Lady’s Itinerary for 4 Days in New York City

Today I want to share my travel itinerary for 4 days in New York City. Manhattan is a great place to visit for its world-class cultural attractions, restaurants, architecture, museums, theater, and more.

4 Days in New York City

As soon as my flight landed in New York City, everything started to remind me of London.

When my train from JFK airport to Manhattan pulled into Penn Station I looked up at the departure boards and saw signs for destinations like St Albans and Kew Gardens.

They all rang familiar, as if I had flown for seven hours only to land back home in the UK.

The sensation continued when I got to the subway. The announcement of delays and posters detailing the weekend’s station closures felt all too reminiscent of my weekly experiences on the London Underground.

Another transport hub that reminded me of home was Grand Central Station.

I went to the famous building on the first of my 4 days in New York City, and the beauty of the place was reminiscent of London’s St Pancras International station.

While the two differed stylistically, both paid homage to the spirit of adventure inspired by travel.

Where to Stay in New York City

But I was done with train travel for the time being. My subsequent travels concentrated on the subway, which took me to my hotel on the Upper West Side near the Natural History Museum.

Restaurants in New York City

After checking in and meeting my mother, who’d flown in from San Francisco to spend 4 days in New York City with me, I started to discover the Manhattan restaurant scene.

At the suggestion of my cousin, who lives in Brooklyn, our first stop was a Greek restaurant on Columbus Avenue. We dined on a mezze feast consisting of grilled prawns, fried calamari, and a bountiful Greek salad.

The following night was my mother’s birthday. At the suggestion of a friend, I took her to dinner at Taboon in Hell’s Kitchen.

I hadn’t realized I’d booked us into two Greek restaurants in a row during our 4 days in New York City, but the variety of food on the menu at Taboon meant we didn’t replicate our previous night’s dinner.

In a glassed-in dining room with rustic white wood tables we went from celebratory blanc de blancs to seared scallops on a bed of chickpea mash and a delicious vegetarian grill plate.

We topped it all off with a unique dessert consisting of vanilla ice cream, date honey, caramelized pistachios, and shredded halva.

Greek food finished, we ate American for several more meals during our 4 days in New York City. One was at a farm-to-table restaurant in the East Village where my cousin and her boyfriend met us for dinner.

There we enjoyed fresh kale salads, squid-and-mussel ragout, and chocolate torte with sweet potato sorbet. The food was excellent and the intimate dining room had great ambiance.

Our other American meal during our 4 days in New York City came in the form of brunch.

My cousin took us to a place in Chelsea Market, a warehouse-turned-foodie-paradise complete with bakeries, wine bars, restaurants, cafes, and cheese shops.

Brunch was at a pretty cafe where we delighted in the likes of baked eggs, “Kiss My Grits”, and free-range chicken pot pie. It was a great way to get back into American cuisine after a long break.

Chelsea Market wasn’t the only market we came across during our 4 days in New York City, either. On Sunday we stumbled upon a farmers’ market called the 79th Street Greenmarket.

We were enticed by fresh apples, ripe cheeses, purple cauliflowers, and Brussels sprouts.

The variety and selection reminded me of London’s Borough Market and made me homesick for the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market in San Francisco.

Our cuisine in New York wasn’t all good Greek and fresh American, though.

On the final night of our 4 days in New York City my mother and I had wine at an Italian wine bar called Tarallucci E Vino before meeting two friends for dinner at Nice Matin on the Upper West Side.

The food and service weren’t stellar, but the company more than made up for it. Overall, the range of international cuisine in New York City reminded me of that in London.

Museums in New York City

But believe it or not, our trip wasn’t all just eating and drinking. My mother and I got up to other things during our 4 days in New York City as well.

First we visited some of the best museums in Manhattan. One day we spent all afternoon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. From an exhibition on Alfred Stieglitz’s artists to Greek sculpture and 19th-century European painting, we got our fill.

The museum reminded me of a mix of London’s National Gallery, V&A, and British Museum all in one. Even the famous Isle of Lewis chessmen from the British Museum were on loan for a temporary exhibition.

On another of our 4 days in New York City we went to The Frick Collection to see some amazing Old Masters paintings in the home of one of America’s great industrialists.

The Frick housed everything from Goyas to Rembrandts, with the stunning Fragonard canvases being a particular highlight.

The museum reminded me a lot of London’s Wallace Collection, another home-turned-museum upon its owner-curator’s death.

But perhaps the best museum of all was the New York Public Library. The beautiful building and the institution behind it were hosting a special exhibition during our 4 days in New York City.

On display were originals of the Gutenberg Bible, Shakespeare’s King Lear, Dante’s The Divine Comedy, a draft of the American Declaration of Independence, and George Washington’s Farewell Address.

Also present were journals written by Jack Kerouac and Virginia Woolf, the original stuffed animals that inspired A. A. Milne to write the Winnie the Pooh books, and 15th-century maps of the world.

The exhibition reminded me of some of the ones I’ve seen at the British Library in London, which has an equally impressive collection.

Shopping in New York City

When we tore ourselves away from Manhattan’s museums, we did a bit of shopping during our 4 days in New York City. Starting on 5th Avenue at Rockefeller Center, we stopped everywhere from J.Crew to Bergdorf Goodman.

The latter had decadent Christmas decorations in the windows, all of which reminded me of the seasonal windows in some of London’s most famous department stores.

Our stint on 5th Avenue was followed by some shopping in SoHo. The area was home to some of New York City’s best boutiques, luxury goods stores, art galleries, and design shops.

There was even the occasional dive bar. It reminded me of a mix of London’s pretty Marylebone High Street and edgy Hoxton Square.

NYC Sightseeing

When we weren’t engaging in retail therapy, spent our 4 days in New York City discovering some of the sightseeing highlights.

On our first day in Manhattan we went to the top of the Empire State Building. The iconic viewing platform, which has featured in movies like Sleepless in Seattle, had expansive views over the city.

It was so high up it was snowing when we reached the top. The scene reminded me of the views from The Shard in London.

Back on the ground, we made our way to Times Square, another of New York’s most visited spaces. It reminded me of London’s Piccadilly Circus on high-voltage steroids.

Broadway Theater

Times Square was right around the corner from Broadway’s Stephen Sondheim Theatre. We saw an excellent production of Cole Porter’s Anything Goes there. It was as good as any show I’ve seen in London’s West End.

Central Park

After being indoors, we were in need of some fresh air during our 4 days in New York City. This came in the form of an afternoon walk in Central Park.

The fall colors were brilliant in their reds, yellows, and oranges. The scene reminded me of London’s Hampstead Heath in autumn, where I once spent hours wandering around photographing the leaves.

4 Days in New York City

After all the great food, world-class museums, productive shopping, and classic sightseeing, my mother and I checked out of our hotel on the Upper West Side and hopped on the Long Island Rail Road to head back to JFK Airport.

Unfortunately, our connecting Air Train was delayed, as was our flight from New York to San Francisco.

It reminded me again of the transport blunders I experience all too often in London, and deepened my belief that the two cities mirror one another across the Atlantic.

If London had more brunch places, I might even wonder if I’d ever left home to spend 4 days in New York City.

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