Today on the blog is #flashbackfriday because I’m throwing it back to my first NYC trip! I went in 2016 with my old college roommate, my sister-in-law’s sister and two of my old roommate’s friends over spring break. I was supposed to do a post back then on the trip, but I lost the memory card. UNTIL NOW. Today I’m sharing pictures from my first NYC trip and how we managed to cram all the touristy things in 4 days.
First things, we stayed in Times Square during my first NYC trip. Yes, I know. It’s the most touristy thing we could have done. One of the girls’ dad had a ton of points, so it was free for us to stay at the Hilton Double Tree. It was surprisingly quiet in our hotel room, but having to walk through Times Square to get there is not fun. Don’t get me wrong, you should definitely go to Times Square. It’s more of a one-day thing rather than spend all your time there.
We met up with one of my old roommate’s friends who lives in the city. We were going to go to City Kitchen but decided to head over to Pio Pio for Peruvian food. SO. GOOD. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and went to bed.
Our first full day was a Tuesday and we hit the ground running. It was all five of our first NYC trip, so we had to do all the tourist things. We started by heading to the Staten Island Ferry (FREE!) and were able to see the Statue of Liberty. None of us really wanted to go to the museum or pay for the tour. Basically, we wanted to see it and say we saw it.
We also spent some time in the surrounding area, went to the 9/11 Memorial and One World Trade Center. I took a few photos, but most didn’t turn out well.
Naturally, the next thing we did that day was cross over to Brooklyn for pizza. We also couldn’t miss out on this iconic photo, even if there are cones and 500 people. We spent the afternoon down in Brooklyn, mainly in DUMBO, and had a blast taking all the pictures.
After our afternoon in Brooklyn, we went back to the hotel to get ready to see Wicked. Yeah, we really crammed it all in our first day. After the show, we went to bed, fully exhausted from our jam-packed day.
Wednesday, we started our morning off at the High Line. It’s an old railroad track turned park just on the west side of Manhattan. From the Highline, you can see awesome street views like above of Manhattan on one side and the Hudson River and New Jersey on the other side. It’s really cool, just make sure you go on a weekday or in the morning to avoid having more people around.
After this, things get a little hazy. It was two years ago! So I’ll share the rest of the good photos.
Some tips if you’re only in the city for a short period of time:
- Plan it out. It doesn’t have to be planned out far in advance, but each night, come back to your hotel or Airbnb and talk about what you want to do the next day. Also, try to group it by neighborhood! Save your feet.
- Be prepared to book it. Wake up earlier and stick to your schedule that you planned out the night before. If you’re trying to do ALL the touristy things, your Fitbit should be screaming at you. 😉
- Buy a CityPass. You can save money if you’re wanting to hit all the touristy things.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this #flashbackfriday with me! It was so fun going through my old photos from my first NYC trip, especially while planning my next trip! Be on the lookout next week for my NYC packing guide… Basically everything I’m taking with me to NYC next week.
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