New York

Come visit one of America’s most diverse and exciting cities, New York! Whether viewing the city from the top of the Empire State Building, or taking a leisurely stroll through Central Park, this dynamic destination will captivate you from beginning to end!

In the mood to window shop? Venture down Fifth Avenue and get a taste of some of the fanciest stores in town! After your stroll, hop on the ferry and visit one of the nation’s most famous landmarks, the Statue of Liberty. Be sure to explore Times Square and even discover the city on a double decker bus! Finally, end your busy day by catching a musical on Broadway. However you choose to travel the city, New York offers a plethora of sights and attractions that are sure to entertain and enthrall its visitors!

Realtravelers Leigh and Jo describe their trip in detail:

“We headed for a walk around Madison Square Garden and what is called Midtown. Lots of shops and thousands of people. We had a great time just walking around exploring and feeling very small against sky scraper after sky scraper. In the afternoon we decided to put our weekly metro passes into good use (very inexpensive $24 for the week!) and so got off at a stop by Central Park. It was such a lovely day so we decided to go to the shops and get food for a picnic.” (more…)

Need more reasons to visit this summer? Fourth of July sparkles in the city, there’s almost always a Mets or Yankees Baseball game, and you can even catch outdoor concerts, films and more!

To plan your trip, visit:
New York Hotels
New York Flights
New York Attractions

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The end of winter is drawing near, and as the weather warms in many of the world’s most exciting and frequented travel destinations the itch to travel inevitably rises in us all. Whether for pleasure, adventure, culture or any of the millions of other reasons we choose to travel, the one undeniable thing is that travel we must. But just because it’s still winter, doesn’t mean you have to wait until the now melts to get packed and get going. This week on RealTravel the editors will be bringing you some of the best hassle-free travel destinations, along with real stories from RealTravelers. Could anything be better than a worry-free vacation to end those long winter months? I don’t think so, and I’m willing to bet you agree.

So where to go? For me, thoughts of hassle-free travel often conjure images of all-inclusive resorts, sandy beaches and tasty blended drinks with little umbrellas in them, but I say we start this week off with something different, a destination that may be unexpected. Because if one thing is true, it’s that hassle-free doesn’t have to mean nothing but rest and relaxation on some pristine beach. Let’s talk about New York.

Sure it’s called the city that never sleeps, with it’s seemingly endless array of shows, restaurants, historical attractions and bright lights, but this is exactly what makes New York a truly hassle-free destination for visitors: you don’t have to do any planning at all to find something amazing to do, see or eat.

RealTravelers Leigh & Jo visited The Big Apple last year, as part of their tour of the east coast, and had this to say about just one of the five packed days they spent there:

“The beauty with NY is that you can start the day late and still spend 10hrs sightseeing. So we slept in and and left our Hotel around 12pm, then headed off to the Chelsea Piers were Jo went for a run and Leigh had brunch at a cafe catching up on admin… We spent a few hours there before heading off to take in more sights. We decided to head up 5th Ave to check out some more amazing architecture and shops.

Our first stop was the Flatiron building… It is really cool and Leigh found it particularly interesting as he studied it during Art History at school so he was rather excited to be viewing it. The building cuts between 2 streets and is almost arrow shape. It is just one of the famous buildings that you see while on Manhattan and you can almost always put a movie or TV programme next to it. We jumped on the subway and headed to 5th and 45th St, keeping the higher parts of 5th Ave for later.

We explored more architecture and took in some of the city’s cathedrals. The sight of such holy places usually have their own place on a street or on the landscape, but not in Manhattan where all churches seem insignificant in size but not in status. These are some of the most beautifully kept churches we have visited. We eventually headed to the Rockefeller center. The area itself is beautiful, with bustling restaurants and a busy pedestrian zone. The Rockefeller building itself is again beautiful. With an Art Deco design the tower climbed beautifully into the the sky for a few great photo opportunities.

As it goes in NY time was flying by and already heading for Midnight, so we jumped on the subway to union square and went to a really funky bar/restaurant for some Thai noodles for dinner before heading home again well after midnight. For so many months we had early nights usually due to no electricity, so our bodies really had to adjust for night time fun!” (more…)

It just goes to show, you don’t need a plan to make a trip to New York City an exciting and memorable trip. It seems to me like when planning a trip there’s always a proclivity to want to get the most from your time and money by meticulously compiling an itinerary of all there is to do and see, but sometimes the most hassle-free trip is the one you can just play by ear, and let the day carry you where it will. In my opinion, there is without a doubt no better place in the world to do this than New York, where a casual stroll through any given part of town can turn into an accidental sightseeing adventure you’ll always remember, and with plenty of New York City hotels to accommodate you, from the ultra-posh to the simplest of hostels, there’s no excuse not to make this your next trip. If you’ve never been you’re missing out, and if you’ve been a dozen times you’re still missing out, so get going.

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