It’s been a month since we got back from NYC and I finally found some time to sit down and write a travel guide for all of you planning to visit the Big Apple, so here we go:

FLIGHTS:

We booked our tickets way in advanced. I was randomly browsing The Holiday Pirates when the deal came up. This trip wasn’t in our plans for 2015, but when we spotted tickets priced as low as 250eu both ways, I took it as a sign. We flew from Oslo to JFK with Norwegian Airlines and I couldn’t tell anything but nice things about the company. Staff is extremely friendly, food is alright and the seats are comfy. What else can you possibly need for a price like this?

TRANSPORT:

If you arrive at daytime and don’t have that much luggage with you, I’d suggest you get on your first Subway ride straight away. It’s cheap, pretty quick and goes all around the city. One ride will cost you around $3, but you can get yourself a weekly ticket and save yourself some money. 7 day unlimited ride Metro card costs around $30 and trust me- it’s worth every penny. The city is huge and as much as adventurous it seems to walk instead of taking a Subway, trust me- time flies when you’re in NYC, so you should worship your time!

ACCOMODATION:

As we were going to NYC for 2 weeks I knew that getting a hotel room wouldn’t just be enough for us, so I did my research and decided to try Airbnb at last! We divided our stay into 3 different locations and booked a room in Williamsburg, an apartment just above the Upper East Side and a room in East Village. We went for trustworthy hosts with great reviews, so we didn’t worry about being left out at all. Our first room in Williamsburg actually felt more like a hostel and we got to meet a bunch of lovely travelers, the location was awesome too as all the cosiest cafes and boutiques were just a block away. We spent almost a week exploring Brooklyn before moving to Manhattan where we rented cozy 1 bedroom apartment. The location wasn’t the best, but Central Park was so close we could almost see it through our windows. We enjoyed having our own space too. After a week of sharing a kitchen with other Airbnb guests, I was excited to cook a homemade meal for us. For the last days we stayed in East Village and it probably was the best location on our trip. I would highly recommend switching between accommodations if you’re staying in NYC for more than just a weekend. You get to experience different neighbourhoods this way and maybe find your favourite!

WI-FI:

As a traveling freelancer internet connection is a must for me. Of course we had wi-fi in our accommodations and it was pretty smooth. However, when you’re traveling, spending all of your time inside is not really an option, right? It was super easy to get connected when out and about tho! You can catch a public wi-fi almost everywhere and I didn’t experience extremely bad connection when using it, so we didn’t really need to get a prepaid sim card or anything. Oh and Starbucks is on every corner if that email looks pretty urgent and you need to sit down and answer it quickly!

MONEY:

No surprise, NYC is expensive. I actually expected for it to match London prices, but in fact it even beats those. From what we counted, it would be a great idea to have at least $100pp for every day of your stay in NYC. Of course you can easily manage with even a tenner, but I know for sure that you’ll want to explore everything the city has to offer, so be ready! If you’re worried about the currency fees, I have a solution for you. I was lucky enough to have My Travel Cash card ready. This works as a prepaid bank card, so you can top it up before you travel and then use it anywhere you see Mastercard acceptance mark. This way you’ll avoid unexpected currency exchange rates and ATM fees which can easily add up into a pretty big amount of your hard earned money. Be smart! Having a prepaid travel card also took away all the worrying about loosing my actual bank cards as I could just leave those back at the apartment and not carry them with me at all times.

WINING & DINING:

So of course if you ever find yourself in NYC, you should make sure to get proper foodie experience! Don’t think it’s going to cost you all of your pocket money, eating out most of the times is actually cheaper than purchasing products and making a meal at home. Plus, who wants to waste their time in the kitchen when you could explore all of the awesome local cafes? Some of my favourites: EGG Shop, Shake Shack, Rocco’s Tacos, Toms Restaurant, Bagelsmith, Brooklyn Brewery.

MUSEUMS + ENTERTAINMENT:

NYC is the place of art and entertainment, so make sure you take the most out of your stay. We got to experience a handful of rainy days during our trip and we used those to visit some very well known museums in the city, the best thing is that if you’re on the budget, almost all of the museums charge whatever you can to afford, so you can even pay 1$ and still get to enjoy all of the world class pieces of art. Some of the private museums such as MOMA also offer free days, so make sure you do your research before you go. Apart from the usual, make sure you also get to see the city from the top and visit the Rockefeller center, see a show on Broadway, walk down the Brooklyn Bridge and take a water taxi from Upper East Side to Wall Street when it gets dark and you can see all the lights!

I know for sure this time I only touched the base of the city and I can’t wait to be back and explore it even more. I still managed to learn a few tricks about surviving in NYC for 2 weeks without breaking your wallet or sanity and I hope you found those useful!

Let me know if you ever visited or are planning to visit NYC!