New York at Christmas time....December 2019..


Earlier in December we were lucky enough to go to New York - I say lucky because originally our trip was booked through Thomas Cook and we had to re-book.

We re-booked through BA for 6 days and stayed at the Roosevelt Hotel.

We flew from Heathrow and stayed at the Crowne Plaza which we booked through Holiday Extras. Having used Holiday Extras several times I find them the go to company for booking parking and hotels at the airport.

I may have picked up a little treat at Chanel at Heathrow...

BA and American Airlines were faultless with their flights and cabin service. Am I the only one who likes airplane food?!? The chance to do nothing but relax and watch a movie is a all part of the holiday experience.

The Roosevelt Hotel was a really good location, the lobby was simply stunning. The rooms were a little dated but perfect enough for our stay.

So what did we do....

Saturday - once we landed, immigration was super quick around 25 minutes. This was the day after Black Friday and at JFK so we were really impressed with the speed.

We had pre-arranged a transfer via BA just to make everything smoother and it really worked well for us. We were out in Time Square by 8pm.

We ate at Planet Hollywood which was standard wherever you go but again nice and easy for our first night with a couple of cocktails.

Sunday - we were out super early, first stop was Grand Central which was 5 minutes away from our hotel. We researched the best place for corned beef hash and Scotty's Diner came up as recommended. Absolutely loved it, good price and really tasty but as with everywhere in NYC really busy.

From there we went to Fifth Avenue and walked through Central Park with the obligatory pictures in front of The Plaza - Home Alone style! We also checked out the food hall in the Plaza which was amazing.

Given the sales were still on from Black Friday we decided it would be rude not to participate. A few hours later and bargains from Victoria Secret, Abercrombie and Sephora were acquired.

For food we went to Hard Rock - I always collect the souvenir glasses wherever we go so have added another to my collection.

Monday - for breakfast we went to Ellen's Stardust Diner. We got there just before 8.30am and had to queue for around 20 minutes. The entertainment was amazing but we felt the food was just standard. If you go there it is definitely for the experience and worth doing.

We had reservations for the crown in the Statue of Liberty which I had booked in August. We used our City Sightseeing bus tickets to take a leisurely and informative trip to Battery Park. When we got there it started snowing which just made things even more Christmassy. We picked up the tickets, went through security and jumped on the next boat. The one thing that surprised me was the steep ramp to get on and off the boat one to be careful with as we saw someone fall off the ramp on the return journey - definitely wear appropriate foot wear.

The boat ride was fine, plenty of room and a small bar serving hot chocolate and pretzels.

The Statue of Liberty was simply gorgeous and it was hard to believe we were actually there after seeing it in movies. We put everything in a locker and then went through security which really didn't take long. We then walked the steps from the base to the crown - you can take a lift to the pedestal but we were feeling fit and it was approx 300 steps to get to the crown. The stairs to the crown are narrow and there are areas where you can stop and rest as you ascend and descend. Once at the top there is very little standing space and we felt that we couldn't stay there too long before going back down.

By this time the snow had started to really come down so we jumped back on the boat and headed back to Battery Park. Once there a City Sightseeing bus came along and we jumped straight on it and enjoyed the rest of the city sights.

Once back near Time Square we did some more shopping and then made our way to Bryant Park for the Christmas market. I bought a lovely Chanel print from Verrier Handcrafted Fashion, I really wanted the mobile phone case but they didn't have my size - maybe next time... We watched the ice skating and had a smores waffle from Wafels & Dinges which was so good. Later on we ate at Red Lobster and I had the Seaside Shrimp Trio which was epic!!

Tuesday - the plan for today was to go to Woodbury Common but following the snow on the Monday it was closed until 12pm so we decided to swap our plans around with the Wednesday. We jumped once more on the City Sightseeing bus and headed towards the 9/11 memorial. This was so touching to be able to show our respects. We then walked over the Brooklyn Bridge which was surprisingly busy but the sun came out and was again one of those pinch me moments.

We spent several hours in this area and then jumped back on the City Sightseeing bus we loved this for getting our bearings and seeing all the sights. We stopped for a cheesecake stop at Juniors which was amazing.

We had tickets for the Radio City Rockettes show for the evening and I cannot recommend this highly enough. We were given Santa hats and it was a really good Christmas experience.

Wednesday - we headed to Woodbury Common and picked up some bargains and Christmas pressies. We spent a considerable amount of the day here and ate pizza and pasta in the food hall which was lovely and warming.

Thursday - our last day so we packed up, left our cases with the hotel and headed to the Top of the Rock, the views were amazing as we had a clear day to be able to see the Empire State Building and the Freedom Tower. Completely recommend it.

For our last bite of food we once more headed to Juniors for a salad and sandwich. I was hoping it would be equivalent to the Cheesecake Factory but was a little disappointed. Still good but definitely a bigger fan of the Cheesecake Factory.

For dessert we headed to Hersheys for a smores - just wow!!! I want to go back again just to have another one it was so good.

We then headed back to the hotel for our pick up and reminisce about an amazing trip.