Raevian and I took a few months to plan our New York itinerary, spending many weekends researching the best attractions. We were quite overwhelmed by the amount of information, but our effort was worth it because we really enjoyed our holiday. In fact, New York is now our favourite city in the world! The “Big Apple” has plenty of character and culture, and exudes a captivating vibe which we simply love. Below is our suggested seven-day itinerary, which should help with the planning of your own itinerary.
Day 1 – Midtown Manhattan
What to do in Midtown Manhattan
After checking in at Bryant Park Hotel, we took a short while to wash up before heading out to explore Manhattan! We chose to explore the Midtown area first because our hotel is located in this area. Midtown Manhattan is what many people picture first when they think of New York City, with signature New York attractions such as the glittering Times Square, the iconic Empire State Building, the famous Rockefeller Center, the stately United Nations, and many more! It was a surreal experience to finally see these iconic attractions in person. You can check out our article on the ten fun things to do in Midtown Manhattan.
What to Eat in Midtown Manhattan
We found lots of good food in Midtown, such as the famous Burger & Lobster, Friedmans bistro, Eataly, Koreatown, Chelsea Market, and many more! For more details, you can check out our article on the 16 places to eat in Midtown Manhattan, where we share our experiences at the respective restaurants.
Day 2 – Downtown Manhattan
What to Do in Downtown Manhattan
Downtown Manhattan is home to the world-famous Wall Street financial district. But there’s so much more to this area than just finance! We enjoying walking around Chinatown and Little Italy, but our favourite neighbourhood is definitely Greenwich Village. Known as the “Village” by locals, the area exudes a unique bohemian vibe with its boutique shops, cobblestone streets and 19th century townhouses. Raevian also had a great time shopping at SoHo, one of the most popular shopping districts in New York. And we enjoyed taking the free Staten Island Ferry to catch a view of the majestic Statue of Liberty! For more details, check out our list of 10 fun things to do in Downtown Manhattan.
What to Eat in Downtown Manhattan
Other than the numerous attractions, there are also lots of good food in Downtown! Many of our favourite New York restaurants are located here. This includes Clinton Street Baking Company & Restaurant (which serves heavenly pancakes), Momofuku Milk Bar, 12 Chairs Cafe, and more! You can check out our complete list of 12 great places to eat in Downtown Manhattan.
Day 3 – Central Park and Museums
Central Park
Central Park is a beautiful urban park in Manhattan. It was built in 1857 for New Yorkers to relax and escape from stressful city life. Today, the park is filled with gorgeous flora and fauna. We also saw various wild animals such as swans, ducks, and squirrels. I found it amazing that such a huge park actually exists in the middle of Manhattan. Raevian and I spent about three hours strolling through the park, reveling in the sights and visiting various attractions. You can check out our comprehensive list of ten best things to do in Central Park.
Museums
Manhattan has many world-renowned museums, and we were lucky enough to visit quite a few of them. Several of the museums are located near to Central Park. Many of them offer free entry or “pay-what-you-wish” options, so make sure you check their websites for details before visiting. My favourite museum is the popular “American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)”, home to the massive Tyrannosaurus fossil with its gaping jaws and 15cm-long teeth. Looking up at it, I could totally understand why it is known as the “king of dinosaurs”. If you are a museum buff, you can check out our list of nine best museums in Manhattan.
Day 4 – Shopping (Manhattan)
During our trip, I spent much time accompanying Raevian on her shopping sprees. Sadly, this was unavoidable considering that there are so many great shopping spots in New York. Therefore, I had no choice but to accept my fate. You can check out this list of six great places to shop in New York. Our favourite shopping spot was definitely Woodbury Commons, an enclave of outlet stores where we found a myriad of products at fantastic discounted prices. We spent an entire day here!
Day 5 – Brooklyn
What to do in Brooklyn
Brooklyn is one of the boroughs of New York City. Even though it doesn’t have majestic skyscrapers like Manhattan, it does have plenty of interesting attractions and great food. We strolled across the famous Brooklyn Bridge, shopped at the Brooklyn Flea Market, and reveled in the spectacular display of Christmas lights at Dyker Heights neighbourhood. One of our fondest memories of New York City was chilling out at Brooklyn Bridge Park, where we had a great view of the expansive Manhattan skyline across the river. For more details on our day trip to Brooklyn, you can check out our article on the nine fun things to do in Brooklyn.
What to Eat in Brooklyn
Foodwise, Brooklyn has much to offer too! We indulged in delicious food at the Smorgasburg (a famous weekly food market), ate at Juliana’s (arguably the best pizza restaurant in New York), discovered a world-famous Japanese ramen chain, and ate lots of other great food! If you are a foodie, you can check out our article on the eight awesome places to eat in Brooklyn.
Day 6 – Queens
What to Do in Queens
We love Queens, another borough of New York City. What it lacks in iconic landmarks and prime districts, it makes up with unique attractions, amazing diversity, culture, and character. Therefore, it is no surprise that Queens was named as the top USA travel destination in 2015 by Lonely Planet. We had a fun day strolling in the tranquil waterfront parks of Long Island City, exploring the colorful neighbourhoods of Jackson Heights and Queens Chinatown, checking out the famous Flushing Meadows Corona Park, and more! If you are planning a day trip here, you can check out our article on 9 awesome things to do in Queens.
What to Eat in Queens
Queens has one of the world’s most diverse demographics, and consequently it has an amazing food scene too! Over here, one can indulge in a wide variety of food such as exotic Indian Biryani, authentic Chinese Spicy Hotpots (“Ma La Xiang Guo”), Bubble Milk Tea, Tibetan dumplings, Korean Fried Chicken and Mediterranean/ Greek fare. One of our favourite places to eat at was “Golden Shopping Mall” in Queens Chinatown. This old building houses a hidden trove of awesome Chinese food joints. For more food recommendations, you can check out our article on 10 awesome places to eat in Queens.
Day 7 – Home Sweet Home
On the last day of our New York trip, we woke up feeling a little glum because our holiday was about to end. We re-visited a few of our favourite attractions, chilled for a short while in Bryant Park, before taking a Lyft ride to the JFK airport for our flight back to Singapore.
Map of New York
Conclusion
As you can probably tell by now, this itinerary is extremely packed. It is not really possible to complete every single activity mentioned above in seven days. The reason why we were able to do so many things is because we went to New York City twice, and spent a total of sixteen full days exploring the city. Therefore, for the Manhattan itinerary above (Day 1 to 4), I would suggest that you spread out each day’s activities over two or three days, OR choose a few preferred activities / attractions to complete in one day. For Brooklyn and Queens, it is definitely possible to do day trips, though ideally it would be better to spend two days at each of the boroughs. We hope you have a fabulous time in this amazing city – we certainly did!