Our final day was beeeeautiful! Woke up to blue skies and sunshine and headed out to make the most of our last few hours in the big old apple. 

As this was our final morning, we had to pack and check out before we could head out exploring. We debated checking out after breakfast, but decided to get ready and go so that we didn’t waste time coming back. We got organised so that we could easily grab our comfy travel outfits before we left for the airport, maximising time exploring!

The New Yorker offers a luggage storage system, it was $5 per bag, per day – it did add up a little bit and was a little frustrating that as guests, this was not a reduced cost. We absolutely couldn’t drag our bags round all day, so we left them here and accepted the additional cost. It was really convenient and super secure, so this meant I felt comfortable leaving our belongings, something I had been worrying about. We handed our bags over, checked out and marched down to the Empire State. 

The Empire State was first on our must do list, because we had to secure a time slot that worked within the next couple of hours so we could go before we had to head to the airport. The queue was pretty quick, definitely a good decision to go before breakfast. We secured our 1:30pm slot and set our sights on an American diner for breakfast. 

Andrews Diner was full of new yorkers and families and we had the classic pancakes, bacon and maple syrup! It was deeeeelicious and I felt so stuffed after. I was determined to make an indent into the portion of pancakes that came out! It was really reasonably priced too – so if you’re looking for a cheaper option one morning, definitely try here. 

The next couple of hours between pancakes and the Empire State, was free for one thing and one thing only… souvenir shopping! If you know me, you’ll know I love a little souvenir. I can’t help it! So this time was specifically reserved for that. We ticked off a couple of additions shops too – Michael’s, a craft store and another wizz through Macy’s too. 

I won’t bore you with the souvenir chat but I felt very happy with what I had purchased! 

We returned to the Empire State, pockets feeling significantly lighter and our hands full of shopping bags and headed in for our 1:30pm time slot. 

We could not have asked for better weather, genuinely! I’ve popped some pictures below because it was just such a fab view. We could see the whole city and I could not get enough. I took so many photos and videos and soaked up the last views of the Big Apple. 

Squeezing in a final visit to Joe’s Pizza and Time’s Square had to be done, before we headed back to our hotel to collect our bags, change into our comfy flight outfits and headed to the airport in a yellow taxi. 

NYC – you are incredible!  

Hope you’ve found these day summaries helpful – let me know below what you think! 

lots of love, 

Han x 

I’ve linked my tiktok for day 5 here: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGJs1D8Sv/