A Tourist’s Guide to a Short Weekend in NYC

Long weekends are overrated. Let’s give some love to the short weekends — the quick stops, the 48 hour jaunts, the don’t-unpack-you-bag kinda trips.

Our intern, Carleigh, recently had some family in town, and they wanted to see the sights at break-neck speeds in a short amount of time, and they absolutely saw some sights!

She was kind enough to share with us their itinerary, and we thought it was pretty awesome to see how it was all laid out, and we thought it may be helpful for anyone trying to cram a lot of tourist attractions into a short time frame.

Everything flows together nicely and makes sense as far as “making the most” out of a certain part of town, which is an underrated, very important part of making the most of your time in NYC — you don’t want to find yourself eating dinner on the Upper East Side shortly before a Broadway show, for example! Depending on where you stay, some portions of this may make more sense than others, so feel free to mix and match depending on where you are — whether uptown, midtown, or downtown.

We must warn you, this schedule ain’t for the faint of heart or the arthritic of knees! Bring comfy shoes and keep your head on a swivel.

Friday

◦ Breakfast at The Grey Dog at 6th and 27th (Flat Iron; but they have other downtown locations as well).

◦ Subway to WTC and see the 9/11 memorial.

◦ Purchase tickets to the 9/11 museum!

◦ Grab a quick beer at O’Hara’s and check out their 9/11 scrapbook.

◦ Walk to Battery Park for a view of Governor’s island, Ellis Island & the Statue of Liberty.

◦ Walk to Wall St, the New York Stock Exchange, and even take a quick stop at the Charging Bull. You can also see Trinity Church on this walk (where Alexander Hamilton is buried).

◦ Stop at Gregory’s for coffee (there are 3 locations in the Financial District).

◦ Take the subway to Times Square and grab a snack and drinks at Ellen’s Stardust Dinner — to see the servers / Broadway performers sing in between waiting tables! (Great for musical lovers.)

◦ While in Times Square, walk past Radio City Music Hall, NBC studios & St. Patrick’s Cathedral. 

◦ Dinner reservations at La Peroca Bianca — there are several locations, but we chose the Bryant Park location.

◦ Grab a drink in lower east side at East Point if you want to explore the downtown night life!

Saturday 

◦ Walk around and explore Madison Square Park and the Flat Iron District.  

◦ Grab brunch at Carleigh’s favorite spot in Grammercy – Tara Rose.

◦ Took the subway to Upper East side 72nd St.

◦ Grab some coffee at Ralph’s.

◦ Walk to Central Park (there’s an entrance at 72nd, one block West of Ralph’s); in this area, you’ll see the Bethesda Fountain, which famously appears in several movies and tv shows. You can also take a break on a park bench in the famous “Mall” in Central Park. Walk North through Central Park & saw several of the historical monuments & the Belvedere Castle. Got to go inside & upstairs for an awesome view! (Carleigh said they saw a proposal here!) 

◦ End up at the Met (you can exit the Park at 79th and 5th, or at 84th and 5th). If you’re in need of a snack, we highly recommend the grilled hot dogs right outside the MET — but not any dogs, they have to be the Hot Dog King of New York. They really are the best! If you have more time, you can pop into the Lexington Candy Store for an old school diner experience.

◦ If you want more museum time, the Museum of Natural History is directly across the Park on the Upper West Side.

◦ Grab a slice of pizza at Famous Ray’s Pizza at W82nd & Columbus.

◦ Take the subway to the Empire State Building. You can walk past Bryant Park & the NY Public Library on the way. Go to go to the top to of the Empire State Building to see an amazing view! Tickets are $40-ish.

◦ After that head back and freshen up for dinner before having a drink in the hotel lobby of the Chelsea Renaissance Hotel! 

◦ Grab dinner in Madison Square at The Smith – great oysters and steaks! 

Sunday

◦ Before you head out the next morning, you can grab a bagel from the Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company (Chelsea location). *This was the closest bagel location for where they were staying!

Things we didn’t have time to do:

◦ See a show! We were rushed & didn’t fit this in. 

◦ Top of the Rock in lieu of Empire State Building — TPE generally prefers Top of the Rock to the Empire State Building, but to each their own!

◦ Grand Central Station (stunning architecture!)

◦ Brooklyn Bridge