I visited New York during the Easter holidays for 3 days. April month is a shoulder season for visiting New York. Sometimes there is heavy rain and thunderstorm during the month of April. Only the first day of my trip in New York was windy and cloudy apart from that the weather was excellent throughout the visit. I feel you can comfortably visit all the locations in New York within 4 days.
Where to Stay During your trip to US
I decided to Stay at Best Western plus Empire State Hotel during my trip to New York. The hotel was situated on the 31st street and it is located at the center of Manhattan. I was able to walk to various famous tourist spots like Central park, Empire state building and The Edge. The hotel is swiftly connected to Airport through Penn Station railway station. You can reach airport within 45 minutes ride from Penn Station railway station with a stopover at Jamaica station.
The hotel is located at about 20 minutes walk from Times square. You can enjoy the vibrant nightlife of Times square area without relying on any public transport at night. Even the Financial district is accessible by around 10 minutes MTA ride from the hotel. I really enjoyed my stay at the hotel and it was reasonably priced compared to other hotels in the area. You should not miss the view of Empire state Building which is widely known as the icon of the city from the 31st Street.
Travel within NYC – You can easily travel in New Jersey, Manhattan and Brooklyn areas by using NY Metro. It is a very convenient way to travel in New York. You can either use your credit card or Purchase a metro card for travel in the metro train. The card can be also used to travel to JFK airport using Sky Train.
Times Square
Times square is situated at the center of Manhattan island. Times square is famous around the world for the New Year Countdown. Times square is very crowded during night time. You can also see street shows during your visit to Times square. I will recommend visiting times square early morning around 4am to 6am because you will have entire square to yourself and the lightings are stopped only during the daytime. The atmosphere around the area was spectacular and there are lot of famous restaurants situated around Times Square. I visited Times square during day time and also during night time but I loved visiting the place between 4am to 6am.
9/11 Memorial & Oculus Station
The 9/11 memorial is a must visit monument if you are planning to visit New York city. The site is located next to newly built Freedom tower. The monument and 9/11 museum sits on the former location of twin towers that were destroyed during the 9/11 attacks. I really loved the beautiful design of the memorial during the visit. The memorial features engraving of names of the people who lost their life in the attack. The monument features one the largest man made waterfall and the waterfalls are intended to remove the sound of the city. You will also see number of white oak trees around the memorial plaza.
Oculus Station is located near the 9/11 memorial and it is famous for its stunning architecture. Oculus center features various restaurants and shops. It is one of the major metro station hub in New York city.
Dumbo Neighborhood, Brooklyn Bridge walk & Brooklyn Promenade
Dumbo neighborhood is easily accessible via metro from Manhattan. You get great views of Manhattan Bridge from the Washington street and it is a popular spot for photography among Instagrammers. You can walk along the Brooklyn bridge park which consists of a jogging track and areas for recreational activities. Brooklyn Bridge walk is a popular activity in New York city. I strongly recommend to schedule the walk during weekdays because the bridge is extremely crowded during weekends.
Evening time is the perfect time to do the work and you will get to see amazing views of the Manhattan skyline from the bridge. The walk is just about a mile long but it takes long time because you will be stopping at lot of location to take pictures.
You will also see lot of street vendors selling cheap souvenir around the area. You can do the walk from both Manhattan and Brooklyn side but most people do the walk from Brooklyn side because of the amazing view of Manhattan. The weather was perfect on the day of walk and Manhattan skyline looked absolutely stunning during the evening time.
Helicopter tour
if you want to have the best bird’s eye view of New York city then undoubtedly Helicopter tour is the best option. I booked my tour from www.manhattanhelicopters.com. I opted for the shortest Helicopter tour which costs about USD 275 and the duration of the tour is 12 to 15 minutes. They also have the option of Deluxe tour which costs about USD 325 and the duration of the tour is 18-20 minutes. All the helicopter tours start from heliport located in Downtown Manhattan. You are only allowed to carry your phones and cameras during the tour. You will get to see all the prominent monuments of New York city. The helicopter moves towards the southern side of Manhattan after take off and you will see breathtaking views of statue of liberty and Ellis island.
The helicopter moves on the western side of Manhattan above Hudson bay and you will see great views of Freedom tower, Empire state building, Edge, Central park & Rockefeller center. The helicopter will take a U-turn around Central park and it will follow the same route on the way back to the base. I feel the tour is a must if you are visiting New York city. New York city skyline has evolved drastically recently after the addition of lot of super tall skyscraper. You need to book well in advance for the tour and Government issued ID card is compulsory for the tour.
I will strongly recommend to take the tour during noon time because the sun will be directly above your head and you will not have any issues for photography because of sunlight. You can also enhance your experience by purchasing photos of your trip as a souvenir.
NYC CRUISE
Your visit to New York will be incomplete if you don’t’ do a cruise around Hudson river. I booked my cruise on the https://www.circleline.com/ website. They have different types of options for cruise. I took the Landmarks cruise option and the tour duration was 1.5 hours. You have the option to choose either premier seating or standard seating.
I will strongly recommend everyone to opt for premier seating option because you will get faster boarding inside the ship. They have special reserved place towards the front of the ship and the front deck is exclusively reserved for the premier ticket holders. Most of the seating for standard ticket holders are situated towards the back side of ship. During our trip it was very windy and cold so the outside seating is only recommended if you are doing the cruise on a perfect sunny day. Outside seating area for standard ticket holder is extremely crowded so you don’t have enough space to take photographs. There is an on-board café inside the ship. The ticket was very reasonably priced for the tour.
You can check out the entire route of the specific tour from their official website. The tour starts from pier 83 located in Hudson yards. The pier is located very close to Edge observation deck so I will strongly recommend everyone to visit both the locations on the same day.
Our trip started exactly at 3pm. There is a tour guide on the ship who does commentary about the various important places during the boat ride. We started traveling south towards the Freedom tower and Statue of Liberty from the Hudson river pier. The view of Freedom tower was amazing from the boat. During the travel from pier to statue of liberty you will pass through various important landmark of Manhattan like Chrysler Building, Empire state Building and High line park.
We stopped our boat after reaching Statue of Liberty. The view of statue of liberty was fantastic from the boat. I didn’t visit the statue of Liberty island during the trip because of long queues and lot of security checks. The view of statue of liberty is best from the boat. The boat rotated 360 degree so that all the people on the boat get to see the view of Statue of liberty from different angle. We also crossed Ellis Island which was an important immigration point for USA.
We crossed the south of Manhattan island and moved towards Brooklyn sides. We crossed Brooklyn bridge, Manhattan bridge and Williamsburg Bridge. The tour guides explained to us about the history of various bridges during the tour. We also had a sneak peak of Dumbo neighborhood of Brooklyn area where you will find lot of converted Brooklyn warehouse buildings home to boutiques, trendy restaurants and cafés. The view of Brooklyn bridge and Manhattan bridge was amazing from the boat. After crossing Williamsburg Bridge the boat turned and it travelled towards the southern tip of Manhattan island. We returned back to the pier around 4.30 pm. There is no need to shift from one side of the boat to another side because the boat return via the same route.
Central Park
Your visit to New York is incomplete if you don’t visit Central Park. I visited Central park on Sunday. The park is busiest on weekends and Public holiday. The park feature jogging tracks, tennis courts, ice skating rink, baseball court and a zoo. I visited the Park during the cherry blossom season and the scenery was amazing. I walked from the south side of central park to the north side.
It takes about half day to explore the park. You can also hire guided bike tour or horse cart in order to explore the park. The park is a great place for cycling enthusiasts. The park also features different monuments, waterfalls and lakes. The scenery is completely different at different parts of the park. The view of New York skyline from the central park is absolutely stunning.
High Line
The high line is a very unique park located at the west side of Manhattan. The length of the park is around 2 km and the park extends from Vessel to Chelsea market. I started my walk from the Chelsea side and ended the trip at Vessel. You can also do the walk in opposite direction also. High Line park is elevated linear park and it is created on a rail road. I feel it is a great idea to build a park on top of a unused railway track instead of completely dismantling it. You will get great views of the Edge Observation deck and Hudson river from the park.
Edge View from High Line
Grand Central Station
Grand Central Station is the famous landmark of New York city. The station is featured in so many Hollywood movies and the architecture of the place is spectacular. The station was filled with tourists compared to regular travelers. The station is very spacious from inside and it is really well maintained. There are lots of shops inside the station and some part of the station is currently modernized.
Wall street Charging Bull
Wall street Charging Bull is located in the financial district of lower Manhattan. The bronze statue is easily accessible from Bowling green or Wall street metro station. I recommend visiting the sculpture early morning in order to avoid long queues for photographs. The charging Bull is a symbol of wall street and it is an important landmark of New York city.
VESSEL
The structure is a visitor attraction built as a part of Hudson Yards Redevelopment project. It has a unique honey comb like structure and it gained popularity after it was featured in the music videos of Chainsmoker song. It consists of stairs constructed in an unique way. After multiple suicide it was permanently closed to public in 2021.
Washington Square park
Washington square park is located near NY University campus. You get great views of Empire state building and Freedom tower from Washington Square park. The size of the park is very small and the Washington square arch is a prominent feature of the park. There is also fountain located at the center of the park and the park is popular among locals. Lot of important fighting scene in the Marvel’s Spiderman game happened at the park. Since I was a big fan of Spiderman it was very unique feeling to visit the park.
Chrysler Building
Chrysler Building is the icon of New York city. The best view of Chrysler building is from the intersection of 44th street and 3rd avenue. There are also some good views of Chrysler building from 45th street.
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