Things to do in New York City at Christmas 2023

So a bucket list holiday took place during the festive period in 2023. We went to New York City for Christmas and has the most magical and festive holiday possible.

It has always been a dream for me and my husband to bring our daughter to New York in the winter. We wanted to experience one of the most Christmassy city’s in the world and to be honest, it didn’t disappoint.

In this blog, we will list all the activities we got up to and all the other things you could do in New York at Christmas.

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Christmas Lights, Trees & Decorations:

New York is renowned for its Christmas lights and decorations around the streets and outside the shops all around the city. There are several areas where these lights and decorations need to be seen.

Saks Fifth Avenue is the first, the display is beautiful and truly the nicest decoration we have seen, in either New York or London. It is themed by Christian Dior, as are the shop window displays also, around the 12 zodiac signs. Every 10 minutes from 16.35 until 22.35 there is a 30 second light show, which is a must to see.

As every one knows the most well known, iconic and popular tree in New York is the tree at the Rockefeller Centre and it is beautiful – the sheer size of it is impressive, but the lights added to it, make it a really amazing tree.

BUT…. The best tree and best display in New York is at the Lotte New York Palace hotel. This display is truly amazing and a literal stones throw from the Rockefeller tree. with less crowds and in a much more magical surrounding – we recommend checking this tree out as a must do!

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Another place to see some lovely Christmas décor is at the Rockefeller Centre. Opposite Saks Fifth Avenue, there are lovely angels displayed down the plaza. These offer a great photo opportunity with Saks in the background in one direction and the Rockefeller Tree in the other.

Macys’ shop window display is another place that needs to be seen. The window displays are over the top and super cute, with a huge reindeer on top of one of the main entrances of the store!

The area around Radio City Hall on 6th Avenue has the most amazing and giant red ornaments in a fountain, this provides a really awesome photo opportunity and more trees and other giant decorations can be found in the same area.

Very close to our hotel was the BNP Paribas centre which had the most amazing tree in their foyer. The tree is available for the public to get photos with and also get a coffee from the Pret next door and sit and admire it.

The Rockettes at Radio City Hall:

Before going to New York for Christmas, it has always been a show I have wanted to see as it is world-renowned and exclusively only available to watch in New York and at Christmas. We watched a lot of vlogs and read a lot of blogs about “things to do in New York” and every single one of them would recommend seeing The Rockettes at Radio City Hall.

The Radio City Rockettes are made up of 80+ talented women who come together from all over the USA to perform this iconic show at Christmas.

The show dates back to 1933 and has been watched by over 69 million people, and it features a mix of festive dance, music and comedy. The show includes a 3D section, Santa, lots of great songs and showcases everything about New York and America in general over Christmas.

Tickets start at $52 and range upwards to $350, we booked the tickets way in advance as it is so popular and pretty much every show is a sell out

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Macys’ Meeting Santa Breakfast:

Another activity that was highly recommended was meeting the Macy’s Father Christmas, unfortunately we were not able to get a meeting with him in the toy factory as it was fully booked and it is probably one of the most difficult activity to get a date for. But we did manage to book in advance the chance to meet Santa in Macy’s restaurant for breakfast.

At the Stella 34 Trattoria on the 6th floor of Macy’s, there is the opportunity to have a lovely breakfast, with croissants, pancakes, bacon, sausages, eggs, etc with the big guy himself. There is a photo opportunity, carol singers and other entertainment for the whole family.

Having this booked in advance elevated the stress of not being able to meet a Santa in Macy’s which was definitely a good thing!

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Horse Drawn Carriage in Central Park:

Another bucket list activity was to take a Horse Drawn Carriage around Central Park, and with hotel location this was easy to get to and we did it just before sun down.

This activity can be very pricey though, and if you don’t want to do the whole tour (which was for a couple of hours, this tour includes taking photos at the famous movie sets, etc and cost around $150), you can ask to do a shorter 20 minutes tour which takes your around the skating rink and a couple other sites, this is what we did and it cost us around $60 in the end.

Basketball Game:

When travelling to New York at Christmas you will be bang in the middle of the NBA season and you will always have an opportunity to watch one of the New York teams play basketball. During our stay the Brooklyn Nets were playing at their home court 3 times. So of course we decided to make the trip in to the Barclays Centre to catch a game. My husband is a big basketball fan, so this was a must do for us too. Our daughter was in desperate need of a giant foam finger Brooklyn Nets finger, which we purchased from the team shop.

Getting to the Barclays Centre was very easy in the end, and would recommend working out the best route from where you are starting your route beforehand. Google Maps is perfect for this, it highlights to route needed to be taken and tells you the exact train line to take, etc.

My husband admits that the game can be slightly boring, especially for younger kids and if you don’t have a knowledge of the game. The atmosphere although not eclectic all the time, does have its moments to keep every one entertained.

Ellen’s Stardust Diner:

When visiting New York and more specifically Manhattan, there is an iconic diner that you must visit. If you are interested in Broadway in the slightest, Ellen’s Stardust Diner is an essential trip to be made. Ellen’s is a diner which serves up pretty decent food, but the unique selling point is the servers that are all in training to become Broadway stars! They all have amazing voices and throughout your dining experience, each server will serenade the guests with famous Broadway songs.

This experience should 100% be on everyone’s list of things to do as it is so unique and so good.

Statue of Liberty:

Another activity our daughter had on her list of activities was going to see “the lady holding the ice cream” which is always a must do. Myself and my husband paid a fair amount 10 years ago to go on a ferry to pass by Ellis Island, not knowing there was a service from Manhattan that gets you the same views and is free of charge. We made our way to Whitehall Street – South Ferry subway station from our hotel, which took about 25 minutes and boarded the ferry which took us very close to the Statue of Liberty, once we got to the other side, we quickly ran around and caught the same ferry going back to Manhattan. On the way back, we got some amazing photos of the skyline of New York and would recommend braving the cold to do so!

Hotel:

We stayed at the Park Central Hotel New York which is situated on 7th Avenue, which was a close 5 minute walk to Central Park and a 10 minute walk from Times Square.

The hotel was really nice, the staff were very helpful when we had any queries, the rooms were spacious, it was well decorated, warm and the beds were super comfy. There was a lovely looking bar downstairs which we definitely should have taken more advantage of.

The only draw back for the hotel at the time was the lack of elevators, half of them were out of use for renovations, and they did try and help by making the service elevators available but it made every trip back to the room, more time consuming and not very convenient.

It has access to 2 subway stations which connected us to Brooklyn and to the Staten Island Ferry Station which made it extra handy for us to get around.

Other Activities:

Deyker Heights – this famous area of Brooklyn is where the residents go over the top with their lights and Christmas decorations. There are tours which will show you the best displays, but we have heard it is fairly easy to get around and find everything you need to.

Hudson Yards – the is essentially a Mall in the Chelsea area of New York and showcases some brilliant light displays. Hudson Yards make a huge effort and over 2 millions sparkly lights across 115 miles of string lights. It is a really amazing display to see, if you have the time!

Restaurants – there are several restaurants in New York that go the extra mile during the Christmas period and here are our picks that must be seen to be believed. Papillon Bistro & Bar, Cathedrale and Rolf’s.