Arrival
In the morning we set off for Munich airport, from where we fly to New York with a stopover in Dublin.
Once in New York, we take our luggage to our accommodation and have a bite to eat before going to sleep after the long flight.
Day 1: Times Square, Bryant Park, Public Library, Central Station, Empire State Buidling and Flatiron Buidling
Since we arrived the evening of the day before, we can start right in the morning. The underground takes us directly to Timesquare, probably the busiest square in New York. Even on the way there, you can see the large neon signs hanging on the buildings.
After we have finished exploring Times Square, we continue to Bryant Park, a very beautiful park in the middle of Manhattan that invites you to relax. Free classes and events are often held here, the current programme can be found here. From the north side of the park you also have a good view of the Empire State Building.
At the edge of the park, the library building of the Public Library Maiestetisch stretches upwards. Here, in addition to the impressive reading rooms, you can also see a Gutenberg Bible and an edition of the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. Best of all, admission is free!
After visiting the library, we continue on foot to Grand Central Station, one of the most beautiful train stations I have ever seen. With 60 tracks, Grand Central Station is the station with the most tracks in the world and a symbol of hustle and bustle. From the main concourse, steps lead up to the top, from where you can watch the hustle and bustle and take great photos!
We continue past the Chrysler Building to the Empire State Building, an absolute must in New York! After a 30-minute wait, we take the lift to the observation deck. From there you can enjoy an unforgettable view of the Manhattan skyline! If the wait at the Empire State Building is too long, you can also go to the Rockefeller Center platform, where tickets can be bought online with a fixed time. You won't be on the Empire State Building, but you will have a fantastic view of the Empire State Building.
Even from the observation deck, you can see the Flatiron Building with its strange, triangular shape. Back at the bottom, this is our next and last stop for the day.
After having a drink at the foot of the Flatiron Building, we make our way back to our accommodation. On the way, however, we make another stop at Times Square. In the dark, the advertisements are even more impressive than during the day!
Times Square by day
A reading room of the Public Library New York
View from the Empire State Building
View of the Flatiron Building
Day 2: Intrepid, High Line, One World Trade Center
In the morning we start with the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum at Pier 86. The museum is located in and on the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, an aircraft carrier that was active in combat during the Second World War. Here you can admire, among other things, a space shuttle, the world's fastest aircraft and a Cold War submarine.
We continue to Union Square, a very interesting square. Businessmen, residents from the surrounding area, artists as well as demonstrators meet here. Crossing the square, you see completely different people, from the NYPD playing music to exciting games of chess on tables and chairs they brought with them. On the east side of Union Square hangs the Metronome, New York's strangest clock. I wonder what this clock is telling us?
Our next destination is the High Line, a disused metro line that has been landscaped and invites us to take a walk. After walking along it for a while, we arrive at Chelsea Market. In the former factory building there are delicacies from all over the world, perfect for lunch!
Well satiated, we make our way to our next destination, the One World Trade Center. Since we came by metro, we get off directly at the World Trade Center Transportation Hub. Even though it is only a Metro/PATH station, it is quite interesting because of its special architecture. If you want, you can go up to the One World Observatory - currently the highest observation deck in New York. We skip this, as we have already been to the Empire State Building. Right next to One World Trade is the National September 11 Memorial, consisting of the foundations of the towers that were damaged on 9/11. After seeing everything here, it is already late again, so we drive back to our accommodation.
Space Shuttle at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum
National September 11 Memorial
At the One World Trade Center Transportation Hub
Day 3: Wall Street, Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge
We start in the morning with the metro to New York's Financial District with the famous Wall Street. In addition to the sky-scraping banks, the New York Stock Exchange is also located here. Unfortunately, we can only see it from the outside, visitors are not allowed in.
Not far from here is the next highlight of the Financial District, the Charging Bull. There are already masses of people queuing up to take photos in front of it, and since we still have time anyway, we do the same.
Then we continue to our next highlight of the day, Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty on it. If you want to go to the crown of the Statue of Liberty, you should book your tickets as early as possible in advance, as they are usually sold out quickly! The various tickets to visit Liberty Island, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty can be bought online here. Since we use our New York Pass, we buy our ticket on the spot. Shortly afterwards, we are already on the ferry towards Liberty Island. The visit to Liberty Island is really worthwhile. When you stand directly in front of the Statue of Liberty, you really realise what gigantic dimensions it has! You also have a great view of the Manhattan skyline!
After walking around Liberty Island, we return to the harbour to go to the neighbouring island of Ellis Island. This was New York's immigration station until 1954, where immigrants and refugees were medically tested before they were allowed to enter the USA. Many did not pass the tests, which is why the island today also bears the nickname "Isle of Tears". When you enter the entrance hall here, you can almost feel how the people must have felt when they arrived.
After we have finished visiting this island, we take the ferry back to Manhattan to get to our last destination of the day, the Brooklyn Bridge. The Brooklyn Bride connects Manhattan and Brooklyn and was the first bridge over the East River. Crossing the bridge, there are once again super views of the Manhattan skyline and the impressive construction of the bridge! After arriving on the other side, it is already evening again, so we make our way home to our accommodation.
Day 4: American Museum of Natural History, Central Park, China Town & Little Italy
In the morning, we take the metro directly to the American Museum of Natural History, known from Night at the Museum. Past the impressively large dinosaur skeleton, we work our way through the huge selection of stuffed animals, replicas of prehistoric people and countless other impressive exhibits.
After we have seen everything around noon, we make our way to Central Park, which is right next to the museum. First we head towards Belvedere Castle. From here we drift towards Midtown Manhattan again, while we watch one or the other show of the countless street artists.
After arriving at the end of Central Park, we take the metro to Little Italy. There we take a short break in a small Italian restaurant and rest for a while.
Then we head for our last stop of the day and also of our stay in New York, China Town. This is almost right next to Little Italy. Quite abruptly, the small Italian restaurants and shops change to Asian traders. To be honest, I would have expected a bit more from China Town, like in San Francisco, for example. The buildings are not really ornate, but are merely characterised by neon signs with Asian neon signs.
Afterwards, we make our way back to our accommodation to be fit for our onward journey the next day.
Day 5: Atlantic City
In the morning we check out of our accommodation in Brooklyn and head off to pick up our rental car. With the rental car we then make our way to Atlantic City.
When we arrive in Atlantic City, we first take our luggage to our accommodation.
From here we then make our way to the beach promenade. We stroll a little along the sea and explore the countless casino hotels, bars and restaurants. We even find a Bavarian beer garden!
Beach promenade in Atlantic City
At a casino hotel in Atlantic City
Caesars Hotel in Atlantic City
Crossroads in Atlantic City
Day 6: Christiana Mall, Annapolis
In the morning we check out of our accommodation to continue our journey towards Washington DC.
Our first stop is the Christiana Mall in Delaware. Delaware (along with New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana) has a sales tax of 0%, so you can get good prices here for Apple products, for example. I take the opportunity to buy a new Apple Watch.
From here we continue on our way to Annapolis. Once there, we visit the U.S. Naval Academy Museum, which goes into the history of naval power, the development of the US Navy and the role of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.
We then stock up on provisions for dinner before heading to our accommodation.
Day 7: Around the Capitol and National Air and Space Museum
Since we only moved into our BnB in the afternoon, we set off quite late to get an overview of Washington. After crossing the many small squares, we reach the Capitol and the Supreme Court right next to it.
After circling the Capitol once, we make our way to the National Air and Space Museum, one of the many free Smithsonian museums in Washington, before walking back to our accommodation.
Day 8: Library of Congress and Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
In the morning we start with the Library of Congress, the world's largest collection of books, music, maps and photographs. Besides the impressive marble arches, columns and staircases, there is also an original Gutenberg Bible to see!
After we have finished looking around and the weather is not very good, we take an UBER to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, the branch of the National Air and Space Museum, where the larger exhibits are located that have not found a place in the building in the city. In addition to the last space shuttle that was in space, there is also a Concorde to be seen here. You can spend several hours in the huge exhibition, which is why it is already late afternoon before we have seen everything. We take the bus back to our accommodation. On the way, however, we stop to stock up on meat and beer, as we have a huge barbecue at our disposal in our accommodation, which of course we don't want to leave unused!
Day 9: Capitol, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and the White House
In the morning we head straight for our guided tour of the Capitol. Access to the White House is only possible with a guided tour, and the free tours can be booked right here on the Capitol website! Even though the crowds are quite large, it is definitely worthwhile to have seen the impressive rooms of the Capitol.
From the Capitol, continue along the National Mall to the Washington Monument. If you can, you can also visit it to see Washington D.C. from above. Unfortunately, this was not possible during our stay due to renovation work.
We continue across the long green space to the Linkoln Memorial. This was built in honour of the 16th President of the USA, Abraham Lincoln. From here we make our way to the White House. On the way there, we take a look at the Three Soldiers and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Arriving at the White House, we work our way forward with many other tourists to the front fence to get as good a view as possible. After taking a few pictures, we make our way to the back where some reporters are giving interviews.
Day 10: Georgetown and departure
Unfortunately, this is already our last day in Washington. Since our flight doesn't leave until the afternoon, we use the time for an excursion to Georgetown. The cobblestone streets and architecture from the 18th century almost make you feel like you've been transported back in time. In addition, you can do some great shopping in the small shops here or buy something in one of the small restaurants.
As we have left our luggage at our accommodation, we make our way back there afterwards. On the one hand to get our luggage, on the other hand John (our AirBnB host) invited us to his legendary margaritas. Afterwards we took an UBER to the airport to start our journey home.
FAQ
The easiest and usually the cheapest way to book a rental car in the USA is with CHECK24 Mietwagen. Here you can compare different providers very clearly.
To be on the safe side, I only ever use offers that do not have an excess in the event of damage, so that I don't have to worry about it on holiday.
ESTA authorisation can be obtained from the U.S. Custom and Border Protection website(https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/).
