We had always intended to end our trip by spending a number of months in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico but in order to get there we would be transiting through the United States of America. Braino’s choice was to stay in New York City - in the heart of Manhattan to be specific. We had travelled to NYC in 2014 on our honeymoon and Braino has loved New York ever since.

We were there in mid January, so it would the middle of winter and we got the coldest temperatures we’ve ever experienced. Some days were as low as minus 7 degrees celsius! Technically colder than what we experienced in Tromso during the day. But we still had a really amazing time, New York is now one of Hallie’s favourite destinations too.

Manhattan Skyline from the ferry to the Statue of Liberty

INTINERARY

Here’s our itinerary for the five full days we spent in New York City.

DAY 1.

Times Square
Central Park

DAY 2.

American Museum of Natural History
Book of Wonders

DAY 3.

The Metropolitian Museum of Art
Central Park

DAY 4.

Rockefeller Center
New York Public Library
Grand Central Station
The Barclay Centre to watch Brooklyn Nets vs New York Knicks in the NBA. (Basketball)

DAY 5.

The Statue of Liberty
Ellis Island Immigration Museum
Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge

WHERE WE STAYED

We stayed in a suprisingly cheap but well located apartment building in Midtown, a few blocks over from the Empire State Building. We found it on airbnb but the building itself seemed to be a very popular acommodation for groups, as we saw so many other groups coming and going during our stay. We had an extremely basic room, with two queen beds and a set of doube bunks. There was a tiny bathroom and a kitchenette and small table. 5 nights in such a small space was a bit of a challenge but we spent most of our days out and about so it was fine. The kids love it when we are all in the one hotel room, which we’ve done a few time when we’ve only stay in a place for a night or two. New York was the longest day we had in a room like this, but it kept things very budget friendly.

The location was the amazing part, right in the centre of Midtown - with views of the Empire State Building (if you pressed your face against the window and looked up, hahah)

GETTING AROUND

We flew in and out of JFK International Airport and had arranged an airport transfer via Booking.com to transport us from the airport into Manhattan and then back again on the day we departed. Airport transfers are something we’ve priortised throughout most of the trip as it takes away a lot of stress when we’ve arrived in a new location - definitely worth the extra money.

During our stay we caught the subway or just walked and felt generally really safe. We were suprised to find that we could literally just tap our phones onto the subway ticket gates and pay for subway tickets using the creidt cards in our phones wallets - no need to buy a pass or physical ticket.

The kids were free on the subways, or more specificlly, we had no problems with them walking through thr turnstiles with us. Maybe Farley should have had a ticket but no-one seemed to be checking.

We did a lot of walking! Over 20k steps some days and considering temperatures were below zero degrees celcius every day, thats a solid effort from the girls!

SIGHTSEEING AND BUYING TICKETS

We generally purchased tickets in advance using the HEADOUT app, which I had used in Paris and Rome as well. It seems to be the perfferred app for addmission tickets, as you get a QR code to scan on arrival at most places. If you want to a tour or have a guide, I’d recommend apps like Get Your Guide or Viator, but we’ve had no problems with HEADOUT.