New York New York! Wooow!!!!

Hi everyone! I'm not going to give a detailed day-by-day description, I just want to offer some useful tips to anyone about to leave for this wonderful city, also because the photos speak for themselves. We organized everything ourselves, we didn't use any agency. We booked the flight online paying 390 euros; on the way out we flew with British, with a stopover in London. The catch online is always there: once we got to Gatwick airport we realized that we ourselves (and at our own expense) had to change airports and reach Heathrow to catch the direct flight to N.Y. So when you buy your ticket online, pay attention to all the transfers! We booked the hotel online too, "hunting through" every listing. In New York either you spend a lot for a decent hotel, or if you want to save you risk finding rats in your room.

When booking on the site, before you book read all the reviews of the hotel you're interested in, because often the photos and the price are misleading! We were very lucky, because we found rooms at the Marcell at Gramercy Hotel, which is on the corner between 3rd and 23rd, right in the middle of Manhattan. We spent around 1400 $ for a double, breakfast not included. The hotel is very nice, new and modern, clean, and the staff are very kind and helpful like the rest of New Yorkers.

Don't be surprised if someone, seeing you with the city map open, comes up and asks if you need help! At the agency, for just the flight and hotel, they had offered us a figure of 1300 euros!!!!!!! As for life in N.Y., if you're interested in visiting museums I recommend buying the New York City Pass, it's a card that costs roughly 70 $ and lets you get direct access to museums and the main attractions of the city, also saving you the exhausting queues, and there are also discounts in some of the most important shopping centres in the city. You can buy it online or directly at the Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Natural History. For the subway I recommend buying the metrocard; with 7 $ a day you can use any line an unlimited number of times within 24 hours. The first days we used taxis and by then the weekly metro pass, which should cost around 30 $, wasn't worth it for us.

As for food, we have to adapt. If you want to spend little you have to eat at the usual fast foods or the stalls you'll find everywhere; if you want to eat a bit better (and it's a very limited thing!) you'll have to spend around 50 euros each! When you go to Brooklyn I recommend eating at Grimaldi's Pizza, it's a historic pizzeria in the neighbourhood, you spend the right amount and eat a very good pizza considering we're in America!... you have to queue a bit but it's worth it after days and days of hamburgers! The first days don't get carried away by enthusiasm and don't walk too much, like we did! The most important skyscrapers look so close, but the reality is that they're huge and not at all close! For the rest, have a good trip, I hope I've been helpful!