Thought I would add my trip report here for what it's worth! Very long, so hope you stick with us! Myself & my boyfriend (late 20's from London) flew out to JFK on 6th Dec (Kuwait Airlines: lovely curry but decor inside the plane needs plenty of attention!). It was our first visit so we were super excited, which helped with the jet lag. Arriving at 6pm ish NYC time, we jumped in a yellow cab and headed for Williamsburg, where my cousin has been living for the past 18 months. First thing we noticed was the size of all the cars- here in London space is at a premium and petrol prices astronomical, so we are not used to seeing all the 4x4 everywhere (think we saw two small (1 litre) cars in our whole stay!) There was a fantastic view of Manhattan as we approached on the BQE, really made us feel like we'd arrived!

My cousin hadn't yet finished work, so after dumping our bags we headed to a nearby Irish pub Iona he had recommended and acclimatised with a few drinks whilst trying to work out the tipping etiquette (in the end I just asked the Irish girl behind the bar for advice and stuck with 1-2 bucks per round) The drinks perked us up and we managed to stay awake until midnight, not bad seeing as that's 5am London time!

Waking up early, we walked through Williamsburg and Brooklyn heights to wander across the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan. Sadly it was pretty cloudy and smoggy, so not the best view, but we did get our first glimpses of Lady Liberty, Chrylser & ESB which spurred us on! After a brief diner burger (yum) we paid our respects at Ground Zero and St Pauls Chapel (I had not realised just how much support was provided to the rescue workers on 9/11 up until then). Feeling very moved we walked on down through Battery Park intending to hop on the ferry, but after seeing the long queues and considering the weather we just picked up tickets to use over the next few days, and instead walked up Broadway taking in some shopping and the varied atmosphere of different areas of downtown Manhattan. We met my cousin at his office and then jumped on our first NY subway back to Williamsburg, and headed out to Juliettes for dinner (lovely) and back to Iona Irish Bar for some late DJs and drinks (still getting a second wind from the jet lag, and paying for it the next morning!)

Saturday morning we had a lazy start trying to catch up on some sleep, before heading out for a walk down to Williamsburg beach (another great view of Manhattan) and taking in brunch at a diner (apparently it had been featured in the FT recently) A real tin can street corner diner, we sampled corn beef hash, scrapple, fried kale and bloody marys (ouch) and then jumped in a car with our bags, moving on to the Upper West Side to a hostel for our last 3 nights. After dumping our bag we jumped back on the subway and headed for Time Square, starting a walk from our guide book and taking in Bryant Park, Chrysler Building, ESB (but our favourite was the slanty Grace building- so strange but so cool!) and finishing up with a drink in Grand central station. Grand Central was one of the highlights of our trip, we loved the touches of old fashioned luxury and the tiny archways leading to each platform, reminded me of the train stations in old 1920s movies. Sitting in one of the concourse bars we admired the view and watched the world bustling round us, making up stories about where each person was headed, the couples having their wedding photos and where their lives might lead them (drifting into Paris-style cafe bar behaviour here...)

Zipping across town on the subway, we headed to near Bleeker Street for cocktails in a great bar called Dove (honestly, lavender infused gin with orange liqueur & grapefruit- best cocktail EVER!) to catch up again with my cousin and his girlfriend. Then we moved on for dinner at Garage, where the food was delicious and the live jazz band (with no cover charge) added a great ambiance. However 3 late nights finally caught up with us so we got a relatively early night zzzzzzzz

Sunday morning was a super early start to get down to Battery Park and catch the 9am ferry to Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island. We were so glad we waited as the weather was beautiful: crisp, cold & clear and best of all NO QUEUE! Feeling like real New Yorkers with our takeout coffee and muffins, we huddled together for warmth on the upper deck admiring the spectacular views of downtown manhattan and Lady Liberty. We didn't feel it was worth getting off at Liberty Island as the view had been great from the ferry, so proceeded straight on to Ellis Island. I have to say we were slightly disappointed with the museum, felt a little deodorised and lacking in content, perhaps we were just not quite in the right mood. Back on the ferry, we headed back to our hostel for a quick change of clothes and back downtown to Madison Sq Gardens to see the Knicks! I really didn't think I would enjoy this so much, but it really captured the all-American atmosphere for me, hearing the anthem being sung with such intensity, and my boyfriend of course was captivated by the cheerleaders... fortunately the Knicks beat the Utah Jazz, so we all headed out in good cheer! Saying a final goodbye to my cousin, we walked up to the Rockefeller centre and headed up to the observatory deck for our first experience of high skyline in Manhattan. We loved the lift racing up all those floors, and the view from the top is just spectacular at night (such a romantic place, make sure you have a good night setting on your camera as it's well worth it!) This really set the scene for a romantic night ahead, and we watched the ice skating at Rockefeller until we got too cold and then cabbed across to Peasant restaurant, just north of Little Italy, for our best meal of the week (the rabbit lasgane is to die for!) We loved the pseudo-rustic chic and the staff were lovely, we really felt spoilt.

Monday was for shopping.... after a great diner breakfast of eggs and homefries (my boyfriend had menu envy despite loving his pancakes) we walked across central park (such a restful haven in the middle of the chaos and buzz) before making our way down Madison & Fifth Avenues, and doing some serious Xmas shopping in the Macy's sale (loving the 11% tourist discount card they give out) We had a great tapas dinner near our hostel before taking in some comedy near Times Sq (Ha club) We had intended to pick up Broadway tickets at the TKTS booth, but the queues were long and there was no bargains on shows we couldn't see in London, so gave it a miss- something to do on our next visit maybe. The comedy was good but not as we know it in London- here you go to a comedy club and settle in for the night, but it seems in NYC there is more of a 'show' mentality with several shows a night (we consulted Time Out for advice). Either way our funny bones were suitably tickled, and after a glam cocktail at the Ava Lounge (funky rooftop bar in the Dreams Hotel with a great view of the lead up to Times Square) we headed home happy!

Last day and we again walked through Central Park (via the John Lennon memorial in Strawberry fields, and admiring the outside of the Guggenheim) to do some more shopping, before heading back to our favourite place of the trip: Grand Central. Flagging greatly by this stage, we wiled away a few hours and had dinner at another great diner (looked just like the one in the film Grease!) before making the long and weary subway journey to JFK (incidently, not really the most exciting departure lounge in the world) A long flight later we were back home; sad our trip was over but glad to have had such a great time in NYC!

Thanks to everyone for their advice before our trip, much appreciated and hope we can return again someday.