New York City for the Holidays – What to Do & See

Visiting New York City for the holiday season has been a dream of mine for awhile and I was so happy when my friend Vincent wanted to head out there for a few days with me. We hit the city the week before Thanksgiving and while not all the Holiday decor was up we still managed to have a lot of festive activities in store for us. I wanted to include some of the things we had on our list along with things we wish we could have included that were great recommendations for us! We fit in a few work meetings during our trip so while it wasn’t 100% fun and games it was about 80%. So here we are, New York City for the Holidays – What to See & Do.

Holiday Window Displays

One of the main draws of New York City for the holidays has to be the 5th ave factor. What I mean by this is all of the beautiful buildings dressed up with lights, creative window displays and just that overwhelming Christmas feeling you get when shopping in these stores. I was happy to see a few window displays up at Macy’s and around 5th ave but missed out on the Bergdorf Goodman displays which I heard are absolutely fantastic! A must see for me when I come back next year.

Ice Skating at Rockafeller/Central Park

The main item on my bucket list was to go ice skating at Rockafeller center. With it’s iconic tree and views it seemed like the perfect backdrop for a well known holiday in the city mood. Unfortunately while we were there however the tree was being put up so scaffolding was pretty much taking over the entire space. A few people mentioned that Central Park was more magical so we were eager to check it out. I will say that Wollmans rink did not disappoint. We arrived right at sunset and it made for a beautiful walk through the park and a lit up evening of skating. One thing to note is to be sure to bring CASH because they are a cash only establishment. They also rent lockers which is handy and if you return the lock you get $6 of your $11 back! I can’t recommend this activity enough, it really made the entire trip for myself and I feel like it’s actual fun for anyone regardless of being able to skate or not.

Themed Restaurants /Bars

One regret I do have is not making a reservation for Rolfs. Some of you might be aware of this phenomenon but I was introduced by a ton of my NY friends who knew that if I wanted a Christmasy experience, I had to go here. You’ll know why if you clicked on the link above because the entire restaurant is covered in ornaments and garland as far as the eye can see. It’s actually like Christmas threw up everywhere and I am absolutely here for it.

Another great spot that I came across was a restaurant on the roof of Eately Flatiron. During the Holiday’s they deck out the space with beautiful blue lights adorning Christmas trees while you sit atop a beautiful NYC building. We really wanted to eat here but even a week out before our trip we couldn’t get a reservation. Unfortunately it was some sort of restaurant week so they had specials going on and were completely booked.

View the Decor in Hotel Lobbies

OK this one I wasn’t even aware of until after we had already arrived home but a ton of hotels really deck out their spaces for the holidays. Even at the Ludlow they really take part in making you feel like you are home away from home. We were a little too early to take part in the lobby decor but spots like the Plaza are definite ones to check out, not to mention you get to live a Home Alone moment for just a second or two.

Tickets to the Nutcracker or Rocketts

We really attempted to have the most holiday packed trip but with us being frequent NY travelers we do have our things we love to do (chill at our hotel, eat at delicious spots in Soho/LES) and sometimes those just trump items that take a lot of time/money. One thing I do regret is not going to see the Rocketts. Since it was so early in the season tickets were available up until the day of with the cheapest only being $50. I think it’s something that is super fun and doesn’t take too long (about 90 minutes). I think had we really pushed for it we could have made it happen but a note to self is to buy the tickets first to ensure we WILL go there versus deciding on the spot.

Stay in Midtown

First off, you will rarely ever hear me speak those words because I just love staying down in the lower east side or Soho area but if you are planning to focus solely on Holiday activities the most going’s on happen further up in Manhattan. Life would have been a lot easier had we stayed closer to Midtown since going back to the hotel to rest and heading back out would have been a lot more favorable than a 30 minute subway ride back down to our hotel only to have to head back up again in an hour.

Overall just being in the city for fall weather was incredible and something I will never take for granted. I honestly can’t wait to come back next year (hopefully with family as well!) to experience this all over again. I’m really hoping this can be somewhat of a tradition or to actually spend a holiday there (Thanksgiving or Christmas) and try something different. I will say that it is definitely a privilege to be able to travel to places like this but I did have to make sure that I was fitting this trip within a certain budget. I definitely recommend booking the week before Thanksgiving or the first week or two of December for what I saw as the best prices for flights and hotels. It definitely makes traveling around the holidays less stressful when you don’t have to overspend!