Hello and welcome to possibly my longest ever post. This is a big old one, so hold tight.
If you follow me over on the gram, you would have caught some snaps from my recent travels. And this time I was in the big old apple on the build up to Christmas!!
It’s something we had planned for a pretty long while and something we were desperate to do with our first Christmas as Mr and Mrs. We booked it just a couple of months ago and had been planning our trip since.
As a visitor of New York on several occasions ( 3 times ), I had a pretty good idea of the
We had a blast, visited everything we wanted and more. So here’s a low down, picture heavy post of all things NYC in late December.
The start of our trip.
The first day we headed to grab our Bus tour tickets. You should know by now, every city we explore, we head on an New York Hop on Hop Off Bus tours . It’s the BEST way to get to know a city and you don’t necessarily use it as transport, just as a way to find bearings and learn the ins and outs of the city. This is no exception to New York.
After jumping on our first bus of the trip, we headed over to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I love Ellis Island and the history it gives the entire city, even the USA. But it wasn’t completely my husband’s bag so we didn’t stick around too long before heading back to the city.
Once back in the city, we wandered back up mid-town. Yup, walked 30 odd blocks. We managed to reach Times Square in time for dinner and a spot of shopping. We were truffled and hit the hay pretty early for NYC!
Day 2 – Rained out & a b’ball game!
What a weather wash! We knew rain was forecast so we made sure this was the day we would hit the shops. NBA store was first on the agenda and we spent a lot of time here – pretty sure we did the rounds 4 times over! Then onto Tiffanys! By the time we were all shopped out, the rain had just about sufficed. We did a quick change back at the hotel before heading back downtown in time for our Basketball game.
Oh, wait, did I tell you we were heading to a basketball game? In Madison Square Garden? Yup! We watched the New York Knicks vs Atlanta Hawks. Since my husband is such a huge fan of basketball, watching a game was a must and in the infamous area like MSG, well it was a
I usually avoid watching live sport at all costs – especially football. But having watched Basketball most evenings from my sofa with hubby, I have found a little soft spot for the sport. It’s fast, loud and impressive. So, it was hard to really see who was the most excited about watching a game in big apple.
We headed to MSG pretty early and grabbed some dinner in the way of TGIFridays. We mooched around macy’s after dinner before heading in early for the game.
Day 3 – Our last full day!
Since the day before was such a wash out, we wanted to make up for some lost rain free time, including a quick stop over in Brooklyn. We headed to the bus pretty early and made the first journey over to Brooklyn.
What a gorgeous part of the city it is. I have always loved the architecture across the river and that was even more evident in the winter sun! It was a little too nippy to walk over the bridge, so we took the view from the bus and headed back over to Manhattan.
From there, we made our way back towards Radio City. We suddenly wanted to do a little more Chrimbo hunting, and where better than the Rockerfella tree!
From here, we booked some late tickets for the 2018 Christmas show and mooched around before our late showing.
The Rockettes – Christmas Spectacular
Confession, I had thought about booking some tickets for this show before we headed out there, butttt I got sidetracked. We managed to grab some on the Saturday of our visit however and we were not disappointed. We felt for some of our trip, we were so engrossed in all the tourist bits and bobs, we kinda forgot it was Christmas.
The show was spectacular and really put us in the festive mood. Once finished, we mad our way back towards the hotel, catching some final shots of the city at night.
pst – these snaps are my husbands caught on my iphone 7 plus and err hello, he’s no stuck doing all my blog photography!
Our final hours
What a sad morning that was! Luckily, our hotel offered free baggage service, so we packed up early before heading out into the city.
The last day entailed all those little bits we hadn’t managed to do, including the Empire State building, Central park and more. We had purposely booked a late flight so we had just the day to enjoy and soak in the last bits of the city. The sun was shining, and despite the cold air, it was the best day weather wise.
One of my favourite spots for a light lunch has to be Grand Central Station. Not only does it have gorgeous architecture, but the food hall has amazing cuisine to try. My fav, pizza. On our last afternoon in the city, we headed here to devour a pizza. It’s the best I’ve ever had!
From lunch, we headed up towards the park, stopping off along the way. There was always a place I wanted to visit in New York and after stumbling upon it on our bus tour, I finally wandered around. Of course, it’s from Gossip Girl, but the palace was the perfect place to catch some stunning, simply stunning Christmas decorations!
This was pretty much our final hurrah in the city. From here, we made our way back to our hotel via the park,to wait for our 6pm pick up.
All in all, it was the most glorious time spent in the city. It was truly magical to spend such a festive time within New York. I completely understand when many suggest it being the most festive city!
The Finer Details
Hotel : Empire Hotel
I couldn’t recommend the hotel enough. Great location, with just a 20 minute walk to Times Square. You are also super close to Central park. Upon arrival we were upgraded to a bigger suit and offered free wifi. The hotel has a gorgeous rooftop bar, which we didn’t manage to use until the last afternoon.
Airline : Norweigian Air
The airline isn’t one I would ever use again. Currently drafting a complaint letter as never notified upon booking that food, drink nor entertainment is included in-flight within the booking price! Disgusted and many other passengers felt the same. If we had paid for blankets, pillows, food and drink on top of our flights cost, we would have spent more than flying with other airline. Added to the fact we didn’t know about it before boarding the plane, I am not a happy bunny!
Shuttle service to and from the airport : Super Shuttle
Pretty good service. Easy to locate once out of the airport. Just took so long for our shuttle to arrive to take us into the city. Pick-up to go the airport was on time however and once again easy.
Have you ever been to NYC?
Fancy a trip Christmas time? Where should I head next year? As always, let me know your thoughts in the comment section below!
*This post was in collaboration with New York City Tours.
