New York in 5 days: Best Essential Itinerary

New York in 5 days

New York is one of those places that you should visit at least once in your life. Not only because it is a unique cosmopolitan city but also because, at least for us, it feels like you are living in a movie.

Although you will have enough time to see and enjoy all the major features, New York in 5 days gives you just enough time to take a quick trip to the big apple. At the end we didn’t have as much time as we wanted but we were on a budget and we only had these days out of work. We managed to have a great time in the city and it was as amazing as advertised. If you want to see a more elongated itinerary you can check the 10 days itinerary of New York. It is obvious that the more you spend in a country the more you learn about it. 

New York offers so much to discover! Everything results in an amazing experience, from taking the metro to walking through the streets, this makes it an exciting journey all day long.  

Even Though sometimes we had the feeling that we had already seen the city and lived it, the reality is that Hollywood, disney channel and pop culture in general is so full of New York that you may have this feeling sometimes. But actually, being there in all those scenarios with which you have grown up is an amazing feeling. 

What is this New York in 5 days itinerary about?

In this post, we will outline a 5-day plan for visiting New York. But, keep in mind that this city is perpetually changing, so there are always new exciting things to do.

We are confident that this New York in 5 days itinerary will help you plan your trip.

New York Itinerary

New York in 5 days: Day 1: Arrive at New York and first walk around

We arrived at JFK Airport by midday and as explained in our post “How to go from JFK Airport to Manhatan we took the AirTrain to Jamaica Station and then the Subway E and later the M to get us to our hotel located at Bryant Park.

🏨We were staying at the Americana Inn Hotel which we recommend a lot not only for its location but also for its quality-price. If you want to know where to sleep in NY you can read our postWhere to stay in NYwhere we explain the advantages and disadvantages of each area of NY.

After cheking-in and leaving our bags in the hotel we heeded to Times Square since it was the first thing we wanted to see in NY, at the end we have seen it so many times in movies that the feeling of being there by yourself is amazing. Our hotel was just 10 minutes away from times square so it was pretty cool. We took some photos and walk a little bit.

 

We went to the M&M’s shop, which is huge by the way, and also checked out some other shops that are around times square. Paula wanted to see what Target looks like, we are from Spain and we’ve never been in one but she has watched so many times youtube videos of people shopping in Target, that it was almost a tourist attraction for her. 

We were very tired from the trip and the day after we wanted to wake up very early so we went to the nearest shake-shak to eat their worldwide famous burgers. They were stunning, so juicy and tasty that we ate there again before returning home. 

New York in 5 days: Day 2: Contrasts Tour, south of Manhattan and stand up comedy

On our second day in New York, we got up at 7 a.m. as we had a tour that started at 9 a.m. We took the opportunity to pass through Times Square and have breakfast at Krispy Kreme on the way to the tour pick-up point. We highly recommend going to this place because, as you can read in the “Where to eat in NY post, it’s an experience to see how they make the donuts and be able to eat them right there.

We arrived early at the pick up point and were lucky to be among the first to get on the bus so we were able to sit at the front where the views were amazing and we could ask the guide very easily.

The tour we took, which was included in The NY Pass, was the Contrasts Tour. You can read about it and our experience in our post “Contrast Tour in NY, is it worth it?”.

When the tour ended, the bus dropped us off in Little Italy by 4pm, but since we had a scheduled tour for the day after, in our itinerary of 5 days in NY, to visit little italy, chinatown and soho, we decided to skip it and go to the 9/11 memorial.

Memorial New York

Once we arrived, we spent a while looking at the monument, it is much more impressive than it appears in photos. It seems impossible that in the middle of Manhattan there can be so much silence, you don’t hear anything but the water falling into the void.

Our plan for our itinerary of NY in 5 days was to go up to One World Observatory that same afternoon, but there was fog and we didn’t go up because we hadn’t seen anything, so we went to visit the 9/11 museum

When we finished with the museum, we went to the World Trade Center Station (PATH) which is just ahead. It is a building that on the outside looks like the skeleton of a whale and on the inside it is a train station, it is very beautiful.

Then we walked south, where Wall Street is. There we visited the Wall Street Bull, a must in our itinerary of 5 days in NY, and took some photos taking advantage of the fact that there was no queue, it formed behind us!

Once we had the typical photo, we decided to go see the depth of this area of ​​Manhattan and entered its alleys. We visited the stock exchange market of NY and continued along that street as it was full of men in suits, quite an experience.

After getting to know the area for a while we took the subway and went up to what ended up being our favorite activity in NY, stunt up comedy.

We chose to go to the Gotham Comedy Club since, of the ones Xavi was most excited about, it was the only one for which there were tickets left despite having taken them two weeks before the performance! We highly recommend that if you follow this 5 days in NY itinerary, you do not miss this experience.

Gotham comedy club

It was a very fun experience, we had a great time. Once the show was over we went to our hotel and stopped at a McDonalds, as we explained in our post “where to eat in NY ”, we wanted to see what special things they had at the McDonalds in the United States. We got it to take away and went to the hotel and had dinner in bed while watching the famous American show Family Feud.

New York in 5 days: Day 3: State of Liberty, culture neighborhoods and Rockefeller Centre

On the third day of our 5-day itinerary in NY we got up early. It seems like we say it every day, but this day it was true. We had planned to go see the Statue of Liberty and wanted to take the first ferry so we could be among the first to visit the island and enjoy it without crowds. 

We exited the hotel at Bryan Park and walked to Grand Central where we took the 4 subway to the Bowling Green station. From there we already saw the queue at Battery Park from where the ferries leave. Luckily, since we had a NY Pass we didn’t have to get a ticket and therefore we skipped the ticket line and went straight to the ferry line. We were able to take the first ferry as we had planned.

✏️It is very important that you make sure that you are on the right ferryl, there is one that goes to the Liberty Statue and another one that goes to State Island! And also, keep in mind that if you do not have the NY Pass, you may want to be there even earlier to buy the ticket.

When we arrived at the island, we first went to the observatory on the island to see Manhattan, it is a very beautiful view. After, we went to surround the Statue to take some photos and enjoy the views. After one hour there we decided to take the ferry again to Manhattan. There is a ferry each 20 minutes so you do not need to plan when to come back very exact. 

Actually, we recommend that you enjoy the views from the ferry since they are the most amazing thing of this experience. At the end from the island you get to see Manhattan and to take pictures with the Statue, but the best views are from the sea. 

The ferry also stops at Ellis Island but we didn’t since we prioritized going to other places in NY. However, as we explain in the “10 days itinerary in NY”, if you have more days to enjoy the city, we recommend stopping there, it is a place with a lot of history.

When we got back to Battery Park, we walked up to the One World Center to go up to the observatory since it was foggy the day before and we hadn’t been able to go. We highly recommend it because the views from each viewpoint are very different and all very special. From this one you can see Manhattan, but you can also see the Statue of Liberty, Jersey City and Brooklyn. It’s an incredible experience because you don’t just see the views, but when you go up with the elevator to the top of everything there is like a projection where you can learn the history of the building and see images of how we built it.

Once we finished the visit we went to the subway since at 12am we had a tour of Soho, Little Italy and ChinaTown also included in the NY Pass.

 

Chinatown New York
Little Italy New York

This tour was very good for us to get to know the history, curiosities and best areas of these three very special neighborhoods of New York and so, after the Tour we were able to walk around this area knowing a better where to go.

On the tour, the guide does not only explain about history, but also curiosities. We learned about different famous restaurants and, for example, we decided to have lunch at the first Italian sandwich restaurant in the United States.

When we finished the tour we walked through Soho and Chinatown which were the two neighborhoods we liked the most and we wanted to finish enjoying and seeing. 

Once we had walked enough we walked to the New York Public Library. It’s very cool both outside and inside, if you walk inside and get lost you can enter very interesting rooms that look like something out of a Harry Potter movie.

From there we went to the Saint Patrick’s Cathedral since we also had the entrance included in the NY Pass. It’s impressive because it’s in the middle of skyscrapers and it’s a very big contrast. At the beginning of NY it was supposed to be the tallest building in the city but today it is nothing more than a huge cathedral that looks small compared to the rest of Manhattan.

When we left, we had time to go up to the Rokefeller, the second viewpoint we would visit in our 5-day itinerary in NY. We chose the special time to be able to see the sunset from above. Luckily, with the NY Pass this hour is included without a price supplement, if you buy the ticket individually this hour is a little more expensive than the others. It was beautiful to see how the sky turned orange and the lights of the apartments were slowly opening and how central park was going to sleep. 

✏️We highly recommend visiting the observatories as we planned in our 5 days in NY itinerary: see the three observations at different times:, one during the day, one at sunset and one at night. The three we visited were the One World Center (day), the Rokefeller (sunset) and the Empire State (night).

New York day
America
New York night

This building is not only incredible for its views but also inside, when you go up or down from the viewpoint take the opportunity to visit a plant and the different sculptures in the corridors.

After leaving Rokefeller, we went to dinner at Ellen StarDust, a restaurant recommended in our “Where to eat in NY” post. It’s not just a dinner that you’ll really enjoy because of the food, but also because it’s a show, the waiters sing and go up to the tables to dance, you can see pictures and read more about this restaurant in the post.

Before going to bed and after dinner, we walked around Times Square which is behind the restaurant. Walking there at night is a completely different experience than doing it during the day.

New York in 5 days: Day 4:  Central Park, museums and Empire State Building

This morning was one of the most relaxed and, at the same time, one of the busiest. One of the plans we most wanted to do on these 5 days in New York was biking through Central Park.

We woke up early and went to Central Park. But before that, we stopped to buy bagels, an essential to eat when you are in NY (what to eat in NY). We had breakfast on the way to the bike shop, with the NY Pass (NY Pass, why is it worth-it) we had 4 hours of bike rental included and we took advantage of it. Just a street from central park we took the bikes for free, paid $2 for the insurance and went towards Central Park.

Just going from the store to central park by bike was quite an experience. Riding a bike in such a chaotic city full of traffic, cyclists and pedestrians was a lot of fun.

Our plan was to do the southern half of central park and stop to see the most emblematic things of this park, however, we got excited and ended up doing the whole park.

It’s easy to ride a bike through central park but you have to plan it and know the rules to avoid a fine, that’s why we made this post: “Itinerary by bike through the Central Park of NY” where we explain all the tricks, rules and curiosities and mark an itinerary so you  won’t miss anything inside this immense park.

Mall Central Park

While in Central Park, we stopped to visit the MET, it is just there and it is a good way to rest a little bit. We eat some hot dogs on the stairs, famous for multiple TV Shows such as Gossip Girl.

Once we were done walking around and had already visited everything we wanted in Central Park, we headed back to the store. Just before leaving Central Park, Xavi’s tire of the bicycle was punctured but he was able to reach the store. There, they told us that we were lucky that we had paid the $2 for the insurance because getting a new wheel would cost almost $500.

Once we left the bikes, we headed to the MOMA. We really wanted to visit it. The entrance was also free with the NY Pass and we were able to skip the line at the entrance to buy tickets and we just had to make a small line to collect it.

The truth is that even though the museum has 4 floors, we spent two hours on the top floor where there are the most famous paintings by Fridah Khalo, Dali, Gaudi, Monet, Van Gogh among others and then we had a quick visit to the other floors. We would have loved to spend a whole day there but we didn’t have enough  time and after visiting the paintings we had planned we decided to go for lunch.

We were super tired from the bike trip and the museum and decided to eat Shake-Shak again. It’s incredibly good and there’s no such thing in Europe, so we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to eat one last time before leaving. We ate at the Shake-Shak on 5th avenue and since the weather was nice we ate on the terrace, the views were brutal.

Once we had lunch, we walked along 5th avenue, the street of luxury. Luxury is not only seen in stores such as Chanel or Tiffany, which, by the way, is the most expensive physical store in the world. But also in the people you see while walking down this avenue. We had never seen so many limousines together.

Suddenly we found ourselves in front of the Trump Tower and decided to go in, although it is not a tourist attraction, if you are well dressed you can go in and see the building from the inside. Leaving aside the politics of this man, the building is incredible. inside it’s all golden and shiny and full of art. It is quite an experience. 

Once we finished we went to the Grand Central Terminal, also famous for being the scene of different movies and series. It is impressive and although it is famous for its interior, we liked the exterior much more. Leaving the station there is a stone bridge that looks Italian and creates a big contrast  in the middle of Manhattan.

 

Grand Central Station New York Itinerary

On the way out, we passed by an Honest Greens, a supermarket in America that is also very famous because we wanted to see and compare prices and products, it’s something we really like to do when we go to other countries. You get to know a lot about a country’s culture by visiting its supermarkets.

This super market was very expensive so when we were going back to the hotel to shower, we Went inside Target again and bought some mac and cheese. Since our hotel had a microwave, we bought some jars to make them quickly, we liked them so much that we bought some to take home. 

After dinner we had a tour, also included with the NY Pass, through GreenWich, the pub district. It was very entertaining because they told us the most typical areas, the history of many of the pubs in the area and so, once the tour was over we were able to hang there for a while knowing better where to go. Depending on whether you are traveling with family, friends or your partner and your age, you will enjoy more than one bar or another.

At night we had planned, for this 5 days in New York itinerary, to go to the Empire State Building since, as I mentioned above, we decided to go to the three most famous viewpoints in NY, all of them included in the NY Pass (NY Pass, why is it worth it), one during the day, one during sunset and one at night. All three are very different and all are special in their own way. It was a very cool experience to be able to go up and see NY at night with all the lights of the apartments open.

New York in 5 days: Day 5: Dumbo and come back home

On the last day, we were really exhausted because during these 5 days in New York itinerary,  we prioritized seeing everything we wanted and didn’t rest much. Really, the ideal would be to do the 10-day itinerary in New York to be able to go more slowly and calmly and not end up so exhausted.

We woke up early, even though it was the day we woke up later. The plan today was to go to DUMBO, the most photographed area of Brooklyn for sure. 

There is a street here, Manhattan Street from where the famous photo of New York is taken. Here you can see the brick houses of Brooklyn and the Manhattan Bridge in the middle. And, if you look hard enough and there is no fog, you can see the empire state between the arches of the Manhattan Bridge.

Luckily, we went early and there weren’t too many people and we were able to take pictures without people in the background. By the time we were finishing the photos there were already a lot of people and it was impossible to take photos without anyone coming out of the background. That’s why we recommend that, if you want good photos, you go early in the morning.

When we finished with the photos and once we had enjoyed the views, we decided to go look for breakfast. Since we had eaten a bagel the day before and loved it, we wanted to try to find a typical NYC bagel shop. We still don’t know how, but we found one. 

Xavi saw a policeman, the typical American policeman from the movies, entering the ground floor of one of these brick buildings on Manhattan Street, and as we got closer to get a better look at the policeman, we saw that it was a store of bagels full of Americans. We entered and were the only tourists , probably because the outside of the store did not attract attention at all. We stood in line and when it was our turn we ordered exactly the same thing that the policeman had asked for to make it all more authentic. 

They only sold bagels and coffees, we ordered the legendary bacon, cheese and egg. We guarantee you that it’s the best bagel you’ll ever eat. If you want to know how to find this bar and others, check out our “where to eat in New York” section.

Once we left the shop we sat on a bench from where we could see the subway passing by. In New York, poor neighborhoods like Brooklyn, don’t have underground subways and therefore the noise is constantly heard. We chose that place for breakfast to say goodbye to New York in its pure essence.

Once we were done, we walked around DUMBO for a while and when it was time, we went to a supermarket to buy some food for the airport and took the shuttle to the airport.

✏️If you want to know how to go from New York center to JFK airport, check our post “From JFK airport to Manhattan”.

We arrived at the airport and we waited for our flight and finally, after an amazing New York in 5 days, we were headed back to Spain.

Check other Posts about New York

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *