Are you contemplating a trip and wondering what to do in NYC? Last fall, we had the opportunity to take our dream trip to NYC! New York has been a bucket list destination for both of us over the years. We love the city, shopping, and not to mention, almost all of our favorite TV shows take place in New York City! Needless to say, it has always held an allure for us.
Our expectations going into the trip were mixed. We were both excited and nervous simultaneously. So many people told us that New York is smelly, dirty, and disgusting, and couldn’t understand why we would spend our hard earned money on a trip to NYC. Even our Uber driver that picked us up from LaGuardia airport and drove us into the city our first night didn’t have nice things to say. Talk about a warm welcome to the city! We were also worried about how safe we would feel in such a large city.
However, we were relieved to find that it was quite the opposite. We may have correctly adjusted our expectations for the sights and smells of the city… because there certainly were some. But overall, we felt that it was to be expected in a city comprised of millions of people living on a 22 square mile island — which is the full size of Manhattan!
As for safety, if you have spent any time in Portland or Seattle in recent years, NYC feels like a dream! One of the things we had to remind ourselves is that many people who work in downtown Portland or Seattle commute in from nicer, affluent suburbs. But in New York, that’s just not the case. While people do commute for work each day, the people living in the city are the same people working in the city. So, you can feel that they do what they can to take care of it and make it a nice, somewhat safe place to live.
One of our most favorite things about the city is how compact it is. You can be shopping in the young, grungy neighborhood of SOHO and then walk a few minutes to find yourself in the quaint Greenwich Village. Or, take a stroll through Central Park and land in the ritzy Upper East Side and then walk 15 minutes south and land in the busy hustle and bustle of Midtown. It is truly a city of variety and you can find whatever you are looking for.
The number one question people asked us about our tip is, “What did you love most? What did you do?” And the answer to both is just about everything. So, let’s break it down to some of our favorite places and things by each area of the city.
SOHO
If you asked David his absolute favorite area in all of Manhattan, David would proudly reply, “SOHO!” From the distinctive old cast iron buildings, to the trendy shopping, to the overall vibe of the area, we felt amongst our peers in SOHO. While the buildings and streets are certainly older and more on the “grungy” side of things, it also has high end fashion stores and what I like to call “attainable” fashion stores — a.k.a. places I would actually buy something. The people watching alone is an activity in itself. Stand on a corner, and you’ll spot people of all ages wearing the latest trendy designer handbags and interesting outfits. It’s certainly worth a visit if you fall in the Gen-Z category or if you remotely like anything involving fashion. You’ll feel right at home.
West Village
The West Village is home to the famous Friends apartment surrounded by the cutest townhomes you’ll ever see and what many people probably imagine to be quintessential New York. An elementary school across the street even put out traffic cones to hold school recess in between the tree lined streets. The people in the West Village seem slightly older than in SOHO, but still young at its core. You get the sense that people who live in the West Village are young professionals in their twenties and thirties. The main area with more shops and restaurants feels like it could transport you right back to the 90s with intentionally left graffiti covering buildings — or at least what I imagine the 90s looking like in New York.
Just a short stroll from the heart of the West Village is also the iconic Washington Square Park. I’m not sure what exactly it was, but when we walked into Washington Square Park with the sun shining, the fall leaves changing, and the park teeming with people reading, enjoying time with each other, musicians playing, and bicyclists and walkers, we felt pure joy. We sat on a bench and took it all in.
Central Park
Though not technically its own neighborhood, this one deserves a point of its own. We had high expectations for Central Park and they were absolutely surpassed. It helps that we timed our trip perfectly to enjoy the most beautiful fall weather of all time. But regardless, we were blown away by Central Park. The sheer magnitude of its size, the cleanliness, the paths, ponds, fields, all surrounded by the Manhattan skyline…it is beautiful.
After spending time in the hustle and bustle of the city, it feels like a breath of fresh air. We could spend a whole day in Central Park people watching, relaxing on a bench, or simply walking around. And between our numerous days in the city, we probably did spend a whole day combined in “The Park” as the locals would say. 😉 We also got to shoot this stunning engagement session one morning at sunrise in Central Park and it was a dream to say the least.
Upper West Side & Upper East Side
On either side of Central Park are the Upper West Side and Upper East Side. If you like the finer things in life, these are the places for you. The Upper East side is home to the very wealthy and has every luxury shop you can imagine on Madison Ave. If you have ever wanted to feel like Blair in Gossip Girl, just roam this place and imagine it being your home.
But our personal favorite was the Ralph Lauren Store. We happened upon it one day to try Ralph’s Coffee – yes, a coffee shop by Ralph Lauren. After we ordered, I realized the historic upper east side townhome we were in was actually the women’s flagship store. We explored each level which was thoughtfully designed for each different RL collection. Then, we realized the mens section was nowhere to be found. After a quick google search, we learned that there was an entire other townhouse across the street with four stories of menswear as well. The curation was above and beyond in these stores and most definitely an experience in themselves.
Another highlight of the UES was visiting The MET museum. We learned on this trip that we aren’t the biggest museum people… but we loved seeing beautiful paintings done by famous artists like Claude Monet, Van Gogh, and so on.
We actually had no plans to visit the Upper West Side until we photographed this DUMBO session for an adorable couple that calls the Upper West side home. They recommended we check out a restaurant called Jacob’s Pickles for a meal. And… it was absolutely delicious! The Upper West side felt very homey to us — like a place we could envision ourselves living. While the Upper East side is filled with grand apartment buildings and townhomes worth millions, the Upper West side divides many of its townhomes into apartment units. It felt very residential and approachable with still plenty of things to do and see.
Also home to the Upper West Side is the American Museum of Natural History. Now what I’m about to say might be blasphemous, but the only thing worth seeing there was the dinosaurs. If you have children, this could be a very exciting outing for them. But personally, I felt like I was in a bigger version of a Cabela’s surrounded by taxidermied animals. I’ll leave it at that!
Midtown
Our hotel, Andaz 5th Ave, was actually in Midtown which was the perfect place to stay for our first visit to NYC. The hotel’s central location made it easy for us to explore everything we wanted to see! Though it wasn’t our personal favorite neighborhood to just sit and spend time in, it had everything you could possibly need. It was right in the center of a lot of large buildings and corporations which made the people watching so fun. One morning, we left our hotel for an early coffee and enjoyed simply taking in the sights of people walking to work and imagining what a morning in the life of a New Yorker is like.
Our hotel was also directly across the street from the flagship branch of The New York Public Library! It was absolutely STUNNING! On the back side of the NYPL is Bryant Park which was setting up for its annual wintry market. One afternoon we enjoyed a lovely outdoor lunch at the Bryant Park Grill.
Our personal highlight of Midtown was definitely Magnolia Bakery at the Rockefeller Center. The Rockefeller Center itself was amazing with its own labrinth of restaurants and shops underground to explore. But, the banana pudding from Magnolia Bakery truly takes the cake.
We popped in to the bakery one night because I had read about it with the intention of getting a cupcake or something sweet. When we noticed they had a line solely for banana pudding orders, we were intrigued. If they have a stand alone line for just one item, it must be something worth trying right? Absolutely. We came back every single night after getting dinner to grab a banana pudding to take back to our hotel room for dessert. I’m not kidding when I say it became a highlight we looked forward to each day!
St. Patricks Cathedral sits directly across from the Rockefeller Center and was also stunning. It sticks out like a sore thumb against the modern architecture of the city with its Gothic, ornate design. We were able to go inside and much to our surprise, there was a real live wedding ceremony happening.
Of course, we had to do a few cringey tourist things, and one of those was going to the Top of the Rock. We chose the Top of the Rock as opposed to the Empire State building because when you’re at the Top of the Rock, you can look out and see the Empire state building on one side and Central Park on the other side which we thought was pretty cool. We paid a premium to go up at golden hour to see the sun set over the city and it was so worth it.
DUMBO
We didn’t spend a ton of time in Brooklyn, but you know we had to see the iconic area of DUMBO. DUMBO actually stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge. It’s home to this iconic location below and boasts a beautiful waterfront park! It also features gorgeous views of both the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge. It’s also the iconic location of a certain Gossip Girl loft in Brooklyn. Restaurants line the walking paths waiting for tourists to come in and grab a bite. We enjoyed our time there taking in the views of Manhattan from across the water and of course, shooting this dreamy DUMBO anniversary session at sunrise. Pro tip: the street with the view of the Manhattan bridge is VERY congested on a given day. But if you go at sunrise, you just might get it all to yourself!
The only mistake we made when it came to DUMBO was our means of transportation. It was a beautiful October day and we decided it would be fun to grab a Citi Bike and ride across the Brooklyn Bridge. Wrong. We failed to notice that the Brooklyn Bridge is a good half mile of slow, painful, gradual incline. While we were on a nice, quiet bike path that was underneath the traffic of the bridge and away from the congested foot traffic above, our legs were burning trying to bike across. I mean truly, we were dying. The minute we got to Brooklyn, I told David there was absolutely no way I would be riding back across that bridge on a bicycle ever again!
Financial District, One World Trade Center & Battery Park
We did some poor planning when we decided to visit the Financial District on a Saturday. But, the way our trip aligned that’s just how it worked out. So, take this with a grain of salt since we didn’t get the full experience of the true FiDi hustle and bustle. However, this was not our favorite area of the city. The buildings are built SO close together that it feels nearly claustrophobic. Although it was never bad, this felt like the least safe area we spent time in as well!
We continued on south to Battery Park with the intention of catching the Staten Island ferry. This is a cheap and easy way to see the Statue of Liberty! When we got to the ferry terminal, we started doing the math of how long this adventure would take. Ultimately, we decided it wasn’t worth our time! We were happy to simply look out from Battery Park and see Lady Liberty from across the water. This area was also full of people trying to sell tickets for Statue of Liberty tours (somewhat aggressively).
We did visit the World Trade Center Memorial and it was amazing to see. Unfortunately, the museum is one thing we did not get to see. We would love to go if we have the chance to return to NYC again in the future.
We also walked the Highline which New Yorkers will excitedly obsess over and ask you if you have seen it. It was beautiful but it isn’t something we would need to repeat again.
Other highlights
– seeing Hamilton on Broadway – simply amazing! Seeing a Broadway show is a must do.
-Eating delicious New York style pizza
-Getting to have our very own portraits taken one morning at NYPL and Central Park by Natalie Monar Photo!
-Brunch at The Little Owl which is the restaurant below the Friends apartment
-Dinner at Quality Italian – more of a fancy Italian steakhouse than it is italian style but delicious nonetheless
-The best tacos of our lives at Los. Tacos No. 1
-Dinner at a tiny italian place in the village that sat no more than 30 people
-Crullers at Daily Provisions
Planning Tips
When we were planning our trip, I used Google My Maps and it was a game changer. I spent hours reading blogs and making notes on the map of any place we may be interested in seeing. This allowed us to map out our days by area and hit everything in that area we wanted to see!
We also stayed at our hotel for free using Hyatt points! Our Chase Sapphire credit card was the real star of that show! And, we flew for free thanks to our Southwest business card. This was a game changer and made the trip half as expensive as it could have been. Signing up for a good travel card will make use of money you’re already spending to be able to go on amazing trips! That being said, New York is a very expensive city! Be prepared to spend a lot of money on food and your hotel if you have to pay for it.
Print Shop
If you enjoyed any of the film photos we took while in NYC, we have a print shop here on Etsy where you can download the images. 🙂
