A NYC Christmas Walking Tour
New York City at Christmastime is one of the most magical places in the world. When I was younger, my family used to make an annual trip in to see the tree at Rockefeller Center & visit the beautiful stops along Fifth Avenue — like FAO Schwartz, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, and the holiday window displays. It’s been a few years since I’ve made the trip, but I’m really excited to be taking Roman in this coming weekend. It might not be practical to do it next year with two littles, but this year should be perfect as Roman still loves the stroller. Here’s a sneak peek at our plans for the day.
When I go into the city, I take the bus from New Jersey into Port Authority. I’m not a city driver and the bus ride from my local shopping mall is quick & non-stop. Arriving to or parking in Port Authority is convenient for this walking tour because it’s in the heart of midtown.
(Click on the map to make it larger.)
- The first stop on our tour will be Jacques Torres for a steaming cup of the best hot chocolate in NYC.
- Next up, we’ll take a peek at the ice skaters and the giant Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center.
- We’ll make a quick stop to check out the window display at Saks Fifth Avenue. The holiday window displays in NYC’s classic department-stores are a must-see. (All of the window displays on our walking tour are marked with a reindeer. For a walking map that features only the window displays, check out this NYC Holiday Windows Walking Tour Map.)
- After Saks, we’ll walk up to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. It’s such a gorgeous place & it’s a family tradition to go in & light a candle for our loved ones passed.
- Next, we’ll stroll past the window display at Bergdorf Goodman and then we’ll head to one of my favourite places in the world — the FAO Schwartz toy store. Eventually I’ll have to be dragged out kicking & screaming along with the other kiddos. 😉
- We’ll swing over to Barney’s & then Bloomingdale’s to check out their window displays. Once at Bloomingdale’s we’ll head in for lunch. Wait, what? Bloomie’s for lunch? Why, yes! Bloomingdale’s is home to a secret restaurant tucked away inside of an old train car — Le Train Bleu! Roman loves trains so it should be a real treat.
- After lunch, we’ll walk along Madison Avenue and back toward Fifth Avenue where we’ll check out the displays at Saks and Lord & Taylor. Then we’ll make our way to Le Carrousel inside of Bryant Park. Depending on whether or not Roman is still awake by this point, we may hop on for a spin, otherwise a quick picture will do.
- Finally, we’ll take a quick walk through the hustle & bustle of Times Square and then we’ll head back to Port Authority to catch our bus home.
I’m not quite sure how long this walking tour will take. There’s a lot of factors to consider, but I’ll update this post later with the actual time. The Google map says that our actual walking time will be an hour and a half which sounds about right to me. With all of the stops, I estimate we’ll be touring around for three to four hours. However, we may cut off the last few stops depending on how Roman is feeling and how my tired, pregnant body is holding up.
You can download my cute little map with icons here: NYC Christmas Walking Tour Map. And here is a link to the Google map in case you’d like to make some additions of your own: Google Walking Map.
Stay tuned for pictures from our big day next week!
Enjoy! I love NYC at Christmas! (Esp Bryant Park @ night)
Isn’t it just the most magical? I can’t wait. Fingers crossed for good weather this weekend! 😉