Visit New York for the first time or visit THE destination with more than 250 skyscrapers that makes everyone dream par excellence and where you feel like you are in the heart of a film or series at every crossroads. A city that inspires by constantly reinventing itself and that we recommend for a long weekend or more. We chose to visit New York for the first time in September but New York can be visited all year round. During our 10-day stay in New York, we fell in love with the Big Apple. Here on our travel blog OneDayOneTravel we give you all the tips and tricks to help you plan your next trip and visit New York City.
And as Alicia Keys sings, we are in the middle of a concrete jungle where all dreams are possible. One thing is for sure, we are in the process of making one of them come true. Your turn soon?
Visiting New York for the first time: Tips and tricks
1. When and how to visit New York for the first time?
1.1 When to come to New York City? The weather, but not only!
You can visit New York in all seasons. As in Montreal, they are well marked. Summer is very hot with a lot of tourists and temperatures that don't always make it easy to get tired. Winter and especially the end of the year period is also very busy. The famous giant Christmas tree in front of Rockefeller Center and the Christmas decorations attract a lot of tourists.
We therefore advise you to visit during the off-seasons, such as spring or autumn, when the weather is often very pleasant. This is exactly what we experienced in September 2019 with an average of 25 degrees during the day and a sunset around 7pm.
The period in which you wish to visit New York City is important but it is also the dates of the big events planned in the Big Apple that you should watch out for. In terms of accommodation, your stay will inevitably cost you a lot more during a fashion week or a UN summit for example. We'll tell you about it in this article where we give you our opinion on 5 hotels we tested in New York:
Where to sleep in New York ?
1.2 How to get to New York from France? What about flights and administrative documents?
1.2.1. Mandatory administrative documents to come to the USA
Before booking flights, it is compulsory to obtain a document called ESTA, which is required by the American government for any entry into the country. Simply follow the instructions on this official website to obtain it. No need to go through any agency. It costs $14 per traveller, or a little more than €12/person (info October 2019).
For a tourist stay of less than 90 days, no visa is needed if you are a French citizen. A valid passport is enough.
1.2.2. What about flying to New York?
Many flights and companies serve New York from Paris. First of all, you should know that there are 3 airports in New York. You are likely to land at JFK or Newark Liberty. La Guardia is the third airport in New York and does not accept flights from France.
We invite you to visit the skyscanner website to compare flight proposals and prices. We had opted for flights with XLAirways, a company that has unfortunately ceased its activities since then, but Air France, Norwegian, Brussels Airlines or Lufthansa serve this destination from Paris.
Price of the Paris-New York air ticket in Economy class:
Exceptional price: 284
Good price: €356
Average price: €488
You may have noticed that fares often change in the wrong direction as you search. We strongly advise you to read our article on this subject if you don't know how to find cheap airline tickets on the internet.
1.2.3. How to reach Manhattan from JFK and Newark Liberty (EWR)?
Arriving at JFK
JFK airport is located on the east side of New York City. On arrival, there is plenty of transport to get to the centre of the Big Apple. Shared or unshared Uber, yellow taxi, bus or AirTrain and underground combined.
The latter is the fastest and most economical option. The AirTrain costs only $5 and the underground $3. Children under 5 years of age ride for free. The connection to the LIRR ( Long Island RailRoad) is at Jamaica Station. Exit at Penn Station to Manhattan.
Arrival at Newark Liberty
This is the airport where we landed. Located west of New York City in theneighbouring state of New Jersey, Newark Liberty International Airport welcomes many flights from France. Once on the ground, you have a choice of modes of transport to reach Manhattan: Uber, taxi, bus or AirTrain Newark ($5.50/person per trip)
Taxi or Uber $80-100 per ride. This is a good plan if you are alone or in a duo!
1.2.4. The question of travel insurance and the first-aid kit
The question of insurance arises when visiting New York and the USA in general. Indeed, not everyone has a Gold card, and even when it is the case, it is not enough to cover all the expenses, especially in the USA where medical expenses are more important than elsewhere.
We tell you more in this blog post dedicated to travel insurance and in particular about the Cap Assistance which is ideal when visiting New York.
As for the travel medicine kit, we also talk about it in a dedicated article. In the USA, you should know that the number of over-the-counter medicines is much higher than in France.
1.2.5. The question of international SIM cards when travelling in New York
We have already discussed this in detail in an article dedicated to the issue of SIM cards. Once again, on this trip, we chose tobuy this SIM card package on the Explod website. We were very hungry for data and never ran out during our stay in New York, just like in Thailand. We recommend Explod 100% for its cheap prices, ease of use and moreover you receive your SIM card directly at home by mail before leaving and without delivery fees.
The technical advantage is that your phone connects to the best performing network depending on its location. (which is not the case when you buy your SIM card directly at the airport)
2. How to get around New York City?
2.1. Visiting New York on foot, by bike and by underground
New York City is a huge city. You can do everything on foot, but you must use the underground to get from one neighbourhood to another. You'll see that the avenues are sometimes dozens of kilometres long. The proof is Broadway Avenue, which is 53 km long! As for us, we walk about 20 km a day to visit New York. It reminds us of our stays in Barcelona, Rome or Bangkok, where we walk from morning to night, so much the streets of these big cities catch us. As a result, we also visited areas like Central Park but also Brooklyn by bike.
So in addition to good shoes, you need to plan a lot of trips by underground. We advise you tobuy a metrocard directly at the first station you arrive at. You will of course have several offers. The 33$ metrocard valid for 7 days with unlimited trips is pretty good, as I tested it. It's quickly profitable at 3$ a ride. Otherwise you can always opt for a prepaid card where each trip is then deducted.
2.2. Visit New York by ferry
The ferry is, like the underground, a very common mode of travel for many New Yorkers. Let's not forget that the 5 boroughs that make up the city were built on the water's edge and partly on islands! As for the price, the ticket to board is the same as an underground ticket, i.e. 3$ per trip and per person. It's a cheap option to enjoy the 3 most famous bridges in New York: the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge and the Williamsburg Bridge.
If you want to see the Statue of Liberty for free from the water, take the ferry to Staten Island. To do so, go to the South Ferry Terminal on the Line 1 underground or to the Whitehall St stop on the R and W lines.
This is perhaps the best known plan in New York. In short, you won't be alone on the boat. When you arrive at the terminal, the crowds can be impressive, especially at peak times at the end of the day. But rest assured, once the doors open, we all board very quickly. No need to run or jostle.
The ferry leaves every 30 minutes, 24 hours a day. The opportunity to pass by the Statue of Liberty and to have unusual views of the Manhattan and Brooklyn skyline.
Even if it's crowded at these times, we advise you toboard 1 hour before sunset, then enjoy the early evening on the Staten Island boardwalk beforeboarding again at night this time for the return trip.
Another good plan that we didn't have time to test but that many expatriates advised us. If you want to go to the beach 1 hour from Manhattan, go to the Rockaway beach which is located in Queens. To reach it, you can leave from pier 11 for the price of an underground ticket. More info here.
3. Where to sleep in New York City?
To sum up, here is what we have learned about New York City's neighbourhoods.
Manhattan is the preferred area for the vast majority of tourists. It is in the centre of everything, especially around Times Square. Many hotels offer rooftops with incredible views. It is also the most expensive borough.
Brooklyn is about 30 minutes by underground from Manhattan. We leave the verticality. The atmosphere is totally different. Prices are a little cheaper, though... Some hotels offer beautiful views of the Manhattan skyline.
Queens and the Bronx are a little further away. There is more choice and the rates are cheaper overall. But you start to lose more time on public transport.
During this 10-day stay in New York, we tested 5 hotels. 3 establishments in Manhattan (CitizenM Times Square, Novotel Times Square and the Parker New York) and 2 hotels in Brooklyn (Fairfield Inn & Suites Brooklyn and Gowanus Inn & Yard). We let you know more about these establishments and read our opinions and experiences in our dedicated article.
Article: Where to sleep in New York?
Find here your dream hotel in New York City
4. Programme of our 10-day visit to New York
We had an intense 10 days in New York. We wanted to see a lot, but we also wanted to enjoy it. The guided tours of the New York agency in French that we were able to follow saved us a lot of time in understanding the city, its 5 boroughs but also its very rich history with advice on where to go, especially for food, always good to take ^^.
Our TOP 10 activities and visits in New York
Day 01: Guided tour of Greenwich Village, Soho and Meatpacking district. Stroll in Times Square.
Day 02: Memorial & visit of the 9/11 museum. Financial district (Wall street).
Day 03: Guided tour of Harlem & late day ferry to Staten Island (Statue of Liberty).
Day 04: Visit to The Vessel and the New York High Line.
Day 05: Guided tour of Central Park by bike and on foot. Bryant Park & visit the Public Library.
Day 06: Empire State Building (Day and night tour). Grand Central Terminal.
Day 07: Guided bike tour of Brooklyn. End of the day in Dumbo.
Day 08: Guided tour of Bushwick and Williamsburg (street art).
Day 09: View of New York City from the roof top of the Top of the Rock.
Day 10: Manhattan between shopping and a helicopter flight over New York.
5. The must-see districts of New York
New York City is obviously not just Manhattan. However, Manhattan remains the neighbourhood that you should absolutely visit first, or even stay in, especially if you are visiting New York for the first time.
5.1. Visiting New York for the first time: Manhattan, the heart of the city
Manhattan is the borough of New York where the city's essential visits are concentrated. It is a borough that has survived through the ages and was transformed architecturally at the beginning of the 20th century and especially in the 1930s with the birth of skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building. In 2019, new towers that will be among the tallest in the West are currently being built south of Central Park.
Manhattan, like the rest of the city, has gone through good times and bad, with the recent collapse of the World Trade Center towers following an attack that has left a lasting impression on us all. But New York has always managed to get back on its feet.
New York, a city that constantly reinvents itself and never gives up.
Visiting New York and Manhattan in particular, is to remember the unfortunate events but also to find yourself in a world that is constantly moving. The Vessel and the high line, which you can see below on video, are two striking examples.
Harlem, Financial district, SoHo, Greenwich village, etc. The mere mention of the names of Manhattan's neighbourhoods inevitably plunges us into a series or a film. This shows us just how deeply New York is rooted in the collective imagination.
New York is not a city, it is a World!
And Manhattan proves it. Here, one can listen to an authentic mass in the early morning in one of the many churches of Harlem, be in the middle of nature in Central Park at noon and be at the top of the Empire State building at night. And all this in just a few minutes by underground! A borough that never ends to be discovered.
5.2. Visiting New York also means visiting Brooklyn
Brooklyn is one of the 5 boroughs of New York City. It is even the most populated and yet it is quieter because it is larger. We move away from verticality here. It is accessed by 3 mythical bridges from Manhattan: the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges. So many spots nearby to take beautiful pictures and enjoy the shoreline, why not during a guided bike tour of Brooklyn.
A Big Apple borough that is booming since investors are once again taking an interest in it. There are also entire streets that will delight street art lovers. The influences are so numerous and the borough is so immense that it would be impossible to define Brooklyn exactly. And we are far from having done the trick.
5.3. Staten island or the good plan to enjoy the sunset on the New York skyline
As mentioned above, Staten Island, New York's third borough, can be reached by taking a free ferry from Manhattan every 30 minutes, 24 hours a day. The trip itself is well worth it as you can enjoy magnificent views of Brooklyn, the Statue of Liberty, New Jersey and Manhattan.
Once there, you can either be a fan of the recently openedoutlets at the landing or you can enjoy the waterfront promenade with the skyline as a backdrop as you leave the boat to the right. To our surprise, once on the promenade, we find ourselves almost alone. At the end of the boardwalk, we reach the magnificent 9/11 memorial dedicated to the Staten Islanders who died during the events. A true Ode to Peace, the monument is shaped like spread wings opening in the axis of the 2 fallen towers. A magnificent place where you can also come and gather with the ducks as witnesses.
We advise you to take the ferry 1 hour before sunset and to return at night. The view from the ferry is magical! (even if you will not be alone on board)
5.4. Queens
Queens is the 4th borough of New York City. We didn't have time to visit the area. Next time we go, we'd like to go to Rockaway beach or Flushing Meadows-Corona Park to see the Unisphere.
5.5. The Bronx
5th borough of New York and like Queens, we'll have to come back to visit New York. What attracts us among others: the botanical garden, the Bronx Museum of the Arts and the Yankee stadium.
6. Our favourite visits in New York and what about the City pass
6.1. The essential New York City pass to save money and time
First of all, you should know that thepurchase of a City pass is just mandatory if you don't want to spend your days queuing to visit the main tourist attractions in New York. The City Pass costs about €120 and can be used for 9 days from the first visit. The City Pass includes admission to 6 attractions saving you a lot of money. You'll break even very quickly.
Here are the tours included in the City Pass to visit New York. Some of the tours are selectable. Some of the attractions are priced individually for an adult in case you want to buy them separately.
The Empire State building (86th floor - $38). And with the City Pass, you can visit the tower twice in the same day and enjoy the exceptional view of New York by day and by night. We loved it!
Metropolitan Museum of Art - $25 (closed during our stay)
American Museum of Natural History - $23
Guggenheim Museum (free admission) - $25 tiqets or Top of The Rock (free admission) - $38
Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island or Cruise Ship (cut and run) - $20 approx.
9/11 Memorial Museum - $26 or Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum (cut-through admission) - $33
6.2. Our 10 favourite visits in New York City
In a dedicated blog post, we have decided to give you our 10 favourite visits in New York City. Tours that we have tried and that we recommend to you.
With the City Pass, we had time to go to the Top of the Rock terrace, visit the Empire State building by day and by night, and visit the 9/11 memorial and museum. We would have liked to do more. We really have to come back to visit New York!
We're not really fans of guided tours, but we were really seduced by the French tours of New York, created by our friend Alex. To deepen our knowledge of certain neighborhoods or simply because the city is huge and 4 hours of visit with an expatriate French-speaking guide is easily worth 3 days of travel on your own.
All the guides we met were incredibly kind and caring. And they are very professional! They know the city like the back of their hand and are always on the lookout for anything that might be happening in New York. Great meetings with other participants if the tour was not private.
TOP 10 not-to-be-missed visits in New York
Finally, there are moments like the sunsets from the small beach of Dumbo. Of course, we were not alone but the show was worth all the musicals in the world ^^
We keep telling you that New York is an ever-changing city. The Vessel, also called "The New York Staircase" is a perfect example. 154 stairs, 2500 steps and 80 platforms on 15 floors that serve no purpose except to enjoy incredible views of the surrounding area like a bee in its hive in the heart of New York.
The Vessel has become the new landmark of the changing Hudson Yards neighborhood in March 2019.
Finally, an 11th bonus activity is available: Flying over New York City in a helicopter. An incredible experience, with a little feet-first surrender for the brave. If you want to treat yourself to a trip to New York, then we recommend the Flynyon company.
We'll tell you more about this and other activities to visit New York in our dedicated article:
Top 10 must-see tours in New York
7. Where to have a drink, where to eat in New York City?
Where to eat in New York City? Everywhere, everything and often for very expensive!
New York is a real cultural melting pot and therefore all the gastronomy of the world can be found here. However, this is surely where we will disappoint you because by staying 10 days in New York, we had to cut the budget somewhere. And it was in the restaurants.
At lunchtime, we didn't want to waste time in the restaurant to enjoy the day. In the evening, we ended up on our knees and rather wanted a quick and uncomplicated dinner (bowls, burgers, combo dishes, pizzas, etc.).
A single plate in a New York restaurant can quickly cost a small fortune. We were very surprised by the standard of living in New York. If you take a menu + 1 sandwich at the Mac Do', you'll already reach the $20 mark. Count a few dollars more at 5 Guys or Shake Shack. Mexican, Italian, French restaurants, salad bars, etc. are available at all prices, but it goes up very quickly when you're looking for quality. So be careful with your wallet.
You'll find plenty of addresses depending on the area you visit in this blog post.
In conclusion of these 10 days visiting New York for the first time,
There's no need to say that New York knows a thing or two about dramatic comedy. It knew how to play with our emotions, going from the exaltation in front of this view, to the happiness of walking tens of kilometres in this city that inspires and projects. The impression of being in the heart of a film at every moment!
And then, in a dramatic comedy, there has to be a drama at the very last moment. A relative drama, of course, is that we couldn't fly over New York by helicopter as we had planned. At the last moment, the company was banned from flying because of the UN summit. It was supposed to be the final touch to this trip. Too bad. It will be another good reason to come back to New-York and we will have lived it vicariously!
We spent 10 incredible days visiting New York for the first time in a city full of energy. We keep smiling and it is with stars in our eyes that we leave the Big Apple. We wave our hands through the window as a guide to "goodbye" and "see you soon" as we soar through the air towards a new destination, a new journey.
To help you organise your stay in New York, we also recommend this paper travel guide GO New York from Nomades Editions. Very practical and full of good tips!
Read also :
Where to sleep in New York? Opinions and recommendations on 5 tested hotels
TOP 10 must-see activities and visits in New York
