So after a crazy busy day in Downtown Manhattan the day before, day 3 in New York had arrived, and we’re starting to get in to the swing of things now.

After having some delicious pancakes and waffles for breakfast at a diner down the road from our hotel, it was time for a bit of morning shopping!

Herald Square – NYC Shopping

The first stop of the day was Herald Square, home of Macy’s, just along from the Empire State Building.

Other than 5th Avenue, this is a major shopping district in New York, so we made the most of the American shopping experience as it’s just not the same back home in the UK.

We got hopelessly lost in Macy’s, the world’s largest store, which is of course absolutely enormous, but we enjoyed the surrounding shops and the usual pilgrimage to Sephora had now been accomplished.

We spent the morning and lunchtime meandering around the streets of NYC – there’s something so nice about doing that isn’t there? To just wander, with no real agenda!

The Flatiron

Later on, we headed down to the Flatiron Building and Madison Square Park on 5th Avenue.

Unfortunately the building was still covered in scaffolding during our visit in April 2022, but it was very cool to see the building in real life.

We ventured in to Eatily, which is an indoor Italian market next to the Flatiron containing several restaurants whose ingredients come directly from the market itself – we chose to eat at ‘La Pizza & La Pasta’, the pizzas were extremely good!

But now… For me at least, it was time for the main event… While we ate, the sun had set, and it was time to go up to the Top of the Rock for the world famous nighttime views over New York City.

Top of the Rock

This was without a doubt the hi-light of the trip for me.

I am a huge sucker for lights and tall buildings, so going up the Rock at night is right up my street, and something I’d wanted to do for as long as I can remember.

It didn’t disappoint.

We joined the queue at Rockefeller Centre at our allocated time, and proceeded in to the lifts shorty afterwards.

The lifts appear fairly standard when you first enter, however it soon becomes apparent that they have a glass ceiling, offering a view all the way up the lift shaft to the top of the building, with blue lights along the route!
The glass panel ceiling is very slightly frosted, and a projection is played on the ceiling with scenes of NYC and NBC alongside some music. Very cool! I couldn’t help but think though… Imagine if the floor was also glass?! Wow.

Although the Top of the Rock doesn’t offer the same fanfare and theme-park-style pre-shows as One World Observatory, the views speak for themselves and are incredible. The photos do the view no justice what so ever.

This is a very different experience to the One World Observatory because it’s so much closer to all the other buildings.
Top of the Rock offers great views of the iconic buildings that make up midtown Manhattan, including the Empire State, the Chrysler and the new impossibly thin and tall apartment buildings that have sprung up in recent years. One World Observatory on the other hand offers a much higher and more broad view of the city and surrounding islands.
Both amazing, and both worth doing!

The Top of the Rock is a must-do attraction in my opinion, and can’t be beaten.
Despite the high price of entry, it’s well worth it for the amazing views, especially at night.

We made our way back to the hotel via Radio City next door to the Rock.