I recently went to the US for the first time, spending a busy week in New York followed by the slightly slower week in San Francisco with my partner. I reviewed many of the places we went to on Google Maps, so here’s the highlights of activities / restaurants / landmarks in our last 4 NYC days!

Note: This is a series of posts, with NYC Part 1 & Part 2, and San Francisco Part 1 & Part 2.

Day 4 (5th June): Soho & Villages

19,875 steps (9.22 miles)

NYC day 4

Petsmart ★★★★★

A pet store that actually has a wide selection of cat toys and treats!

I ended up picking lobster flavoured temptations(!) for my cat, she loves them. The staff here were friendly, there’s also a fish selection at the back.

Original review

Allbirds ★★★★★

Friendly staff, good shoes, good store.

Original review

Amorino ★★★★★

Truly outstanding ice cream.

The outside seating is great for people watching, and all the ice cream flavours were amazing. They also created a beautiful structure from my 2 scoops of ice cream, it was almost a shame to eat it!

Original review (1 photo)

The Evolution Store ★★★★✰

Well worth looking around, for the fossils alone.

There’s a wide variety of vaguely nature-y items om sale here, it almost has a museum-y vibe!

Original review (1 photo)

Housing Works Bookstore ★★★★★

A simply lovely place to pick up a book and sit and read. Make sure to check out the upstairs book selection too.

Original review

Jack’s Wife Freda ★★★★✰

Pretty good!

The food was tasty, and the staff were very friendly and helpful. However, it’s worth noting that the restaurant can be very noisy at times, and there’s often a queue.

Original review

Katz’s Delicatessen ★★★✰✰

I get it, the quantity of meat is the point. But.. it’s not a good sandwich.

The queuing system is a pretty chaotic mess (7+ queues all backing into the main dining area), and takes 3-4 minutes PER PERSON to get your sandwich.

The end result was 2 slices of bread with a ridiculous amount of meat in the middle. Obviously, when you try to bit it the whole thing just falls apart, and you end up just chewing bits of meat. Sure, the meat is nice, but it’s not exactly a sandwich!

Original review

Day 5 (6th June): Financial & Dumbo

15,575 steps (6.78 miles)

NYC day 5

Liberty Island / Statue of Liberty ★★★★★

An excellent island to obviously see the statue, but also walk around.

There’s fairly quiet seating areas, as well as grassy areas you can sit on (watch out for the geese!). It’s worth visiting in it’s own right, although you’ll have to go through a security screening process at the start.

Original review (13 photos)

Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration ★★★★★

A deeply interesting look into the history of the immigration process, and tips and tricks the immigrants used at the time. Lots of the museum still feels like it would have then, helping giving a hint of what they went through.

The only downside is a very long wait for the ferry, pretty rough on the hot day we were there. I’d recommend visiting the island as early as possible.

Original review (3 photos)

9/11 Memorial Pools ★★★★★

The flowers placed within victim’s names on their birthday is a really nice touch.

Original review (1 photo)

Brooklyn Bridge ★★★★✰

Worth walking across, with decent food and views on both sides.

Original review (1 photo)

Time Out Market ★★★★★

Empire Fulton Ferry ★★★★★

A great place for peoplewatching and eating any food purchased elsewhere!

Original review (6 photos)

Day 6 (7th June): Central Park

22,329 steps (10.23 miles)

NYC day 6

M&M’s World ★★✰✰✰

M&M’s World had 2-3 flavours of M&Ms. Local Walgreen has 7.

This is a shop selling the concept / brand of M&Ms, not really the food itself. Bizarre.

Original review

MoMA ★★★★✰

I know nothing about art, yet visiting this museum I’m pretty sure I saw almost every painting I’ve ever heard of..!

A truly stunning collection, feels like a “who’s who” of globally famous art.

Toilet situation is less than ideal, with the only one seemingly being on the 2nd floor?

Original review (1 photo)

Central Park (Sheep Meadow) ★★★★★

What a beautiful area!

I highly recommend sitting near the baseball fields and watching the various games being played.

Original review (2 photos)

Gray’s Papaya ★★★★★

Great hot dogs, GREATER juices, buy yourself a couple!

Original review

Richard Rodgers Theatre ★★★★✰

Hamilton performance was excellent, audio and stage were great, the lobby area was very crowded however.

Original review (2 photos)

Day 7 (8th June): Leftovers

18,359 steps (8.14 miles)

NYC day 7

The LEGO Store ★★★★✰

An alright LEGO store, but no special discounts etc so fairly expensive.

Original review (1 photo)

Rubirosa ★★★★✰

Book in advance!

Pizza was great, staff were very friendly, although our table was by the kitchen so it got a bit hot!

Original review

Tenement Museum ★★★★★

Very interesting and insightful look into the history of tenements and the families within.

We did “At Home in 1933”, and our guide had plenty of information and presented it very engagingly, whilst also answering any questions.

This pairs perfectly with the Ellis Island museum of immigration for a more complete picture of US immigration pre-WW2.

Original review