Travel

How to Spend 4 Days In New York

Posted on December 6, 2018

New York has been a bucket list city for my sister and I probably since we started watching Friends 20-something years ago.

This year, we finally got our acts together and jetted off for a long weekend in The States. Admittedly, we didn’t give ourselves much time, but we managed to tick most things off our list. Be warned: even when you aren’t hitting up super boujie places, it’s eye-waterlingly expensive (way more so than Dubai or London), so although four days seems short, it was just about enough!

From museum-hopping on the Upper East Side to bar-hopping in Brooklyn, here’s how to spend 4 days in New York…

Day One…

If you’re flying from the UAE then you’ll know all too well the unpleasantries of that 12-hour flight. If, like me, when you’ve been travelling for the best part of a day, all you want to do is stretch your legs as soon as you land, then make the first thing you do a walk around Central Park – weather permitting, of course. It’ll feel like you’re walking through the movie set of every NYC-based flick you’ve laid eyes on. When you’ve soaked all the hyper-saturated autumnal hues Central Park has to offer, take a stroll through the hustle and bustle of Times Square before heading up to Refinery Rooftop for a quick cocktail pit-stop. If you’re heading to New York around wintertime, do not miss the oh so cute Bryant Christmas Markets.

Refinery Rooftop

Bryant Christmas Markets

Day Two…

You’re rested, recuperated and ready to take on the Museum Mile. The stretch along Fifth Avenue is chock-a-block with all the most iconic galleries, including The Met and Guggenheim. Whilst this will take up most of your morning, the afternoon is still free to eat and shop your way around the urban food stall and, vintage trinket shops of Chelsea Market before hopping in a cab and heading for a night out in Brooklyn. Don’t forget to treat yourself to a drunk hotdog…or three.

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Day Three…

It’s hangover day. You partied at Brooklyn’s Output till the wee hours and can only survive if you’re fed a bucket load of pancakes, bacon, French toast and mimosas – all of which you’ll find at the incredibly delicious Sarabeth’s on Central Park South. Pull up a chair on the terrace and prepare to indulge yourself in a whole new meaning of the term ‘people watching’. You can’t be bothered to do much else but chill and eat, so find an off-Broadway show (we watched Eve’s Song at the Public Theatre and it was fab) and head to Bassanova in China Town for LEGIT the best Ramen you’ll ever have in your life.

Day Four…

It’s the last day and you’ve still got so much to see in Downtown Manhattan. Walk through the Meat Packing District – make sure to stop at Bubby’s for pancakes -, walk along The High Line (the 1.45-mile-long converted train tracks). If you fancy stopping for a midday bevvy – and, like, why wouldn’t you? -, then head over to Entwine for a steaming up of mulled wine. You’re heading towards The Statue of Liberty, and, on the way, make sure you stumble across the Friends apartment, just to get any last quotes and jokes out of your system – even though you’ve undoubtedly been doing that the whole trip.