New York in Winter

First of all, Happy New Year!!! This post has been such a long time coming, I have been being to get it up for ages, preferably before Christmas, but December has felt like a blurred! However here we are, New York in Winter and my beginners guide to it. 

ESTA- they are a must to get into the USA, I did it one evening and it took no time at all, just some questions to answer and also a small fee to pay. Once you have done your ESTA, I just took a screenshot of it as we don't have a printer however you didn't need to show it when you arrived at the airport. 

There is so many hotels in New York with loads of different prices, so it suits everyone budget, we booked a hotel a little outside the centre and so close to Central Park, which was so lovely for a early morning walk. We stayed at the Surrey, which was it very nice and location was brilliant! 

A nice frosty morning view from our hotel

Central Park is a New York must! It is exactly what you see on films and TV shows and it is gorgeous! Specially first thing on a morning (if you suffer from Jet Lag like I did) .

Just a cheesy photo of me.

Ice Skating in Central Park
So we looked at both ice skating at the Rockefeller and at Central Park. I couldn't quite get over how pricey ice skating at Rockefeller was, its about 40$ per person, and it was a lot smaller rink than Central Park. Central Park ice skating was about 20$ include ice skate fee. It was so lovely, and with it being such a large rink, it didn't feel over crowed. 

Carlo's Bakery

The famous bakery. This was on the many things I wanted to do in New York, and I assumed I would either love it or hate it. However although it was very pricey, the cupcakes and the cookies were beautiful. 

Just some beautiful Christmas Lights on the Cartier shop.

Grand Central Station

I still can't believe how busy it is! I would recommend for anyone visiting, visit Grand Central station- its free and it is beautiful. Just stand to the side and take it all in. And think of all your favourite movies that have been filmed there.

Visit Brooklyn Bridge

Just either walk or cycle over it! It is so lovely and free and you see a different side to New York. 

Empire State

Its pricey, but wow it is worth it! We payed around $130 dollars for both of us to go up the empire state, and we also payed to go to Floor 102. However I personally think its worth just paying to go to the 86th Floor. You go outside and it is literally incredible. We went for 8 am so it was very quiet. However if I was to visit again, I would go at night just so you can see New York at a different time when it is all lit up. 

9/11 Memorial

I didn't take any pictures of the memorial, however I would definitely recommend anyone to visit it. It is so moving and put together very well. It just makes you so upset thinking about what happened and the amount of lives lost. 

Some little bit of advice

•  Pay for mobile data when in New York, you can find them small little coffee shops or restaurants by using mobile data. And it is also helpful working out where to get on and off at on the Under Ground. 
•  I would recommend pre booking your transfers from the airport, or knowing where to get off at on the under ground. We got ripped off big time with the taxi to the hotel, and the amount of money we paid put us in a bit of a bad mood when we arrived however we got over it quickly. I just don't want anyone else to get as ripped off as we did. 
• Pace yourself, New York there is so much to do and it is so easy to put too much in your day. Like the first few days we over tired ourselves because we put too much in the day so just take it easy. 

Have you visited New York? Where do you recommend visiting?

Lots of love,

Nicole xx