New York City Travel Guide

New York City Travel Guide

I fell in love with New York City the second I stepped off the plane- with the people, the hustle, food, views, beautiful architecture and so much more. Jacob and I made the trip for our anniversary and it was our first time there together. New York City now has a piece of my heart and I’ll never get over the magic that I found there.

I’m breaking this post down to help answer a lot of the questions that were asked about our trip to New York City. We were there for 6 days and made our way to some of the most beautiful and iconic spots. We ate delicious food at both established well know places, and some that are not quite on the radar yet but definitely worth a visit. My itinerary helped us spend less time in transportation and more time enjoying all that the “Big Apple” has to offer. I tried to keep all of our stops close by to each other. I hope this travel guide inspires your trip to NYC!

Where We Stayed: We stayed at two hotels. Our first two nights we stayed at the Hudson Hotel which is in midtown and just a couple of steps from Central Park. The have a Sky Terrace, Library Bar, and Private Park. Be sure to check on availability before due to of seasonal schedules. This location was best for exploring Central Park and the Upper East Side.

Our second hotel, where we stayed three nights, was a part of the Arlo Hotels. There are two of them in NYC-the NoMad and the SoHo. We stayed in the Arlo NoMad, but I would offer you to figure out which one would be best for you. We loved our stay at the NoMad, it has beautiful views of the city, the staff was just lovely, happy hour/digital detox from 5:30-7:00 (yes, free wine), but it was not all location, location, location. We got used to the commute, so a mile or so distance wasn’t a big deal for us.

How We Traveled Around The City: Many would say grab a taxi, or an Uber. Yes, that may seem like a simple solution and if that works for you than you should totally do it. Right out of the airport gate we started our journey on trains and subways (or as the New Yorker’s call them-paths and trains). I highly suggest getting a car service to get your luggage to your hotel. Unless you can maneuver well with the luggage you have. We were carrying our 50 lb luggage up and down flights of stairs, in and out of the trains, and it was just not the best idea. Save yourself the stress and just get a car service to help get your luggage to your hotel.

Jacob and I got very familiar with the various ways of transportation in NYC. We took a lot of train (subway) rides, walked, used a bus once, and a Taxi to help us on the last day with getting our luggage to Penn Station which is a train (path) that transfers you to the airport. Using the various ways of transportation that NYC has to offer may seem confusing. We used the Google Maps “Commute” option and that really helped us. It tells you the best way to get to your destination.

A 6 Day Itinerary: I live and breath for a good itinerary. This really allowed us to see everything we wanted to see. I’m going to share my complete six day itinerary for you as a way to help guide your own adventure.

Day 1: Midtown/Upper East Side

• Flew into Newark, NJ arrived at 1:30
• Train to Hudson Hotel (highly recommend getting a taxi/car service with large luggage)
• Afternoon walk through Central Park
• Dinner at SUZUKI-Japanese fine dining
• Magnolia Bakery for dessert
• Drinks at The Library (located inside of the Hudson Hotel)

Day 2: Tribecca/Lower East Side/Nolita

• Nexus Salon (started the day with a blowout, much needed)
• Lunch at 1803NYC-New Orleans inspired cuisine
• The Oculus, 911 Memorial and Museum
• Brooklyn Bridge
• Manhattan Bridge
• Dinner at Pietro Nolita- Healthy Italian Cuisine
• Drinks @ Johnny Utahs- Southwest inspired saloon

Day 3: Upper East Side/Hudson Yards

• Spent the AM packing and getting ready for check out. The Hudson hotel held our bags while we went out and explored.
• Walked through Central Park up to The Met
• The Met 
• Lunch at Shake Shack
• Checked into our second hotel-the Arlo NoMad
• Vessel structure in Hudson Yards
• MoMA-Museum of Modern Art
• Grand Central Station
• Dinner at the Igloo Bar 230 Fifth-Only available in the winter season

Day 4: Midtown/Flatiron District/Times Square/Brooklyn

• Breakfast at Cha Cha Matcha
• Flatiron District
• Flower District 28th St between 6th Ave. and 7th Ave.
• Top of the Rock
• Times Square
• Drinks at Weslight and Water Tower Bar-yes, we had drinks before dinner
• Williamsburg Hotel for dinner 

Both the Weslight, Water Tower Bar and the Williamsburg hotel are in Brooklyn.

Day 5: Flatiron District/Times Square/Broadway

• Gasoline Alley Coffee for our morning coffee
• Snacks at Taco Dumbo
• Times Square for shopping
• Dinner at Tacombi in the Empire State Building- Mexican food
• Dessert at Bibble & Sip-bakery & coffeehouse
• Mean Girls broadway show 

Day 6: Financial District

• Breakfast @ Le Pain Quotidien 
• Financial District-We walked around the entire area which included seeing Wall Street, the Charging Bull, and Battery Park where you can see the Statue of Liberty
• Grabbed our bags from the Arlo NoMad hotel (they held them for us), took a Taxi to Penn Station and then a train to the Newark, NJ airport.

Instagram Worthy Photo Locations:

• 1803NYC restaurant
• The Oculus
• Brooklyn Bridge
• Pietro Nolita (the pink restaurant)
• Cha Cha Matcha
• Flatiron building
• Top of the Rock
• Taco Dumbo restaurant
• The Met
• Vessel structure-please be aware that there is a certain rights to photos if you get the tickets and go in the structure. Please make yourself aware by visiting their website for more.

Other places that I wanted to visit that we didn’t have the time for-many of these are suggestions by friends and followers on Instagram:

• Carmines in Times Square for dinner
• Avocado Appetit Cafe
• Mr. C Seaport
• Levain Bakery
• Raines Law Room Speakeasy

You can also visit my Instagram to view the NYC highlight where I uploaded daily behind the scenes of our NYC trip!