It would take several lifetimes to enjoy all that New York has to offer. In the City that Never Sleeps, you can be the star of your own movie in a living film set
Visiting New York gives you a sense of déjà vu as you both discover and re-remember it at all at the same time! Its skyscrapers, yellow taxis, numbered avenues, bustling streets, and cafés are so familiar from films that you’ll immediately feel at home in its light, smells and sounds. NYC never fails to capture hearts.
Through films like Annie Hall to Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Ghost and Taxi Driver, and TV series such as Sex and the City, Friends or How I Met Your Mother, NY has become firmly ingrained in our psyches. Nothing is more thrilling than being able to explore the city that never sleeps for yourself.
New York is a multicultural melting pot with five boroughs: Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. Depending on the season, you’ll experience a different version of the city, but the consensus is that it is at its prettiest in the autumn.
Several iconic landmarks are a must-see, including the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, Broadway, MoMA, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and Rockefeller Center. Once you’ve ticked these off your list, there is still a whole lot of city to explore.
Don’t miss the vibrant neighbourhoods of Little Italy (aka the Bronx), Chinatown, the nightlife in the Meatpacking District and New York jazz in Harlem. Sample the avant-garde cuisine served in SoHo and Greenwich Village; tune into the hipster vibe and street art of avant-garde communities like Williamsburg and Bedford Avenue; admire the red brick houses with their famous steps and gardens in the residential neighbourhood of Park Slope. Visit Brooklyn’s historic Green Wood Cemetery; stroll along the beach at Coney Island or enjoy the stunning views from the Staten Island Ferry.
For window shopping or retail therapy, visit the luxury boutiques of Fifth Avenue, Macy’s – one of the largest department stores in the world, the equally iconic Bloomingdale’s or Bergdorf Goodman. Evenings are perfect for a Broadway musical or soaking up the magnificent colour palette of Central Park in the fall.
After admiring the skyscrapers from street level, no visit is complete without venturing sky-high for a bird’s-eye view of the Big Apple. The Empire State, Rockefeller Center and One World Trade Center all have unmissable observation decks. Alternatively, check out The Edge, New York’s newest observation deck 345 metres high at the top of the 30 Hudson Yards skyscraper, or the new High Line, an elevated garden built on former train tracks in the Chelsea district that offers unique views of the city below.
Heading to New York in December? Don’t leave before the Christmas season gets into full swing for a taste of some of the most spectacular Holiday celebrations in the world. Explore the magical Christmas markets; marvel at the enormous, beautifully decorated trees, like those in Rockefeller Center or Bryant Park; enjoy the festive shop windows or watch the skaters glide around the ice rinks.
The Christmas concerts are not to be missed; Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center and The Rockettes Radio City Christmas Spectacular (17th Nov-1st Jan), a fixture at Radio City Music Hall since 1933.
Christmas Day (25th December) is a public holiday, so many restaurants are closed as people celebrate with friends and families. But the most important date on the holiday calendar is 31st December, New Year’s Eve, when the whole planet gathers in Times Square for the countdown to midnight, ready to welcome in the new year with a kiss.
