Around New York City in 3 days

New York - the city that never sleeps. There is so much to discover. In the summer of 2018, I visited the city with my family for just a few days, but we experienced quite a lot anyway. I fell for the city almost immediately as one walked on its lively streets surrounded by tall buildings that stretched toward the sky like a forest. You just had to walk around and soak up the atmosphere.

New York Times Square

Once we had arrived at the hotel (LUMA Hotel Times Square which was super charming but small in size) and left our packing, we headed towards Hard rock café which was just around the cporner. We had already booked a table before we left back home cause we knew we would arrive late and thought it was a good idea that we knew where we were going to eat (Otherwise, my family usually takes forever to decide on things.) This idea did not turn out to be so successful as we were all terribly tired after the long journey. When we arrived at the restaurant it was incredibly large with a lot of noise from everything between guests and music. The place felt impersonal. So you never really enjoyed the food, you just wanted to get the food, eat and go to bed.

Day 1

We got up early when we were going up to see The Empire State Building. We had bought the tickets in advance but it is usually an extremely long queue that extends several blocks away so we thought we would try to be there before opening. This idea worked very well! When we got there at around 7: 40-7: 45 (they opened at 8:00) we were among the first ones in line. This meant that it was almost empty up at the view so you could calmly take your pictures without a lot of people being in the way, disturbing, and just as it started to fill up with more and more people, you was satisfied and could start to head back down. Then we walked towards The High Line Park which is an old railway that has been turned into a park. It runs along the west side of Manhattan and is about 2.5 km long. It is a very different park experience that I do not think you should miss. The platform you walk on is raised a good distance above street level and winds between the buildings. You get to see New York from a whole new perspective in a quiet oasis in a street environment. Then we strolled our way back to the hotel. We took the road past China Town which was fun to see as the atmosphere suddenly changed and you got to experience a different culture. We even stopped sometimes for a bite to eat or for an cooling ice cream.

Day 2

The day we were hedding to Brooklyn, we actually took the subway down to the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a fun experience in itself. And the tourists that we were, we encountered problems even before we got inside the barriers. We managed to buy our tickets and my mother and I were taken through the barriers without any problems. But then it was my brother and my dad's turn ..... They did not get through the barriers! So my mother and I had to embarrassedly ask a guard for help to let the rest of the family into the subway. It was quite low in the ceiling at the station and then it was quite hot as well, but I still think you should experience it. Then it was a short walk from the subway station to the beginning of the Brooklyn Bridge. I had imagined that there would be more people walking on the bridge than there were and then the bridge was much longer than we had imagined. You didn't seem to get off the bridge until you were a long distance into Brooklyn, so we had to go back a bit to get to the waterfront again. We never had time to explore Brooklyn itself which was a bit of a shame but by the waterfront under the bridge is Luke´s Lobster - Brooklyn Bridge Park which serves very good lobster rolls which is a must in New York. We took the ferry back to Manhattan and ended up in the wall street area. There we took a Staten Island ferry that passes the Statue of Liberty from a distance and which happens to be free of charge. If you really want to see the Statue of Liberty, I recommend that you get there for real, but if you just want to check it out a little quickly, this option works great. On our way back we passed the iconic Flatiron Building and sat down nearby at the 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar overlooking the Empire State Building.

Day 3

On the last day we walked towards Central park and strolled around. Here it can be good to have a map as it is a huge park. Because even though we had a map, we walked around in circles sometimes. But it is a very nice park and almost a must as it is so iconic for New York. The American Museum of Natural History is located at this end of the city, which is recognizable from the film Night at the Museum. However, because I have seen the film it made for the one reason for why I really wanted to enter the museum. The museums in New York have slightly different admission systems compared to sweden. Some have days that it is free to enter, and some have set prices, while others like the American Museum of Natural History have pay what you want admissions. They have a price list with prices that they recommend that you pay but in the end you have to decide for yourself. But as insecure Swedish tourists as we were, we did not really dare go all the way so we ended up paying youth price for all 4 of us. I had a goal inside the museum and it was to find the Easter statue from the film. I probably walked around the whole museum and when I was about to give up I found it in the end in the far corner. A bit behind the museum we found a place that sold real bagels with salmon and cream cheese. This is also a must when it comes to food you must try. It was very tasty but very filling. We also wanted to go to the Guggenheim, which we did. But we just went inside. We never paid and walked around to look at the art as not everyone in the family was interested. In the evening we decide to try one last classic in New York, namely a pretzel from a street stall. We were really disappointed with it. I do not know what I had imagined or if we got a bad one. It tasted like a very salty, dry, smoky, soft salt stick in a large format.

Gata i New York

The hotel we stayed at was very centrally located in Manhattan which allowed us to go to so many different places. It was very close to Times Square which made us go there in the evenings sometimes just to soak up the atmosphere. It is also close to the Grand Central Terminal which we passed quickly and it was also next door to Bryant Park which was a cozy little park. All in all, it was very successful trip even though it was hectic. I really want to go back as there is so much more to discover in New York - the city that never sleeps.

Skiss av Brooklyn Bridge