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July 24, 2015

Travelling To New York – Things To Know

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Visiting New York City is a dream for a lot of frequent travellers around the world, and it's easy to understand why. It's one of the biggest cities in the world, and it's absolutely packed with famous attractions and fun things to do. But because of its sheer size, constant activity, and limitless entertainment options, New York can also be somewhat challenging for tourists.

To make things a little easier for those looking into visiting the city, I've put together a list of tips and things to know that should make things a little simpler and easier. It'll also allow you to enjoy your trip the way you want to, so here it goes!

My first tip is that when visiting New York City, it's a good idea to come up with a list of preferred attractions in advance. As mentioned, New York has a virtually endless selection of sights and things to do, and trying to figure out where you want to go and what you want to see when you're already there could end up leaving you busy, confused, and feeling rushed. Instead, do a little research and come up with an agenda in advance. Decide things like, do you really want to visit the Empire State Building, or would seeing it from afar suffice? Is a ferry to the Statue of Liberty worth your time, or would you rather check out an iconic museum? To help you get going on your research, here's a list of top attractions in the city—going through and checking off your priorities is a great idea!

Another important tip is that it's wise to understand the financial aspect of a trip to New York. This isn't the most exciting thing to talk about when considering visiting one of the world's greatest cities, but it's still important and having a good understanding of what to expect will allow you to relax a little more. Basically, New York is very expensive, and you should plan on not only spending for your flight, hotel, and meals, but for more or less everything you do. You'll want to take taxis, go shopping, see shows, attend games, etc. to fully enjoy the city. And in addition to planning for these expenses, another vital piece of advice for New York travel from this page is to be ready for tipping! This is something of a foreign concept (no pun intended) for a lot of tourists, but in New York most people providing services will expect something in the range of a 15-20 percent tip
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If you're going to enjoy New York to the fullest, you should also know that Manhattan doesn't comprise the entire city! For those who are less familiar with New York City, it's actually made up of five distinct boroughs. Most of the famous landmarks and areas—Central Park, the Empire State Building, the 5th Avenue shops, the World Trade Center—are on the island of Manhattan. But many will tell you that much of the unique culture of the city exists primarily in other boroughs. In particular, the “outer boroughs” are often mentioned to tourists as places to find great food, with Queens and Brooklyn in particular being known for edgy, impressive restaurant scenes. But in general, you'll find a lot of fun attractions outside of Manhattan, whether that means Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, a one-of-a-kind Korean eatery in Queens, or Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Don't limit your stay to Manhattan!

Finally, you should know that you probably aren't going to see it all. A lot of world travellers have a tendency to try to squeeze as much as they possibly can out of exciting trips—but in New York, there's just too much going on! Instead of trying to see and do it all, plan your priorities and let yourself relax and enjoy them. It's the best way to do the city—and really, most other vacations, too!

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  1. […] on the top of my travel “list” for as long I can remember. In October 2017 I finally was able to visit New York City, it was a dream come true. During the week we were there we crammed lots in. I know in the lead up […]

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