A guide to NYC - What to see and where to eat!

We went to NYC in February 2019 to shoot a wedding. We spent 5 nights in this incredible city and we fell in love with New York! It was our first time in America so this trip was very exciting for us. We stayed at Pod 39 hotel which was brilliant, really affordable in a great location near to grand central and was the perfect place for us to stay. We rarely spent any time in the room as there’s way too much to see and do in New York, so the small room’s suited us for this trip. Below we will break down our recommended things to see and places to eat, the food really was a big highlight of our trip.

Top of the rock

Our first full day in New York and the weather was beautiful which made the views even more incredible. We had already decided we wanted to do the Rockefeller building for that famous New York City view! We got up early and went at around 8:30am it opens at 8am, we recommend getting there early to get amazing photos and to experience it without crowds of people. There are different levels and observation decks so you get the best view’s of the whole city. We didn't get the day and night ticket but we would recommend purchasing this so you can come back in the evening to see the skyline at night.

Central Park
Make sure you go to Central Park, it’s huge so maybe hire bikes to ride around it or just stay in one area of the park. Because we went in February the ice rink was still there which was magical we felt like we were in home alone. We had a walk around some of the park until we had walked up towards the MET.

Black Tap

Oh what we would do for a Black Tap burger right now! The most insane burgers and shakes, it’s a must visit place for foodies. There’s usually queues outside but we went just before the busy lunch rush and managed to get in.

Times Square

As touristy as it might sound everyone has to go to Times Square it’s iconic, we wish we had spent more time there soaking up the bright lights and craziness.

The MET

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the fourth most visited art museum in the world. We didn’t have the time to go for a tour but we went to see the famous building and if your a gossip girl fan you need to have a picture on the steps!

Brooklyn Bridge & Brooklyn Bridge Park

Plays ‘No Sleep Till Brooklyn’

We got up early to walk over Brooklyn bridge, the original plan was to see the sun rise but jet lag had other plans. We still got there pretty early and it was Sunday so it was empty. We had the whole bridge most of the time to ourselves (apart from the odd runners) and the morning light was gorgeous. Brooklyn Bridge Park is a really good place to get a great view of the two bridges and of Manhattan skyline across the water.

Dumbo

Dumbo is a really cool neighbourhood in Brooklyn, not far from the Brooklyn bridge. Cobblestone streets and converted Brooklyn warehouse buildings are the backdrop for independent boutiques, high-end restaurants and trendy cafes. We went to the Brooklyn roasting company for a coffee and a hot chocolate, it was very cold that morning and this was the perfect stop to warm us up.

Sweet Chick

Look no further than Sweet Chick for the best chicken & waffles! We went to the Brooklyn one there was a long wait but it was 100% worth it. They have a few locations in NYC and now a place in London. The atmosphere inside was super cool. Just check out their instagram and you will be drooling!  

Chelsea Market & The high line

Chelsea Market is a must, restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries, grocery stores, tacquerias, independent shops, and everything else you could wish for. It has such a great atmosphere we went in the evening it was busy but we didn’t mind too much and we also had some amazing taco’s.

The High Line is a 1.45-mile-long public park built on a historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. It has great city views we saw an amazing sunset from there it also has some art from local artist which is really cool. You can access Chelsea market from part of the high line which is what we did, after walking part of it and watching the sunset we went to the market to grab dinner.

We also did a lot of the famous landmarks like the, One world trade centre, 911 memorial, Flat iron building, Radio city hall, 5th avenue and of course we did a little shopping in some of the amazing malls. Another area we loved was Nolita it’s a great neighbourhood for food places, coffee shops and little boutiques. It also had some great graffiti!

Jack’s Wife Freda & The smith

For a great breakfast or brunch head to Jack’s Wife Freda we went to the one in Chelsea but there are also locations in Soho and the West Village. Expect American-Mediterranean cooking & classic cocktails. We also had amazing pancakes one morning at The smith a casual American Brasserie.

We walked or took the subway everywhere so we got to explore lots of different area’s. Just walking around the street’s in New York is exciting!

Grand Central Station

Swing by Grand Central Station and soak up the busy atmosphere of New Yorkers rushing to work. The building is absolutely beautiful and they also have a great food hall under the station.

Blue Bottle Coffee

We are big coffee lovers so finding a good coffee shop when we are traveling is always something we do. Blue bottle is our favourite coffee chain in America, their coffee is SO good! There is a small one next to grand central but they have loads all around the city.

Milk

So you may of heard of the famous Milk Bar we had watched the Netflix series chef’s table which featured Milk in it before we went to NYC (definitely give it a watch if you love dessert). We were so excited to try the famous cereal milk ice cream, this is possibly an unpopular opinion but we weren’t hugely impressed. We do recommend trying it out for yourself though as a lot of people love this ice cream. Their crack pie is apparently amazing so next time we will give that a go instead.

Brooklyn Brewery

We spent the rest of the day in Brooklyn after we had explored Brooklyn bridge park area and dumbo in the morning. We loved walking around and people watching while popping into little independent shops and coffee places. Zac is a huge beer lover so we decided to go to the brewery it’s free to do the tour and then after you can pay to try some of the beer, it was a really fun experience.

Five Leaves

For amazing breakfast/brunch in Brooklyn go to Five Leaves it’s a really small bistro with quirky interior. Nev from catfish was having his brunch in there which made the morning a bit more exciting.

Emily Pizza

Emily’s Pizza is definitely up there in on our top places we have eaten list, amazing pizza and the pretzel bun burger was insane. Again another popular place that you often have to queue for, we put our names down for a table and came back later.

Last but definitely not least you have to have a bagel in New York! There are so many good bagel shops to try, we went to one near our hotel called Zucker Bagels it was always really busy and it was so good. We didn’t get to try it but Russ and Daughters is suppose to be very popular for their bagels.

I could write about New York forever, there’s so much to see we haven’t even scratched the surface. Writing this blog post has reminded me of some of the amazing places I had forgotten about or some of the memories from the trip that had faded. It was nice to look back and immerse myself back in the magic that is New York.