Christmastime In NYC - Updated Travel Guide

I just got back from NYC and visiting during Christmastime is arguably the absolute best and most magical time to visit NYC. I previously wrote up a blog post providing a travel guide of your must sees if you visit during this time of the year, and you can view that here. Today, I'm going to recap our latest trip and give some recommendations based on our newest trip! :) 

We've been to NYC multiple times between the two of us, and have seen a lot already; however, this time we decided to play full tourist and I must say, the attractions are 100% worth the time and money if you don't plan on returning to the city anytime soon (like us). 

For reference, we spent three full days in the city. We had an early flight on a Wednesday morning and landed around 7:30 am and left on a Friday night at 9:30 pm (we arrived at the airport around 8 pm). We decided to purchase the City Pass which allows you to visit many different attractions such as the MET, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and more. 

My advice... do not buy the City Pass if you're not going to take full advantage and go to at least half of the options you are given. This is simply because you can buy individual tickets for each attraction and if you're only interested in one than it will be much cheaper to purchase individually.  

Okay, let's get into the itinerary and planning your trip!

If you're vising during Christmastime, you have to check out the decorations! Of course, the Rockefeller tree is beautiful and that is on my list of what to see, but you can't miss some of the other sights! 

Christmas sights and decorations to see:

• Fifth avenue 
• Bryant Park
• Radio City Music Hall
• Large Ornaments
• Macys
• Saks Fifth Avenue light show

Some non Christmas/holiday related things to see and do are next!

• Central Park (always a good one!)
• The Statue of Liberty / Ellis Island
• The Empire State Building
• The Top of the Rock
• 9/11 Memorial & Museum 

Additionally, there's some locations and areas that do decorate for the holidays; however, I would recommend checking these out regardless of the time of year.

• Washington Square 
• Grand Central Station
• The MET 

Where we ate:

• Tito Murphy's (Mexican)
• Virgil's (BBQ)
• Bill's Bar & Burger

And... of course, you can't go to NYC & not have NY pizza so squeeze that into your schedule as well ;)