I'm starting to plan a trip to New York.
I will spend this Christmas and New Year in New York. Far from the annual Christmas hustle and bustle, family, Christmas visits, stuffing myself with Christmas cookies and carp with salad. I will do Christmas differently and fulfill my dream – to stand in front of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center (yes, like Kevin in Home Alone) and see the Ball drop at midnight on New Year's Eve in Times Square. Yeah, that's an idea. but how to make it happen? I have a year to do it, well, it's May, so only 7 months left.
In this post, I'll walk you through how I plan my trip. How I buy tickets, choose dates, places I want to see, how I research information, and everything I need to do before I go somewhere. And who knows, maybe I'll inspire you or you'll find some travel planning tips that you can use in the future.
How many days will I spend in New York?
That's the basic question. How many days do I want to stay in New York? The first thing I thought about. I started by looking up all sorts of information about New York. Google is my great friend. I searched for, for example What to see in New York, I studied a lot of websites, I read the printed guide to New York and I wrote down all the places that interested me on paper and immediately marked them in map.
Once I know where the places are, I start to navigate the city without actually being there. I also started following a few profiles on Instagram that focus on New York. For example newyorkcity.explore, pictures_of_newyork, nyclive and others.
I then wrote down all the places in a clear guide, where I added links to websites, opening hours, admission prices, photos. I found out how much time I would spend at each place, how long the transfer would take, etc.
And then I simply tried to plan the individual days. Of course, with a reserve and expectation that it wouldn't be 100%, that something wouldn't work out in reality. That something would take more time, something less. But I have reserves and even places that didn't fit anywhere, they're not the ones I have to see at all costs, but if I get bored, I know where else to go.
This is what it looks like in my guide. The first part is a description of the place, the next is an itinerary for the whole day. In gray, what I don't mind if I miss. If you're interested in my guide, write to me, I'll be happy to share it. Check out the page Guides: The best of travel.
Another factor is what I want to experience. So, the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center and New Year's Eve midnight in Times Square. Plus, I won't be able to go anywhere for at least one day over the holidays because everything will be closed. At the same time, I know that you can shop well in NY and the sales start after the holidays.
Well, another important thing is how much money I am willing to invest in such a trip.
From all this, I figure I'll need to be in New York for at least 7 days, which would be a really busy time. I also know it should be sometime between Christmas Eve and maybe January 2nd or 3rd. Now it all depends on the airfare. But I'll start looking into that sometime in July, so there's time.
But more about them in another post
