A first-timer’s solo female trip to New York City
Like most young people, travelling is where I spend most of my money. It’s cliché, but I want to see the world before I’m old. Being single, sometimes I’ve felt a stigma or an invisible barrier around solo travel, especially being a young woman. I’ve taken a few group tours, most recently to Vietnam (check out my tips for travelling in Vietnam), but I’ve just returned home from a completely solo trip to New York City and absolutely loved it.
Here are my first impressions of the city that never sleeps, plus a few tips on things to look out for. Hopefully, if you’re sitting on the fence about taking a trip there on your own (whether you’re female or not), this will give you the confidence to go!
Choosing when to visit New York City
Exactly when you visit will likely depend on things like your holiday allowance and your budget, but it’s worth noting any public holidays. I visited New York City in the first week of September. At the time I booked, I was unaware that my trip would fall over Labour Day weekend, but I didn’t see this as a negative. Sure, some shops or restaurants were closed or had slightly different opening times, but I actually found the city to be strangely calm — I remember thinking, ‘so this is the city that never sleeps? London is way more hectic!’
With less people on the streets, I was able to wander the city quite easily at my own pace. And that’s the best thing about travelling anywhere on your own - you’re on your terms. New York City’s avenues and streets are wider than London’s, so walking down them you don’t feel as much of the hustle and bustle.
Choosing where to stay in New York City
I spent four nights in a hotel in Midtown Manhattan. Staying central was more expensive than if I’d stayed further out of town, but I wanted the ease of having most things within walking distance, or a short subway ride. What was great about my location in Midtown Manhattan, was that I could quite easily explore other areas of the city and get a feel for where I may like to stay next time.
Opting for a hotel, instead of a hostel, was also a conscious choice I made — I wanted some level of comfort. I knew I’d be out walking a lot every day and would likely just want to come back and faceplant the bed for a couple of hours in the early evening before dinner — not really something you can do if you’re sharing a space with other people. True, it meant I didn’t meet as many people to perhaps go out with but, if I’m honest, I was far too busy with my own plans anyway.
Top tips when choosing a place to stay in New York City is to read up on any additional taxes you may get charged in addition to your daily base rate. You don’t want to get stung with a hefty bill at the end of your trip.
Getting through the airport
When I landed in JFK, one thing I noticed was that things didn’t feel very well signposted. There are different queues, depending on the type of document you’re entering the country on. US citizens go one way, those with visas go another, and there’ll be a queue for people travelling on an ESTA. My tip here is to check if there’s any difference between first-time ESTAs and returning ESTAs.
I had to get an ESTA a few years ago, when I travelled through Newark airport on my way to San Jose, Costa Rica. But, it was only after standing in the queue for 20 minutes that I was told that there was a self-service point for people on returning ESTAs, where you can scan your passport and get through immigration in a fraction of the time. Do yourself a favour and ask someone which queue you should be in — you could save yourself some precious time!
Staying connected to WiFi
You’d think in today’s times, that you’d be able to latch onto WiFi everywhere in New York, right? Wrong! This was something I was most shocked by. In London, there’s a lot of high-speed WiFi in the street, and almost all cafés, bars and restaurants will let you connect to their WiFi for free — many display their passwords openly. But, across the pond in New York, I really struggled to get online. My hotel had WiFi, so that was fine, but I could never connect to any street WiFi if there was any, and some of the restaurants I asked in said their WiFi was for staff only.
Depending on how long you’re going for, you may want to consider getting some kind of data bundle, so you can get online whenever you like. Alternatively, if it’s just a short trip, the best free WiFi I could find was down in the subway, which leads me onto my next point…
Riding the New York City subway
If you’re a Londoner, you’ll probably be very familiar with the tube. New York’s underground system, the MTA Subway, has a few differences. For starters, one stark contrast between the London Underground and the New York Subway is the air conditioning. If you ever take London’s Central Line in mid July, you’re likely to spend the entire journey sweating more than you would in a spin class. New Yorkers however, get to travel in comfort. In fact, at times it’s almost too cold!
As mentioned above, WiFi is free in the subway. You tend to have to watch a short, 30-second ad, but once that’s over there’s no account registration, you’re just online.
Navigating the subway was something I found tricky to begin with. I relied heavily on Google Maps, because I couldn’t find any maps in the station — perhaps I’d just missed them though. Unlike the tube, where you choose your colour-coordinated line and then see a full list of all the stops when you get to the platform, in New York, it felt more like you just choose your direction (e.g. Downtown) and then have to just figure out which train to get on. Don’t let this put you off though! People are pretty friendly and will stop and help you if you look lost, and some stations have staff in the ticket halls. Just remember, if you think you’re heading in the wrong direction, you can always get off and change.
The most important thing you’ll need in order to ride the subway is a Metrocard. Luckily, a friend of mine who’d recently returned from a trip to New York gave me his with a couple of dollars on it still, but you can buy one at any station. Metrocards are like Oyster Cards. You credit them with money and then swipe them just at the beginning of every trip. There’s no need to tap out unlike in London, where you’re charged the amount based on the zone you’re travelling in, because New Yorkers pay just one flat fee whether they’re taking two stops or twenty! It can be a bit of a pain to keep topping up your Metrocard. Sometimes, my card didn’t register on the machines and there was no member of staff to take a payment, so I had to change stations. Bear this in mind if you’re heading somewhere for a particular time, a Broadway show or dinner reservation for example. Leave yourself extra time.
This brings me nicely onto…
Paying for things in New York City (forget chip and PIN or contactless)
Unless you’re 90, it’s highly likely that you’ll use chip and PIN or even contactless payment for most things. I don’t know any Londoners who carry cash these days, because why would you when it’s so easy to pay by card?
Guess what, it’s not the same in New York City, folks!
Sure, you can pay by card, but instead of just happily tapping your contactless card or putting in your PIN, you’ll more than likely get asked to sign for things. Yes, you read that right. Actually using a pen and paper to authorise the payment of things. It doesn’t feel very modern. The only thing I sign for these days is my neighbour’s Amazon parcels…
Here’s how it works, you’ll order your food in a restaurant and then at the end of the meal you’ll be given the bill. When you slap your card down on the table, the waiter will often take it away from the table (something I’d consider rude in London) to go and swipe it and will return with a piece of paper for you to sign and denote how much tip you’d like to leave. Most places give you a recommendation of how much you should tip! Personally, I found this absolutely crazy, as you’re relying on good faith that they will deduct the correct amount of tip once you’ve left, but it’s something you can’t avoid.
Prepare yourself to do a bit of mental maths when you read a menu too, as prices are always stated before tax and tip. I wasn’t a fan of this — just tell me one price upfront, please! I presume if you’re there for long enough, you get good at working out how much everything really costs, but I sometimes found it hard to work out if a restaurant was expensive or not, in terms of what I’d normally pay in London. My tip here? Forget comparing it to what you’d normally pay at home, because you’re not at home — you’re on holiday! Just accept that New York is expensive, period, so suck it up and order yourself another beer.
Eating and drinking in New York City
If you’re travelling solo, like I did, this may be the bit you’re a little apprehensive about. I’ll admit, I was at first. Head to any bar or restaurant in New York though, and you’ll see a number of people dining or drinking solo — it’s very normal. Most places will ask you if you’d like to sit in the bar, instead of the restaurant and I’d say this is the best option. Sat at a table, you’re actually isolating yourself even more, whereas at the bar, there are likely to be other people in a similar situation to you and you may be able to chat — if you want to, of course.
If you’re not much of a talker and prefer to be left undisturbed, bring a book with you. It’ll instantly make you feel less conspicuous and even the chattiest of waiters will get the hint. I’m very sociable, so thrive on meeting new people. I went to a jazz bar one night and got chatting to a nice German lady who was over on business — we ended up having a few glasses of wine together and I completely forgot any feelings of loneliness I’d felt.
One night though, I forgot my ID — big mistake! America’s legal drinking age is 21, and they’re super-hot on checking your age before serving you. I’m not that used to getting ID’ed much in the UK anymore, now I’m 26 (boo!) and I’d confidently walk into a pub and order a drink without having my ID on me. If you fancy a pre-theatre tipple though, and you look under 30, bring your ID with you, I can’t stress this enough.
Looking for restaurant recommendations? Read my guide on where to eat and drink in New York City.
Staying safe when you’re alone in New York
Safety is often one of the biggest reasons people tell me they choose not to travel alone. If you’ve lived your whole life in a small village, the idea of hotfooting it to some unknown country on your own could understandably be intimidating. But, the key is using common sense. I live in central London, so I’d say I’m fairly ‘street smart’, but I’m still always sensible, especially if I walk around late at night on my own.
While I had a few drinks most nights — except the one where I forgot my ID — I never got drunk in New York. My advice would be to avoid getting legless, whether in New York or anywhere unfamiliar.
Unfortunately, New York City has a lot of homeless people. More so than London, I felt. They’re also more visibly affected by drink, drugs and disease, which some people could find a little distressing. I had a few homeless people very close to my hotel that were hunched over in the street drooling from some kind of high, and that was during the day! However, I didn’t have any trouble, I just walked past without staring. They’ll probably ask you for a dollar, but if you just keep walking, they won’t follow you or anything.
Another thing to note, especially if you’re a solo female traveller, is New Yorkers are very forward. Don’t be surprised if men catcall after you, or try and chat you up in some way, they’re harmless.
If you’re nervous about walking the streets alone, the best thing you can do is try to plan your route before you leave your hotel. Try and pick out a few landmarks that you can checkpoint along the way, so you don’t have to wander along with your eyes glued to your GPS. If you do feel lost, uncomfortable or distressed in anyway, pop into a bar, restaurant or shop, or better still ask a police officer. There’s a reassuring amount of police presence on the streets, and the NYPD are happy to help locals and tourists alike.
Travelling New York solo was amazing and something I’d recommend to anyone. The city really is special, there’s a reason there are so many songs about it, films set there etc. If you’re planning a trip there with friends, family or loved ones, I hope you have a great time. And, if you’re heading there solo, I hope the above tips will help you.
Now, all that’s left to do is cue the band and sing old Sinatra’s famed hit!
‘Start spreading the news…’
