Your Guide to a 24 Hour New York City Holiday Experience

Need something to do in the city to get your holiday spirit on?! The Christmas season is undeniably the most exciting time of the year, especially to visit New York City. During this pandemic, New York City has done an exceptional job at keeping the holiday spirit intact. I wanted to show you guys all of my favorite neighborhoods to visit for some holiday cheer. Each neighborhood brings a different type of excitement. If I can see them all in one day, you can too!

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New York At Christmas,

First off- there are SO many things to do around the Christmas season in New York City, such as ice skating in Rockefeller Center, shopping on Fifth Ave, etc., but I am going to give you the best of the best of each neighborhood.

Soho

Soho is not only known for the most trendy restaurants, but Prince street is also the place to go for shopping! There are stores such as Bloomingdales, Gucci, The Real Real, Zara, and so much more. During my time in Soho, I went to the Crosby Hotel for brunch and then started my shopping excursion. I went to stores like Zara, Allbirds, The Real Real, Rag & Bone and Bloomingdales. Then I made my way to the next stop.

Meatpacking District

Next stop on the list is Chelsea, where we went for more shopping. The biggest attraction to Chelsea is the Chelsea Market. Chelsea Market has stores such as Anthropologie and some other small, boutique-style shops. The main attraction to Chelsea Market is the beautiful walkway that is lined up with Christmas lights.

Hudson Yards

For those who don’t know, Hudson Yards is the new neighborhood in New York City. It includes the infamous Vessel that has made Instagram numerous times. It also includes a mall called The Shoppes and the Equinox Hotel. During the holidays, Hudson Yards went above and beyond to make New York City the place to be. I wandered the walkway of the Shoppes before taking a picture in front of the Vessel. Afterwards, I had dinner at the Electric Lemon in the Equinox Hotel.

Bryant Park

Bryant Park is one of the main attractions come Christmas time in New York. It has ice skating, the Christmas Market, and the tree (which is not as extravagant as the Rockefeller tree of course). Make sure you check out the Christmas Market for some of the cutest jewelry and small goodies. They are all small New York businesses, which is even better!

Fifth Ave

If you’ve seen any type of show or movie based in New York City, you know that Fifth Ave is the single, most busiest street to be on during the holidays. Between the stores, the Saks Fifth store, the Plaza Hotel lights and the Palace Hotel tree, there is so much you can do to get in the festive mood. I started off watching the light show on the Saks Fifth store and taking a picture with the Cartier store. It was SO incredible, even with Covid. Then made my way to the Palace Hotel Christmas Tree (for any of you Gossip Girl fans out there). I ended at the Plaza hotel Christmas light display outside. It was incredible!

Rockefeller Center

Rockefeller Center is the most festive area of New York City. The highlights of Rockefeller Center that I highly suggest seeing is Radio City, the ornament display outside of Radio City, the Rockefeller Christmas tree and Rockefeller ice skating area. It will not only put you in the Christmas spirit but it will also give you something to do without spending a single dollar (unless you go ice skating)!

What a Sight!

So many people think you need to go into New York City spending loads of money, but you don’t! The best time of the year to go is right now because there are so many free activities you can do! Another popular place that many people go to is Eataly. I wasn’t able to go on this trip, but Eataly is such a festive restaurant that changes theme every season. They go above and beyond with decorations! If you want to see my full New York City Christmas experience, visit this link to view my Instagram video.