk around Chelsea and and Meatpacking district at the end.

We stayed at a fairly basic but fine hotel in the Upper West Side. The subway is the cheapest and quickest way to get around. It is fine - prepare for it to be a lot more old fashioned and grubby than the London Underground. You can use contactless cards on it these days, which is definitely helpful for tourists! Also if you are in upper Manhattan don't discount the cross town bus - it is easy to use and is the quickest way to get from east to west.

We tended to go to a old fashioned bagel shop near our hotel for breakfast - for about six dollars we got a large filter coffee and a toasted bagel with spread - eg butter, jam, cream cheese, some sort of smoked salmon type pate called lox spread.

There are lots of fancy bars but the dive bars are also quite fun - these are quite basic and much more like our pubs. They tend to be cheaper for beer and often show sports.

I would also plan your days quite well. I am a Londoner of twenty plus years and though I was good with big cities but New York is somethi g else - it is very very extra There is a LOT of stuff and it is so big!

I love diners too OP! We stayed on the lower east side in an apartment & would recommend Veselka for an authentic diner experience. It’s Ukrainian in origin & does big stacks of pancakes, waffles, hearty cooked breakfasts etc. Perfect for the cold weather!

The subway can be confusing. Some stations don’t have real time info so train destinations vary! As even seasoned travellers find out. It’s pretty grubby and rickety and we had water dripping down into the platform everywhere! London is way better but it’s fairly cheap.

I agree about MoMa. The Highline is excellent. I think there’s a Heatherwick installation in Hudson Yards now. I really liked walking back into Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge but seriously cold in winter.

We just haven’t shopped much in NY. It’s not cheaper due to exchange rate and then there’s getting it home. DH likes Cole Hahn shoes but overall, I don’t think shopping is worth it, but you will stay warm in a shop. The smart department stores are ok but the cheap ones like Macy’s were awful. There’s just better things to see and do. I would look up small specialist shops if there’s anything you really want.

The virgin hotel is a great location OP!

We stayed literally a minute away from it recently, there's two subway stations really close so you can quickly hop up to Central Park / down to Brooklyn and it's really easy.

You've also got an Essa Bagel / Starbucks a minute or two away for a quick breakfast, only a 10 min max walk to flatiron and all the great bits there, similarly only 10 min max up to Macy's and broadway / bit further for Times Square. We love the location and stay in that area because it's such a good place for everything we need!

Definitely recommend the Highline, although it won't be in full bloom because of the time of year. We enjoy NYC more in the colder months too, it's just lovely and fresh.

We love Central Park, if you get the tube up to the bottom left corner of it there's a Starbucks to grab a coffee to keep you warm as you wander around, it's beautiful. If you do a small loop around the lower half (going across sheep's meadow) you can come out at the top of 5th ave then walk down for some shopping.

Definitely recommend top of the rock, because you can see Central Park but also the empire state! The Empire State Building is great too but we preferred TOTR just for the dual aspect. The Edge was good as well but the views (for us) less impressive.

Chelsea market is a must for a great lunch - there's so much good food (definitely recommend the tacos from Los Tacos No1, the pizza and the noodle bowls!).

The tub was fab for us, you can tap in / tap out or get a weekly card and we used it multiple times a day to get everywhere, it was fantastic. We still hit over 20k steps most days but they were steps exploring rather than just trudging from one end to the other!

Even as a seasoned public transport user I found the subway a bit confusing. Eventually I found the best way was to use City mapper!

This is great. I’d never even heard of the Highline until this thread, and the other tips are appreciated.
I’ve only been on the underground a couple of times as I’m not from U.K., but I’d be fine with the subway. I remember last time being on it late at night and they suddenly cut off half the carriages and we had to run to the first ones or else be left behind ….that was an experience!

@magicstar1 Yes! Or they divert a train onto another line!

The Highline has areas where you can get back down to street level for grabbing lunch or coffee. In my view, Macy’s isn’t a great shop. Felt more like Poundland when DCs wanted to have a look! Saks, Bloomingdale’s or Bergdorf Goodman, Nordstrom Rack for discounts, Neiman Marcus in Hudson Yards and humble H&M are worth seeking out. H&M is much nicer than here!

We just ate breakfast in the local coffee shop opposite our hotel and had porridge. Everything else was so expensive and that was 10 years ago.

We treated ourselves at lunchtimes and did a food walking tour that was fabulous (not January though...).