New York City Travel Guide

If you know me at all, then you know New York City is my favorite place in the world. I cannot imagine living anywhere other than this amazing city after I graduate college. I was fortunate enough to spend my Spring Break in NYC with the Retail Department from UF. Most days we spent touring retailers and meeting with executives, but I did have some time off, and I want to share what I did in my free time with you! A lot of people go to NYC and only visit the touristy areas, but the city is so much more than that. You obviously need to visit Times Square and the Empire State building, but I would focus the majority of your time on the more neighborhood-y and less touristy areas. For reference, we stayed on 34th Street between 9th and 10th Avenue, so that is where we started from every day. Here's a description of my different days in the city!

DAY 1:

One of my favorite parts of the city is the downtown area! I love Chelsea and Soho, because of the cute brownstones, great shopping, and eclectic feel of the area. To start off this day, we walked down the High Line in Chelsea. The High Line is an old railroad that runs in between buildings and along the water for almost 1.5 miles. This old railroad was made into a public park with flowers and plants planted along the sides. It is an amazing walk with a beautiful view.

I took this picture while walking on the High Line. The High Line ends at Gansevoort and Washington Street, but if you exit on 16th Street and 10th Avenue, you can walk down one avenue to the Chelsea Market! The Chelsea Market is a really awesome old warehouse that was made into a shopping area and food court. We ate lunch at one of the delicious little restaurants inside. There are awesome flea market style shopping areas inside as well.

After walking through the market and eating lunch, we walked through the Meatpacking District (which is a really cute area to check out) and Greenwich Village. Greenwich Village is where NYU is located! In Greenwich Village we stopped at Washington Square Park. This area is also where the "in between scenes" shots from Friends are filmed!

If you have seen the edible cookie dough bakery on Facebook than you know it is also located about a block away from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. However, if you actually want to eat some cookie dough, I would suggest getting there early and being prepared to wait in line for a while. I didn't have the patience to wait that long in the cold, so I settled for a picture.

After wandering around the Village, we walked down to Soho, where the best stores are located! If you want to shop at Topshop, Zara, Brandy Melville, Steve Madden, Kate Spade, Bloomindale's, and so many more make sure to check out Broadway between 6th Avenue and Broome St! Once you're done shopping you have to go eat in Little Italy! It is only about 2 blocks away from Soho. Make sure to go to Mulberry and Broome St. to get this awesome picture of Little Italy!

DAY 2:

We started this day by walking up 6th Ave to 50th St. where the NBC studios and Radio City Music Hall are located. If you want to see Times Square you can walk up 7th Ave and you will walk right through it! On this walk you will pass through Byrant Park (the first picture) and some really pretty areas.

We decided to sign up for a NBC Studio Tour when we stopped in, and it is definitely something I suggest doing! You get to tour some of the stages that are not being used that day - we got to see Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers' sets! After this, we walked behind the studio so we could see Rockefeller Plaza and the beautiful ice skating rink they have set up. We made our way over to 5th Ave and walked up 5th until we hit Central Park.

I would suggest entering Central Park on the East side near the Plaza, there are such beautiful views. After we walked through Central Park we made our way to the Upper East Side for a nice lunch and a visit to the Met to take the iconic pictures on the steps. If you are a Gossip Girl fan then you know a Sunday is not complete without an Upper East Side brunch and meal on the steps.

After eating and refueling ourselves, we walked back through the park to the Upper West Side. I love the brownstones and neighborhood feel of the Upper West Side. It's such a cute area to walk around in.

We walked down Broadway from 90th St to Columbus Circle (59th St.) which is the Central Park entrance on the Upper West Side. It is also a beautiful indoor shopping mall, and a really nice area as well. That night we walked down to Broadway where we saw Kinky Boots. If you are looking for a show to see (and are okay with seeing Drag Queens) I would 100% suggest this show! It has to be my favorite Broadway show I've seen so far! During this trip we also saw Waitress, which was absolutely amazing as well! If you are looking for somewhere to eat before a show I would suggest eating on Restaurant Row (46th Street)!

Day 3:

On this day we headed back downtown to the Financial District. This is another awesome place to check out. I have never really been to this area before, and I am so happy we decided to head down there! In the first picture you can see the New York Stock Exchange (on the right) on Wall Street. The second picture is the new World Trade Center building, which is absolutely beautiful. The last picture is at the World Trade Center Memorial.

After exploring Battery Park, and Wall Street, we decided to take a subway down to Brooklyn. In all of my visits to NYC I have never actually gone to Brooklyn to see the skyline view. This is definitely something I suggest doing! We went to Brooklyn Bridge Pier were we took amazing pictures and admired the beautiful view! There is also the cutest little ice cream shop right under the bridge. The area right near the bridge is also really nice to wander around in!

DAY 4:

Because I obviously love downtown, we decided to head down there once again. We headed down to the FIT Museum on 27th St. and 7th Ave to check out their Paris Redesigned Exhibit, which was absolutely AMAZING. This exhibit had so many iconic looks from the great houses of fashion, including this beautiful Chanel design.

After enjoying the beautiful clothing at the FIT museum, we headed over to the Flatiron Building on 23rd St and 5th Ave. This iconic building is really gorgeous, and in a beautiful area. Right near the Flatiron building is Madison Square Park (the second picture), and also Kleinfeld's Bridal! If you love 'Say Yes To The Dress' like I do, then you have to check out this store!

DAY 5:

We were lucky enough to see snow on our last day in the city! It was so beautiful and such a nice change from the Florida heat! We walked around the Upper East side and Central Park once again.