Travel Itineraries
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Current Travel Tally:
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5
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51
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On this blog, I share a lot of destinations and ideas. The blog format can make it tricky to find them all, so this post is your shortcut to find what you are looking for. I hope this helps - and Bon Voyage!
European Destination Itineraries: 4 Days in London The London List 3 Days in Amsterdam 5 Days in Sweden: Stockholm and Gothenburg 3 Days in Venice 2 Days in Florence 4 Days in Rome Sailing the Croatian Coast 3 Days in Istanbul Australia Itineraries: One Week in Sydney United States Itineraries: 3 Days in New York City My Favorite Bakeries in NYC Gorgeous Buildings to Visit in NYC 5 Days in New York with 10 year old Boys 3 Days in Washington DC (+ Old Town Alexandria)
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 I often get asked for recommendations of what to do in New York City, especially from people who have never been there before. I suggest staying in Midtown for a first visit since it is close to all the tourist hot spots. And as a Broadway Baby, I have to suggest getting tickets to a show for the first and/or second night. The rest of the schedule can fall into place around the times for the show(s). So here is the outline that I suggest for a long weekend itinerary for New York City: Day 1: Times Square, Rockefeller Center, and 5th Avenue If you arrive in the morning, drop off the bags at the hotel and head to Times Square and then grab some lunch. For an authentic experience, get something from one of the Halal trucks. I like the one just south of the New York Hilton. After loading up on some lunch, I usually tell friends with kids to go to the Intrepid Air and Space Museum. That will take up most of your afternoon. If that doesn’t sound exciting, then I’d head right to MOMA, followed by a stroll up and down Fifth Avenue, Rockefeller Center, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. If you need a snack along the way I highly suggest a knish from one of the street carts. For dinner I suggest the super cool the top secret Burger Joint made famous by Anthony Bourdain. It is hidden inside the Thompson Hotel at 119 W 56th Street, near Carnegie Hall. Best burger in the city and the fries are yummy too. Another idea is to head to the Empire State Building (weather and view permitting) first, and then explore. OR – if you have tickets to a show tonight (and I hope that you do!) then I high recommend having dinner beforehand at at Victor’s Café at 236 W 52nd. It’s a family favorite for us. Day 2: Central Park, the Museum of Natural History, Central Park Zoo, and the MET After grabbing breakfast at a local deli (the best in the area is Pastrami Queen at 1125 Lexington Ave) I suggest heading to the Central Park Zoo or the Museum of Natural History for the morning, then stroll through Central Park and have lunch at the Central Park Boathouse (around 72nd in the park) before spending the afternoon at the MET. If this is a Girl’s Trip, then after the MET I highly suggest grabbing afternoon tea at the Plaza, or at one of the Laduree locations (of the three I prefer the one on Madison, followed by the one on lower Broadway with it’s pretty courtyard). For dinner, I suggest Red Rooster Harlem. If you watch any of the cooking shows, you may recognize the name Marcus Samuelsson. He and his sister were born in Africa but adopted by a Swedish family, so he was raised in Stockholm. His food is a blend of both cultures, plus the American South. The desserts are all Swedish-inspired, which remind me of both of my grandmas. Day 3: The Highline Park, Chelsea, the Village, and Brooklyn I always suggest to pick one day to head toward the Vessel and Hudson Yards, and then walk down the Highline. Check out the Whitney if art is your thing (I love it, and the Whitney is fabulous!). The Whitney also has a great lunch options at their Frenchette Bakery Cafe. Outside of the museum, I really like Barbuto for some fantastic Italian food. After wandering through Chelsea and the Village, you could check out the Edge New York and/or continue downtown to One World Trade and Calatrava's Oculus. If you want to find some hidden gems in Manhattan, especially lower Manhattan, then do what I do and try to find some weird offbeat things to do, like find the oldest sewer cover in the city (which is in the village) or find the mews new NYU (one of the prettiest blocks in the city). There are a lot on this list of “778 Cool and Unusual Things to Do in New York” from Atlas Obscura. If you need a dinner place after shopping and exploring, and you are in the Meatpacking/Chelsea area then I recommend Buddakan (you may recognize it from SATC – they went there a lot). OR IF you’re feeling adventurous you could walk over the Brooklyn Bridge (great Instagram shots!) and have dinner in the DUMBO neighborhood. But it’s a little bit of a walk from One World Trade, so I’d take a cab from there and have them drop you off at the entrance for the bridge. Here’s a great link to the Best Restaurants in DUMBO. As you can see - three days is just not enough time. But I hope this is a good sampler tour for you!  Deciding what to see while you are visiting New York can be overwhelming, so a lot of people ask me for itineraries and suggestions. Not only is the sheer amount of options overwhelming, but it is challenging to know what is worthwhile to try to squeeze in over the course of a few days. But wether you are returning or visiting for the first time, there are some places that you should really consider putting on your list. This is my list of some of the most gorgeous buildings in New York City that you need to try to see - at least once:
The Morgan Library & Museum, located at 225 Madison Ave. is primarily known for its extensive collection of rare books, illuminated manuscripts, and art collection. It's artistic treasures range from manuscripts by Charles Dickens, scores from Beethoven and Mozart, and works by Rembrandt. The library itself is inspired by the Renaissance and wa designed by the architect Charles McKim Gilder Center at the American Museum of Natural History, located at 415 Columbus Ave. is the newest expansion of the museum. It is a new entrance off of Columbus Avenue, and creted over 30 new connections between the ten different buildings that comprise the museum. The building's 5 story atrium creates the feeling of entering into a geological formation with porous holes formed by air and water. It's breathtaking. Neue Gallery, located at 1048 5th Ave. is what is considered a jewel box museum. Founded by Ronald Lauder, it is dedicated to 19th century German and Austrian art and design. The highlight of the collection is Gustav Klimt's "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I", but also includes many other paintings, furniture, photography and sculpture. It is housed a former Gilded Age mansion on the Upper East Side, not far from the Met. Definitely make time to linger in the Cafe Sabarsky. This is no ordinary museum cafe - this is a trip to Vienna. The Frick Museum, located at 1 E 70th just reopened this April after an extensive renovation. Their Old Masters collection is known for having 3 out of 34 of Vermeer's paintings, as well as the work of Rembrandt, El Greco, Goya and Holbein. Their Italian Renaissance collections includes work from Bellini, and as well as a collection of French 18th century art that includes work from Boucher and Sargent. Albertine Books, located at 972 5th Ave. between 78th and 79th streets, is one of my favorite spots in the city. It is a bookstore and reading room, and with over 14,000 titles from 30 French-speaking countries, it is the largest collection in the US of French-language books and translations. It is located in the Payne Whitney House, which also houses the Cultural Services of the Embassy of France. The interior is simply stunning, and was designed by the French designer Jacques Garcia who is said to have designed it not as a retail location, but as a grand library. Oculus at the World Trade Center, located at 185 Greenwich St.is the breathtaking space above the World Trade Center PATH station (where you depart for trains to New Jersey) designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. It is a bi-level concourse with shopping and dining, and has access to the One World Observatory, office towers, and the Ferry Terminal in Battery Park. The Met Cloisters, located at 99 Margaret Corbin Dr. is located in Fort Tryon Park. It's location was purchased by John D. Rockefeller Jr. in 1930 and then donated to the Met. The museum contains a large collection of medieval artworks shown in the architectural settings of French monasteries and abbeys. Its buildings are centered around four cloisters - the Cuxa, Saint-Guilhem, Bonnefont, and Trie - that were acquired by American sculptor and art dealer George Grey Barnard in France before 1913 and moved to New York. It is hard to describe how truly beautiful and tranquil this spot is, while located in Manhattan. If you are heading to New York City this Spring or Summer, I encourage you to be a little counterintuitive - while you are in the city that never sleeps, I encourage you to slow down. Take a moment to sit at one of these bakeries, enjoy the food, the coffee (or tea for me!), the people watching, and soak up the experience of being in New York while you plan the rest of your day. e
While I am an avid baker, my many years of watching my weight while I was a dancer turned me into a bit of a calorie counter. But now that I am not the athlete I used to be, I will allow myself to relax and and enjoy visiting of my favorite bakeries whenever I can. If you go, please take a pic of your favorite selection and share it with me on IG so I can live vicariously. And Enjoy! Vesuvio Bakery, located in SoHo gives off the quintessential vibe of a bakery in New York, or Paris. Lauderee, yes - the one from Paris, has two locations in New York. One is on Madison avenue and the other one in SoHo is my favorite because of their beautiful outdoor courtyard. Tall Poppy in Chelsea is founded by a pair of Australians serving traditional French pastries. These may be the best croissants I have ever had. Salswee, in Flatiron, is a French-Asian bakery that is famous on social media for their gorgeous fruit cakes (that look like actual fruit) and that sell out by mid-day. So go early. My favorite is the orange. Angelina Paris, the iconic destination in Paris, now has two locations in the city. My favorite is the Bryant Park. It always makes me feel like I've escaped - Paris is always a good idea. |
AuthorKris Delaney is a marketing executive, foodie, travel enthusiast, and book nerd based in Atlanta, GA. Archives
June 2025
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