8 days in New York: The Ultimate Itinerary for Visitors(2025 Guide)

14 Jul 8 days in New York: The Ultimate Itinerary for Visitors(2025 Guide)

This article brings together everything we learned during eight unforgettable days in New York—from choosing where to stay and planning each day to the complete itinerary itself. Use the table of contents below to jump directly to any section or day of the trip.

My second trip to New York

When I first visited New York in 2017, somewhere deep down I hoped I would return one day. I just didn’t know if it would ever be possible. The world is so big, there are so many places to see, and a trip to New York is expensive. No matter how much you try to save, at some point you realize that you can’t cut every expense because you would miss out on what makes New York such a special experience.

Back in 2017, I traveled alone. This time, I returned with my fiancée, who was visiting New York for the first time. That completely changed the trip.

We decided not to focus too much on saving money when it came to experiences. We wanted to see Broadway shows, visit the observation decks, and make the most of our time in the city. At the same time, we searched for restaurants that had been recommended by locals and other travelers. Rather than looking for traditional American food, we wanted to discover the city’s incredible ethnic food scene. Many of the places we visited came from YouTube videos and recommendations I had collected before the trip.

Looking back, everything came together perfectly. I’ll talk much more about the food in a dedicated article, but this trip to New York was longer and, in every possible way, even better than my first visit. Maybe that’s because experiencing the city through my fiancée’s eyes made every moment feel even more memorable.

Back in 2017, when I first visited New York, I can’t really say that I planned the trip very well. At the time, I wasn’t nearly as careful with my itineraries as I am today. Looking back, there were days when I found myself rushing from one side of the city to the other, and honestly, I don’t even know what logic I used when I put that itinerary together.

By the time we returned in October 2025, almost eight years later, I had developed a much better way of planning my trips. This time, I organized each day around neighborhoods instead of individual attractions, while also considering the restaurants I wanted to try.

That might sound a little superficial, but New York is, in my opinion, one of the best food cities in the world. Not just for its street food, but especially for its incredible ethnic food scene. Trying restaurants from different cultures was one of the things I was looking forward to the most.

Because of that, I grouped nearby neighborhoods together and built each day around them. It made walking much more enjoyable and much more efficient. Compared to my first trip, when I relied heavily on the subway and buses, this time we explored far more of the city on foot. Looking back, I think it was a much better way to experience New York.

Why we chose to stay in Koreatown

During my first trip to New York in 2017, I stayed in an Airbnb in Hell’s Kitchen. This time, we chose a hotel in Koreatown instead. There were several reasons behind that decision, but the two most important ones were simple: budget and location.

In 2017, staying in Hell’s Kitchen worked well. I could leave the apartment, walk in a straight line for about 700 or 800 meters, and I would be in Times Square.

This time, however, the location felt even better. We would step out of the hotel, walk about a hundred meters, turn right, and within two blocks we were standing in front of the Empire State Building. From there, it was an easy walk towards Times Square or in almost any other direction we wanted to explore.

For us, it turned out to be an excellent base. The location was simply outstanding.

The second reason was the price. Even though it was expensive, it was still the best option we found considering both the location and the time of year. We visited in October, which is one of the most expensive months to stay in New York. If I remember correctly, we paid around $2,700 for nine nights. I would have to check the exact amount, but it was somewhere between $2,500 and $2,700.

I know that sounds like a lot of money, and it is. The exact same hotel can cost almost half as much during quieter months. Still, I really wanted to return in October because, despite the higher prices and larger crowds, I think it is one of the best times of the year to experience New York.

Of course, some people will say that you can find much cheaper accommodation in Brooklyn, Queens, or even farther away, and they are right. If your priority is saving money, there are plenty of options. You can stay 30 or 40 minutes away from Manhattan and commute every day.

That simply wasn’t the experience I was looking for.

For me, one of the biggest pleasures of visiting New York is leaving the hotel in the morning and immediately feeling part of the city. I didn’t want to spend an extra hour or more everyday commuting, walking to stations, waiting for trains, and making connections. Over the course of nine days, that time really adds up.

Since this was my fiancée’s first trip to New York, I wanted us to stay right in the middle of everything, and I accepted the higher cost from the very beginning.

If I return to New York again—and I hope, I will—I will follow the same principle. Personally, I would always choose to stay somewhere in central Manhattan, roughly between Central Park and Washington Square Park. I know there are cheaper alternatives in Brooklyn, Queens, or the Bronx, and for many travelers they make perfect sense. For me, however, the convenience of walking out of the hotel and immediately starting the day is worth paying extra. You also save some money on transportation, but more importantly, you save time. And when you only have seven, eight, or nine days in one of the world’s greatest cities, time is probably the most valuable thing you have.

Another advantage of staying in Koreatown was its position on the map. It felt like we were right in the middle of everything.

From the hotel, it was perfectly reasonable to walk to Central Park, Hell’s Kitchen, Times Square, or Fifth Avenue. If you enjoy walking as much as we do, you could even make your way downtown toward SoHo, the East Village, or Chinatown, although I probably wouldn’t recommend doing that every single day.

When we visited the East Village, we took the subway there and then explored the neighborhood on foot. We did the same for Chinatown. In both cases, we also took the subway back because we had evening plans and wanted to return to the hotel a little earlier. We wanted enough time to take a shower, get changed, relax for a while, and then head out again for a Broadway show or a late visit to one of the observation decks.

That is another major advantage of staying in central Manhattan. If you have tickets for a show at 7 or 8 p.m., you’re not losing a huge part of your day commuting back and forth. Instead, you can be back at your hotel in ten minutes, take a short break, freshen up, and then head back out for the evening. It makes the entire trip feel much more relaxed and gives you the freedom to enjoy both your daytime exploration and your evenings without constantly thinking about transportation.

How we planned our 8-day New York Itinerary

Arriving in New York in 2025 felt very different from my first visit. We got off the train at Penn Station, stepped outside, and the first thing we saw was Madison Square Garden, surrounded by giant screens, lights, and the energy that makes New York feel like nowhere else in the world.

It was one of those moments when you immediately think, the ten-hour flight was worth it.

From Penn Station, it was only a short walk to our hotel, so within a few minutes we had dropped our luggage and were ready to begin the trip.

The following morning, we didn’t rush to the city’s biggest attractions. Before doing anything else, we wanted to start the day the New York way—with a proper bagel and a good coffee at a place we had picked in advance. It was a small ritual, but it felt like the perfect way to begin nine days in the city.

Only after breakfast did we start following the itinerary we had been refining for months, finally turning all those plans into reality.

I think New York was one of the very few trips where we actually set an alarm every morning. Not for six or seven o’clock, but for around eight. That gave us enough time to get ready, take a shower, and leave the hotel by nine, ready to start exploring.

One of the biggest advantages of staying in such a central location was that we walked almost everywhere. I would say that around 85–90% of our transportation throughout the trip was simply walking.

This time, however, there was a big difference compared to my first visit. Every day had been carefully planned to avoid unnecessary backtracking. Instead of constantly crossing the city, we grouped attractions together and created routes that naturally flowed from one place to the next. We even built coffee breaks and lunch stops into the itinerary, making the days feel much more relaxed despite the long distances.

Even though it was October, there were several surprisingly warm days. Walking for hours in those temperatures could become tiring, but having the hotel nearby made a huge difference. On some afternoons, we returned around three or four o’clock, took a shower, relaxed for half an hour, changed our clothes, and then headed back out for the evening—whether it was a Broadway show or a sunset visit to Top of the Rock. Because everything was so close, we never felt that we were wasting time commuting.

If I remember correctly, we usually finished each day somewhere between 15,000 and 25,000 steps. For some people that may sound like a lot, while for others it might not seem that impressive. For us, though, it was the perfect balance. We never felt rushed, and we genuinely enjoyed everything we saw.

I’m sure someone reading this itinerary will think, “I would have added this attraction,” or “I would have visited that museum instead.” That’s completely fair. But we were extremely happy with the way the trip turned out.

The only thing I would probably change next time is bringing museums back into the itinerary. During my first visit in 2017, I explored places like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, and MoMA. This time, we skipped most of them because we wanted to spend more time outdoors exploring the city itself. On my next trip to New York, those museums will find their way back into the schedule.

This way of traveling allowed me to experience New York very differently from my first visit.

Back in 2017, my goal was to see as many attractions as possible. I wanted to check them off my list, one after another. This time, however, because we spent so much time walking, stopping for coffee, grabbing a cookie or a burger, we also gave ourselves permission to slow down. We sat on park benches, on stone walls, on the steps outside buildings, and simply watched the city go by.

We weren’t trying to squeeze every possible attraction out of every single day. Instead, we were looking for the right balance between seeing New York and actually experiencing it.

Some places that I loved during my first trip remained favorites. Central Park is still one of them. No matter how many times I visit, I think it will always be one of my favorite places in the city.

On the other hand, there were neighborhoods that completely surprised me this time. Walking from Hudson Yards along the High Line toward Chelsea Market was something I hadn’t done in 2017, and it turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip.

We also spent much more time exploring SoHo and the East Village, wandering through their quieter streets instead of simply passing by. Chinatown and Little Italy, two neighborhoods that blend almost seamlessly into one another, were just as enjoyable as I remembered and became some of our favorite places to return to.

If you asked me to name just one favorite neighborhood, I honestly couldn’t do it.

That is one of the things I love most about New York. On the same day, you can go from standing beneath some of the tallest skyscrapers in the world to walking through the peaceful paths of Central Park and then finish the afternoon wandering along the smaller streets of SoHo or the East Village. Every neighborhood has its own personality, its own rhythm, and its own kind of beauty.

After visiting New York twice, I still think that one experience stands above all the others: watching the sunset from Top of the Rock.

Yes, it gets crowded. Yes, you’ll probably have to wait in line if you go around sunset. But in my opinion, it is worth it. Seeing the city slowly change from daylight to thousands of lights is one of those moments that stays with you long after the trip is over.

Another experience that I will always remember is wandering through the streets of the West Village, passing the apartment building made famous by Friends and stopping by Carrie Bradshaw’s brownstone from Sex and the City. It is such a beautiful part of New York—full of young people, cafés, restaurants, quiet tree-lined streets, and an atmosphere that feels completely different from Midtown.

These are the kinds of moments that stay with you. Not because they are the biggest attractions in the city, but because they capture the feeling of being in New York long after you’ve returned home.

There were plenty of other moments that stayed with me as well.

Sitting in a small cove beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, simply watching the skyline and the bridge stretching above the East River, is one of those memories I can still picture perfectly. Walking across Brooklyn Bridge itself is another experience that never gets old. No matter how many photos you’ve seen beforehand, nothing really compares to being there.

I also remember spending part of a Sunday in Chinatown, when the streets were full of people shopping at the local markets. The neighborhood felt incredibly alive, with vendors, families, and the constant rhythm of everyday life unfolding around us.

The truth is, it’s very difficult to choose just a handful of favorite moments. Every time I mention one, another immediately comes to mind. Looking back, it isn’t a single attraction or one unforgettable view that defines this trip. It’s all of those moments together that made it one of the best journeys I’ve ever had.

Tips before following this Itinerary

If there was one thing that stood out to me compared to my first visit in 2017, it was that New York felt a little dirtier, a little less polished, and more crowded than I remembered.

Of course, it was also significantly more expensive. That, however, didn’t really bother me. Prices have increased everywhere over the past few years. Even in my own country, everyday essentials have become much more expensive than they used to be. If inflation has affected places across Europe, it would be unrealistic to expect New York, one of the most visited cities in the world, to remain unchanged.

So while I certainly noticed the higher prices, they never took away from the experience. The city is expensive, but in many ways that’s simply part of visiting a destination that millions of people dream of seeing at least once in their lifetime.

Before I tell you what we did each day, there is one thing I want to mention because I think it is one of the most important pieces of advice I can give anyone planning a trip to New York.

If you search online, you will find endless articles with titles like 10 Things You Must Do in New York or 10 Things You Should Never Do in New York. Personally, I don’t really believe in that approach.

Every traveler is different. We all have different interests, different passions, and different ways of experiencing a city. If someone wants to buy a New York baseball cap, take home one of those oversized foam fingers from a Knicks game, or visit every single observation deck in the city, then that’s exactly what they should do. Nobody has the right to tell them that it’s too touristy, too commercial, or somehow the “wrong” way to experience New York.

My advice is simple: visit New York for yourself, not for someone else’s checklist.

If you love theatre, spend your evenings on Broadway. You don’t have to visit every observation deck just because someone on the internet says you should. If food is your passion, don’t spend every day rushing from one attraction to another. Instead, explore as many restaurants as you can.

One of the things that makes New York so special is its extraordinary food scene. Within a few subway stops—or even a few blocks—you can eat African, Mexican, Thai, Korean, Japanese, Brazilian, Argentinian, Chinese, or Italian food, often at an incredibly high level. Few cities in the world offer that kind of diversity.

Of course, there are a handful of places that I think almost everyone should experience at least once. Walking through Central Park, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge on foot, standing in Times Square, visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or admiring the skyline from the Empire State Building or Top of the Rock are all experiences that I believe are worth having. Even Times Square, which many people dismiss as overcrowded and overly touristy, is a place I genuinely enjoyed on both of my visits.

But beyond those iconic landmarks, build the trip around what makes you happy.

If you want to spend two days wandering through SoHo and the East Village, do it. If you want to eat your way through Hell’s Kitchen, spend hours inside Chelsea Market, browse vintage markets, or simply sit in a park watching the city go by, then that’s the right way to experience New York.

The truth is that you will never see everything. Not in nine days, not in three weeks, and probably not even in a year. It is only when you arrive that you realize how enormous the city really is and how many possibilities it offers. Suddenly, the itinerary that looked so full while you were planning at home feels surprisingly small compared to everything New York has waiting for you.

Now that I’ve shared my overall impressions of the trip, the things I loved, the few things I didn’t, some practical advice, and why we chose to stay where we did, it’s finally time to walk you through our itinerary day by day.

Rather than creating a traditional guide, I simply want to show you how we experienced nine days in New York and why we made the choices we did. Along the way, I’ll briefly mention some of the cafés, restaurants, and food stops that became part of our journey, but I won’t go into too much detail here.

New York deserves a dedicated food guide of its own, and I’ll be covering all of our favorite restaurants, cafés, bakeries, and ethnic food experiences in a separate article. This one is about the trip itself, the neighborhoods we explored, the places we visited, and the memories we brought home.

Day 1 – Rediscovering Midtown

Today’s Itinerary

• The Hotel at Fifth Avenue (Koreatown)
• Small stop for bagel & coffee (will write more in the food guide)
• New York Public Library
• Bryant Park
• Grand Central Terminal
• St Patrick’s Cathedral
• Rockefeller Center
• Top of the Rock
• Relaxed walk through Midtown
• Free evening for Broadway, Restaurants or further exploration

Staying in Koreatown made it incredibly easy to begin exploring the city. We stepped out of the hotel, wandered through the surrounding streets for a while, and simply enjoyed the atmosphere, knowing that we would return to this neighborhood many times over the next nine days. Koreatown itself isn’t particularly large, just a handful of streets between Fifth Avenue and Broadway—but it is one of New York’s most vibrant communities. It has its own character, and I think it deserves more than just being treated as the place where your hotel happens to be.

Before visiting a single attraction, however, we had one goal: start the trip with a proper New York breakfast.

We made a small detour for a bagel with lox and cream cheese, accompanied by a good cup of coffee. It felt like the perfect way to begin the trip. I’ll talk much more about that place, along with all the other restaurants we visited, in my dedicated New York food guide, but for now I’ll just say that it was exactly the kind of breakfast I had been looking forward to for months.

From there, we continued towards the New York Public Library.

I deliberately chose to visit it early in the morning. At that time of day, the light falls beautifully through the library’s large windows, especially in the rooms surrounded by taller buildings. I also wanted to revisit the building because I remembered how much I had enjoyed it during my first trip, and this time I hoped to come away with a few photographs that would become lasting memories of our visit.

Just behind the library is Bryant Park, making the two places a perfect combination. If you arrive before the library opens—it usually opens around 10 a.m.—you can spend some time in the park, sit on one of the many chairs or benches, enjoy your coffee or your bagel, and simply watch New York wake up around you.

When I visited in 2017, much closer to Thanksgiving, Bryant Park had already been transformed into its famous holiday market, full of wooden stalls and festive decorations. This time, we arrived earlier in the season. The market wasn’t open yet, but preparations had already begun, and it was easy to imagine how the park would soon become the winter scene that so many people recognize from Instagram and Christmas movies.

Our next stop was Grand Central Terminal.

It may sound a little strange to include a train station in a sightseeing itinerary, but Grand Central is unlike almost any other station I’ve ever visited. It is as much an architectural landmark as it is a transportation hub. The magnificent Main Concourse, the famous four-faced clock, the endless platforms stretching beneath the building, and the constant flow of commuters make it one of those places where it’s worth slowing down instead of simply passing through.

It was also here that I bought a copy of The New York Times to take home as a small souvenir from our trip.

From Grand Central, we continued towards St. Patrick’s Cathedral. By pure coincidence, we arrived during a ceremony attended by members of the New York Police Department and Fire Department, commemorating the events of September 11. Watching the officers and firefighters leave the cathedral was an unexpectedly emotional moment and one that neither of us had planned for. It was a reminder that, beneath all of New York’s energy and constant movement, there are also moments of reflection and remembrance.

We finished the day at Rockefeller Plaza with our first visit to Top of the Rock.

This wasn’t meant to be the perfect photography session. We deliberately chose the middle of the day, even though the light wasn’t ideal and the sky wasn’t particularly dramatic. Our goal was simply to enjoy the experience and get our first panoramic view of Manhattan. We took a few photos for the memories, knowing that we already had a second visit planned later in the trip, this time timed perfectly for sunset.

Looking back, I’m sure we could have fitted more attractions into our first day.

But that was never the point.

The first day was about settling back into New York rather than trying to conquer it. We wanted to understand the rhythm of the city again—where the sun hit the streets at different times of day, how the light reflected between the skyscrapers, and where we could find those iconic clouds of steam rising from the vents beneath the sidewalks. As a photographer, these small details matter just as much as the famous landmarks. In fact, some of the photographs I took that afternoon eventually went on to be entered into international competitions.

We spent a surprising amount of time simply wandering between destinations, stopping whenever something caught our attention. Sometimes it was an old doorway, sometimes an interesting window, a cast-iron fire escape, or just the way the afternoon light fell across a building. Those unplanned moments are often the ones I remember most.

It also helped that we had arrived from Bucharest only the day before. Including the layover, the entire journey had taken around fifteen hours, so there was no reason to rush.

Instead, we wanted our first day to be easy. A great breakfast, a relaxed walk through Midtown, a few places we genuinely wanted to revisit, and no attractions that involved long queues or complicated schedules. Even at Top of the Rock, we intentionally visited in the middle of the day, when there were only a handful of people waiting to go up. Most visitors save it for sunset, and we already knew we would be coming back later in the week for exactly that reason.

By the end of the afternoon, we hadn’t just seen a few landmarks—we had started to feel the city again. And for a first day in New York, I honestly can’t think of a better way to begin.

Day 2 – A Slow Walk Through Central Park

Today’s Itinerary

• The Hotel at Fifth Avenue (Koreatown)
• Ralph’s Coffee (near Rockefeller Plaza)
• Columbus Circle
• Central Park
• Bethesda Terrace & Fountain
• Bow Bridge
• Strawberry Fields
• Plaza Hotel
• Second part of the day was used for exploring Midtown and walking to Flatiron and surroundings
Small note: after exploring Central Park it would be a good idea to visit one of the museums nearby if you haven’t been to New York before

Our original plan for the second day was to start with Top of the Rock and enjoy the morning views over Manhattan. In the end, however, those plans changed. Because we had unexpectedly found time on our first afternoon, we bought our tickets on the spot and visited the observation deck then, so there was no reason to return the following morning.

Instead, we walked towards Rockefeller Plaza, where we started the day with coffee at Ralph’s Coffee. In our opinion, it serves one of the best coffees we had anywhere in New York. We enjoyed it so much that we came back more than once during the trip.

We sat there for a while, took our time, enjoyed our coffee, and only then continued towards Columbus Circle. Reaching Ralph’s required a small detour, but it was one we happily made. Had we wanted the shortest route, we could have simply walked straight from the hotel towards Central Park. Instead, we chose the better coffee.

Although we had a few breakfast recommendations saved for that morning, neither of us felt like having a proper meal. We ended up grabbing two portions of fries from McDonald’s and ate them together with our coffee near the entrance to Central Park at Columbus Circle. It might not sound like the most memorable breakfast in New York, but somehow it fitted the relaxed pace of the morning perfectly. As we sat there, a street performer started playing music nearby, making the whole moment feel even more enjoyable.

From there, we finally entered Central Park.

During my first visit in 2017, I followed a much stricter route through the park, moving from one landmark to another. This time, things were completely different. We still wanted to see the famous places, but we also allowed ourselves to wander without constantly looking at the map. Walking through the park like this made me realise just how enormous it really is. Somehow, it felt much bigger than I remembered.

Of course, we stopped at many of its iconic locations. Bethesda Terrace and Fountain was one of them, a place many people will recognize from films, including one of the memorable scenes from John Wick. We crossed Bow Bridge, one of the most beautiful bridges in the park, admired the quiet corner of Wagner Cove, visited Conservatory Water and the Alice in Wonderland statue, and continued towards Strawberry Fields, probably one of the busiest areas in the entire park, where visitors lined up to photograph the famous Imagine memorial.

Bow Bridge was just as crowded, but for good reasons. It is one of the most elegant bridges in Central Park, and if you’re lucky enough to visit when it’s a little quieter, you can capture one of those classic New York photographs: the bridge in the foreground, the lake dotted with rowing boats, and the skyline rising behind the trees.

Many visitors continue north after exploring Central Park and head towards the Metropolitan Museum of Art. That had originally been part of our itinerary as well. This time, however, we decided to skip the museum. Having already visited it during my first trip, we preferred to spend more time outside enjoying the city itself.

Instead, we walked back towards Fifth Avenue and the Plaza Hotel.

Whether you’re interested in luxury hotels or not, I think it’s one of those buildings almost everyone recognizes. For many people, including it, it’s impossible not to associate it with Home Alone 2. Seeing it in person was a nice way to finish a day that wasn’t about rushing between attractions, but about rediscovering one of my favorite places in New York at a much slower pace.

Looking back, you might notice that this was another relatively relaxed day. That was entirely intentional.

We had beautiful weather, and rather than spending it indoors or waiting in long queues, we chose to enjoy being outside. We took our time in Central Park, sat on benches, wandered along the paths without any rush, and simply enjoyed one of the city’s most remarkable green spaces.

After leaving the park, we walked past the Plaza Hotel and continued south through Midtown until we eventually found ourselves back near our hotel.

If you’re wondering whether we still had time left in the day, the answer is yes—and we happily spent it doing exactly what we had hoped to do throughout this trip: exploring without a strict plan.

We wandered around Koreatown once again, walked through the surrounding streets, and eventually made our way towards the Flatiron Building.

Unfortunately, that turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments of the trip.

When I first visited New York in 2017, the Flatiron Building was one of those places where I stopped, took a couple of photographs almost without thinking, and moved on. This time, I had been looking forward to returning with more experience as a photographer and creating images that I would truly be proud of.

Instead, we found the building covered in scaffolding because of restoration work.

As far as I know, the renovation may have been completed since our visit in October 2025, but at the time it meant we had to leave without the photograph we had imagined. It was a small disappointment in what had otherwise been a wonderful day, but it also reminded me that every trip is different. Sometimes you return hoping to recreate an old memory, only to discover that the city has changed in the meantime.

One thing that is worth mentioning before we continue is that these daily itineraries include only the highlights of what we did each day.

I haven’t included every single street we walked, every coffee break, or everything we did in the evenings. For example, after finishing the main itinerary, we often continued exploring on foot. Some evenings we wandered around the New Yorker Hotel, spent time near Madison Square Garden, or walked west towards the Hudson River simply because we felt like seeing another part of the city.

I deliberately left those moments out.

The goal of this article isn’t to create a minute-by-minute schedule, but to show the route that worked best for us while leaving enough free time for you to discover your own New York.

That’s one of the biggest mistakes I see in many itineraries online. Every hour is planned, every attraction is squeezed into the day, and there is almost no room left for spontaneity. Personally, I don’t think that’s the best way to experience a city like New York.

The routes you’ll find in this article include the places that I believe are the most rewarding to visit, organized in a logical order that minimizes unnecessary walking and backtracking. Everything else, the interesting side streets, the cafés that catch your eye, the bookstores, the small parks, the markets, or simply sitting on a bench and watching the city go by—is something I would encourage you to discover on your own.

In my opinion, those unplanned moments are often the ones that become the strongest memories once the trip is over.

You might be wondering about two things: why I like Central Park so much, and why we decided to skip most of the museums during this trip.

The answer to the first question is quite simple.

Central Park feels like an oasis in the middle of one of the busiest cities in the world. The moment you step inside, it’s as if the noise of Manhattan suddenly fades away. The traffic disappears, the sirens become distant, the constant honking is replaced by birds, music, and conversation. You’re still surrounded by skyscrapers, yet somehow it feels like you’re on a completely different island.

That contrast is one of the reasons I love it so much.

It’s not just the landscape that makes Central Park special, but the people. Everywhere you look, something is happening. Musicians are performing, couples are taking wedding photos, groups of friends are celebrating bachelorette parties, people are dancing, jogging, rowing across the lake, or simply sitting on the grass reading a book. It feels like a small world of its own, quietly existing inside the much larger world of New York.

The second question is a little more complicated.

You may have noticed that we skipped museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art during this trip. That wasn’t because they aren’t worth visiting—quite the opposite.

The main reason was timing.

While I managed to book tickets for experiences that were difficult to secure, such as climbing all the way to the Crown of the Statue of Liberty, the available admission times for several museums would have disrupted the rhythm of our days. We would have had to interrupt whatever neighborhood we were exploring, rush across the city to make a timed entry, and then reorganize the rest of the afternoon around it.

We decided not to do that.

Instead, we chose to preserve the balance of each day and spend more time walking through the neighborhoods themselves, knowing that this almost certainly wouldn’t be our last trip to New York.

If this is your first visit and you’re not sure you’ll ever return, then my advice is different. I absolutely think places like the Metropolitan Museum of Art deserve a spot on your itinerary. In fact, I would recommend booking those timed-entry tickets before almost anything else and then building the rest of your days around them.

For us, however, skipping the museums wasn’t about missing out. It was simply a choice that suited this particular trip, leaving us with more time to experience New York outside rather than indoors.

Day 3 – Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn

Today’s Itinerary

• Subway to Lower Manhattan
• Financial District
• Wall Street
• New York Stock Exchange
• Charging Bull
• Walk across Brooklyn Bridge
• Dumbo
• Brooklyn Bridge Park
• Jane’s Carousel
• Walk back on Brooklyn Bridge

Day three was probably the one my fiancée had been looking forward to the most. She had seen countless photographs of the Brooklyn Bridge over the years and wanted to experience it for herself—and, of course, come home with one of those iconic photos.

Before I tell you about the bridge itself, there’s one important piece of advice.

If you want to enjoy Brooklyn Bridge without huge crowds, get there as early as you possibly can. Everything I’ve read before the trip turned out to be true. Once the early morning hours are gone, the bridge becomes incredibly busy and stays that way for most of the day.

We were a little lazier that morning.

Instead of rushing straight to the bridge, we took the subway to Lower Manhattan and started exploring the Financial District. We wandered through Wall Street, admired the towering buildings around us, and stopped outside the New York Stock Exchange for the classic photograph that almost everyone takes on their first visit.

From there, we continued towards the Charging Bull.

It’s funny to watch what happens around the statue. Some people queue for a photo next to its head, while others insist on touching the bull’s horns—or, perhaps more famously, another part of the sculpture that many believe brings good luck. I’ll leave it up to you to decide which version of the tradition you want to follow.

Originally, our itinerary also included the Oculus and the World Trade Center area.

In the end, we decided to skip both.

I’m sure we’ll return to New York again, so we didn’t feel the need to see everything on this trip. As for the 9/11 Memorial, it is such an emotional and deeply personal place that we chose to leave it for another visit. From everything I had read beforehand, I knew it wasn’t somewhere I wanted to rush through simply to check it off a list. It deserves time, reflection, and the right frame of mind, so for us it was a conscious decision to save that experience for the future.

If there is one experience I can recommend with all my heart, it is walking across Brooklyn Bridge.

We crossed it in the middle of the day, under a cloudless sky with the sun high above Manhattan—far from ideal photographic conditions—but I honestly don’t think it mattered.

There is something about walking across that bridge that is difficult to explain until you’ve done it yourself. Maybe it’s the scale of the old steel cables, maybe it’s the constant view of the Manhattan skyline, or maybe it’s simply sharing the experience with hundreds of other people who, just like you, have come from all over the world to create memories in one of New York’s most iconic places.

For me, it remains one of the experiences that truly live up to expectations.

Once we reached Brooklyn, we slowly made our way towards DUMBO.

I don’t remember DUMBO being nearly as popular when I first visited New York in 2017. Today, it feels like one of the city’s most photographed neighborhoods. We stopped for coffee, wandered through the streets without any rush, and although we didn’t take many photographs ourselves, the crowds made that almost impossible—we simply enjoyed being there.

One of my favorite moments came a little later.

We walked down to a small cove along the waterfront, found a place to sit, and spent a long time doing absolutely nothing. We drank our coffee, watched people walking by, looked back at the Brooklyn Bridge, and enjoyed having nowhere else we needed to be.

Sometimes those quiet moments become the strongest memories.

From there, we continued past Jane’s Carousel before picking up a pizza and sitting once again by the water. As we ate, we watched ferries crossing the East River, boats moving between Manhattan and Brooklyn, and the skyline slowly changing as the afternoon progressed.

For me, this entire area is one of the highlights of New York.

It’s not just about the famous photographs or the viewpoints. It’s about slowing down, sitting by the river, and appreciating one of the most beautiful skylines in the world without feeling the need to rush towards the next attraction.

From DUMBO, you have plenty of options for getting back to Manhattan. You can take the subway, hop on a bus, or even catch one of the East River ferries if you want to see the skyline from the water.

We looked at all those possibilities.

In the end, though, we decided to do something much simpler—we walked back across the Brooklyn Bridge.

There wasn’t any practical reason for it. We simply enjoyed the experience so much that we wanted to do it again.

Yes, the bridge was crowded. Yes, there were plenty of people stopping every few meters to take photos. But somehow that didn’t bother us. We were in no hurry and crossing it a second time gave us one more chance to take in the views, look back towards Brooklyn, and enjoy one of those moments that had already become one of our favorite memories from the trip.

That said, if you don’t feel like walking back, DUMBO is extremely well connected. Whether you choose the subway, a bus, or the ferry, it’s very easy to continue exploring another part of New York. The best option simply depends on how much time you have left that day and what you want to do next.

Day 4 – Edge, the High Line and a Different Side of Manhattan

Today’s Itinerary

• Walk from Koreatown to Hudson Yards
• Edge Observation Deck
• High Line
• Chelsea Market
• West Village
• Friends Apartment Building
• Carrie Bradshaw’s place
• Bleecker Street
• Chelsea Market for eating in two places
• Free evening for Broadway or further exploration

We started the day early, mainly because we wanted to spend the morning walking along the High Line. One of the things I really appreciated about staying in Koreatown was that we could simply leave the hotel and walk there. It wasn’t particularly close, but it was an enjoyable walk that slowly took us from the busy streets of Midtown towards the west side of Manhattan.

As we approached the entrance to the High Line, we looked up and saw Edge towering above Hudson Yards.

Originally, it wasn’t part of our plan for that morning.

On a whim, I checked online to see whether there were any tickets available, and we got incredibly lucky. Because it was still early, there were places available for one of the first time slots of the day. We bought the tickets on the spot and headed upstairs.

Looking back, I’m really glad we did.

If there is one observation deck, I would wholeheartedly recommend alongside Top of the Rock, it is Edge.

The views are spectacular, especially over the southern part of Manhattan, and when we visited there was a slight haze hanging over the city that gave the skyline a beautiful atmosphere for photography. Some of my favorite images from the trip were taken there.

Then came the glass floor.

I’ll admit it, I wasn’t nearly as brave as I thought I would be.

Even though I knew perfectly well that it was completely safe, the moment I stepped onto the glass my legs immediately started shaking. I cautiously placed one foot, then the other, took a quick photo, and stepped straight back onto solid ground. That was enough for me.

My fiancée handled it much better than I did.

In fact, I don’t think we even took a proper photo together standing on the glass because I was far too eager to get off it as quickly as possible.

Despite that moment of panic, I absolutely loved Edge. The observation deck is beautifully designed, the views are outstanding, and, if I remember correctly, the ticket was also noticeably cheaper than some of the other observation decks in New York.

It turned out to be one of those spontaneous decisions that made the entire day even better, and I’m genuinely happy we decided to go up instead of sticking rigidly to our original plan.

One of the biggest mistakes I made during my first trip to New York was skipping the High Line.

I still remember having some free time towards the end of that trip. Instead of making the walk, I chose to take it easy, wandered around nearby streets, admired the Halloween and early holiday decorations, and told myself that I would visit the High Line another time.

I’m really glad I finally did.

It turned out to be one of my favorite experiences of the entire trip.

There is something very special about walking along the High Line. You’re suspended above the streets, watching the city from a completely different perspective. Below you, taxis, cyclists, pedestrians, and traffic continue at their usual pace, while up on the old railway line everything feels surprisingly calm. You are still in the middle of Manhattan yet somehow removed from its constant noise.

We entered the High Line directly after visiting Edge and slowly walked its entire length. We weren’t in any hurry. We stopped whenever we found an interesting viewpoint, took photographs, sat on benches, and simply enjoyed watching the city from above. That, for me, is the best way to experience the High Line—not as a shortcut between attractions, but as an attraction.

Eventually we reached Chelsea Market.

Because it was still early, we decided not to spend too much time there and instead continued south on foot towards the West Village. One of our first stops was the apartment building made famous by Friends, where, like almost everyone else, we stopped for a few photographs.

From there, we continued to Carrie Bradshaw’s famous brownstone from Sex and the City. Even years after the series ended, there was still a queue of people patiently waiting to take their photos outside the house.

That alone says a lot about how deeply New York is connected to popular culture.

Before leaving the Village, we spent quite a while simply wandering through its streets. The architecture, the quiet residential blocks, the trees, and the atmosphere make this feel like a completely different city compared to Midtown. It is one of those neighborhoods where I would happily spend an entire afternoon without any destination.

Before continuing our walk, we stopped at Magnolia Bakery to try its famous banana pudding.

Maybe it just wasn’t our lucky day, but I must admit that I enjoyed it much less than the one we had tried a few days earlier at the Magnolia Bakery location in Midtown Manhattan. I’ll talk much more about that comparison in my dedicated New York food guide, but if I had to choose between the two, the Manhattan version would definitely win.

From the Village, we continued wandering through Bleecker Street and several of the surrounding side streets, once again following a loose route rather than hurrying from one landmark to another. That’s one of the things I enjoyed most about this trip, having enough time to simply walk without constantly checking the map.

Eventually, we made our way back to Chelsea Market, where we stopped for lunch. We tried two places that I’ll cover in much greater detail in my dedicated New York food guide, so I won’t spoil them here, but Chelsea Market is somewhere I would recommend, even if you only have time to wander around and soak up the atmosphere.

At that point, we had the option of walking all the way back to the hotel, but we decided against it.

We were already feeling the miles we had covered throughout the day, and we also had evening plans. Instead, we took the subway back and only had a short walk to the hotel, giving ourselves enough time to rest, freshen up, and get ready.

If I remember correctly that evening we either attended a Broadway performance or another event in the city. I honestly can’t remember whether it was the night we watched Harry Potter and the Cursed Child or a different evening later in the trip, but that’s not really the important part.

What I do want to point out is something I’ve mentioned before: the itineraries in this article only cover the main part of each day.

Because everything was organized in a logical order, with very little unnecessary backtracking, we almost always finished the main sightseeing route with enough time left in the afternoon or evening to do something else. That could mean going to Broadway, exploring another neighborhood, shopping for a while, finding a great burger, stopping for ice cream, or simply sitting somewhere and enjoying the atmosphere.

Personally, I think that’s one of the biggest advantages of planning your days well. A good itinerary shouldn’t leave you exhausted with no time to enjoy the city. It should give you the freedom to decide how you want to spend the rest of your day.

Day 5 – SoHo, Little Italy and Chinatown

Today’s Itinerary

• Subway to Soho
• Crosby Street
• Greene Street
• Spring Street
• Lafayette Street
• Little Italy
• Chinatown

The following morning, we left the hotel early because we knew we had a full day ahead of us.

Starting in SoHo turned out to be the perfect decision.

We arrived before most of the neighborhood had fully come to life. The streets were still quiet, many of the shops were closed, and we were able to wander through the area without the crowds that usually fill it later in the day. By the time we had completed our first loop and started walking back, the neighborhood had completely changed. Stores were opening, cafés were putting tables outside, terraces were filling up, and SoHo was slowly waking up around us.

It was also here that we tried one of our favorite burgers of the entire trip.

In fact, we enjoyed it so much that we came back to the same place later during our stay. I’ll save the full story for my New York food guide, but it earned a place among the best meals we had in the city.

SoHo itself was one of the biggest surprises of the trip.

Unlike many of the places I revisited, this was a neighborhood I hadn’t properly explored during my first visit to New York in 2017. Just like the West Village the day before, it felt completely new to both me and my fiancée.

The streets are beautiful, the architecture is elegant, the cast-iron buildings give the neighborhood a unique character, and despite being filled with luxury boutiques and expensive stores, the atmosphere somehow remains relaxed and enjoyable.

It is yet another side of New York.

That’s one of the things I love most about this city. Central Park feels like a different world from Midtown. The West Village feels different again. And SoHo has its own completely distinct personality.

This is exactly why I always struggle when someone asks me which part of New York is my favorite.

I honestly don’t think I can choose.

What makes New York so special isn’t a single neighborhood. It’s the way all these completely different places, cultures, architectural styles, and histories come together to create one extraordinary city.

Getting to SoHo from our hotel was incredibly easy. We took the subway, stayed on the same line for just a few stops, and before long we were walking through one of the neighborhoods I had been most curious to explore.

We wandered along Crosby Street, Greene Street, Spring Street, and Lafayette Street, taking our time as we passed fashion boutiques, cafés, galleries, and some of New York’s best-known designer stores. With the sun shining and the streets slowly filling with people, it felt like the perfect way to begin the day.

From SoHo, we continued into Little Italy.

Although only a few streets of the historic neighborhood remain today, I still loved walking beneath the old Italian signs and restaurant façades. It immediately brought back memories of our many trips to Italy, and for a few moments it almost felt as if the city had quietly transported us back there.

What I find fascinating is how naturally Little Italy blends into Chinatown. There is no dramatic transition. One neighborhood slowly gives way to the other until, almost without noticing, you’ve stepped into a completely different culture.

We were lucky enough to visit Chinatown on one of its busiest market days—if I remember correctly, it was probably a Sunday.

The neighborhood was full of life.

Street vendors filled the sidewalks with fresh fruit, vegetables, seafood, and all kinds of products. Small grocery stores overflowed onto the pavement, butchers displayed their produce, people hurried in every direction, and the whole area buzzed with an energy that was completely different from anywhere else we had visited in New York.

As a photographer, I absolutely loved it.

Some of my favorite photographs from the trip were taken here, simply because there was so much life unfolding around every corner.

Naturally, we couldn’t resist stopping for something to eat. We bought fresh fruit from one of the street stalls, picked up a coconut to drink while walking, and had lunch in Chinatown before continuing our exploration.

Looking back, this is one of the days I recommend the most.

You can easily complete the route in four or five hours if you’re short on time, but you could just as easily spend an entire day here. Have breakfast in SoHo, stop for coffee somewhere along the way, enjoy lunch in Chinatown, wander through Little Italy, and even stay for dinner if your schedule allows.

My biggest regret is that we never returned in the evening.

While we were walking through both Chinatown and Little Italy, we kept telling each other that we should come back after dark to experience a completely different atmosphere. Like so many plans in New York, though, it never happened. Every evening another Broadway show, observation deck, or event took priority, and before we knew it, the trip was over.

It’s one of the few things we genuinely regret missing, and something that’s already on the list for our next visit to New York.

Day 6 – A Promise Kept at the Statue of Liberty

Today’s Itinerary

• Subway to Lower Manhattan
• Battery Park
• Ferry to Liberty Island
• Statue of Liberty and Crown Access(if you can book it)
• Second part of the day was spent walking through Hell’s Kitchen and Midtown

One of the biggest regrets I brought home from my first trip to New York in 2017 had nothing to do with missing a neighborhood or a restaurant.

It was the Crown of the Statue of Liberty.

Even though I had booked my flights well in advance, I simply couldn’t find a single available ticket during the days I was in New York. I searched everywhere. I emailed the operator, checked the official website repeatedly, looked at every option I could find, but nothing was available.

I still visited Liberty Island, but I remember standing there, looking up at the crown, knowing that people were climbing those narrow stairs while I couldn’t.

For some reason, that stayed with me.

This time, I wasn’t going to make the same mistake.

I booked the tickets months in advance. If I remember correctly, it was sometime in July or August for a trip that would take place in October. We were spending nine days in New York, yet during our entire stay there was only one day with two available Crown tickets.

That alone should tell you how difficult they are to get.

Because of that reservation, I built part of the itinerary around the Statue of Liberty rather than the other way around. I didn’t want to schedule it on our first day, when we would still be recovering from the flight, or on the very last day before leaving. Instead, I placed it towards the end of the trip, when it fitted naturally into the rest of our plans.

The morning started with the subway to Lower Manhattan, followed by the walk to Battery Park.

If you have Crown tickets, the process is a little different from a standard visit. Before boarding, you must collect a special wristband, show your identification, and then wait for your designated departure. Arriving several hours early doesn’t really help—you simply must follow the assigned procedure.

Once we reached Liberty Island, we first walked around the statue and explored the island before joining the queue for the climb.

Everything had to be left in a locker before entering.

And when I say everything, I really mean everything.

It was the only moment during the entire trip when I had to leave my camera behind. I wasn’t particularly comfortable doing that, but there was no alternative.

The climb itself is easier than I expected, at least until the very last section.

The final staircase is incredibly narrow, almost like a small emergency ladder. If you’re claustrophobic or simply a larger person, be prepared for a tight squeeze. I remember bumping into the walls more than once before finally reaching the top.

Only two or three people are allowed inside the crown at a time.

You step in, spend a minute or two looking out through the small windows, take a photograph if you want, and then leave using a different staircase.

Looking back, I know some people might think this is a rather silly thing to get excited about.

For me, though, it meant a great deal.

Ever since my first visit, I had wanted to stand inside the crown of the Statue of Liberty, and finally being able to do it became one of the biggest highlights of the entire trip.

If you have the opportunity to book those tickets well in advance, I genuinely recommend it. Just keep in mind that the crown isn’t an open observation deck. The windows are sealed, so every photograph you take will be through glass or clear protective panels. The experience isn’t really about the view—it’s about standing in a place that very few visitors ever get to see.

Originally, after returning from Liberty Island, the plan was to walk through Tribeca and slowly make our way north on foot.

In the end, we changed our minds.

Instead, we took the subway back towards Midtown, returned to the hotel, took a quick shower, rested for half an hour, and then headed back out again—this time towards Hell’s Kitchen.

Looking back, I don’t regret changing the plan at all.

Hell’s Kitchen has always been one of my favorite neighborhoods in New York. During my first trip in 2017, I stayed there, so returning felt strangely familiar. Walking through those residential streets again brought back a lot of memories, but at the same time the neighborhood felt just as vibrant as I remembered.

To make things even better, we arrived while a small flea market was taking place.

Strolling between the vintage stalls, browsing old objects, and then continuing through streets lined with restaurants representing cuisines from all over the world made the afternoon even more enjoyable than we had expected.

That’s one of the things I love about New York.

Sometimes you can spend months planning a route, yet one completely unexpected event—a neighborhood market, a street performance, or a local festival—ends up becoming one of the memories you remember most.

Hell’s Kitchen was exactly that kind of surprise.

Although it wasn’t originally meant to be the highlight of the afternoon, it became one of those places where we simply slowed down, wandered without any real destination, and enjoyed being surrounded by the everyday life of the city.

Our Last Two Days in New York

Our final days in New York was exactly what I think most people end up doing before they leave.

There was no strict itinerary, no checklist, and no pressure to see one last attraction.

Instead, we simply returned to the places that had made us happiest during the trip.

We grabbed coffee one more time, treated ourselves to pastries, and revisited a few of the restaurants we had enjoyed the most. Rather than trying somewhere new, we wanted one last chance to experience the flavors that had become part of our New York memories.

We spent the entire days walking.

Sometimes we found ourselves passing through the same streets for the second or even third time. We wandered north, south, east, and west without worrying too much about where we were going. We stepped into a few shops, looked around, and enjoyed the atmosphere without feeling the need to buy very much.

In fact, we came home with surprisingly little.

A New York T-shirt, a baseball cap, a small fridge magnet, and, of course, thousands of photographs. Those were the souvenirs we really wanted. For us, the memories were always more valuable than shopping bags.

Looking back, that final days almost felt like our first day all over again.

We walked through neighborhoods we had already explored, made our way back towards Central Park, wandered once again through Midtown, and eventually found ourselves in Times Square.

It felt like the right place to end the trip.

As darkness fell and the giant screens lit up the square, we did exactly what millions of visitors do every year. We stood there, surrounded by thousands of people speaking dozens of different languages, watching street performers dance, juggle, and entertain the crowds while the enormous digital billboards illuminated the night.

For all the criticism Times Square sometimes receives for being too crowded or too touristy, I still think it is one of those places that captures the energy of New York like nowhere else.

Eventually, we turned away from the lights and slowly walked back towards the hotel.

We knew that the following morning we would be heading to the airport.

The trip was over.

Or perhaps, after returning for a second time, it simply felt like the beginning of planning the next one.

Final Thoughts

It’s incredibly difficult to finish an article about New York.

Simply writing these pages brought back so many memories. I found myself going through hundreds of photographs again, remembering small moments I had almost forgotten, and realizing just how much this city has stayed with me.

There is one question that people have asked me ever since my first visit in 2017, and even more often after returning in 2025:

Is New York worth it?

My answer is simple.

Not only is it worth it, but if I had the opportunity to return another five or ten times, I would do it without hesitation.

There are still countless things I haven’t seen, Broadway shows I still want to watch, neighborhoods that I want to explore again, restaurants I want to revisit, and experiences I still haven’t had.

One of those is seeing another New York Knicks game. I was lucky enough to do that during my first trip in 2017. This time, because of our travel dates, it simply wasn’t possible. The season schedule didn’t line up with our stay, so we’ll have to save that experience for another visit.

Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to many places. Not all of them are even featured on this website. There were years when I travelled without writing much at all, whether it was Austria, Serbia, France, Egypt, or several trips through Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

I’ve been lucky enough to experience some remarkable destinations.

Yet if you asked me today which city has impressed me the most, my answer would still be New York.

Without hesitation.

If someone offered us the chance to fly back tomorrow, we would probably start packing tonight. My fiancée fell in love with the city just as much as I did, and ever since we came home, the question has never been whether we’ll return.

The only question is when.

People also ask me what I would do differently.

Surprisingly, the answer isn’t that I would add more attractions or try to fit more into each day.

I think I would do the opposite. I would walk even more.

I would spend even more time sitting in parks, wandering through neighborhoods, and discovering restaurants from every corner of the world. I would slow down even further and allow the city to surprise me again.

Because after spending eight days there, I came to one conclusion.

In New York, almost no minute spent outside is a minute wasted.

And perhaps that’s the greatest thing I can say about the city.

No matter how many landmarks you visit, no matter how carefully you plan your itinerary, some of your best memories will come from the moments you never planned at all.