Travel is one of the greatest gifts in life, being able to see something for yourself is priceless. One of my favourite cities in the world is New York, so I’ve been super happy to visit there 3 times, woohoo!

I think most people are put off because of the expense of it but I’ve never found it super expensive.  We are obviously going to different places!

A visit to New York should be your birthright and hopefully these handy tips will make it more accessible. Please feel free to share your tips too, all welcome.

The first thing with any travel is to make it your own. Sure you’ll want to visit tourist attractions, so grab a guide book, but in a City like New York City there’s SO much to take in, find your own pace and make it your own.  Every second step comes straight out of a movie scene anyway, you’ll soon stumble your way around.

I’ve alway been super lucky when visiting New York in that I’ve gone with people who know the streets. First time visit I was choked with a cold and had paid too much attention to Sex And The City, packing only heels, my boots certainly weren’t made for walking those streets.  So take good shoes! Perfect for finding NYC’s little quirks! 

Second time visit was more chill based, hanging out in Brooklyn and not even crossing the Brooklyn Bridge into the city.

Third time, we hit Manhattan, for reals. The sights, the sales, the bars! Probably my favourite visit so far. But I am due a fourth visit soon, with the man, whether he likes it or not, (I think he will!)

First visit I stayed at The Ace Hotel, Uber Cool, Central and for a decent budget.

Second visit I stayed with Friends, in Brooklyn. Lucked out!

Third visit we stayed at The Sohotel,  Nice, clean, cool, super friendly staff, and for a happy go lucky budget. (Found it on Booking.com)

While you pretty much have to do some of the tourist attractions, (I mean you didn’t come all this way not to did you?), there’s so much to do for free in New York.

I don’t buy into that it is expensive.

You don’t have to eat at expensive restaurants every day, you don’t have to climb every attraction after parting with $40. I’m a much more simple person, so slices of pizza and a beer each for $16 and a walk around central park, is up there in my favourite things to do. Save money for the cocktails!

The Highline is a disused railway linen that takes you up high through the manhattan skyline, see the Hudson, see the Empire State building, sit and take stock at one of the many sitting bays.

Central Park is located at the end of Fifth Avenue and it’s wise to leave any shopping to the out walk than the in, who wants to carry bags in the park? Romantic couples will like the carriage rides around the park, but we jumped in as a celebration of our friendship anyway!

While I am a big advocate of spending money on travel, I do like the odd thrifty day here and there. Look for cheap flights, I flew with British Airways and it came in at less than £450 return from Edinburgh. Search the flights first and work around when is in your budget, I used to check Skyscanner pretty much daily until it hit me to check Airlines websites too.