Holidays in NYC: Top 8 Tips for New York at Christmas
Christmas in New York is as wonderful and beautiful as you can imagine, but it also can quickly become overwhelming if you’re not thoughtful about your plans. I experienced a pretty seamless trip because of some things I did in advance like purchasing show tickets, building a walking route into my itinerary, and packing clothes to dress accordingly. Here are my top eight tips for Christmas in New York.
1. Planning
Book your trip as far in advance as you can; people come from far and wide for the experience and begin planning for Christmas in New York months and months ahead of time for more availability and better prices. The earlier you can secure a flight and accommodations, the better.
How you plan your trip really depends on the size of your travel group and what you plan to do; for me, I took this trip solo so it was all up to me, and I had quite the enjoyable experience.
2. Budgeting
If you’re just going to NYC to dash around the city taking in all the free displays of lights, then you won’t need much extra cash beyond maybe eating and getting around.
If you’re interested in seeing shows, shopping at holiday markets, and spending most of your time in midtown, you’ll want to have money to spend. Though you can find food for cheap and even some not so expensive Christmas gifts between the holiday markets, New York is very much a commercial city that can really draw you in as a visitor. Don’t put yourself in the position to be disappointed by wanting an experience you may or may not have planned for but didn’t budget for.
3. Accommodations
If you want to pay less for accommodations and be away from the noise, you can stay across the bridge in Brooklyn. Having said that, you will need to catch a taxi or Uber into the city and traffic can be a nightmare. If you go this route and you have timed tickets for activities, you’ll want to keep this in mind and leave at least an hour and a half early.
Depending on who you’re traveling with, an option is to go into the city early in the day, spend the entire day there, and then taxi home when you’ve done all you want to do.
If you want to be within walking distance of most of the sights and activities, you’ll want to stay in Manhattan, preferably near Times Square, as it’s sort of a centralized location for all things.
4. Crowds
Realistically speaking, New York is always crowded— on a normal day. During Christmastime the city is like a mecca and the crowds are extreme. You’ll need to exercise lots of patience, be mindful of open bags and pockets to avoid pickpocketing, and keep in mind that you may be shoved or bumped. If you don’t have tolerance for crowds, I don’t recommend this experience for you.
5. Weather
New York is cold. That is the tip. It is not your average cold, and if you plan to be out for long periods of time, you cannot afford to not layer up. It is also in your best interest to always wear a hat, gloves, socks with your shoes or boots, and it won’t hurt to invest in hand and body warmers. Building time indoors into your itinerary is important if you can’t tolerate long periods in the cold, a stop for coffee or hot cocoa is helpful, and you can’t go wrong with a very snug, warm and stylish winter coat and comfortable shoes.
6. Itinerary
I build an itinerary for every trip I take, but it’s especially useful in a place like New York at a very busy time like Christmas, because it can help you map out where you’ll walk to avoid a lot of backtracking. I’m all about efficiency in the city because somewhere that requires lots of walking and the need to pay attention can really drain you if you don’t plan well. My experience in NYC was very much about joy and fun and wonder (as are all of my trips), and I didn’t want to ruin that by getting lost or doing things in a chaotic order. The order in which I listed my activities here can be helpful to you as you create your itinerary.
7. Food
Because you’ll be walking, you need to eat to stay energized. New York is not the sort of place to be picky about the type of food you eat or to expect making a reservation for every meal. There are entirely too many restaurants to count in the city; pick one, stop and eat. If nothing else, at least dip into a bodega for a quick sandwich. Your body will thank you and you’ll have the presence of mind to really enjoy what you came there to see.
8. Getting Around
How you get around depends on where you stay. Because I stayed in Brooklyn, I had to taxi/Uber across the bridge to get to midtown, but once I was there, I walked everywhere until it was time to return to where I was staying. Unless one place feels extremely far from another or you happen to be really tired, I truly don’t recommend trying to take a car from place to place in the city. You’ll lose time in traffic and parking is a nightmare. Your best bet is to walk everywhere. Put on your most comfortable sneakers or boots and hit the road.
