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We landed at JFK on a Sunday afternoon in late September 2023, took the AirTrain and the Long Island Rail Road to Penn Station, and walked the last blocks to our hotel with our suitcases. Seven nights, eight calendar days, our first time in New York. We planned the week around one neighborhood per day, and that structure had to earn its keep: our visit included what became New York’s wettest day since Hurricane Ida, the September 29 flash floods that put the city under a state of emergency. We reshuffled some days because of the rain, and the plan below is the version we actually walked.
The flights were the cheapest part of the trip: €344 for the two of us, round trip from Frankfurt, with the return leg on SWISS via Geneva. One thing I’d consider next time: if you want the skyline from the plane, fly into Newark. The JFK approach doesn’t give you that view, and JFK also forces you onto the fairly expensive AirTrain before you even reach the LIRR.
The hotel: Innside by Meliá New York NoMad
I picked the Innside New York NoMad on West 27th Street after a lot of research, mainly because the rooms run a bit bigger than the Manhattan standard. The location turned out to be a good base for the week.
We paid extra for the "top floor" category and got room 1618, on the 16th floor. I believe that category started somewhere around floor 15, though I never confirmed the exact threshold. The view was roughly level with the building across the street, and rooftop water tanks blocked much of it. Floor 17 or higher might have been slightly better. The real advantage of the higher floor was not the view at all; it was being further from the street noise. You generally use a hotel room to sleep, so I would not pay the surcharge for the view again.
Then there is the fine print. Our seven nights were prepaid at $2,016.78 (€1,877.65 on our statement), but checkout added another $321.31: a facility fee of $40 per night plus tax, so $45.90 a night on top of the booked rate. This is not unique to this hotel. CNBC reported in 2023 that well over a hundred New York hotels charge "destination" or "facility" fees of roughly $30 to $50 a night, in part because it keeps the headline rate lower in booking-site comparisons. Read the fee line before you book. In fairness, this fee gave something back: an unlimited minibar restocked daily with nice fruit drinks and water, plus Wi-Fi and a few other inclusions. The hotel also has a nice restaurant and bar in the basement, and the gym comes with a view. We skipped the hotel breakfast.
In 2023, my German American Express Platinum included MeliáRewards Gold status, and I used a 25% discount for this stay; whether a comparable benefit exists today is something to check against the current terms. At the rate we got, with everything included, the hotel was definitely worth it. Check current prices and availability on Booking.com.
One neighborhood per day
Things on the map look close. They are not. Expect to walk a lot, a lot, and give each day a geographic anchor so the walking stays sane. Ours looked like this:
- Day 1: Chelsea. Arrival, check-in, then an easy first walk around Chelsea and over to the Vessel, which we saw from outside; it was closed to climbing in 2023.
- Day 2: Upper West Side + Upper East Side. Central Park, with the rest of the day in the surrounding blocks.
- Day 3: Turtle Bay + Murray Hill. MoMA, SUMMIT One Vanderbilt in daylight, Bryant Park, and Top of the Rock after dark.
- Day 4: Union Square + the Villages. The Union Square Greenmarket, Washington Square Park and the NYU blocks, then Greenwich Village and the West Village.
- Day 5: Garment District + Hudson Yards. For us there was not much at Hudson Yards at ground level apart from a very expensive mall, and we skipped the Edge observation deck. What made the day was the High Line, which starts right there and leads all the way down toward the West Village. That walk I can really recommend.
- Day 6: East Village + Tribeca + SoHo. Shopping around Greene Street and SoHo.
- Day 7: Financial District + Chinatown. The 9/11 Memorial (we did not do the museum), Wall Street, Battery Park for the Statue of Liberty view, then across the Brooklyn Bridge and a walk through Chinatown. We skipped the boat ride to the statue itself; that is one thing I might do on a return visit.
- Day 8: Brooklyn, briefly. A stop at L’Appartement 4F, DUMBO and the bridge from the Brooklyn side, then the flight home. Half a day was not enough. Next time I would do much more of Brooklyn, and since you travel by subway anyway, staying in Brooklyn and taking the ten-minute ride into Manhattan is a legitimate way to save money.
SUMMIT One Vanderbilt vs Top of the Rock
We did one deck by day and one by night, and they are different products. Top of the Rock (€87.63 for the two of us in September 2023) feels like standing inside the skyline, with an amazing view of the Empire State Building. SUMMIT One Vanderbilt (€89.71 for two) is more of an experience, and it is significantly higher in the physical sense: the deck sits at roughly 1,100 feet, against about 850 feet at Top of the Rock. SUMMIT is the one I would recommend.
Go on a clear day, and check each deck’s weather and rescheduling policy before booking; the rules differ. And check whether the New York CityPASS covers the places you want to visit anyway. That math worked for us in Chicago.
The Intrepid
The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum was my favourite thing to do in New York. It is like a museum that is a museum itself, and it comes with a submarine. We paid €65.96 for the two of us, and from the flight deck you also get nice views of the skyline and the Hudson Yards area.
Katz’s, the bagels, and Milano Market
At Katz’s we ordered the typical pastrami, and one order is enough for two people. Even for two it is quite expensive; we paid €28.50. The place is packed. Outside the typical meal times you still stand in line outside, just to stand in line inside again. The main area is self-service: you queue at one of the counter rows, they put on a show and expect some tips, and then you find a table yourself. There is a smaller area in the back with table service at slightly higher prices. It is very tasty, don’t get me wrong. But in New York there are millions of restaurants, and I would not wait in that line again unless you are there for the hype.
We went to several bagel shops that week, partly because we genuinely love bagels and partly because they were one of the cheaper ways to eat in this city. Leon’s Bagels was the standout: amazing, 10/10, and somewhere I would go again. Expect some wait there too, though you can pre-order. Rico Bagel and Tompkins Square Bagels were among our other stops.
Milano Market deserves its own mention. It is a small Italian market and deli where you order at the counter from a wide selection of sandwiches. It was considerably less crowded than Katz’s, and I thought the sandwich was even better; we spent €28.75 there for the two of us. The backstory, from the market’s own history: the founder emigrated from Italy in 1972, opened a corner deli in the Flatiron District in 1982 and named it after the city he considered the most beautiful in the world next to New York, added an Upper East Side shop on Third Avenue four years later, and the family runs it still.
Beyond that: La Cabra and Café Kitsuné were both amazing coffee stops, Ralph’s Coffee was nice, and Blue Bottle made the list as well. Los Tacos No. 1 was nice. Buvette was so good that we later sought out its Tokyo location. And as usual in the US, I enjoy a Magnolia Bakery visit. Fancy dining we avoided entirely; at New York prices it did not feel worth it to us.
Getting around
Take the subway. It is by far the best way to get around; Ubers and taxis are way too expensive and also much, much slower. At most I would take a car for the airport transfer. As of 2026, a subway or local-bus ride costs $3, while OMNY caps eligible spending at $35 in a rolling seven-day period when you consistently use the same card or device. In New York, that weekly maximum is roughly the price of one lunch. Nothing beats that.
Times Square, and what it cost
Times Square I would not go to. I honestly don’t get what it is about: slightly more LED walls than in other areas, filled massively with tourists and scammers. If you have been to Japan or South Korea, this is not special.
The numbers, all for two people in September 2023: flights €344 return from Frankfurt. Hotel $2,338.09 all-in for seven nights, of which $321.31 was facility fees. MoMA €36.93, SUMMIT €89.71, Top of the Rock €87.63, the Intrepid €65.96. Katz’s €28.50, Milano Market €28.75. The whole trip, including shopping and groceries, came to €3,320.26 for two (roughly $3,500 at the time; conversions are approximate). New York is expensive in the fine print, in the fees and the tips. The flights were cheap, the subway caps itself, and bagels kept the food budget in check.
Closing take
Between the two great American skyline cities, I still prefer Chicago: much smaller while keeping the high-rise flair, and cleaner and nicer in general. But my main advice for New York is simple. Don’t get hung up on the main trendy spots. The city has so much to offer — go explore, walk around.
