Tips for Visiting NYC at Christmas
This guide contains my top tips for visiting NYC at Christmas!
As a native New Yorker who was born in NYC and moved back later in life after college, Christmas has always been my favorite time of year in the city. Nowhere in the world does Christmas quite like New York.
The whole city takes on a magical, festive ambience starting from about mid-November through the first week of January. NYC is decked out in holiday decorations galore, with gorgeous Christmas trees, twinkling lights, bright red bows and garlands, and glittering window displays everywhere you look.
New York has so many amazing holiday traditions, and you’ll never run out of things to do. This isn’t a guide about what to do in NYC for Christmas, or an itinerary for your trip, though — you can find plenty of those online! Instead, I wanted to share my best insider tips for your Christmas trip to NYC.
Christmas is one of the best times to visit NYC — the season I’d recommend for first-time visitors, in fact! And if you’ve already been to New York before, you need to come back and see it at Christmas!
However, if you want to enjoy your Christmas trip to NYC, you do need to do some planning. All of the tips below will help your trip run smoothly and ensure you have the best, most memorable time!
Here’s a look at the most important tips for visiting NYC at Christmas:
1. Stay in the right area.
Where you stay for your Christmas trip is very important! I’ve written a whole guide to the most festive hotels in NYC for Christmas, which I recommend checking out for some inspiration on where to stay.
Many tourists stay in Midtown Manhattan, and for a Christmas trip, I actually think this can be a good area, since it’s close to many Christmas attractions. Just keep in mind that it’s a very busy and touristy area!
I prefer Midtown East, and the further east you go, the quieter it gets. I also love the Upper East Side for a Christmas trip. This is where I live, and it’s a very beautiful, residential area, with easy access to Central Park and tons of museums. These two neighborhoods would be my top picks for your trip!
I’d avoid the areas of Times Square (which is just WAY too touristy and chaotic) and Midtown West (which just doesn’t have much charm going for it), even though they’re both pretty central.
You could also stay further downtown if you’re looking for something a little different. You’ll be further away from some of the classic Christmas attractions (as in, a short subway ride away), but you’ll have more opportunities for trendy dining, shopping, and nightlife. Chelsea, Union Square, and the East Village would be my top picks if you’re looking for a downtown neighborhood with lots to do nearby.
Hotels in New York are always expensive, but that’s even more true around Christmas. So you’ll definitely want to book your hotel well in advance. Which brings me to my next tip for Christmas in NYC…
2. Book everything in advance.
You will not only want to book your hotels early, but you’ll also want to lock in reservations for popular restaurants, entertainment, and attractions in advance of your Christmas trip, too.
Want to see the Radio City Rockettes perform their Christmas Spectacular? Watch the New York City Ballet in The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center? Have a holiday-themed afternoon tea at The Plaza? See a Broadway show? Go ice skating at the Rockefeller Center rink? Sit in a private igloo at the 230 Fifth rooftop?
You’ll need a reservation for that! A lot of things completely sell out around the holidays, especially on weekends and as you get closer to Christmas. So be sure to book things early to avoid disappointment!
Tip: I recommend checking GetYourGuide for anything you want to book (for example, tickets to the Top of the Rock observation deck) because it’s the same price as booking directly, but you get added flexibility by being able to reschedule or cancel your tickets for a full refund up to 24 hours in advance!
3. When you visit matters.
The timing of your Christmas trip matters a lot. I’ve noticed that the week of Thanksgiving is always crazy in NYC, but the first full week of December after that is noticeably calmer. This is when I would personally plan a Christmas trip! All the holiday festivities are in full swing, but it’s not as crowded yet.
More tourists arrive in the weeks leading up to Christmas, but weekdays are still quieter than weekends. If you can avoid planning your trip around a weekend, you’ll have a much better experience!
Right after Christmas is also a good time to come, and everything is pretty quiet for a few days, although the crowds pick up again around New Year’s. The first week of January is also an excellent time to visit, because you can still do all the fun holiday activities, but everything is much less crowded!
4. Prepare for the crowds.
No matter when you go, you’ll probably encounter some crowds. Areas like Rockefeller Center, where there’s always a huge bottleneck of tourists ogling the spectacular Christmas tree or watching the Saks Fifth Avenue holiday lights show, get so busy you’ll even see makeshift barricades directing foot traffic.
Like I said, one of the best ways to beat the crowds is to avoid weekends during the Christmas season. This is when a lot of “bridge and tunnel” visitors come (AKA people who live within driving distance of NYC), and it makes everything feel even more crowded. Weekdays are usually a bit more relaxed.
Even on weekdays, though, you’ll encounter plenty of New Yorkers (especially around Midtown, which is where many offices are.) And if you want to avoid the “New Yorkers are rude” stereotype, I highly suggest that you watch where you’re going, walk at a brisk pace, and don’t stop in the middle of the sidewalk.
NYC around the holidays draws big crowds, and there’s no way to totally avoid them.
5. Dress for the weather.
Winter in NYC can be very cold, although late November and December are sometimes milder than the freezing, snowy weather of January and February. Still, be prepared for the cold and dress for the weather!
Temperatures can often drop below freezing, especially at night, and snow around Christmas is pretty common. If you’re not dressed warmly enough, it can make exploring NYC miserable in the winter.
You should definitely pack a long, warm down jacket with a hood, plenty of warm sweaters, warm base layers, fleece-lined leggings, thick socks, a hat, gloves, and a scarf. I recommend hand warmers that you can put in your gloves and pockets, too — this is so nice to have on really cold winter nights!
6. Wear the right shoes.
Speaking of what to wear, let’s talk footwear. I’m of the belief that comfort over style prevails during winter in New York. Stiletto boots with black tights might look chic, but they will be horribly uncomfortable. Instead, a pair of cute and comfortable sneakers with leggings is much more practical.
If there’s snow in the forecast, I also recommend making sure you have a pair of warm, water-resistant boots. However, when it’s not snowing, I typically just stick to sneakers in the winter in NYC.
7. Mix indoor and outdoor activities.
For your Christmas trip to NYC, it’s a good idea to mix indoor and outdoor activities into your itinerary. For example, if you spend the morning ice skating in Central Park, don’t go spend the afternoon walking around DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights, and then walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.
Instead, if you spent the morning in Central Park, you might want to head over to a cozy brunch and then hit one of the museums on the Upper East Side afterwards. Museums, shopping in department stores or big shopping centers like Hudson Yards (which are beautiful at Christmas!), and long, leisurely meals are a great way to break up outdoor activities. Trust me, you’ll be so ready to escape the cold!
8. Don’t cram too much in.
It can be tempting to schedule every single moment of your Christmas trip to NYC, especially if it’s your first time visiting or a special treat. But you’ll have a better time if you don’t try to cram in too many things. Leaving some room for spontaneity or relaxing can make your trip more memorable!
If you try to schedule too much, you might end up frustrated that you couldn’t stick to your plan, or wind up disappointed if you end up having to cut some things out. It’s better to focus on a few things you really want to do each day, but not to plan out every single minute of every single day on your trip.
One thing I really recommend is spending a little time getting off the tourist path in NYC. Or just take some time to stray a few blocks and see what you discover. New York is perfect for wandering!
9. Use public transportation or walk.
When it comes to getting around, the subway or your own two feet are the best modes of transportation in NYC. Don’t be afraid of the subway — it’s fast, efficient, and easy to use. Now that MetroCards have been phased out, you simply tap your card on the turnstile to pay, which makes everything a breeze.
The subway fare is $2.90 per ride, with a weekly cap of $34. So if you’re visiting New York for seven days or less, and you take at least 12 subway rides, every ride after that one will be free.
Taking the subway is often much faster than driving, not to mention infinitely cheaper than a taxi or an Uber. And don’t even think about taking a pedi-cab! These bicycle-powered cabs are tempting, as they often blare Christmas music and decorate for the holidays, but you’ll pay up to $10 a minute for a ride.
New York is also an incredibly walkable city, and I’ll pretty much walk anywhere that I can. Especially at Christmas, when so much of the city is decorated, strolling the streets is so much fun.
10. Try to be a night owl or an early bird.
New York is known as The City That Never Sleeps, so it’s perfect for night owls. And if you do things late at night, you can avoid some of the crowds. For example, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree stays illuminated until midnight every night, and it’s a lot emptier closer to midnight than at 7 PM!
Similarly, early birds also benefit in New York. If you go for a brisk morning walk on the High Line, or choose an early ice skating time slot at Central Park’s Wollman Rink, you can also enjoy fewer crowds. Anything you do before 10 AM is usually going to be practically empty compared to going in the afternoon.
11. Plan your days logically.
Finally, one more tip I have for your Christmas trip to NYC is to plan your days logically. I gave an example above when I was talking about staggering your indoor and outdoor activities of visiting Central Park in the morning and then going to Brooklyn in the afternoon. This would not be a very good route.
I’d recommend looking at a map when planning your days to try to stick to the same geographical areas. For example, Midtown, the Upper East Side, the Upper West Side, and Central Park are all closer.
On the other hand, downtown Manhattan neighborhoods like Greenwich Village, the West Village, Chinatown, and Soho are all closer together. And way far downtown (like Wall Street and the Financial District) is actually closer to Brooklyn if you want to head over to DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights.
Tips for Visiting NYC at Christmas
This guide showed you my top tips for visiting NYC at Christmas.
New York is such a magical destination at Christmas, and as a local, it’s truly my favorite time of year. I hope these tips will help you plan the perfect trip to New York and make amazing holiday memories.
Enjoy your trip to NYC at Christmas!
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