Visiting New York City is on the list from many people in this world. Is it really so great like everyone is talking about? What to know before visiting and is it worth it? Find out!
What is important to know before visiting the USA?
Before visiting the United States of America there are some important things to know. It is in general a huge country, so when really wanting to see the country. You need to have a lot of time. Otherwise you are able to see parts of the country. This is also fine, but decide which one is best for you!
I have a little list what for sure is important:
- Even though you might not need a “visa”, you still need to make the Esta (Electronic System for Travel Authorisation). It is basically like a visa, at least from what information they want from you.
- Not a must have but I would think about it. Have travel insurance because the cost you need to pay for the hospital is just insane. Look also, that your insurance is covering the USA. A friend of mine was receiving a big bill in the five digits, but luckily she had travel insurance.
- The country is extremely expensive and not to compare to Europe, it is more expensive! Not only accommodation, but also food and everything else.
- When you want to go to different places, just know that due to the huge size of the country. The distances between places are just far.
- Living and traveling in the country is a completely different story. I was doing an exchange year in the country and I traveled as well. About that, there will be in the future another article published.
- The people are really friendly/polite to you, but they are to all. That most of the time doesn’t mean too much. For US Americans who read that, in Europe there is a bit more distance at the beginning, before getting to know someone. Like the way it is in the US, it would be like how you would be with a friend and not a stranger. That’s just cultural differences.
- Don’t drink in public, it is not allowed and also alcohol is allowed over 21.
- People are supposed to tip high, because the waiters are not getting paid well, they live from the tips.
Where is New York located?
New York city is located in the state of New York, there in the southeast. Besides that it is located in the northeast of the USA. Right at the Atlantic Ocean and the famous Hudson River is located in the city as well.
Besides the fact that it is the city with the most citizens in the country. It is also the most photographed city in the world.
What is New York known for?
When thinking about New York, they are basically known for all the sights they have. The Big Apple, or how it was first called “New Amsterdam”. Everyone knows things about the city. It has the third most skyscrapers inside a city, in the world, which is for sure something New York is known for.
The Central Park for example is the most filmed location. It was part of over 500 movies, there are in general so many things able to list now. The most known things are probably besides Central Park, Manhattan, the Statue of liberty, Wall Street and Broadway.
Not even when it comes to the city, there are many things it is known for. In sports it is also looking good for NYC, with the Yankees in Baseball, New York Red Bulls in Football/Soccer or the Giants in American Football.
The City which never sleeps is known for too much stuff. Just about that you are probably able to write a book about, because it is just too much. The mentioned ones are just a short amount of things.
What to do in NYC?
New York City is one of the biggest tourist destinations worldwide. So many movies, songs and books are just about that city. Over eight million people are living there, which makes it the biggest city in the USA. Many people have it on their bucket list and so there are many things to do.
For NYC there are all things I am going to write nothing special about, because they are all known anyway. Also due to the fact that I visited the city around 10 years ago. I was traveling with my father and it was way different to how I would travel there now. My list due to that reason is nothing new, but I will describe what I thought about them. When you are not interested in the standard things, just skip this section.
Famous places & thoughts:
- Coney Island, which is in Brooklyn. There is a little amusement park, which is fine I guess, but nothing that special. Each year there is the hotdog eating competition, which is kind of cool.
- Central Park, the central park is located in Manhattan. This park is just huge and spending a long time there is easy, especially in the morning for some peace of the big city. I personally like it because it is quite easy finding a peaceful place.
- Empire State building, also in Manhattan and also a tourist attraction, in my opinion not worth the hype. For the price and the amount of people.
- Time Square, it’s one of the most crowded places ever. Sure it is good to go for a little moment, to have seen it. For me personally it is too crowded, so I prefer not to spend so much time there.
- Brooklyn Bridge connects Brooklyn with Manhattan. I personally have nothing, besides the amount of people with nothing negative to say to it. It is quite nice to walk over. There is no money needed for this attraction, same as the others, besides the Empire state building.
In New York, it is important to know that all tourist attractions are crowded, at least all known ones. Sadly I don’t have inside tips for this city, which is different for cities where I am going on my recent trips.
What are the pros of NYC?
It is a city, where you can easily spend a week in it and still not even be close to see everything. Due to its size and the amount of things you are able to do, it is a never ending story. Every district of the city has things to offer, even in the Bronx, there are things to see, you just need to go for it.
It is the city of dreams for many people. Many people want to live there, without ever visiting, this is how much people think to know about it. When arriving first to the city, I was impressed. The skyscrapers are just everywhere. Everywhere you are looking, while being in Manhattan, there are skyscrapers, just crazy!
Honestly I need to say that seeing the high buildings and also the skyline is something special and crazy at ones. Having people from all cultures getting together is great. I didn’t experience the local life that much. From what I hear from friends, who do, it is supposed to be great, what I believe.
The central park is probably my favorite of the city, because you have such a lot of nature and that everywhere. You could go there for a cycling tour or a long run or just for a picnic. Also it is nice to see basically everything you are seeing in movies or series, where you can rely on.
The subway system is actually quite well thought of, in a country, where public transportation is honestly just bad.
What are the cons of NYC?
I visited the city during summer and when walking on the side street. There was often a very bad smell because of the trash. It was worse in New York, then in many bad hygienic countries, which is hard to beat. This was a bit shocking, because I didn’t expect it from the city.
Everywhere you go it is just extremely crowded. With over 60 million visitors that is to be expected, to be fair. So it is a really busy city, where many people are just seeming to be really stressed.
It personally didn’t feel safe, when it was dark and in general you can see many poor people in the city, who just didn’t make it. There are huge differences between the rich and the poor, also due to the high prices of the city.
Like in many other countries around the world, in NYC it is not different, the advantage is getting taken out of the tourists. Whatever they are able to do, a high amount of money is needed to pay. For example at the Empire State Building, $44 for just visiting the main floor (86th). When wanting to visit the top deck (102nd), the cost will be at $77. Those prices for a place, which is in my opinion not worth the price.
My experiences in New York
I was back then for around five days in New York with my father. After we arrived and went to Manhattan it was insane. You get out and stand on the street. To see everything, you need to look high up, because the skyscrapers are just everywhere!
Without even planning the trip, we already knew many things to do in the city. From what you know in general from movies, or from people telling. So it was a trip with many plans. The central park was never far away. We went there sometimes, my father even every day for a run, to train for a marathon.
During the time we were exploring most parts of the city and after the five days were not even close to being done with it. There was so much more to see. I personally like it there, but there were also many things which I didn’t like. For example the smell in the city wasn’t great and also just way too many people, which was to expect.
We were often eating street food, or food in the side streets, which to be honest is always good. It seemed to be hard finding really bad things.
To be honest, even though I was experiencing great things in the city. I was also having many moments where I was not really there, which can of course happen while traveling.
For me my favorite thing was for sure the Central Park like always mentioned and also doing a helicopter flight over the city was amazing, but to this another time another article.
New York, a huge city where many people dream to visit or claim it to be their favorite city. For me one visit was enough and I would not put it in my list of my most favorite cities. On the other hand, for my father and many people I know, who have visited, it is an amazing city. The best thing to do in general is seeing it for yourself, to decide if it is something for you or not. The only thing I can do is explain the best way possible how the city is like.
What would I do differently today?
When traveling to New York, the way I traveled was not even close to how I would explore places now. I went with my father and I was 14 years old, so there was no solo traveling involved and I didn’t know what traveling really is.
For sure, nowadays since being active on Couchsurfing, that would be for sure something I would be using. Like that it would have been possible to learn about the life of locals in the city, which is in other ways harder for me.
I would not visit the paid places and spend more time away from the crowds. If I would been traveling with my father again, I would been going probably more in the morning to the park.
Summary
New York City is a huge city and one of the biggest tourist destinations in the world, there is a lot to see and to do. For me personally it was a bit too big, because it is not even possible to see everything in a week.
It is also interesting, that without really researching about the city, that you already know many things about, which you want to visit.
Tourists are everywhere and it is not possible to go to popular places without being surrounded by them.
I understand why people are visiting the city and why people can like it there a lot, just for me personally it is not my dream destination, so I would choose many other cities over this.
I would love to hear your experiences about this place, or questions. Share it with me in the comments.
Due to the reason, that my pictures are more than 10 years old, I was using pictures from Instagram. All photographer are tagged, just click on the pictures, to find their profiles.
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