i recently went on a flash trip to NY with my mom & sister to visit our brother, ben. we went with a few places in mind that we wanted to check out (mainly food-related, ha!), but we really just wanted to see as much of the city as possible within the 48 hours that we were there. our itinerary provided for SUCH a magical & fun-filled experience that i want to share where we went & what we did in case you ever find yourself with 48 hours in NY or are planning a trip there, you can reference this list. feel free to add your FAV new york spots in the comments because i’m already thinking about when i can go back and would love to hear your recommendations, too!
where to stay: greenwich village is SUCH a quaint & special part of the city. it’s right next to NYU, washington square park, cute cafes, tucked-in restaurants, joe’s pizza & so much more! we are so lucky that my brother lives ON macdougal street because it was so fun staying in HIS apartment (like a local) VS a hotel.
arrival day/friday afternoon: change or freshen up & head to joe’s pizza for lunch! order your pizza & take it to enjoy on a bench right across the street at father demo square. it’s best to let it cool off because it’s PIPING HOT & you’ll burn the roof of your mouth. eat slowly and take in the city around you, WELCOME TO NEW YORK!
if you’re up for exploring, i suggest walking to chinatown & little italy while taking in the sights & smells of new york. pop in and out of cafes, bakeries and retail shops. sit down and people watch for a little bit. take your time taking it all in!
poke around at all of the fun, little street vendors
stop & smell the roses
#ootd wearing my new sunglasses purchase from chinatown!
we got matching, of course, #sisters #samesamebutdifferent
enjoy alllll of the sweet treats because you’re walking it off anyway, right?! these are from la bella ferrara
oreo cheesecake…yes, please!
chocolate cannoli with chocolate chips….double yes!
after shopping all-around lower manhattan, have some lunch & leave room for a cocktail on the rooftop bar “the crown” at hotel 50 bowery
their $20 froze is worth every penny
if your feet need a break, ride the subway! it’s the coolest experience because each station is so different, there are performers in there and all sorts of interesting things to see.
for dinner, make reservations at alta for tapas. it was somewhere so hidden we would have never known existed had my brother not taken us there, but it was an incredible culinary sharing experience. i guess that’s the whole idea of tapas, but each dish was better than the next and the atmosphere was really cool- can’t recommend this place enough!
leave room for van leewen’s honeycomb ice cream with peanut brittle dust
then, dance the night away in washington square park
i don’t know how common it is to see a movie or show being filmed (probably way more common than i think!) but we saw a part of a show being filmed right in front of where my brother lives, so we just stood on his stoop and watched for like an hour!
that’s jim parsons!
saturday morning: you couuulllld sleep in, but you’ve got less than 24 hours in the city at this point (!) so roll outta bed, strap your walking shoes on and start exploring. take advantage and start your day early!
make it your mission to find some coffee & breakfast to fuel your day because…you’re going to brooklyn! if markets are your thing, plan to go & check out brooklyn flea & smorgasburg for lunch.
irving farm comin’ in clutch with the yogurt parfait, croissant, cinnamon coffee cake & delicious coffee
smorgasburg is an open-air food market in brooklyn overlooking manhattan with over 100 local vendors! there is so much good food to try & drinks to sample. we each ordered something different to share, but it’s not all pictured because we scarfed it down too quick, ha!
dumplings
fried-to-perfection mozzarella sticks
brooklyn flea is just a few blocks away from smorgasburg and is a great way to walk off some of the food you just ate. if you enjoy hunting for vintage treasures and second-hand gems, you will love this!
i live for this shit!
as you can imagine, all that shopping will make you thirsty and gran torino is a stone’s throw away from brooklyn flea, so head there for a refreshing drink like their yummy froze! (i’m a huge fan of froze if you can’t tell, ha!)
#yummy
before crossing the bridge back over into manhattan, grab a sweet treat, pick-me-up from woops!
now that you’re back in manhattan, you could go rest in your room before dinner/evening activities….but it’s prime stooping time! stooping is basically sitting on the steps of a building’s entryway and eating, people watching, talking, etc. it’s so fun! we sat here, listed to live street music and ate (yes, again!) a schwarma sandwich from mamouns falafel.
now that you have stooped and sat around for a little bit, it’s time to get cleaned up, changed & ready to get the night going!
green gallow is not in greenwich village but is TOTALLY worth going to for an upscale, yet casual, super friendly experience while in new york. it feels like an open-air greenhouse floating atop the city with such cool vibes. order a beautiful drink from the bar & make yourself cozy on some communal sofas or seating areas & chat up some new friends.
before we flew to NY, my brother made reservations for us all to go to comedy cellar on saturday night & i’m so glad he did that because it was such a fun activity for all of us, we were ROLLING laughing!!! i would highly recommend making reservations before your trip as it’s such a small space & books up quick! our show was at 10:30 pm, so we had time before the show to go out for a drink, have dinner and then be in line by 10 to get good seats!
you’re going to want to get some food in your belly after drinking & before heading into the comedy cellar…especially if you plan on drinking some more. john’s of bleeker street pizza is DELISH & a must-try! it’s within walking distance to the comedy cellar, so enjoy your dinner (but go with friends or a large appetite because it’s sold by the pie, not the slice), then head on over to comedy cellar for your nightly entertainment!
comedy cellar PRO TIP: hang around outside the building RIGHT after the show & you just might bump into one of the comedians like we did with phil hanley!!!
it’s now past midnight and if you’re in your 30’s like me, it’s way past your bedtime (#imold) so go hit the hay & get some rest because you will want to wake up bright & early to get some good coffee & food before flying home!
we loved irving farm so much (& because it was only a few minutes walk away!) so we went back for coffee + breakfast. weather-permitting, try to sit by the open-air wall so you can get the breeze and people watch!
lastly, take a plane #selfie with your travel crew (or by yourself!) because you just CRUSHED your vacay!
now time to plan the next! thanks for reading!
