A New York Minute

New York City is an incredible place, everyone knows that! I've been lucky enough to visit it twice.
The first was a flying visit where I barely had two days to explore. The second time I was there for over a week and, to be honest, a week was a long time.
There's plenty of things to do in New York but when you're on a tight budget this list gets drastically shortened. Just so you know the new york time zone is (GMT -4).
New York is very seasonal, both times I visited was in the blistering heat of the summer. But it does get quite cold in the Winter so be prepared for this if you are visiting then!
Below I've created a must-see list of the top New York attractions (in my opinion) that you could squeeze into 3 days! The list is based on the locality of everything and what you can realistically get done. After the list is a more detailed discussion about my trip and some of the tips I picked up from my experience and from others.
How I’d recommend spending 3 days in New York
Day 1 – Statue of liberty, Wall St., Freedom Tower, 9/11 Memorial, Century 21, Brooklyn Bridge
Day 2 - Union Square, Nordstrom Rack, Washington Square Park, Soho, China Town
Day 3 – Central Park, Broadway Musical, Top of the Rock/ Empire State Building, Time Square
Hotel
The first time I was there we stayed in The New Yorker, the rooms were small enough but the location was just what we wanted for such a short trip. The second time I was lucky enough to stay with a friend.
There are plenty of New York hotels to choose from, shop around and read reviews!
Getting from the airport
There is a hopper bus into Manhattan city, I think it was around $14. There are also subways you can get if you really want to save money.
Never get a black cab they will end up costing more when you tip, go out to the rank and get a yellow cab. Or else you can download the Uber app, if you get someone to recommend it to you, you will get a $20 saving on your first trip and they’ll get the same on their next.
There are a few New York airports so just be careful that you know which one you are departing from when you are heading home.
You don’t need to tip in the uber because the money is taken directly from your card. In the yellow taxi, we tipped about 10%.
On your first day & shopping tips
Below are some tips I would recommend that you do on your first day to try and save yourself some money.

• If you’re staying in a hotel, ask them if they can get you any deals on Broadway tickets or attractions.
• Check out the gray line deals, there will be someone on every corner trying to sell them to you.
• The subway is a really good way to get around at $2.75 per trip, a 3-day ticket is $9 and a week one is $31. You also have to pay $1 for the card itself. Download the subway app for Android or on the AppStore. Once you've downloaded it you don’t need internet to view the map, you're able to zoom in and look at the exact routes. This way you will always have a New York map available to you.
• In Macy's go into the handbag section and on the left-hand side, there's a balcony level. There's a machine where you can scan your passports and get a 10% discount voucher, it will last three days!
• Obviously shop around, the closer you are to times square the more expensive things will be. Especially in relation to the tourist souvenirs. Try to decide what you like (mugs, statues etc) and price them around. There is like a little market with white sheds, they do a 3 for 2 on things including personalised Christmas decorations. There is also a Christmas shop opened all year round.
• My other favourite shops were Nordstrom Rack on Union Square and Century 21 (there are a few around but there is a massive one downtown near wall street and 9/11), you can get great deals here (I included these in the daily plans).
• Some other shops were Modell's sporting goods. There are 2 around times square and another near Macys on 5^th ave. This was a great sportswear shop and B&H technology have every kind of technology device, the place is huge!
• There is also Woodbury Commons which is about a 90 min drive from New York and you will pay at least $30 per person to get there. There is also Jersey Gradens which is in Queens. There is a bus service which I think was around $12 return. I didn't get to go to either of these so can't really comment on them.

Day one - Statue of liberty, Wall St., Freedom Tower, 9/11 Memorial, Century 21, Brooklyn Bridge
Get the green 5 subway line to Bowling Green and walk to the Staten Island Ferry port. Here there is a free ferry that runs every half hour to Staten Island and back. It lasts about 20 minutes and goes right by the Statue of Liberty. There’s no point paying to go over to the island (in my opinion) as all you do is walk around the statue.
After the ferry, hop back on the subway up to Wall Street. Here you can get picures with the bull and walk around the financial district.
Next walk over to the Freedom Tower, you are able to buy a time slot to go up. The price for the tickets starts at $37.
You go through airport style security here. Go up the elevator and around the observation viewing deck. The view here is amazing, definitely one of my favourite things we did, I think we spent about an hour up there.
There's also free wifi in here and a water fountain at the toilets, saves you buying expensive bottled water!
When you’re done here go over to the 9/11 museum, where you walk around yourself. It seems very slow pace and then gets intense so pace yourself in the final section.
An adult ticket is $24 however on Tuesday's they offer a limited amount of free tickets. These are distributed on a first come, first serve basis!
When you're finished here take some time going around the two fountains and ensure you get some pictures of the freedom tower.
The big Century 21 store is a 5 minute walk from here, this closes at around 9:00 pm. It has 6 levels and you could easily spend an hour or two in there without realising it.
You can then get the yellow NQR back up to Times Square. Or while you are in the area you could stroll over to see the Brooklyn Bridge!

Day two - Union Square, Nordstrom Rack, Washington Square Park, Soho, China Town
Get the yellow n,q,r from Times Square or the green 4,5,6 to 14^th Street Union square. Here is Nordstrom rack and beside that is a designer shoe outlet. I got some amazing bargains here!
Then walk to Washington Square Park, where there is the chess corner from some famous movies and a fountain that you can actually get into! It's worth a stroll around.

While in the area you should go over to Mc Sorley’s. It's the oldest ale house in New York. They only serve two drinks a light ale and dark ale.
You can then stroll to Soho and then onto Chinatown while you are in the areas.



Day three - Central Park, Broadway Musical, Top of the Rock/ Empire State Building, Time Square

Start off at Grand Central Station and find the echo corner at Grand Central Station. Then head to Central Park and pass the New York library, Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, St Patrick's Cathedral, Tiffanys and then the Christmas shop.
There are so many things to do and see in the park. From the lake where Stuart little raced his boat, the Alice in Wonderland statue, rent a paddle boat in the lake, visit The Met or the History Museum.
If you go to any of the museums the price they show is the recommended price, you do not and should not pay this. You only need to give a donation, we gave $10 for 5 people. They just try to catch the tourists out with the $25 plus price tag.
The other side of the park is Strawberry fields a tribute to John Lennon, it's across the road from the place he was shot.

After spending the day exploring Central Park and all that it has to offer I would try and schedule your Broadway show for after this. There are so many to choose from you are bound to find one that appeals! We went to see Matilda and it was really fantastic!
Once your show has ended you should go up one of the towers! I'd recommend doing the Freedom Tower during the day as you get that view during the day and then do either the Empire State Building or Rockefeller/Top of the Rock at night to get the view from the night.
We did the Empire State Building and we weren’t that impressed, the staff were really rude. At Top of the Rock you get a view of Central Park, I heard a tip that if you go to the bar in the Rockefeller you get the view for the price of a drink. Otherwise, it would cost around $30 per person.
After this, I would go to Times Square and experience it at night!

Places to eat
Most places you eat the portions are big and you can bring the leftovers back home for lunch the next day.

Carmines (book a table) order 1 main between two people, portions are huge. ($30 plus per main).
Carneige Deli sandwich[/caption]
Carneige Deli, we waited a half hour – 45 mins. Typical deli sandwich place, lots of meat! Quite the experience ($20-30 per sandwich).
Ellens Stardust Diner, my favourite place we ate in! The waiting staff are actors and actresses who are trying to be on Broadway so they take it in turns to sing songs and dance around the tables ($20 ish per main so fairly reasonable).



What would I do differently

• I definitely wish I got to spend more time exploring Central Park! I got to walk through it one of the days but I really wish that I rented a paddle boat.
• I also would have liked to have gotten the cable cars/aerial tram across to Roosevelt Island.
• Another thing I would have liked to squeeze in was a visit to Coney Island.

Some Useful Links

• For booking attractions - https://www.sightseeingpass.com/en/new-york/hopon-hopoff-bus
• Metro App - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/new-york-subway-mta-map/id369691844?mt=8