Flew back in this morning after a great holiday in New York. Mostly sightseeing but also some shopping and Macy's was looking festive. The Freedom Tower was amazing although photos were not the best due to reflections off the glass.

Words cannot describe the feeling at the 9/11 memorial. The two water features with names of all the victims cover the exact footprint of the two towers. We also saw the museum with tributes paid to emergency services and there were some recovered artifacts. So sad but so respectfully done.

The Empire State at night was great as was the helicopter trip and you will see a new tall skyscraper in the photos I selected. It is 432 Park Avenue and if you include the antenna on top of the ESB and Freedom Tower, it is the 3rd tallest building. By roof height it is actually the tallest! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/432_Park_Avenue

We flew back in business class with American Airlines thanks to a discounted upgrade and gained access to their luxury lounge at JFK. The very large seats folded to different angles including flat for sleep! Good food and proper plates etc.

Here's some pics:

Not jealous at all :P

Really want to go there.

It's a great place. Last went in 2006. I'd like to do an east coast tour that includes NYC, Washington and Boston but couldn't afford anything like that after last years LA to San Francisco via Vegas tour. Love it out there!

impressive pics there dave

Very nice my sons hoping to go next year. Can you tell me how much the helicopter flight was?

Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC mobile app

Very nice my sons hoping to go next year. Can you tell me how much the helicopter flight was?

Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC mobile app

It worked out at about £150 each inlcuding fuel tax and it lasts about 15 minutes. Brilliant experience though. There are some more that last longer but obviously cost more money. We booked through Co-Op travel and flew direct to JFK from Birmingham with American Airlines. Only ever flown from Heathrow before.

We stayed at the Sheraton in Times Square which was very nice.

want to do new york next year, pref flying from birmingham.

so you recomend the sheraton?

how long do you recomend for a shortish break?

Stayed in the same hotel as you on my last trip to NY in 2013. Soo jealous, wish I was there right now!

It was a pretty decent hotel - it's location is what really counts though.

Sheraton is very nice and ideally located. You can save money on a hotel by being further out (we did that in 2006) but it costs you to get into Times Square every day which is where all the action is. ESB just a few blocks further on.

We managed to do everything in 4 nights (except Statue of Liberty which we did in 2006 so didn't bother this time. Preparation is the key to success. We booked priority tickets to the Observatory at the Freedom tower in advance so we queue jumped.

We also purchased a 72 hour grayline bus ticket. At first I thought surely it isn't wise to splash out before I've even got there but the saving is great. You can hop on and off that particular bus route for 72 hours (and its a tour bus with info provided by audio) and you get a choice of 3 attractions thrown in. We chose ESB, WTC memorial museum and a meal at an Italian restaurant.

We arrived Friday at around lunch in NYC - Checked in and went for a quick wander around Times Square and a meal. In bed by 7:30pm NYC time in order to defeat jet lag

Saturday: Bus tour, WTC memorial and Freedom Tower Observatory, shopping in Macy's and an evening meal.

Sunday: Walked through central park, went to central park zoo then a meal and ESB at night.

Monday: Helicopter trip, Madame Tussauds and more zooming around on the bus then evening meal.

Tuesday: Last minute shopping but mostly taking it steady before evening flight.

AA's planes (757's) from Birmingham are a bit old school and Economy class going out had no TV's per passenger, just several overhead with no choice as to what was on. Food was nice and good service but tea and coffee was crap.

The upgrade coming back was done when checking in online and cost us £225 each. Epic doesn't cover it! Great food and drink, luxury reclining seats as mentioned and a fit bird and a MILF serving us :P

There are so many places I would love to visit in the USA and Canada if I had the money. One day I will though, and although NYC isn't at the top of my list, it will definitely be one place I'll visit at some point.

Would love to go to the World Trade Centre site to witness it and pay my respects to those killed on 9/11.

Ive only ever done florida in us and toronto in canada, (florida due to kids in tow)

But child free long weekend coming up end of may so looking at nyc.

Wow great pictures! Truly is a great place, I can't believe it's over 2 years since I went. Need to go back.

I agree with your thought on the 9/11 memorial. Very sombre, they've made it look nice though and it's very peaceful. Hard to believe nearly 2000 innocent people were killed on that spot. Unfortunately the museum wasn't open when I went but I definately want to go and look. :)

A couple of artefacts really got to me. One was a soft toy lamb which was found intact in the rubble. Someone had commented at the time that if the toy survived, why can't people.

The other was a rusty and bent but very much intact piece of bodywork from one of the planes that hit the towers. It was a surround to a window and I just stared at it thinking that someone was sat there looking out on that day.

Frankly I couldn't speak. I cannot put into words how it felt but the feeling was tangible. Beyond what I imagined I would feel walking around the museum. The tributes and letters etc were so sad that I was choked and tearing up. I certainly needed the fresh air afterwards but it is done in a very respectful way.