Christmas in NYC
Hello Sunshines!
For my mother’s retirement celebration, I planned her bucket list trip to NYC during Christmas. I knew I wanted to plan this trip months and months in advance, and this strategy helped us in many ways! I would give this trip a solid 10 stars, and it’s one I’ll never forget with my mama - and daddy - he came, too :)
Where We Stayed
After many weeks of researching hotels, I booked the Arlo Midtown hotel located off 38th Ave almost to the Hell’s Kitchen area of NYC. I chose this hotel because of their price point, location, and amenities (check out was 12 PM, two restaurants + cafe on sight, decent size rooms and bathrooms compared to other hotels in our price point). I would definitely recommend this hotel or one of their other locations in NYC. The service was wonderful (our room was ready when we arrived at 12:15 PM), and I even found a discount code from several influencers on Instagram and TikTok!
Transportation
Another question I had for our NYC trip was how would we get around because we all know the NYC traffic can be horrrendous. We chose to fly from ATL to LGA , and I was happy with our choice in using LGA because it was a smaller size airport and about a 40 minute drive from our hotel. We used Uber to and from the airport - I booked our Uber ($70 for both trips) as soon as we grabbed our bags, but Uber Shuttle was our next choice because it was only $20 a person and makes several stops, including one about 7 minutes from our hotel.
We pretty much walked everywhere - our hotel was about a 2 minute to 30 minute walk to ALMOST everything we had planned. We did use Uber on our third day to see the 9/11 Memorial because it rained all day. The subway is obviously the most used form of transportation due to it’s time efficiency and lower cost, but I felt a little nervous trying out the NYC subway with my parents for the first time. Ubers were pretty inexpensive - the uber to 9/11 Memorial from our hotel was $30.
Itinerary
Day 1
11:15 AM : Arrive at LGA and Uber to hotel
12:15 PM - 4:00 PM : Check in to Arlo Midtown, grab brunch at Altair, rest at hotel
4:00 PM - 7:00 PM : Bryant Park Holiday Market, walk up 5th Ave, Saks Light Show, Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, Times Square
7:30 PM : Grab 2 Bros Pizza and go back to hotel
Day 2
8:00 AM - 9:30 AM : Macy’s (outdoor), walk up 5th Ave
9:30 AM - 11:00 AM : Breakfast at Lotte New York Palace
11:00 AM - 2:30 PM : St Patricks Catherdal, Glacé Hot Chocolate at Rockefeller Center, Fao Schwartz, more 5th Ave, Central Park
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM : Lunch at Carnegie Diner, Coffee from Blank Street
3:45 PM - 5:45 PM : Rest at Hotel
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM : Hudson Yards, The Vessel
7:30 PM : Dinner at Fuji Hibachi
9:00 PM : Back at Hotel
Day 3
9:00 AM - 11:30 AM : 9/11 Memorial, SoHo, Nala’s Bagels, Coffee at Enly
12:30 PM: Lunch at Sarabeth’s
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM: Macy’s Holiday Square (Indoors)
3:30 PM - 5:30 PM : Rest at hotel
7:00 PM - 10:00 PM : Wicked on Broadway
10:30 PM : Back at Hotel
Day 4
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM : walk up 6th Ave to see decor and Radio City Music Hall in daytime
9:00 AM : Breakfast at La Grande Boucherie
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM : Central Park, Ralph’s Coffee, Upper Eastside, Dior on Madison Ave
12:00 PM : Grab bags from hotel, check out, Uber to airport
4:00 PM : Flight to ATL
Other Activities
Columbus Circle Holiday Market and Shops
Union Square Holiday Market
The Rockettes
Dyker Heights Christmas Light s
Wall St Area + Christmas Tree
The Met
Brooklyn Bridge
Statue of Liberty
Other Eats + Drinks
Joe’s Pizza
Liberty BAgels
Leon’s Bagels
Becco
Lillie’s Victorian Establishment
Tavern on the Green
Papillon
Caffe Paradiso
The Elk
Culture Espresso
Fellini
Dante
Fun Facts & Tips
I booked our hotel in July - the earlier the better I feel - search Arlo Hotel discount code on IG or TikTok and you should find several influencers with them
We booked out flights in the beginning of October - flew American Airlines into LGA
We booked Wicked at the end of October - totally amazing and a beautiful performance!
We went Sunday, Nov 30 to Wednesday Dec 3 - going right after Thanksgiving during the week was the MOVE. We did not fight crowds once - Fao Schwarz did a line to get in but during the day it wasn’t bad
We did not see the Rockefeller Tree lit - it was lit the day we left so the only thing we missed
I used my Canon EOS M50 Mark ii for all my photos
I wore thermal leggings and shirt under every outfit, pants/jeans, sweaters, Ugg platform boots, black boots, long winter coat, scarf/earmuffs/gloves - we were not once cold!
Head to my IG and TikTok for more content inspo!
XOXO, Britt
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a christmas trip to new york sounds like such a special way to celebrate a retirement, especially when the whole family can be there to enjoy it together. planning months in advance probably made it much easier to fit in the sights and experiences you really wanted. i also love that this became a lasting family memory rather than just another holiday. while browsing, i also came across chickenroad
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