48 Hours in New York
Spend 48 hours with me in the city that never sleeps, including the holy trinity of NY food recommendations - the burger, bagel and pizza.
For those of you who subscribe or follow me for the F1 content, hopefully, you won't mind this brief detour! But today, I want to talk about another one of my passions - travel. A couple of weeks ago, I spent 48 hours in New York (from Sunday to Tuesday afternoon), and I packed in a lot, so I thought I would share my itinerary and tips for a getaway in the Big Apple.
Firstly, if it's your first time in New York and you want to see all the city's iconic landmarks, stay in and around Times Square. Staying in tourist central goes against my rule of thumb, but in one afternoon, we ticked off five major spots on foot, starting at Times Square and making our way to the Rockefeller Center.
For a late lunch, we picked up burgers from 7th Street Burger that we then ate surrounded by high rises in Bryant Park. The burgers were a 10/10 - very tasty, not too greasy, and at under £20 for two of us, very well priced (it went downhill from here!).
After a quick outfit change at the Kimpton Hotel Theta, we got an Uber to The Tusk Bar for some cocktails - warning, the Marigold, a take on the spicy margarita, was VERY spicy. We then wandered back via the Empire State Building and saw it lit up in all its glory. We decided to opt out of going up the Empire State Building or the Rockefeller Center because we didn't want to waste time in queues and wanted to spend our money elsewhere.
Sunday PM | Time Square, Bryant Park, One Vanderbilt, Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Center, & Empire State Building
Day two started with Breakfast at Tiffany's, which surpassed expectations. Reservations at Daniel Boulud's Blue Box Café are hard to come by, but I got one after a few days of trying (29 days beforehand). I expected this to be quite gimmicky and for the food to fall short of the price tag. But the service was impeccable, the afternoon tea-style breakfast items complemented each other well, and the setting was iconic - the bathrooms are a must-see!
After Tiffany's, we walked up 5th Avenue, saw the famous Plaza Hotel and dipped into Central Park. We then made our way up to The Met through the Upper East Side, the perfect day for Gossip Girl fans. In hindsight, it was a shame to see so little of Central Park and miss Bow Bridge and Bethesda Terrace, but you can't do everything in 2 days.
Following some TikTok downtime, we put on comfortable clothes and took the subway downtown to Dumbo. We saw the famous view of the Manhattan Bridge, watched the sunset over Brooklyn Bridge from Pebble Beach and then walked back across the Brooklyn Bridge, getting a peak at the Statue of Liberty on the way. We continued walking through Chinatown and then ended our night in Little Italy. We hoped to secure pizza from the highly-coveted Rubirosa, but it was packed out - book in advance.
Monday AM & PM | Breakfast at Tiffanys, 5th Avenue, Central Park, Upper East Side, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty (view), Chinatown & Little Italy
To round off the trip, we spent our last morning in Greenwich Village - I would stay here next time I'm in New York. We picked up coffee from Joe Coffee and visited the Friends building. Next, we got bagels from Popup Bagels that we ate in Washington Square Park (tasty schmear, but you have to assemble the bagels yourself), walked through the Financial District and then took one last look at the Statue of Liberty from The Battery.
Tuesday AM | Greenwich Village, Friends Building, Financial District, The Battery
I would definitely advise longer in New York, especially if you're keen to explore the diverse and vibrant neighbours. But if you don't have much time, hopefully, this helps you make the most of it!
And for my F1 fans, if you've made it this far, there were plans for a race in New York - The Grand Prix of America announced in 2011 for the 2013 World Championship. However, after many financial and regulatory disputes, the 5.1km Port Imperial Street Circuit was dropped for good in 2016. Who knows, it may be back one day...
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