I may be biased, but I think I had the best first trip to New York City, hands down. During my senior year of college, my two best friends and I took a 4-day trip to the Big Apple right after finals week and a few weeks before Christmas. Five years later, I have been back to NYC a handful of times, but nothing beats the city at Christmas time while enjoying a whole bunch of firsts with your college besties.
Although we didn’t stay in the city, we made a point to take the train ride in every day to do what tourists do best. Riding the Long Island Rail Road was my first experience on a train. I remember right before our stop at Penn Station, my friend’s dad said, “When we get out of the train station, don’t look up. You’ll look like a tourist.” I hate to break it to you, but, of course, I looked up. I marveled at all the tall buildings and the wonder the city had to offer.
During our time in NYC, we did basically everything a tourist should do on their very first trip to NYC, and since since it was Christmas time, we had some more special memories.
Christmas time is my favorite time to visit NYC because of how much Christmas spirit there is. Since I’ve grown up my whole life in Florida, 80 degree weather and lights on palm trees make it a little difficult to get into the holiday spirit. But in NYC, you have the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, the Saks Fifth Avenue Light Show, ice skating and carriage rides in Central Park, the window displays and Santa at Macy’s, and, of course, if you are lucky, snow in the city.
If you ever get the chance (I know it is expensive, and there are more crowds than ever), make sure to put NYC at Christmas time on your bucket list. Unfortunately, my family and I were supposed to have Christmas in the city this year, but due to the pandemic, I’ll have to ask Santa for a trip in 2021; hopefully he can top it off with some snow!
