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Danielle: While Central Park will be everyone's top recommendation (and honestly is mine too), if you want to get out of the hustle bustle of the city and appreciate a beautiful botanic garden, I recommend taking the Subway to Riverdale and stroll through Wave Hill Park. You can take a picnic and they often have art installments, it was something a bit different than you would expect from the Big Apple.
Our Travel Insiders:
Danielle: 49 years old, visited New York City for 10 days with her family and husband.
Hilary: 61 years old, has visited New York City every year for the past 15 years for at least two weeks each time.
Eloise: 40 years old, has visited twice for 10 days total with her family.
WHAT TO DO
Hilary: BarSixtyFive at the Top of The Rockerfeller Building is a great tourist destination, but it can be quite hard to get a reservation. I recommend instead, checking out the Mandarin Oriental Bar for your sunset city-scape drink. It has phenomenal views still. Or, try the Panorama Room located in the Graduate Hotel by Hilton if you'd rather an outside view of the city.
Eloise: The New York Historical Society Museum is something often overlooked by tourists. You can see the whole history of the city, and the artifacts to go with it. They have seasonal exhibitions and you'll definitely come away with a new appreciation of this historic city.
Photograph Credit: Steve Freihon via TimeOut
Photograph Credit: Susan Kaufman via Instagram
WHAT TO EAT
Danielle: Fun fact, even if you ate at a different place for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day of your life, you still wouldn't try every food establishment NYC has to offer. So, you have to choose wisely! The best meal we had was in the West Village at Dante. This is a hole in the wall establishment with shareplates and a cocktail list which is to die for, they even have a Martini Hour from 3-5pm with $10 Martinis.
Hilary: Katz Deli is widely regarded as the one place you MUST go in New York, and for good reason! But if you want an alternative to the long wait times, Pastrami Queen and 2nd Ave Deli are right up there for your pastrami experience.
Eloise: After a day of going to the Met Museum and exploring the Upper East Side, we stumbled upon Mezzaluna Restaurant. Complete with a woodfire oven, we had pizza and pasta that could only be rivaled by meals we had in Italy. It's a tight space, so we were quite lucky to get a table without a booking. However, I felt like that gave it even more of a family style atmosphere. You would walk straight past it on the street if you weren't looking for it.
GETTING AROUND
Danielle: NYC has one of the best metro systems, it can take you pretty much everywhere you'll want to go. That being said, for nights I recommend Ubers.
Hilary: I discovered Revel Cars on my last trip, it's similar to an Uber but they are all electric cars. The drivers are all vetted and it's pretty on par with Uber's pricing. All you do is downlaod the app and request a ride.
Eloise: If you're in the heart of Manhattan, I found the yellow taxi's the cheapest and easiest way around. They're everywhere on the street - so no need to wait for an uber.
Photograph Credit: Wave Hill Gardens
WHERE TO STAY
Danielle: We stayed as a family at the Hilton Midtown, and you could not ask for a better location. I found it helpful that I could identify it as I was walking around too - I could find my way back easily!
Eloise: having been twice, I stayed once across from Madison Square Garden and once in Soho. Honestly I preferred Soho as it was much closer to the shopping and restaurants. We really just wanted a bed at the end of the day, we stayed at the Soho 54 hotel which was lovely.
Hilary: I have stayed in Brooklyn many times which is definitely more trendy. However I actually loved my stay at the Maritime Hotel in Chelsea. As you might have guessed, it has a bit of a nautical theme running through it. We enjoyed that it was walking distance to the Highline, World Trade Centre, Empire State Building and Bryant Park.
Hilton Midtown
Photograph Credit: Agoda
Maritime Hotel
Photograph Credit: Hotelscombined
Soho 54 Hotel
Photograph Credit: Expedia
UNMISSABLE EXTRAS
Danielle: If you're someone who loves the theatre, you can often get last minute tickets for shows at the TKTS stall which located at Broadway & 47th Street or the Lincoln Centre. This being said, if you don't want to wait in the lines and guarentee your seat, look at shows at least 6 months before your trip. They book out very quickly.
Hilary: If it's baseball season, I highly recommend taking the Subway out to Yankee Stadium and grabbing tickets to a baseball game. Even better if you can Yankees vs Red Sox, their rivalry always makes for a nail-biting game. Even if you don't fully understand the rules. For the full experience, grab a Yankees cap and hot dog.
Eloise: If you are visiting from Australia during NYC winter, you'll get to experience the magic of a white Christmas. There is truly a buzz in the air this time of year in the city and you'll be privy to the festive Macy's and Nordstrom shop windows. On top of this, there is the Ice Rink at Rockerfeller Square which is of course, iconic. We found a similar set up at Bryant Park which was adorned with decorated trees and was actually less busy.
For the fashion/art lovers, the Metropolitan Museum is the place to go - especially when the costume institute has their exhibition. This being said, if you miss out on this (or you just want more NYC fashion) I recommend heading to the Fashion Institute Museum. They have exhibitions all year round and the craftsmanship is just phenomenal.
