With approximately 48 hours to spend in New York City, we set out to see as much as possible in what time we had. Although we had both been to the city before, we had never gone together. We set out to find some good food & coffee, and visit all of the tourist-y destinations within walking distance of our hotel.
After dropping off our rental car and traversing in an Uber into Manhattan, (a great means of travel - sign up here for $20 off your first ride!) we dropped our bags off at our cute little hotel and were on our way to being tourists in one of the biggest cities in the world. We stayed at The Pod - a cute, compact, accommodation within about a mile from Central Park. The room was the tiniest hotel room we had ever shared, but we spent majority of our time walking the city. The location of the hotel allowed us to save money on transportation, as most destinations within Midtown were within walking distance. Make sure to do your research when booking a hotel in a major city: it is sometimes worth it to spend a little extra money and have easier access to the places you plan to visit during your trip.
Museum of Modern Art
As we are both artists, we decided our first stop was going to be the Museum of Modern Art (the MOMA). Choosing between the MOMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The MET) was difficult. In the end, we chose the MOMA because of its wider array of artists that are a little more current. We recommend going early to avoid the crowds - though the museum was still pretty busy despite our early arrival.
Make sure to book tickets in advance because this place is one of the most visited sites in NYC. We came during the week so it was busy but not too bad. Getting through the crowds to view some of the more popular paintings (such as DaVinci's Starry Night) was a little bit of a pain but worth it.
Continuing with the art theme, we made our way to Last Rites Gallery. Last Rites Gallery is free to enter, and hosts a rotating exhibition of contemporary surrealism and dark art. This is an absolute must-see for anyone that enjoys tattoo art and culture. For us, it was incredible to see the work of these artists (which we follow on instagram) in person. You can see some of the art we saw here.
St. Patricks Cathedral
One of the most recognizable landmarks in the city, St. Patricks was built in 1879 and is a beautiful piece of Neo-Gothic architecture. Try to arrive early to beat the crowds. When it comes to photos, I find that aiming your camera upwards can provide plenty of great photos of the architecture minus the people. Shoot in manual without flash, and have patience to get the shot right.
Home of NBC, this massive building and surrounding area are full of tourists taking pictures and ice skating (in season). It's worth a stop to pay tribute to pop culture, but otherwise this isn't a place we would ordinarily seek out.
Times Square
Probably Manhattan's most famous area, Times Square is located at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue, and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets. While we don't really like to shop on our travels, we had to stop by this epicenter of consumerism for the sake of checking it off our tourist list.
On our final day in NYC, we spent our morning in Central Park, which you will be able to read about soon.
You can read our other entries about New York here.
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