In September 2022 during the labour day long weekend me and one other friend took a trip down to visit New York City. We travelled down on the train from Durham, NH to Boston on the Friday evening and then got the late-night coach to New York City, due to the coach times not being ideal we arrived in New York at 4:15 am. We quickly got in a uber as NYC is not a very safe place at 4 in the morning. We went to a 24-hour diner called ‘Katz Deli’; it is world famous for its pastrami sandwiches, so we enjoyed one of these for breakfast. Lots of famous celebrities and politicians have eaten at Katz Deli, including former President Bill Clinton.


At around 7:30 am after a couple strong coffees we decided to start looking around Manhattan. I was very surprised with the size of Manhattan island and the scale of all the buildings and bridges throughout the city. We crossed the Williamsburg Bridge into Brooklyn, the bridge was so big that it took around 25 minutes to walk cross, we quickly realised that there was a lot less to see in Brooklyn and that we wanted to be back in Manhattan to see some tourist sites. Luckily there are ferries that run across the harbour. Tickets are very cheap, around $3 for a one-way journey. This allowed us to get these stunning views of the city for a very cheap price. The ferry dropped us off at the tip of Manhattan by Wall Street. We enjoyed walking around looking at the skyscrapers.

We then headed for the 9/11 memorial, this site was massive and gave me a very sobering realisation of how large the twin tours were. We then spent the rest of the day walking around Manhattan and seeing more tourist sites including:
- Broadway
- Central Park
- The Plaza Hotel
- Billionaire Row
- Time Square

We had booked an Air BnB to stay in located near the top of Manhattan Island, we did this mainly to save cost, it was located right next to a subway station so we were able to easily get in and out of the city.
In the evening we headed back into the city to see the sites in the night, Times Square was stunning at this time of day.


On our second day we visited 5th Avenue to go shopping and we also stopped to get a famous New York Bagel from Liberty Bagels. They had these colourful bagels that tasted great and are definitely worth a visit.

We also visited the Rockefeller Centre and St Patricks Cathedral. I found the Cathedral stunning however I found the Rockefeller Centre overrated.


On the final day we had to leave around 9am to get the coach back to Boston and returned to university. Overall, I found New York a very interesting city to visit. There are nice parts and some very grand old buildings. On the other hand, there are very large 4/5 lane roads running everywhere throughout the city, there is rubbish everywhere! And some parts of the city are pretty run down. However, I would recommend visiting New York as it was an experience, I just wouldn’t say that it was my favourite city that I have been to in the US.
P.S Have a plan of what to do when you arrive in the city as everything moves very fast and it can be a little overwhelming.