Going to New York City for the first time truly felt like my Gossip Girl dreams came true! After just 3 days in the city, I fell in love with it! I even did the cliche contemplation of moving here after this visit because “I could just see myself living in the city”. But while I didn’t end up moving here, NYC still remains as one of my favorite cities!
I’m sharing my itinerary from my first time in NYC, and I feel like it’s the perfect first visit plans! While you would need a few more days to hit all of the big attractions, we definitely hit a lot of them! In a later post I’ll also share the itinerary from my second trip to NYC where I was able to check off a few more tourist spots, but overall it felt ~slightly~ less touristy.
MY NYC ITINERARY
OUR HOTEL
We stayed at the Marriott Vacation Club Pulse, New York City. It was in Midtown Manhattan and this location was perfect for us! It was near most of the main attractions that we wanted to see and whenever something was too far to walk, there was a subway entrance nearby!
GETTING AROUND
If you’re nervous about getting around NYC like I was, here’s some tips on getting place to place:
Honestly, NYC is such a walkable city and walking lets you stumble across some fun things! On my second trip here, my friend and I “accidentally stumbled” across a St. Patrick’s Day parade, Times Square, and The Declaration of Independence (The New York Public Library) by just walking!
The subway is going to be your cheapest option other than walking. Using Apple Maps makes is super easy by telling you exactly which lines/stops to take and how to access them! It also tells you how long until the train departs, which is nice! When I went on this trip, my friends and I got metro cards and refilled them as we needed, however, the last time I went I noticed that I was able to just tap my credit card at the fare gate (they take Apple Pay as well!).
Another classic NYC option is to hail a taxi! My friends and I struggled a little bit at first because we didn’t realize that when the taxi cab light was off that meant that they were already had a passenger, but once we realized that, we got the hang of it! There’s also an app called Curb where you can essentially call/schedule a taxi like an Uber!
Lastly, like most other cities, Uber and Lyft are great options!
DAY 1
We technically arrived the night before, but we genuinely just went to the hotel, got pizza at a random little pizza shop, brought water, and then went back to the hotel. So, I’m counting our first full day here as day 1 however, I will say New York pizza does not disappoint!
LUNCH AT PEAK IN HUDSON YARDS
We started off our trip by heading off to Hudson Yards for lunch! I was so excited that we were able to get a reservation at Peak for lunch! It’s on the 101st floor which means that the views are incredible!
The staff was super sweet and when they saw me taking videos of the skyline, one of the waiters took me to the private dining area so I could get better pictures without people in my way! He told me that Justin Bieber had been there the week before and I immediately felt unworthy of setting foot in that room.
The food and drinks were incredible!! I still think about it to this day and I always recommend it to anyone that has plans to visit NYC!
CHECK OUT THE CITY’S VIEWS AT EDGE
One cool thing about eating at Peak is that after our meal, we got free access to Edge– an observation deck on the 100th floor! The tickets to Edge usually start at $40, so having it included with our meal was such a good deal!
WALKING ON THE HIGH LINE
Now the High Line is a really cool concept, but as someone who forgot to pack sneakers this trip and was stuck walking around this day in 4 inch heeled boots, I will say that I did not fully take it all in and appreciate it. However, I will say that it felt like an escape from the city in a way even though it was all just under us. It was less crowded than the streets below and there’s little exhibits along the way!
It’s definitely somewhere I want to go back to when I hadn’t just walked 4 miles in heels.
SUNSET BOAT TOUR
I’ll be honest, I enjoyed this boat tour, however, depending on what you’re looking for may depend on if you want to book this specific one. This tour that we took with Circle Line was definitely more of an informational boat tour, which was nice to help me understand the different boroughs of NYC a little bit more. That being said, I think a booze cruise could’ve been fun too to be up and socializing with people!
This particular tour had great views of the skyline and Statue of Liberty, however, you are sitting down the entire time unless you’re getting up to get a drink or snacks. So if you’re good with sitting for most of the time, then this is a great option!
DINNER AT A FOOD TRUCK
I feel like going to some kind of food truck or hotdog stand is some kind of rite of passage that you have to do while you’re in New York. We opted for what I think was a halal food truck on our way back from the boat tour. So I’d say if you’re on a time crunch and just want something quick, go for the next food truck that you pass by!
PASS THROUGH TIMES SQUARE
Times Square once the sun goes down is a must see for anyone going for the first time!! However, I will say that I personally felt like I was in awe of all the lit up signs and billboards for a solid 5-10 minutes and then I was just like “okay, we can keep walking back to the hotel”. Definitely something you have to see, but I don’t think you need to allot too much time to be there- I’d recommend just walking through on your way back from dinner or something!
GOING OUT IN EAST VILLAGE
We just went to two bars out in East Village because the second one that we went to was so much fun that we stayed the entire night! Our first stop was Lovers of Today which was a cocktail bar. It was a cozy space and got quite crowded, but the drinks were good and ~strong~.
Right next door is Niagara, which was so much fun!! Where I’m from, the bars close at 2 AM, so finding out that the bars in NYC don’t close until 4 AM was such a fun surprise! The front area by the bar is pretty lively, but it gets even more crowded and rowdy in the back rooms with the DJ! I definitely would recommend checking it out! One thing I will say is they do not like when you stand on the chairs and booths (may or may not be speaking from experience).
FYI, if any of y’all are interested, this is also where Ned from the Try Guys was caught cheating on his wife.
DAY 2
BRUNCH AT BUVETTE
Buvette is definitely a popular West Village staple! I’ve even seen a picture of Timothee Chalamet here and read an article that Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds were here too! However, I will say that we had to wait about an hour outside in the rain until we were seated. This may have been because it was a Sunday morning or because it was when lots of restaurants had capacity restrictions due to COVID, but I would recommend maybe calling ahead before you go to see what the wait time is or going at a non-peak time because while the food was good, I don’t think it was incredible enough to justify the hour wait in the rain.
It’s worth a visit if you have time and if there isn’t too much of a wait because the actual place made me feel like I took a flight and landed in Europe and the waffles were good!
Walk Around Brooklyn/DUMBO
My friend kept telling me that I couldn’t keep referring to Brooklyn as “Dan Humphrey’s stomping grounds”, but I couldn’t help myself! Anyways, after a quick subway ride, we were in Dan’s borough! We honestly didn’t really have a plan going into Brooklyn, so we went in and out of lots of cute shops! It felt much artsier and slower paced compared to Manhattan (more Dan Humphrey-ish if you may).
We ended up finding a path that I think is part of the Brooklyn Bridge Park and/or the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway. Wherever we ended up, it was a path that took us along the river where we got a really good view of what we thought was the Brooklyn Bridge, however, it ended up being the Manhattan bridge! After walking a few more minutes, we realized that we found the real Brooklyn Bridge! The views were really pretty and we took pictures for quite a bit just because the backdrop of both bridges and the Manhattan skyline were incredible!
DINNER AT L’ARTUSI
Another West Village gem we went to was L’Artusi. I got the Tuscan kale salad and the Violet Skies cocktail- both were incredible! The atmosphere was also super nice- the lights were dim with lots of candles. If you’re looking to have a ~fancy~ dinner, I’d definitely recommend going here!
DAY 3
EXPLORE THE MET
Even just sitting on the MET steps fulfilled all of my Gossip Girl dreams! But I didn’t expect to be so blown away by the actual museum. I think we spent a few hours in the MET, and it didn’t feel long enough! My absolute favorite part was seeing the MET Gala exhibit! The year I went was in 2021 so the exhibit was In America: A Lexicon of Fashion. I’ll be the first to admit that until this moment I did not realize that the MET gala theme had its own exhibit at the museum, but now I genuinely want to go back every year just to see the exhibit after the gala!
All of the other exhibits at the MET were so interesting and I didn’t even get through all of them because the museum is so big! One thing I did want to go to was the rooftop bar at the MET, the Cantor Roof Garden Bar, but it was closed when I was there. However, it’s open now and may be worth a shot to check out it you have time!
STROLLING THROUGH CENTRAL PARK
Would it even be a trip to NYC without seeing Central Park? The park was incredible and honestly it was just really cool to think about all of the movies and shows that I’ve watched that have had scenes there and then thinking about how I was right there too. In the fall, the weather was perfect to just walk around the park and enjoy the nature as well as people watch a little bit (while eating a hotdog from a hotdog stand in true New York fashion of course).
And for any Gossip Girl fans or even just fans of pretty architecture, you have to stop by the Bethesda terrace/fountain AKA where a certain couple got married (I almost put the names, but I apparently spoiled the ending for my friend one time by putting the names of the people who got married there in the Instagram story when I was there, so trying to avoid that again).
DUMPLINGS AT JOE’S SHANGHAI IN CHINATOWN
My friends and I were craving Chinese food and we really just took a shot in the dark by letting Apple Maps give us a recommendation, but I’m really glad that we went to Joe’s Shanghai so that we could see Chinatown! My great grandparents used to live in Chinatown in NYC, so it was really neat to be able to see the area that they called home!
The soup dumplings were incredible here and after coming home and doing some research- it seems like tons of people agree! Joe’s made the list of lots of “Best Dumplings in New York” lists!
COMEDY CELLAR
I’ll admit, I was a bit skeptical about going to a comedy show at first because I thought a few hours sitting down without my phone instead of exploring the city would be a waste of time, but I was proven wrong! My friends and I had such a fun time and laughed so hard, that I didn’t want the show to end. So if you’re on the edge about going like I was, I would 10/10 check it out!
DESSERT AT JUNIOR’S CHEESECAKE
All I can say is getting a Junior’s Cheesecake at the actual bakery instead of at the store is 100X better and now every time I pass by the mini Junior’s cheesecakes at Costco, I think back to this trip.
ONE LAST STOP
COMPLETING THE TRIP WITH A BAGEL
I’ll be honest- I don’t remember which bagel shop we went to, but I mean can you really go wrong with a New York bagel? And can you even say you went to New York if you didn’t grab a bagel? So if you realize that it’s the last day of your trip and you have to leave for the airport in an hour, I say go find the nearest bagel shop and grab one on your way to the airport!
BUCKET LIST FOR NEXT TIME
As always, I’m leaving you with some places that are on my bucket list for next time (maybe y’all will beat me there!):
Restaurants: The Flatiron Room Murray Hill, Butter (to live out another Gossip Girl dream), Oscar Wilde, Carbone
Bagels: Tompkins Square bagel, Zabar’s, Zucker’s Bagels
Drinks: Please Don’t Tell (speakeasy), Monarch Rooftop, Pauls’ Casablanca
Attractions: Empire State Building, Radio City Music Hall