New York was the dream destination of my partner for a long time, so when she graduated in 2011 we decided to visit the Big Apple for 10 days in October with a couple of our friends. A trip to New York City is the experience of a lifetime, it’s a city that every traveller should visit, it’s home of famous attractions like Times Square, Central Park, the Empire State Building and the Madison Square Garden, to name just a few.
We landed in JFK Airport with a direct flight from Rome, we arrived in the centre of Manhattan with a yellow taxi to then check-in in our 2-bed flat between the 2nd avenue and the 29^th street.
Before arriving in NY we bought the CityPASS, which offers discounted admission to the most essential places to visit in the City and you can save good money with it. In this city you´ll find incredible museums for any interest or taste you might have… history, art, animals such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art , MoMA and the Guggenheim.
NYC is packed with things to see and do, and it’s more than just the small Island of Manhattan where most people travel to, each one of the five boroughs Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island has its must see destinations, great restaurants, cultural spots and unforgettable activities.
The island of Manhattan Downtown is divided in three big areas; Downtown is between the 14th Street and the south end of the Island, you will find Wall Street, the financial districts, where the centre of power is, then you have Chinatown, Little Italy, Soho and the World Trade Center.
In Midtown, between the 14th Street and the 59th Street – the south entrance of Central Park. Here you will find a lot of shops, the Empire State Building, the Rockefeller Center, Broadway, the Fifth Avenue and Times Square. The north of the island, Uptown, is everything north of the 59th Street, where you have Central Park, museums and the residential area of Harlem. All Manhattan areas have their beauty and their character, you can walk from the financial district where everyone will be dressed in a suit to then cross Little Italy with all typical Italian restaurants and cool bars to then end the day in Central Park.

There are not many cities in the world where you can walk around for hours, and wherever your feet take you, there is always somethings to see, and this is the best way to explore NY, getting lost. We must have walked over 15 km per day. More than anything else, this will offer you the unique chance to see the life of the city in every corner, plus, it costs nothing. Of course, the city is huge, but mapping out all the attractions you want to visit during the day, you can cover one area per day and will save you a lot of time and money.
Seeing the city from an observation deck will give you a totally different dimension of NY, you will see the streets that looks likes urban canyons from above, you can have the best view from few spots, like the Top of the Rock or the Empire State Building’s, but you can have some extraordinary view as well in few panoramic rooftop bars, where you can enjoy amazing views just buying a cocktail like The Met Roof Garden Bar, Azul on the Rooftop and the roof at public Hotel.
Another way to explore New York City and see it from a completely new angle is by cruise. This is truly one of my top travel suggestions for all visitors to New York: take a boat tour around the city! You can visit by boat The Statue of Liberty, do a semi-Circle Tour (1.5 hours) or a full Island Cruise (3 hours).

My top 6 suggestions as a tourist in NY are:
-Top of the Rock, 30 Rockefeller Center
-Have a picnic in Central Park
-Walk in Manhattan High Line
-Cross the Brooklyn Bridge
-Watch a basketball game at the Madison Square Garden
-Enjoy the Times Square vibes

If you want to do some crazy shopping, I highly suggest to go to Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in New Jersey, there are some amazing deals. We spent a full day there, we got there by bus from the Port Authority Bus Terminal, will take you around 1h and the ticket is around 30$ return.
On the South east of Manhattan, a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge is a must do, you will get a great view over Manhattan and the skyscrapers. In Brooklyn you will find Williamsburg district , the New York Aquarium, and if you are a basketball fan you will find the Barclays Center, the home of the New Jersey Nets.
North of Manhattan you will find the district of Bronx, it is the only district that is not an Island or part of an Island. Here you will find Yankee Stadium, New York Botanic Garden, Bronx Zoo and Wave Hill.