What if I told you that I paid only about $600 CAD for transportation, accommodation, food, and more for a weekend getaway to New York? And what if I told you I managed to visit all the ‘first timer’ must-see landmarks within 2 days? If you want to learn how, keep reading 🙂

Quick Facts:

• Itinerary can be used for a 1-3 day trip
• Where to stay: Near Times Square (central part of city, walkable, close to transit)
• How to get around: ditch the car – use transit and walk
• Favourite landmark: Grand Central Station
• Must-try food: Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie (warmed up) from Levain Bakery

Cost Roundup:

• Roundtrip gas from Toronto to New Jersey: $150 CAD ($75/pp)
• 2 night parking and roundtrip ferry from New Jersey w/ shuttle: $30 + $20 ($35/pp)
• 2 night stay at Hilton Chelsea: $222 CAD ($111/pp)
• Transit: apx. $20/pp
• Food (grocery + eating out): apx. $160
• Souvenirs/Purchases: $150
• TOTAL: $551/pp!

Getting to New York

Some would think that the short flight from Toronto to New York would be affordable… think again! With roundtrip fare usually hovering around $300, my friend Cassandra and I decided to take the longer drive down to the city. Yes, it did take us about 8 hours, but it was well worth it. I recommend driving during the evening/night as the roads are empty. We left at about 8pm and arrived in New Jersey at about 6am. The additional time was due to one stop in Buffalo for food (snacks for the road and snacks/breakfast once in NY), and a second stop for a quick bathroom break. Just be sure to watch out for wildlife and the pesky toll routes! We ended up getting lost upon getting to New Jersey and was rerouted to the same toll route 3 times.

Instead of driving right into NYC and paying a crazy amount for parking, we decided to park our car at the NY Waterway Parking Garage in New Jersey and take the ferry over to the city. I cannot recall the exact amount, but parking for 3 days was about $30 (the information is not on the website. Also, be sure to find the garage that accommodates overnight parking as many do not) and a one-way ticket to the city is $9-12 (depending on what harbour you leave from. We used Lincoln Harbour).  Not only was this a much more cost efficient option, but it removed the stress of driving in the city and allowed us to enjoy the city from afar during the short but fun ferry ride. In addition, NY Waterway offers a free shuttle to various points in the city, which only forced us to walk a few minutes from the nearest shuttle stop to our hotel (the shuttle is available back to the ferry dock as well).

Where to Stay

We decided to stay at the Hilton Chelsea, just south-west of Times Square. I thought it was the perfect location as we were close enough to the Square to walk (about 10 minutes) but not in the bustle of everything. We were also of course very close to transit which was helpful.

While most travel sites offer the same price, I highly recommend taking the time to do the research and see if you can find any deals. We took the risk of going to NY during the Forth of July long weekend, in which of course both hotels and AirBnB’s were jacked up in price. But, with a little digging, I managed to find the Hilton for only $111 CAD/night through booking.com!! Yes – you read that right. The work in finding the perfect place paid off and we had a lovely stay at the hotel.

How to Get Around

If you want to keep your sanity and stay within budget, public transit is of course the way to go. Yes, it’s a little stinky (especially during the dead of summer) and a little confusing, but totally worth it. The fare one way is $2.75 US, but you can buy multiple rides at once to reduce the cost.

Further, you will need some good walking shoes because New York is definitely a walkable city. Once we got to our destination, all surrounding points of interest were walked to. The city is so compact that you really do not need a car to see it.

Our Exact Itinerary 

Below outlines what we did and where we ate. Because we were trying to stick to a budget and see everything as it was my first time in NY, we decided to not do any excursions/ activities and rather just see all of the landmarks. As for food, the sky is the limit in the city, but we tried to keep it budget friendly here as well and were also restricted with the holiday as many places were either fully booked or closed for the weekend. However, we still made the most of our time. Most landmarks in NY don’t need an explanation, so below is simply my itinerary:

-Day One-

Visited the following (in this order) in about 6 hours starting at 5pm:

• Madison Square Gardens
• Empire State Building
• Grand Central Terminal (definitely go inside! This was probably my favourite spot and made me cry at its grandeur and beauty)
• St.Patrick’s Cathedral
• Rockefeller Plaza
• Radio City
• Times Square
• Iced coffee from Blue Bottle (honestly, I was not blown away. It was quite pricey and tasted watered down)
• Theatre District
• Dinner at Shake Shack (even Shake Shack was so busy that we had to eat our burgers in a nearby cafe!)
• Cheesecake from Junior’s (a little pricey but super decadent! I went with the traditional strawberry cheesecake)

-Day Two-

• Canal Street (tips for a great shopping experience: bring cash, be ready to haggle, shop around, and don’t be afraid to reject something if you do not like it once seeing it in person)
• Transit back to the hotel to drop-off our goodies and rest
• Ground Zero
• Charging Bull
• Wall St.
• Dinner at Open Kitchen (I had much more exciting plans for dinner this evening, but because it was July 4th, literally everything was closed – I am not kidding!!). And, being in the Financial District, there are limited food options. Thankfully, we stumbled upon Open Kitchen, which is similar to Whole Foods. They had a yummy and healthy hot table which ended up being our ‘high class’ dinner of the evening. We only stayed in the Financial District because of the late night firework show for the holiday. Otherwise, you do not need more than a couple hours here and we would have bussed to another location to eat.
• Firework show from the pier
• Subway to Chinatown and Little Italy
• Gelato at Cha Cha’s in Little Italy (the peach sorbet is a MUST try)

-Day Three-

• Breakfast at Starbucks (remember how I said we were keeping it classy?!)
• Central Park
• Levain Bakery (the ABSOLUTE BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP WALNUT COOKIE I have ever tasted in my life. Seriously, I still dream about this heavenly dessert)
• Left the city for the ferry at about 3pm

And there you have it – my short but amazing first trip to NY! I hope to make it back one day and, of course, will document the whole thing here. Stay tuned 😉

Looking for more personal travel advice? Need a personal itinerary planner? Let’s chat!

xo,

Natasha