New York City is great at any time, but Christmas in New York is absolutely quintessential city life. Like the city itself, it is this immortal, beautiful, art-inspiring season that Americans just can’t seem to get enough of. Think Holden Caulfield wandering the streets of Manhattan and Eloise decking the halls of the Plaza Hotel and every Christmas special in all ten seasons of Friends. I, a not-so-closeted urbanite, had been dying to experience it since probably age five (see above: Eloise).
And so, when my best friend, who attends Fordham University in New York, invited me for a Christmastime visit, my brain exploded with visions of Times Square and ice skating and horse drawn carriages.
I cranked up Tay Swift’s “Welcome to New York” and bought a plane ticket as quickly as I could.
If you live near New York, chances are this is old hat to you. Maybe you’ll roll your eyes. Maybe you’ll agree with me. But wherever you hail from, I highly recommend grabbing your best friend and making a trip to the nearest metropolitan area this Christmas break. If you’re willing to brave the cold and the crowds, I promise that the prospect of seeing your favorite city all dressed up for the holidays will be worth it.
That being said, if you’re a suburban girl like me, the big city might be a little overwhelming after spending all semester in the metropolis that is South Bend, Indiana.
Here are a few helpful tips that will ensure your city trip is more Gossip Girl than Home Alone 2.
1. Plan Your Transportation Route Ahead of Time
Holiday travel is notoriously nightmarish, but having a concrete public transportation plan will save you plenty of stress. I suggest an app like “HopStop,” which will give you good metro and bus directions no matter where you are.
Subway – Make sure you know your route, including the spots where you might have to transfer trains. Also, keep in mind that trains stop running in the early hours of the morning, and late night trains sometimes leave from different platforms.
Cabs – More people = more competition for cab space, especially during rush hour.
Über – The cab service of the future! With this app, you can request a cab at any time and set any pickup location you want. Über will connect you with a driver within minutes, and the GPS locator on your phone will allow you to see the cab’s location.
2. Relax
There’s so much to do in the city, you might be tempted to overschedule yourself. Take it easy instead, and give your sched some wiggle room. Let yourself duck into your favorite store or stop to admire a street performer. If you and your bestie spend an extra hour talking and laughing at that weird hole-in-the-wall coffee shop you just found, all the better. Magic happens at this time of year; don’t miss out on it because you’re running from Point A to Point B.
3. Live In the Moment
I wanted to Instagram and Snapchat every second of my New York experience. Mostly to preserve all the great memories I was going to make, of course, but in the back of my head there was also that sneaky social media age mentality, like, “If it’s not posted somewhere, did it really happen?”
My friend and I bought two cheap disposable cameras and spent the weekend snapping weird candids of each other. We loved the idea of not knowing exactly how the final result would turn out, and I definitely had more fun than I would have if I had been obsessing over the perfect filter.
May your Christmas breaks be merry and bright!
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Images: Title Image, Image 1 provided by author, Image 2