Christmas in New York

We had 4 nights and 4 days and a long list of must do’s, including my daughter’s ‘bucket list requests’ - the Taylor Swift Exhibition, the New York Library, Ice Skating in Central Park, a visit to Barnes & Noble, Grand Central Station, the Friends apartment building and a Broadway Show. With a lot of planning and a lot of steps we managed to do everything on our list and had the most amazing time.

Accommodation

We stayed in the boutique style Moxy Times Square Hotel which is something a little different to your typical hotel experience. The rooms are designed in an urban style and the social spaces are varied with a casual bar and lounge, a rooftop bar (over 21’s only) and a grill restaurant. There’s even a barber shop on the ground floor. It’s in a great location close to lots of attractions and only a short distance away from the subway, which we made great use of to save our tired feet!

Sightseeing

We began our sightseeing with an open top Big Bus Tour, which was a great way to see Manhattan and gain our bearings for the rest of our trip.

Highlights of the trip for us were the SUMMIT One Vanderbilt, which I would highly recommend visiting at sunset…the views were just amazing; 9/11 Memorial and Museum, definitely do the audio tour it is both fascinating and heartbreaking at the same time; DUMBO for views of the Manhattan Bridge followed by a walk across Brooklyn Bridge, which luckily for us we also managed to catch at sunset; Ice Skating in Central Park was also a bit of a ‘pinch yourself moment’…even if I did fall over!

Food

When it comes to food we did quite often grab something along the way, such as a hot dog or pizza slice from a street vendor. However, we did come across a nice little restaurant on 3rd Avenue, Ruby’s Café, which was away from all the hustle and bustle of Times Square with great service and food at a good price. I can definitely recommend the crispy rice bowl with smoked salmon and the creamy chicken pasta, both myself and my daughter really enjoyed these two dishes.

Ellen’s Stardust Diner is also worth a visit for that 50’s diner experience but with singing waiters…very good fun. And you can’t go to New York without trying out the bagels…Liberty Bagels was our bagel stop and they were absolutely delicious.

Our final treat for the trip was Afternoon Tea at The Plaza Hotel. This was a lovely end to our trip, although I wouldn’t recommend the caviar macarons….definitely not something I will be trying again in a hurry! If you do fancy a trip to the Plaza Hotel you will need to have a reservation for the restaurant. I would recommend booking a table as soon as you can as availability does go quickly.

A trip to New York at any time of the year would be fabulous, but visiting at Christmas time just made it that little bit more special.