New York City – My 3 Day Itinerary

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My 3 Day Itinerary in NYC

HELLO New YORK!  New York City is one of my favorite cities- the vibe being unmatched. It had been four (4) whole years since I went last, and I finally got the opportunity to go again for a weekend this June (and this time over 21, so the experience is much different).

Of course, I documented it and now I feel the need to share it. Whether this 3 day itinerary of New York City is fun to read or not, I’m hoping it will inspire you with your own trip to NYC.

One weekend, me, my best friend, and New York City. The possibilities are endless.

I feel like we did so much, but at the same time not enough. Here I will list everything we did, what we could have done better, and what we will probably do next time.

So without further ado, let’s get started on my New York City 3 Day Itinerary.

DAY ONE IN NEW YORK CITY

Friday.

Let me actually start my New York City “3 day itinerary” by saying we got in late Thursday night at around 11pm, got some tacos from a taco truck, walked to central park, and then went to sleep. And THEN Friday.

8:30am bright and early, we awake. We didn’t get a lot of sleep so it was a bit rough, but we slowly got ready and were excited for the day.

Here is my Friday morning transformation.

Our first stop

was our 10:30am reservation at Loulou Petit Bistro in Chelsea. The cutest place!

New York City 3 Day Itinerary
At Loulou enjoying The World Is Yours

I don’t know what we were thinking, but we started libations at 10am there which was 7am CA time, and it just seems like we set ourselves up for disaster. But the whole point of Loulou were the drinks! They have some adorable drinks and it would be a crime to go there and not try their famous The World Is Yours cocktail. And oh my goodness, it was good.

Check out my full article of Loulou to see all the food we ate, the other fun drink we ordered, and the vibes. It’s really worth checking out!!

After Loulou, we didn’t have anything planned right away and only had a general idea of what we wanted to do. So we walked around a bit and stopped at a film shop for my friend’s camera, and continued walking.

We ended up walking past Waverly Place,

and if you’re around my age and had that Disney childhood, you know how ICONIC Waverly Place is. Without a doubt we had to stop for a pic or two and maybe even a video.

Animated gif about selena gomez in Sesel by gabi 🌼

No Shame.

On the same topic of famous New York streets, we had to hunt down

Cornelia Street.

We are big Taylor Swift fans, so this was a fun scavenger hunt for us. We actually ran into so many other people who were doing the same thing! It was fun and I’m glad I got to be there in person. Of course we blasted the song (Cornelia Street from her album Lover (Cornelia Street from her album Lover) while we were there too. It’s a rite of passage.

Taylor Swift’s Cornelia Street

Afterwards, we walked around some more,

walked through the NYU (New York University) part of town, and eventually stopped at this place called Olio e Piú for some gelato. It was yummy and fun but at that point we were trying to kill time, and our feet were hurting.

New York City 3 Day Itinerary
Olio e Piú

This is where I would say I wish we had planned something else or had another activity to do, like taking a cocktail class or visiting a museum. I feel like that would’ve been so much fun! There are actually a lot of places where there’s a make your own cocktail class, at a restaurant or whatnot, and then you get to drink the cocktails you make afterwards. That would’ve been so unique and different, and I think it would’ve filled up that extra time that we had perfectly.

Here are some places that I found that would be a fun filler for the day:  Seamore’s Mixology Classes IL Fiorista Classes (flower arrangement classes, cocktail classes, etc), Abigail’s Kitchen Cooking Classes, The Cloisters Museum and Gardens, American Museum of Natural History (as seen on The Night at the Museum). I will definitely be doing one of these next time!

We finally stopped at this Karaoke Bar DAK ZIP in the Lower East Side.

It was around 4:30pm at this time and we had dinner reservations at 5:45pm a 20 minute walk away. But we wanted to have a little fun!! It was actually fairly inexpensive and required no minimum drink per person.

DAK ZIP & Boho Karaoke

We went in, did a little karaoke for 45 minutes, and then were on our way! It was fun and spontaneous and the people working were super nice!

We made it in time for our 5:45 reservation at Bâtard.

It was definitely our nicest dinner in New York City. It is a fabulous French restaurant and the perfect place to sip on some champagne. I also specifically wanted to go here because of the history it has with my father.

Cured Salmon at Bâtard

You can read my full article of Bâtard to see the food I ate and learn the story behind it all here.

Dinner ran late and we almost missed Mr. Purple.

Mr. Purple

We met up with other friends at the incredible rooftop bar/club that is Mr. Purple. I am absolutely in love with this place. A must to be included in my 3 day itinerary of New York City. I believe there was a minimum spending total per person, but that’s okay considering we spent the rest of the night here.

New York City 3 Day Itinerary
Taking in the views at Mr. Purple

The views were insane and the atmosphere was so much fun. The women’s bathroom had loads of candy with an employee who watched over and helped when needed. If taking a candy, be sure to tip, as she’s doing a great job!

We ended the night a little early

and headed back to get some sleep. By 3am, we were in bed and ready for day two!!

Puppy & I say Goodnight!

DAY TWO IN NEW YORK CITY

Saturday.

We slept in and didn’t get out till around 1pm, which is pretty late. I wish we had gotten up earlier and had a sit down breakfast somewhere but we were so tired so it’s okay!

Fortunately there was a pastry shop by where we were staying.

Corrado was the name, located in the Upper East Side. We got some coffee, and they even had a Gluten Free pastry! They served breakfast sandwiches and croissants too. Unfortunately, not gluten free.

Corrado Bread & Pastry

We ate and drank while on the way to Central Park, where we trailed it to get to our next destination.

Cute signs in Central Park

The Metropolitan Museum Of Art.

New York City 3 Day Itinerary
A lil timelapse I took of the museum goers <3

Here’s a cheat that is so simple but for some reason I don’t think many people think of it. Just book your tickets online.

Whenever I’ve been to The Met, the line to the door was insanely long. Like, wait for hours long. But if you book your tickets online in advance, you go through the back way and skip the entire line.

And get this, I literally booked the tickets the day of when I woke up. Come on, how easy was that? I feel like even if you were in line and decided to go on and buy tickets for that day but in just a couple hours, you could. You could get out of line and spend your time doing whatever until your reservation! I don’t know, but it’s worth a try.

I made the tickets for 2pm, and we got there just in time.

It was beautiful and interesting and I loved every second of being there.

On our walk from The Met, I stopped by one of those pop up shop tables.

There’s a whole line of them on the walk to The Met. Jewelry, art, photographs, knick knacks, and so many cute finds! I lost my face mask so I was able to get a new one here that is New York themed, and it is so cute! I also stopped and picked up some art and photographs for my walls back home. They are super cute and were inexpensive. Check them out!

Before dinner reservations, we decided to have a little picnic in Central Park.

We stopped by a random grocery store and flower shop (there are so many in the Upper East Side) and made our way to Sheep Meadow.

New York City 3 Day Itinerary
Sheep Meadow

It is so pretty there and there were so many people out having a good time, playing games, and having picnics. Plus the buildings poking out over the trees is a pretty sight while snacking.

We were late for dinner at Catch NYC, but still had a great time.

Dinner was at 6:30 and we met up with my cousin and her friend. I had never been to Catch LA, so I was excited to finally try it out in NYC.

Sushi at Catch NYC

Dinner was so fun and the food was amazing! The Crispy Cauliflower was definitely my favorite, especially because they are completely Gluten Free and Vegan!!

Half eaten cauliflower and calamari

Catch has an amazing rooftop but unfortunately I think we missed out on it because we were late. But it was still a great time.

We then met up with our friends nearby at Gitano,

a Tulum themed “jungle” where we had some drinks and enjoyed the disco ball in the center of the loud and lively restaurant.

New York City 3 Day Itinerary
Gitano

We talked and laughed and celebrated some person’s birthday we didn’t know but were able to get free margs out of it. So it was a win to me.

GItano

We called it a night got a good nights sleep.

NEW YORK CITY DAY THREE

Sunday.

We were up and out by 12pm, and got some hot dogs at a random truck.

We walked back to Central Park because, you know, it’s the prettiest, and we trailed the entire park until we got to our destination.

New York City 3 Day Itinerary
Prettiest walk through Central Park

Row Boating on the Central Park Lake.

SO cute and fun! It’s located at the Loeb Boathouse and $20 per hour, with a $20 deposit. Cash only, and just in case there’s an ATM there too.

We only did an hour of row boating starting at about 1pm. If we had more time it would’ve been nice to go for longer, as there was so much more of the lake we didn’t get to experience or see.

New York City 3 Day Itinerary
Me in the middle of the lake via Instagram

I caught on to the row boating pretty easily, but be prepared to get bumped into a lot!

Also, if we had more time, I would’ve liked to have made reservations at the Loeb Boathouse. You dine right on the lake and it would’ve been a nice day pairing it with the row boating. Next time I will definitely be doing it together. This was for sure a highlight during our weekend in New York City.

We had lunch reservations at Hotel Chantelle at 2:45 with our friends.

A swanky 3 story nightclub and restaurant. We ate on the roof and I had a great time!! The energy was radiant and I had a very yummy Breakfast Pizza.

New York City 3 Day Itinerary
Hotel Chantelle

See my full article of Hotel Chantelle to see everything we ate and drank and all the vibes. And peep the breakfast pizza.

From Hotel Chantelle we walked to 82 Stanton

which is a small and lively bar. I got a frozen watermelon drink which was very cold and refreshing.

Cheers with friends at 82 Stanton!

82 Stanton felt like a popular bar around town. For some reason a lot of people go and are regulars even though there isn’t a theme or distinctive attraction drawing people in. There are a lot of TVs though, so maybe that’s what it is. It’s very lowkey and after checking out their website, the food looks pretty good. A fun place to go with friends!

Unfortunately, our time was coming to an end.

Our flight back home was at 10pm at JFK, and it was time to start making our way back to our place so we could pack and get everything together. We left 82 Stanton at around 6:30, but we made a little pit stop on the way back.

We had to stop in times square.

New York City 3 Day Itinerary
Times Square, New York City

My friend had never been, so we stopped and took in all of its busy, touristy, dirty streets glory.

We took some pictures, grabbed a hot dog, and went back to pack.

We made our 10pm flight and made our way back to LA.

And that was it! That was our weekend in New York City.

It was spontaneous and long overdue and I definitely needed it! I can’t wait to go back and have a completely different experience, because that’s just how New York is. I hope my New York City 3 day itinerary helps inspire you!

Until next time! <3

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The End.

xoxo, Gossip Girl

whoops, I mean Jess!

LET’S CONNECT!

My IG: @jessicacastello

Twitter: @jessicacastello

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