NYC: What to Pack, Sample Agenda & Tips/Tricks when Visiting

While the visit is still fresh in my mind, I wanted to pass along some tips if you are visiting New York City.  I find that being prepared and researching in advance always make for a more enjoyable trip.  Although sometimes doing so, also makes for a very busy trip as I come across more and more sites to see and do that I cram into our agenda.  I’m going to break down this post in 3 sections: what to bring, our agenda, and tips/tricks we learned while in NYC.

What To Bring:

Fleece lined leggings.  I only packed a couple pairs of leggings and one pair of jeans.  If you don’t have a pair of fleece lined leggings, I highly suggest getting some.  We actually had great weather while in NYC but it still was December and we still had to dress for the winter weather.  Fleece lined leggings aren’t bulky and they have that added layer of warmth.  Plus they are just plain comfortable and cute with lots of tops.  I got mine at a local boutique Dry Goods for $16 for the win but you can find these at a lot of retail stores.

Comfortable, warm shoes.  I searched high and low trying to find a trendy boot that was comfortable and warm.  The Linford UGG boot was just that.   They have a full zipper side, a more durable outer suede that is water resistant and the wool lining that isn’t too thick but provide that extra warmth.  And the biggest key is the rubber sole, which I think is why my feet never hurt.  It took me a few weeks to choke down if I wanted to spend the $220 on them but in the end, I was due for some new UGGs and these were hands down the best purchase I made and look how cute they are!  I wear them seriously all the time.

Chestnut Linford UGG, Zappos

The Neat Pack Versatile Canvas Sling Bag / Travel Backpack |Wear Over Shoulder or Crossbody.  This bag is a steal at $29 compared to it’s competitors such as Patagonia.  I didn’t want to carry a purse in NYC but rather a small easy to access bag but large enough to carry my DSL camera.  This bag is a total winner.  It was a little bit of a pain to get on and off with my coat hood but otherwise it was great.  I also liked how I could change out the strap to wear on one side one day and change to the other side the next day so one shoulder never gets too sore.  It also has a lot of privacy pockets to stash cash in so it can’t be stolen.  I carried everything we needed for the day while out in NYC with ease.  I also loved the handy cell phone pocket that is on the strap, it fit my Samsung S7 perfectly.

Neat Pack Backpack, get yours on Amazon for $29

Before we left for NYC, I wanted to find a new winter coat that was longer than my current North Face one that hits at my waist.  Something a little longer, less bulky, and that had a hood.  I really wanted it to be another North Face but none met my criteria.  I came across Columbia Carson Pass II jacket in black.  It’s not very bulky but has a omni-heat thermal reflective lining on the inside, it looks foil-like and it reflects your body heat to keep the heat in and not out of the coat, hence why it doesn’t need to be bulky.  It was the perfect length on me and although the fur hood did get a little annoying (in my eyes a lot when I used it), the fur piece of the hood comes off so you can still have the hood without the fur if you want. 

Columbia Carson Pass II, got mine at Scheels, $179

Lastly, a good hat and gloves.  I personally liked these UnderArmour versions, the gloves are fleece lined and the mitten flip back which I used that feature a lot on this trip.  Kept my hands warm without the hassle of taking them off all the time and kept from possibly losing them. And for some reason the image isn't working for these so here is the link. 

And that is basically what I wore each day and it worked out well.  I was warm and comfortable.

And here we are in my coat, boots, fleece lined leggings, backpack, & mittens

Our Agenda:

Here is what we did in the short time we were there.  We arrived at 10 am Thursday and I left Sunday morning so we had basically 2.5 days in the city.  I liked our agenda, although it wasn’t perfect, my timing overall was pretty good, I’ll tell you what worked and what didn’t with this agenda.

Thursday:	Time:
Arrive, check into hotel	10:35 - 12 pm
Lunch @ John's Pizzeria	12 - 1:30 pm
NBC Tour	2- 3:30 pm
Snack at Magnolia Bakery
Radio City Rockettes Show	5 - 6:30 PM (90 min running time)
Del Frisco's Grill, reservations set for 7:15 pm	7:15 PM
Rockefellar Tree / Times Square Walk Thru
Morell Wine Bar

We had a direct flight into NYC so I felt pretty confident that we would arrive on time or close to that I was okay with pre-purchasing tickets this day to a few agenda items.  We actually landed in NYC at 10 am, so a little ahead of schedule.  I chose John’s pizza as it was close to the hotel.  This agenda worked out really well.  We stopped briefly in Times Square after lunch, got a few good pictures at Rockefeller before heading into the NBC Tour. 

The only agenda item we didn’t do was Morell Wine Bar, mainly because I was really tired.  I was very happy I had tickets to the 5 pm Rockette’s show or else I don’t think I would have been able to stay awake thru it, not because it wasn’t a great show, I was just exhausted from little sleep and an early morning flight that day.

Friday:	Time:
Breakfast
**Take Subway to Wall Street
Wall Street Tour	10 am - noon
Lunch: Adrienne's Pizza Bar	12 - 1:30 pm
9/11 Museum & Memorial	reservations @ 2 (to 4 pm)
**Take Subway to Times Square
Becco	5:30 pm reservations
The Ride Experience	7:15 -- 8:30 pm
Madamme Tussauds
Junior's Cheesecake

We ended up taking a cab to the Financial District and eating breakfast at Cosi Café.  The cab ride was fine but the breakfast wasn’t all that great.  The Wall Street tour was amazing, I highly recommend Wall Street Experience Tour.   We ended up not eating at Adrienne’s Pizza Bar as our tour finished up a good distance from here although we did walk past it and it is in the heart of the Financial District on a really cute cobblestone alley.  I still think it would make a great lunch choice for a future visit. 

The 9/11 Memorial – I would say maybe allow 15-20 minutes.  We probably stopped for only 10 minutes.  The 9/11 Museum took us about 1.5 hours but it could have taken a lot longer if we stopped to read every artifact.  The website suggests 2 hours to visit, I would agree with that allotment.  I also highly recommend reservations, the line was very long but our reservations got us right in.

We didn’t end up going to Madamme Tussauds at all while in NYC.  And we ended up going to Junior’s the following day. Overall, I felt like this day’s agenda was planned well where we were not rushed at all and left lots of time for transportation. 

Saturday:	Time:
Breakfast
Hop on Off Bus full tour (HOHO bus)	3 hours /buses start @ 8 am
Lunch at Heartland Brewery at the Empire State Bldg.
Ferry Tour	1.5 hours
The Tour	4-5:30 pm (90 min running time)
Rock Center Café	7 pm dinner reservations

Saturday was our least planned day and it showed.  The HOHO bus is a disaster, do not take it!  We went with Grayline Sightseeing as it was part of our NYC Pass.  The lines were long, nobody hops off and the buses get stuck in traffic.  If you do the HOHO bus, I would suggest getting on the first bus of the day and not getting off until you’ve made the full loop.  We didn’t do that but I would think that is the best way to do this attraction.  We ended up hopping off at Macy’s, spent a considerable amount of time there and did eat lunch at the Empire State Building.  There are several different Heartland Brewery’s in NYC and we thought the food was terrific.  

We did not get to do the ferry which was a big bummer for me.  By the time we got to the ferry, it was 2 pm.  We were told it takes 1.5 hours and it wasn’t leaving until 3.  I had tickets to the Tour at 4, so we wasted a lot of time that afternoon sitting in traffic on the bus just to get to the ferry and realize we didn’t have time for it so we walked to the subway and ended up back at Times Square having cheesecake at Juniors.   Rock Center Café was great, I would eat there again every single time I visit it was so good and the views of the tree are unbeatable while dining.

So there you have it, our agenda for 2.5 days in the city.  I’m terrified of heights (which is ironic as I travel in airplanes) but I cannot go to the top of any buildings so that knocks off quite a few popular attractions for us.  I wish we would have had time to visit Central Park and do more shopping.  I’ve seen a show on Broadway in my previous visit but now since we’ve seen the Rockette’s, I think a Broadway show would be good too in a future trip.  I had no interest in going back to the Statue of Liberty but afterwards, I wish we had.  Aaron didn’t show a great desire to go to Ellis Island either when planning our trip. I think I’d rather do that in the future than do the HOHO ferry ride. 

Tips/Tricks in NYC:

I did a fair amount of research in addition to learning the do’s/don’ts while visiting in a short amount of time, here are a few.

We stayed at ROW NYC Hotel.  I thought it was a great location and clean.  All hotel rooms in NYC are tiny!  We upgraded to a deluxe room and it felt similar in size to a typical hotel room.  We didn’t spend much time in the hotel so I didn’t need anything fancy but I do think the upgraded space was well worth it.  I don’t remember the exact upcharge but it wasn’t more than $20 a day.  Pay attention to when you book your room if it's a shared bathroom.  I was really surprised that some hotels have shared bathrooms between rooms, I’d never heard of such a thing and these weren’t shady hotels.  I don’t know much more about this as when I saw this in the description I started shopping other hotels.  It’s just weird to me to share a bathroom with a room next to yours.  No thanks.

We flew in and out of Newark in Jersey.  We took the train into the city.  It was cheap and efficient.  I think we were at Penn Station in downtown NYC around 20-30 minutes from leaving the airport.  I would recommend this means of getting to/from the city.

Do not let the tourist traps get you.  The Disney characters on Times Square that want to take a picture with you will try to take all of your money.  If someone walks up to you trying to sell you something, I suggest ignoring them.  We had several people walk up to us trying to sell us their CDs.  Everyone on Times Square is looking for the naive tourist so they can take your cash, beware.  It’s a lot like the Vegas strip honestly but the NYC traps are more aggressive.

Carry a phone charger with you everywhere!  There were a lot of times our phones were running low on battery, I think there are a lot of cell towers that they ping off of and something seemed to drain our batteries quickly.  We had our phones on power saving mode a lot and I was still able to receive texts and phone calls, just no access to my applications, which was fine.

Figure out the subway.  The subway is the way to go.  Unless you are claustrophobic.  I did extensive research on the safety of the subway but ran out of time to look into it much further which was a mistake as we had no idea what lines go where and we weren’t very efficient with it as we could have been.  We took the subway in the middle of the day, I felt it was fairly safe.  I never felt uncomfortable other than there isn’t a whole lot of security as to who gets on and off the subway but that is typical with ground transportation I guess.  We only took the subway from the Financial District to Times Square and back.  I cannot tell you if the subway is safe further north, from what I read online, I think it can be a little more unsafe as you travel north to Queens but I cannot tell you if it is or isn’t.  Nor did we ever take it at night so I can’t weigh in on that either. 

Cabs are safe but I felt less comfortable with the cab drivers than taking the subway.  That’s just me personally.  Avoid pedicabs (bikes pulling seats), they are extremely expensive and I felt it was dangerous and they bicyclist are a little too daring in the traffic for my liking.

The traffic in NYC is crazy.  Everywhere.  Allow lots of time to get from one point to another.  We did a lot of walking but we also knew we had to take transportation so we wouldn’t completely wear ourselves out.

Have dinner reservations.  We did and it paid off, the waits were long and crowded everywhere.  Plus, it is super expensive to walk into any restaurant.  I scouted out restaurants in advance that were in our price range.  It’s very easy to walk into a pricey place in NYC.

Amazingly, there are zero street trash cans in NYC.  Walking around with a coffee?  Well you better plan on holding onto it for a long time!  Must be because they are too easy for bombs.

  

When taking the train back to the airport at Penn Station, go extra early!  I felt really turned around when taking the train back to the airport.  I'm glad I left town about 4 hours before my flight because it took well over an hour to get back.  The biggest thing I learned is that the train only comes to Penn Station once an hour.  I got very lucky and arrived 15 minutes before the train left.  It is also important to understand how the train works.  You won't know what track you are on until it actually arrives (which is kinda dumb).  So you have to be ready to watch for it as you won't know until the last minute where to be.  And once you do know the track, get right to it as it's a mess with people trying to get off and people trying to get on, it's not organized at all.  As well as once you get down to the track, pay attention further as there are 2 tracks and only one of them actually goes to Newark.  I was taking some serious notes on the way back and texted them all to Aaron so he would know exactly what to do when it was his turn to get back to the airport.  

We did the NYC Explorer Pass.  I found it was a better bang for our buck than doing the New York Pass.  I did a lot of comparison between the 2 and for the attractions we were interested in, it was the best deal for us.  I can't recommend one over the other but I suggest you compare the 2 for what your interests are, regardless of which one you pick, they both offer great cost savings and we found ours easy to use.  

Look in advance at Travelzoo, Groupon, etc for deals on attractions.  The RIDE and The TOUR were used thru our NYC Explorer Pass and came with deep discounts.  Our tickets to the Rockettes we got on the cheap thru Travelzoo.  It pays to shop around.  We also used our NYC Explorer Pass for food discounts as well, know all the benefits you can reap when you buy these deals.  I also made all of our dinner reservations on opentable.com so I had all the confirmation emails saved in my phone with their address and phone number handy.

So many tips but these are the ones that stick out in my mind.  Hope this post may be useful to someone out there.  A little research in advance goes a long way to making the most of your trip!