New York

New York is everything I expected and more. This was my 5th time to the “Big Apple” and it won’t be my last. It’s not just the fantastic shopping and the sightseeing; it’s the overall feeling of being somewhere seriously cool!! On this trip, I took a group of 50 ladies. We started our journey on Thursday with a direct flight with Delta Airlines and we cleared customs in Dublin which saved us over an hour queuing on the far side. The Delta Airlines flight was fabulous and the cabin service was excellent.

On arrival into JFK we had a private coach transfer to bring us to our hotel, which is only about 45 minutes into the city. We stayed at the 3* Edison Hotel, which couldn’t have been a better location. Its right beside Times Square and Broadway, the hotel is basic but the rooms were huge. The reception area is busy, they have a great but busy Café Edison next door and the Rum House Bar attached to it. It is a great hotel if you want to explore the city.

The next morning we took a private transfer to Jersey Gardens for some serious shopping. Make sure you get your discount coupons when you arrive. We spent a marathon 9 hrs shopping!!! There were lots of bargains and well worth it if you go to NYC. My tip, get a trolley when you arrive, you will need it and they will be gone by noon!!

The rest of the weekend we spent sightseeing and shopping in Manhattan. We took the FREE Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty; we went to the 86th Floor of the Empire State building and what a view it was. I recommend doing this at night time as the views at night were awesome and also the queue is not as long and it stays open until 2am. We also did the 9/11 Memorial sight, the top of the rock at the Rockefeller Centre and so much more. Be prepared to walk the legs off yourself although we used the subway and not only found it easy to get around but the cheapest way.

If you still have energy after all that and need some more shopping then I suggest you visit Century 21. Its right beside the 9/11 Memorial and it’s the biggest one in the city and has fantastic bargains. Macy’s on 34th Street is also another favourite but you could spend an entire day here, it’s that big. I always like to go to Bloomingdales, it can be a bit more expensive than Macys but I love their Beauty and Jewellery Hall. And I always love to have a ramble down 5th Avenue when I’m in New York. You never know who you might bump into!

Overall it was a fantastic trip. You can’t help but be in awe of the place no matter how many times you’ve been. Everyone needs to go to New York at least once in their lifetime, so get some dollars and go!!