Visiting New York City at Christmastime was a bucket list trip for me, and I was thrilled to check it off! We made a three day weekend out of it with our friends Emily and Will, who met us in the Big Apple from Charleston. We arrived on Friday morning and stayed through Sunday afternoon, which was an ideal amount of time. We jam packed our days so that we could make the most of our visit, but there are an insane amount of places you can visit in NYC and we definitely weren’t able to get to all of them on our list — so check out my Wanderlog for additional recommendations (I have heard especially glowing reviews on Chinese Tuxedo). I also would have loved to walk the Brooklyn Bridge to Dumbo, but the combination of timing and weather didn’t allow this one.
We stayed in Midtown at EVEN Hotel, which was pretty centrally located and worked well for us. Check out our itinerary below for suggestions on how to spend your long weekend in NYC (especially around Christmas!)
Day 1: Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Hudson Yards, Chelsea
We chose to fly into La Guardia based on the flight options available to us, but I was glad we did since it was definitely closer to the city than JFK. We got a Lyft/Uber to our hotel from the airport, dropped our luggage at the front desk, and headed out to start exploring.
We walked to Times Square (about 1 mile from our hotel) and took it all in. While Times Square is absolutely worth seeing in my opinion, it’s a perfect pit stop on your journey (not a destination). It’s extremely crowded and overwhelming, but certainly provides good people watching! One thing I had read about and really wanted to do was write a New Year’s wish on the confetti that they drop in Times Square on NYE! There are signs all around Times Square pointing you to the Planet Fitness display, where you can write your own wish/resolution/plans for the New Year and pin it to a bulletin board. Knowing your own piece of confetti is being dropped there on NYE is pretty neat!
After we had enough of Times Square we walked over to Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas Tree. I highly recommend going during the day! The area near the tree was not crowded at all and allowed us to get a good view without the madness (more on that later). Directly across from Rockefeller Center is St. Patrick’s Cathedral. We wandered in, and I lit two candles in memory of loved ones who have passed. There was a Mass starting, so we did not stay for long but enjoyed stopping in.
We were ready for a drink and snack by this point and awaiting the arrival of Emily and Will, so headed back towards the hotel and into a German Biergarten called Bierhaus. It was a nice spot to have some beers, pretzel, and take a load off the feet… but nothing worth writing home for.
After Emily and Will arrived, we stopped back by the hotel to get ready for our evening out! We took the Subway down to Hudson Yards to walk around and see the Christmas Lights — all SO beautiful, even in the rain!! I absolutely recommend going here at night to observe the aglow balloons. This is also where we started our journey on the High Line. You can begin your walk on the High Line at any point, but we found that started at Hudson Yards was the easiest (and allowed us to see both attractions). Since it was dark and rainy, there was hardly anyone on the High Line with us, which worked out perfectly! We had our umbrellas so really didn’t mind the rain, but I would imagine this also provides great city views during the day.
We stopped our journey on the High Line at the Starbucks Roastery in between Chelsea and Greenwich Village. This place was SO COOL! I can’t recommend stopping in here enough. They not only offer freshly brewed coffee drinks, but also mix up coffee cocktails! Super up my alley. We chose to try their espresso martini flight, but honestly, I would recommend just getting a regular espresso martini. The flights had very small pours and the flavors weren’t my favorite. Still a neat experience.
We stopped in Chelsea Market to see what it was all about, but didn’t spend too much time here at this point (we returned on Sunday).
We knew we wanted to have Sugar Fish Sushi for dinner, but that they didn’t offer reservations. We took a ride down to the SoHo location. Had the weather been nicer, I think we would have opted to walk! We put our name in and went to a bar across the street during the wait. We waited about 1.5 hours before our table was ready, so it would be worth checking the other locations to see if they have good bars nearby to enjoy during your wait. However, this place was 10000% worth the wait! It was truly the best sushi I’d ever had, and each course was better than the next. We all selected the ‘Trust Me’ options (from Light to Nozawa) and enjoyed every last bite. An absolute must if you’ve never had SugarFish before.
We had tickets to a Comedy Show at the Comedy Cellar, but unfortunately were too tapped out from the long day to attend. I would have loved to go to a comedy show at this iconic club but it just wasn’t in the cards! There are several locations for the Comedy Cellar (MacDougal Street being the most well known), and you’ll want to reserve your spot a few weeks in advance. You don’t actually pay until you go (which worked out for us) but still suggest doing so ahead of time so you don’t have to wait in line for the potential spot.
Day 2: Central Park, Upper East Side, 9/11 Memorial, West and Greenwich Village, Midtown
We began our day by ordering bagels online at Liberty Bagels to pick up on our walk to Central Park – seriously a pro move. We were able to avoid the massive line outside and grab our bagels and be on our way to the park in just moments! Liberty Bagels is known for their rainbow bagel and it was pretty damn good, especially being enjoyed on a bench in Central Park.
We moseyed around Central Park for awhile and enjoyed the beauty + activity there. We could’ve absolutely spent more time there with all there is to do, but chose to exit the Park at the Upper East Side. We wandered into a book store called Albertine, then headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (really just for a photo op to feel like Serena and Blaire for a second). We meandered through the Upper East Side for a bit, then caught the subway down to Elsie Rooftop, near Times Square. This place was a vibe! The outdoor space is small (aside from the tables for dining), so it worked out perfectly that we visited during non-peak hours.
We wanted to visit Bryant Park Winter Village, but immediately had regrets – it was the epitome of a crowd nightmare (part 1). We could barely shuffle our way through just to make to the other side and exit. Wouldn’t recommend, unless you are able to visit early when they first open!
We took another Subway ride down to the 9/11 Memorial to visit the site. We didn’t purchase tickets to the museum but I still think visiting the fountains are awe-inspiring and impactful.
We had worked off our bagels by this point and had a hankering for some classic NYC pizza. While there’s a never-ending debate on which pizza is actually the best, I’d argue that Joe’s Pizza fit the bill very well for me. Again, we hopped on the Subway to their original location in Greenwich Village, ordered online in advance, and avoided a really long wait outside the restaurant. After grabbing our pizza, we walked down Cornelia street and popped a squat on the sidewalk to enjoy our cheesy slices outside of Taylor Swift’s old apartment.We had to, right?
Fueled by the most delicious pizza, we walked to the Five Guys in West Village and up the stairs in the back to a “speakeasy” type bar called The Garret. It was packed, so sadly I think the secret it out on this place. Was still a fun spot to grab a drink before heading back to the hotel to gear up for our evening.
We walked towards the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and were lucky enough to catch the light show on Saks Fifth Avenue. This was the moment that felt the most “Christmas in NYC” to me. Yes, it was very crowded, but once the show started, everyone stood still and enjoyed the several minute show. But next is where we made our horrible mistake – we carried on toward the Rockefeller Tree. It was absolute mayhem and we got trapped in two separate non-moving crowds. Needless to say, I don’t think visiting the tree at night was worth the chaos. Catch it during the day (a weekday, if possible) and you’ll thank me.
Once finally out of the mosh pits, we hustled over to Grand Central Station to grab a pre-dinner cocktail at the Campbell. We had a heck of a time locating this place for some reason, but you can easily access from outside of Grand Central. We got lucky with timing and snagged seats at the bar! I especially enjoyed the Christmas decor with the low-lit ambience.
We had reservations at La Pecora Bianca – Midtown and wow, this was incredible Italian! Again, there are so many options in this city for Italian food but I was pleased with this choice and we all loved our pastas!
Another long day in the books, we grabbed a bottle of wine on our way back to the hotel and enjoyed sipping it while in our pjs in bed!
Day 3: Chelsea Market
We decided to head back to Chelsea Market to explore further and maybe grab a bite since there are so many options. We walked around for quite some time but ultimately decided to grab a meal at the nearby Dos Caminos. Their margaritas were so delicious we had a few! Emily heard that the Classic Banana Pudding from Magnolia Bakery was to-die-for so we… you guessed it… ordered ahead! We headed back through Greenwich Village to pick it up on our way to the Subway. And it absolutely was indeed to-die-for.
If it hadn’t been raining, I would have opted to walk the Brooklyn Bridge on this day to get a different perspective of the city.
But it was sadly time to head back towards the hotel, collect our things, and go to the airport.
As mentioned at the top, I know we missed SO many incredible spots in the city! What are the must-sees for our next trip!?