New York City | 3 Day Weekend Itinerary

I am sharing another travel post today to help cure my travel bug! I can’t wait until we can all safely travel again! My mom, sisters, and I went on a girls trip to New York City back in July of last year. We spent a weekend there for my youngest sister’s birthday. Since she had never been to New York City, I wanted to pack as much into 3 days as possible. I am sharing below how we fit everything into 3 days plus some tips for planning for a trip!

Travel Info

We decided to take a train to New York City as opposed to driving or flying. We really liked this option! Depending on where you live, it may be the most convenient. For us, it was easier than driving and cheaper than flying. We traveled from Norfolk, Virginia to Penn Station in NYC and it was about 9 hours. We arrived to NYC in the afternoon and were able to walk to our hotel, the Kimpton Muse Hotel. We have stayed at Kimpton hotels before and they are always SO nice! They are dog friendly and super accommodating. We put in the booking information that we were celebrating my sister’s birthday and they had a nice treat waiting for her when we arrived. It was also within walking distance of Times Square.

Day 1

After we checked into our hotel, we walked over to TKTS to see what tickets they had available for Broadway shows that night. We decided to purchase tickets for King Kong. We got ready, went to dinner, and walked to the theatre. I was pleasantly surprised with King Kong – it was really good! I have also seen Wicked and enjoyed that one as well. A Broadway show is a must do while in New York City!

Day 2

Our first full day in New York City was jam packed! We started the day by walking over to Central Park. It was about a 15 minute walk from our hotel. We had just planned to explore the park ourselves, but there were so many people trying to convince you to buy a tour. We were a little hesitant at first, but decided to go for it and we were really glad we did! It was refreshing to get to ride around versus walking. Plus our tour guide was very informative and showed us places we likely wouldn’t have noticed on our own (movie scenes, celebrity homes, etc.) He stopped at several great places for photos and offered to take them for us!

After lunch, we walked over to the Rockefeller Center. We bought tickets to go to the Top of the Rock. Although they don’t advertise it, they offer a great military discount when purchasing tickets in person. The views of the city were amazing! Lastly, we went to walk on the High Line just as the sun was setting. I actually hadn’t heard of this before, but it had many recommendations online. The High Line is a 1.5 mile trail along a former railway. There were many beautiful places to stop for pictures. Again, the views were breathtaking especially at sunset!

Day 3

For our last full day in New York City, there were a few other popular destinations left for us to visit! We utilized Uber for getting around to most places on this day. We started by taking an Uber to Whitehall Terminal. You can ride the Staten Island Ferry to and from the St. George Terminal for free. Not many things are free in the city, so we definitely didn’t want to pass up on this! From the ferry ride you can view the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge. We walked around the new Empire Outlets once on the other side which were very nice! After the ferry ride back, we were able to walk about a mile to visit the 9/11 Memorial. We finished the day by taking another Uber over to Chinatown and Little Italy.

My best advice for doing a lot in a short amount of time is to have a plan! Look on Google maps before you arrive to see how far your hotel is from where you want to visit. Plan logistically to see places close to each other on the same day. Also plan for how you’re going to get from place to place. Lastly, put all of your ideas together on an itinerary before you go! You can always be flexible with the itinerary, but at least you already have a plan laid out! I personally enjoy planning trips and creating itineraries. But if that’s not for you, I hope you can save this itinerary for future reference if you plan on visiting New York City! See more of my travel posts HERE.