When to go:
We went in December, purely because that was the only time of year my friend could go - she and her husband went for a few days, we went for a week. We both had awesome times, but we obviously got to do more... and there is still so much more I want to do! The magic of December is it's the holiday season - blogged about in my Christmas in New York City post - but it's my goal to visit every other season as well!
What to pack:
The weather for December was weirdly mixed. We had a day where it was 15°c, with mist and torrential rain. (I thought I knew torrential rain being British but there was one day where the rain was insane. Soaked doesn't even begin to describe how wet we were.) We had another day at 15°c which was cloudy, but pleasant. We had a flurry of snow another day. On our final day it was -6°c, the coldest it got during our stay, but it felt MUCH colder with the wind. That day we definitely needed thermals!
How to get there:
You can fly to NYC direct, landing at either JFK or Newark. OK, Newark is in New Jersey but it will take you the same amount of time to get to Manhattan and Harlem, if you're staying there. If you'll be in Brooklyn or Queens, you want JFK. We stayed in Queens so flew to JFK from Heathrow with British Airways. And because I'd booked in the January sale, we got our return ticket for £200 each. Bargain! (Though we did later upgrade to premium economy, both ways.) Flight time is around 8 hours there and 6 hours back.
Where to stay:
We went Friday to "Friday", meaning we arrived mid-afternoon on Friday and left on the redeye out of JFK at 9.30pm Thursday evening (which landed at Heathrow on Friday morning). This meant we only needed to book six nights at our hotel, and the hotel in question was the 4* Boro Hotel in Long Island City, Queens.
How to get around:
We mostly took the subway/walked so bought an unlimited weekly MetroCard for $34 each (about £25, so cheaper than a weekly pass in London): $1 of that is for the card itself, so keep it if you're planning on returning. Paying by debit/credit card and not from the US? Enter 99999 for your zip code. Prefer to PAYG? It's $2.75 per ride - and you still need to pay $1 for the card. (We saw in certain central Manhattan stations that you could travel by making a contactless payment with your debit/credit card, but OMNY won't be fully rolled out until 2023.)
We had no issues using the subway, apart from this one thing. Unlike London where you can go down any entrance to travel in both directions, in NYC you may only be able to travel one way. It's not the case for all entrances, but you can't get the train going in the opposite direction if you do go down the wrong entrance - and you'll have to wait 18 minutes before you can swipe in at the correct entrance. Yep, we made this mistake a few times.
Cab-wise we used Lyft to/from JFK (around $50-60 for Lyft; if you use a normal cab it's a flat rate of $52 to go from JFK to Manhattan, but you have a $5 surcharge in rush hour, and tip on top of that) - plus a few journeys locally (about $10 each). Going back from the East Village to our hotel in the early hours of Sunday morning cost $40 because the traffic was so bad (but after walking 23km and having an action-packed day, it was completely worth it). Overall, other than the airport journeys, I preferred the subway. There's an interesting level of aggression to New York drivers - plus, y'know, lots of time spent sitting in traffic.
New York Pass:
If you're planning on seeing/doing a lot of the usual suspects, I highly recommend you buy a New York Pass. We got a three-day pass for £142 each from Attraction Tickets Direct, which was slightly cheaper than buying direct. If we'd have paid to go to all the places we used the Pass for it would have cost us about £250 each, so buying the Pass saved us £110 each. Excellent!
We used the Pass to visit: Top of the Rock, MoMA, Ellis Island, 9/11 Memorial & Museum, Color Factory, Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, the MET, American Natural History Museum, Empire State Building, plus took THE RIDE: Holiday Edition (links go to my posts about these places). We could have squeezed in a few more places, but we were more than happy with what we used the Pass for.
We went in December, purely because that was the only time of year my friend could go - she and her husband went for a few days, we went for a week. We both had awesome times, but we obviously got to do more... and there is still so much more I want to do! The magic of December is it's the holiday season - blogged about in my Christmas in New York City post - but it's my goal to visit every other season as well!
What to pack:
The weather for December was weirdly mixed. We had a day where it was 15°c, with mist and torrential rain. (I thought I knew torrential rain being British but there was one day where the rain was insane. Soaked doesn't even begin to describe how wet we were.) We had another day at 15°c which was cloudy, but pleasant. We had a flurry of snow another day. On our final day it was -6°c, the coldest it got during our stay, but it felt MUCH colder with the wind. That day we definitely needed thermals!
If you're also visiting in winter, I suggest packing layers, thermals, wooly hats and gloves - plus take a thick winter coat and a raincoat, if you can. Shoe-wise I packed winter boots, trainers, and a nice pair of ballet flats for dinner. Prioritise your warmth and comfort though - I used the ballet flats only when we went to/from the restaurant/hotel in cabs and had limited outdoor exposure.
How to get there:
You can fly to NYC direct, landing at either JFK or Newark. OK, Newark is in New Jersey but it will take you the same amount of time to get to Manhattan and Harlem, if you're staying there. If you'll be in Brooklyn or Queens, you want JFK. We stayed in Queens so flew to JFK from Heathrow with British Airways. And because I'd booked in the January sale, we got our return ticket for £200 each. Bargain! (Though we did later upgrade to premium economy, both ways.) Flight time is around 8 hours there and 6 hours back.
We went Friday to "Friday", meaning we arrived mid-afternoon on Friday and left on the redeye out of JFK at 9.30pm Thursday evening (which landed at Heathrow on Friday morning). This meant we only needed to book six nights at our hotel, and the hotel in question was the 4* Boro Hotel in Long Island City, Queens.
I would have loved to have stayed in Manhattan for that classic first time in New York experience but, it turns out, December is the priciest time hotel-wise. Six nights in a 4* hotel in Long Island City was a LOT cheaper than the equivalent in Manhattan. Like, we'd have paid triple what we paid - and that's with us upgrading to a king corner suite for those awesome Manhattan views from the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Boro Hotel, for us, was the perfect solution. We were near four subway stops, which took between 5-10 minutes to walk to, and because we were in the Long Island City area of Queens, that meant we only had to stay on the subway for a mere six minutes before we were in Midtown. Yes, it's that close. And, of course, we really loved the minimalist Scandinavian vibe the hotel has - and happy hour for free yummy wine! (Though we were out most nights so only used that perk when we checked in. A shame as it was a decent wine.)
How to get around:
We mostly took the subway/walked so bought an unlimited weekly MetroCard for $34 each (about £25, so cheaper than a weekly pass in London): $1 of that is for the card itself, so keep it if you're planning on returning. Paying by debit/credit card and not from the US? Enter 99999 for your zip code. Prefer to PAYG? It's $2.75 per ride - and you still need to pay $1 for the card. (We saw in certain central Manhattan stations that you could travel by making a contactless payment with your debit/credit card, but OMNY won't be fully rolled out until 2023.)
New York Pass:
If you're planning on seeing/doing a lot of the usual suspects, I highly recommend you buy a New York Pass. We got a three-day pass for £142 each from Attraction Tickets Direct, which was slightly cheaper than buying direct. If we'd have paid to go to all the places we used the Pass for it would have cost us about £250 each, so buying the Pass saved us £110 each. Excellent!
One thing to note is that the attractions list may change. When I bought the Pass it included the Morgan Library & Museum, but this was no longer included when we went there. (Thankfully we arrived ten minutes before it was free to visit, anyway.) Looking at the attractions list today, One World Observatory is now included - we'd definitely have done this had it been available - and if we were in New York in summer, we'd have gone to Coney Island and taken a boat trip on the Hudson.
However long you spend in New York City, and whatever you end up doing though, you're going to have an amazing time. x
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