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New York City! The most amazing city in the world and after living there for a month in October, during the peak Fall foliage, I can honestly say it was truly one of my most favorite memories EVER! As you all know, NYC is typically bustling with people, noises, the streets are busier than ever, and it’s known as the city that never sleeps! Once covid hit, I heard it was a complete ghost town, but to our surprise, for the most part, restaurants/coffee shops/retail stores were all open, just limited capacity! We were even able to do all the touristy things we had on our list and felt comfortable enough to take the subway everywhere! Of course, things are changing in all cities daily, so if you’re planning on taking a trip to NYC soon, definitely check into the current restrictions. I’m only speaking to the month when we were there (which was our favorite month yet of moving each month)! If you’re curious what it’s like flying and traveling during covid, definitely read this blog post before continuing on to read all about my amazing (and very detailed) NYC travel guide!
WHERE TO STAY:
We rented a 2-bedroom/2-bath Sonder which was incredible (it was so big and spacious for NYC!) and honestly we loved the location in Fidi (financial district)! This is in lower Manhattan close to the Brooklyn Bridge, the 9/11 memorial, Wall Street, etc! Honestly it was so easy to hop on a subway or citi bike and head uptown! It was clean, fairly quiet, and our building was great!
WHAT TO DO:
Freedom Tower (9/11 memorial + the Oculus)
Walk around Soho -my favorite area!
Ride citi bikes around Central Park (I recommend the electric ones)
Ride citi bikes across the Brooklyn Bridge to Williamsburg
Explore Brooklyn: favorite parks are Prospect Park and Domino Park
Take the ferry to Governor’s Island
Westside bike path (we rode citi bikes from Battery Park all the way to the Upper West Side, amazing)
Road trip to upstate New York (it was Fall, so we went to Tarrytown + Sleepy Hollow)
Upper East Side neighborhoods (take a photo on a stoop)
The Met (Metropoloitan Museum of Art)
Washington Square Park
Battery Park (you can see the Statue of Liberty from here)
Union Square
Pier 17
Wall Street/Stock Exchange
Times Square
Golf driving range
Hudson Yards + The Vessel
Stone Street
Chinatown
Canal Street
WHERE TO EAT/DRINK:
Best places to eat + drink in New York City (full guide!)
Levain Bakery (must try their cookies)
Bethesda Terrace (Central Park views)
Eataly
Pier 17 Lawn
Our favorite thing to do this time around was cook at home since we had a full kitchen, but try almost every slice of pizza in NYC (no joke haha!) Here are our top ranked pizza slices in NYC that you MUST try when visiting:
- Prince Street Pizza
- Joe’s Pizza
- Rubirosa (get the tie dye pizza)
- Front Street Pizza
- Nolita Pizza
- Manera Pizza
- Gotham
TIPS ON GETTING AROUND:
Definitely walk! We clocked almost 20,000 steps daily and it was amazing! You really get to know a city when you walk and explore 🙂 We also LOVED riding the Citi Bikes around (safely on a bike path or in the parks). The electric bikes were so much fun + a great way to mix it up. Also, you MUST take the subways in New York, it’s fairly easy to get a hang of and around $3 each ride. I recommend you download the free app “Citymapper” for the quickest, most effective way to navigate from point A to point B! Also, try taking the ferry across to Brooklyn and also to Governor’s Island- cheap and insaneeee views of NYC!