I've just come back from a four night shopping trip to New York with my mum. It's my eighth time there and I still love it; it's a truly amazing city. Here's some tips for my favourite alternative places to vist.
For the first time, we stayed downtown in the financial district, with a view over the River Hudson. It's lovely and peaceful in the evenings and weekends when all the city workers are at home. All along the river there are long walk ways amongst beautiful manicured lawns with stunning views across to New Jersey, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, as well as waterside places to dine al fresco. It's a good choice for those looking for an oasis amongst the chaos and I saw Holland America's Prinsendam ship sailing along the Hudson too!
Walking distance from our hotel was Battery Park, a leisurely 45 minute riverside walk away. We were also just five minutes from Ground Zero, where work to rebuild the area continues in earnest. Next to Ground Zero is Century21, a superb outlet store, selling designer and branded clothing, bags, shoes, accessories and upmarket cosmetics at a fraction of the normal price. Great for American brands and sportswear such as Ralph Lauren, Clinique, Diane von Furstenburg and Juicy Couture.
The first morning, we went to Woodbury Common Outlet Centre for more retail therapy. It's simple to get there by coach from the Port Authority, takes about an hour for $45. The list of shops is vast and I recommend that you take a small empty suitcase to pull along so you're not carrying all your purchases. A lot of the famous New York stores and designer shops are there with clothes at a significantly reduced prices. It's good to go here on the first morning as you're awake so early (you can also sleep on the coach on the return journey back to Manhattan)!
I ate at three excellent restaurants:
The Modern, which is the restaurant at MOMA, the Museum of Modern Art. It's gourmet French cuisine, but $88 for a delicious 3 courses. The place was buzzing and the food was wonderful, as was the service.
The Oyster Bar is a traditional New York restaurant located in Grand Central Terminus. It offers sensational fish and seafood, with a daily changing menu. Pop for a post dinner drink at the Campbell apartment also located in the station. It's a secret cocktail bar set in a completely restored private apartment, like stepping back in time.
Buddakan is a relatively new restaurant in the trendy Meatpacking District. Either sit in the bar or in the downstairs room with it's high ceiling and huge chandeliers. The atmosphere is buzzing and the food is out of this world. It's Chinese with a twist, fairly expensive but portions are huge. We opted for Duck & foie gras spring rolls with passion fruit sauce (outstanding) followed by Moroccan Lamb (3 huge cutlets of melt in the mouth lamb with ginger & spices) and Char Sui Pork, extremely tasty and served with mini pancakes. The vegetable rice with coconut foam was also out of this world, mouthwatering. I've recommended this restaurant to quite a few people as I've never had Chinese food like it, 10/10
I was held up by the ash cloud but thankfully only for four hours, which gave us the opportunity to take a traditional New York city tour on an open top bus around the city centre. It's an excellent way to get your bearings in the city, as it visits all the major sites and it's hop-on / hop-off ($42 each).
I'm away again next week on the Queen Victoria for a five night cruise, my first cruise on Cunard, so will send an update when I return!
Written by Simone Clark