This post has been a long time coming; other than DC, New York City is the city I’ve spent the most time in as an adult. There’s so much to do, so many places to eat, so many neighborhoods to cover that I’ve put off writing a travel guide on NYC for years and years because I was worried it wouldn’t be comprehensive enough or I didn’t have enough authority since I’ve never worked full time there. But I think one of the great things about New York is that everyone can have their own version of the city that’s shaped by their experiences and places they love to go. My New York probably looks so different than your New York, and that’s what I think makes New York the magical place it is.
NYC is unlike any other city I’ve ever been to, and I think once you can navigate yourself around it, every other city becomes much more manageable to explore. I absolutely love New York—its such a trend-setting place with amazing food and drink and no shortage of things to do. But after a few days in the hustle, schlepping it on the Subway, and paying a premium for everything, I’m always ready to get back to DC. It will, however, always be one of my favorite places to visit and is a town that holds a lot of my memories.
I first went to New York City on a school field trip in middle school, and was lucky to return a few times in high school on field trips through the yearbook program. In college, I spent one of the best summers of my life interning at Conde Nast and living in the NYU dorms with sorority sisters, and since then, have made it a point to visit friends in New York at least a couple of times a year. In my current role, I am lucky enough to get to go with work about every other month or so. My recommendations and the photos below are aggregates of my many trips to the city so nice they named it twice and are almost all in Manhattan since that’s the borough I’ve explored the most.
