New York City - 5 GREAT Places You Have to Visit
You know you're in New York when you get those familiar smells and the honking of the car horns. It is the best city in the world and I love it. I've been going to New York for over twelve years now, generally on an annual basis with work and I never tire of it; it's fast, it's loud and it's crowded, but it's got it's own pulse and vibrancy like no other city and if you've not been there, then you need to go.
Where to stay when you go to New York City? Well the best advice I would give you is to stay Midtown, you'll be central to everything then. I've stayed in quite a few hotels, but the one thing that it needed to be was Midtown, it's just the convenience and proximity of everything, including great entertainment and restaurants at night. I've stayed off Times Square a couple of times, but personally I love staying east of 5th Avenue around the 47th Street point, it's still busy, but not as busy as the Times Square area.
I guess for the majority of people visiting New York City you'll be popping over for about 4 to 5 days, but even with this amount of time you really need to make sure that you plan your visit carefully to get the best out of your time there. Don't go with the thought of just making decisions on the day, you won't get everything that you want from your visit otherwise. So, here's my 5 amazing places to visit.
#1 - Lower Manhattan - This is a bit of a cheat, because there's so much to see, you could quite easily spend a day in Lower Manhattan, for such a small area, there's a lot going on. There are a number of different places to go and see in Lower Manhattan, firstly you've got the Brooklyn Bridge, which you can walk across on the pedestrian boardwalk. This is a must do. You've also got memorial to 9/11 there, it's really important that you go and see this, it's moving and just gives you perspective on the sheer size of the site and the twin towers, which the reflecting pools illustrate so well. While you're there you should definitely go to the Memorial Museum which is incredibly moving and gives you an even greater appreciation of the terrible events of the day through the story of those involved. I would suggest that you pre-book tickets which you can do online, or you can just turn up. Which either you choose, I would suggest getting to the museum pretty early on because it's going to be less crowed. Next time I go , I want to go to the new World Trade Centre subway station, which seeing pictures of it is an architectural gem
Also in Lower Manhattan you've got Wall Street, The Federal Reserve, The Stock Exchange, both of which you can visit. If it's a spring or summers day, why not go to Battery Park, it's close to the water and also allows you to either get the Staten Island ferry, which is free and you'll go past the Statue of Liberty, or what I've done is to go on the Circle Line Cruise which takes you to both the Statue of Liberty and also Ellis Island, if you're interested in the story of the immigrants coming into America.
#2 Central Park - Tranquillity in the midst of a metropolis, is the best way to describe Central Park with its 843 acres between the Upper East and West sides of New York City. There's lots to visit there and do. Some of my favourites are: Strawberry Fields, The Wollman ice rink during the winter months. I also love the different zones that you have when you go into the park, one of those is the boating lake area, which has a fantastic restaurant called, The Boat House. Its really nice if you want to have a special lunch, it's not cheap and you have to go pretty smart too.
#3 The Rockefella Centre and The Empire State Building - Again I'm cheating, but I'm running out of numbers for my top 5 must see places to visit. Two great sky scrappers, two totally different buildings and views. Personally I prefer the views from the Rockefella Centre, you get the view of upper Manhattan and Central Park, but you also get everything else too. The Empire State is fantastic, but everything seems to be in the distance. If you have to make a choice of which one to visit, I would definitely say go with the Rockefella Centre. At the same time you get to either ice skate during the winter months, or see the Christmas tree, but I think the best time is in the spring and summer when they set up the area for lunch, drinks and dinner. The food is great there, there's a nice atmosphere and you can really chill out.
#4 St Patrick's Cathedral - I'm a bit of a cathedral junkie, I love visiting them when I'm in a city. St Patrick's is on 5th Avenue, so there's no excuse to just pop in and see the incredible architecture, it's amazing. I always pop in without fail when I'm in town and I love catching a mass. It's so peaceful in there, away from the hustle and bustle of 5th Avenue.
#5 Grand Central Terminal - So it's a train station, but this is no ordinary train station, it's incredible. As soon as you get in there you get a sense of the incredible building that it is and I love just sitting on the steps and people watching for a while. The ceiling is stunning with the signs of the zodiac and stars on there. It's no ordinary station so pop in and just spend a few minutes marvelling at it.
So ok, I've just got to mention one more place, although I could mention a lot more, but I couldn't miss off, Times Square - You can't go to New York City without visiting Times Square, it's like Blackpool on steroids. What's great about the place is that much of it is pedestrianised now, so it's pretty safe to walk around when you keep looking up and not where you're going. Lots of shops, bars, restaurants to go and see while you're there. I like going in the evening, the whole place springs to life after dark.