Our 9 day American Adventure began in the amazing city of New York and finished in the mesmerising Memphis. Obviously we planned to experience as much as we could while we were there and the only way to guarantee this is by means of a well planned itinerary. It is worth knowing that I have been to New York before (back in 2002) so was already privy to some of the main tourist sights; Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Central Park..... Another thing worth mentioning - my travel companion was my gluten and dairy intolerant, best friend and fellow blogger Deb (from Mabel's Beauty Bee) - so meticulous planning was needed for mealtimes. Breakfast was not a problem because we had chosen 2 hotels which included this in the deal, but lunch and dinner reservations proved more tricky to plan around our jam-packed itinerary.
So, here's a whistle stop tour of how we researched, planned and booked our trip - from flights to food....and with some top tips thrown in along the way!
Flights and Transfers
We booked our flights and transfers to our New York hotel via the trusted online travel agency Expedia. With Expedia, booking multiple connecting flights is made so easy and there are plenty of airlines and times to choose from....they even give each flight a customer rating! We needed to find a way to get from JFK airport to our Manhattan hotel without breaking the bank. I knew it would be easy enough to pick up a famous yellow cab, but we were on a budget! After much googling, I found the ideal solution on Expedia with a company called GoAirlink. The shuttle bus picks you (and a group of other travellers) up at the airport and drops each party off at their destination. Compared to the fixed fare of the yellow cab ($52 plus toll charges), the Go Airlink shuttle bus cost a fraction of the price at £16 per passenger! Perfect!
Hotels
From the moment this USA trip was conceived (after a glass or two of vino), we knew exactly where we wanted to stay in Memphis - Elvis Presley's 'Heartbreak Hotel' and we found the best deal for this hotel on Travel Republic. Incidentally, the Heartbreak Hotel ceased trading a couple of weeks after we left, but before any of you die hard Elvis fans become "all shook up" with this news...don't worry, it's replacement 'The Guesthouse at Graceland' looks even more incredible (and definitely on my bucket list)! So, hotel numero uno - check!
For our NYC hotel we wanted a fairly central location as we planned to do lots of sightseeing and shopping all over the city. So, where more central to be than a few blocks away from Grand Central Station?! I drew up a list of 5 hotels in the area and checked out the guest reviews and photos on Trip Advisor. In the end, 'breakfast included' was the deal clencher for us and so we hopped on booking.com to book the Hampton Inn Manhattan Grand Central on East 43rd street.
TOP TIP #1: If you're new to NYC and 43rd street means nothing to you, use google maps to find the exact location of your hotel, the nearest subway stations & how far the nearest Starbucks is...you know, the important details!
Tourist Attractions and Things to do
NYC is a big hustle and bustle city with lots to do and see, so I would definitely recommend having an itinerary of some sorts to hand. Using the powers of Google and our 4 guidebooks, I tasked myself and my travel companion with each drawing up a list of 5 must-see sights and 5 must-do shops. Once we had drawn up our lists I spent hours on google maps locating where everything was in relation to the shops, our hotel and the nearest subway stations.
TOP TIP #2: Plan to work by 'areas' (or districts) to save yourself from darting all over the city throughout the day and to save wasting precious shopping time?!
Once our itinerary was negotiated, it was time to pre-book some of our attractions. We decided on using the New York City Explorer Pass website to book the tickets we wanted for the Empire State Building, The Top of the Rock observation deck and the Liberty & Ellis Island tour. I found the process of booking the tickets simple and I liked the convenience of having all of our tickets saved onto the App so all you have to do is scan the barcode once you arrive at the attraction. Best decision of the trip!!
TOP TIP #3: To save your dollars for more important purchases (i.e. goodies from Sephora and the Disney Store!), pre-book your attractions and hotel transfers.
Moving onto Memphis...our itinerary was easier to plan as we were there primarily as big fans of Elvis and obviously visiting the Graceland estate was our top priority. Again, we pre-booked our tickets for the VIP experience at Graceland via the official website, which saved us carrying more cash than we needed. We had scheduled 2 and a half days to fully immerse ourselves in Elvis and the Memphis culture. You might not think it, but there is actually quite a few interesting things to do in Memphis and if we were going to fit it all in, then our planning had to be faultless. As a lot of the touristy things we planned to do in Memphis were tours, it was difficult to plan due to timings as we weren't sure how long everything would take. To help us both with deciding what our priorities were, we each drew up an old fashioned 'top 5' list again; knowing that there would likely have to be some compromises. Fortunately we both wanted to visit Graceland (the home of Elvis Presley), do the Sun Studios Tour (where Elvis was discovered) and witness the cuteness and quirkiness of The Peabody Ducks March.
Eating out
Planning where to eat before you travel when one of your party is gluten and dairy intolerant is really important as it saves times and energy traipsing around the city looking for suitable eateries that are within your budget. Fortunately NYC had plenty of choices, but dining out in Memphis proved to be more challenging! To make our planning easier, we used a handy App called "Find Me GF" to help us locate any restaurants, cafes and diners that cater for people with specific dietary requirements. The App gives you links to the current menus and a list of the gluten free options, as well as customer reviews and photos. Here are just a few of the eateries that made it onto our NYC and Memphis itineraries.....
Mulberry & Vine
Marlowes Ribs and Restaurant
The Counter
TOP TIP #4: If you plan to visit any restaurants or cafes that are off the beaten track or not near any famous landmarks, then I would recommend that you locate the place on google maps and screenshot it in your phone (or go old school like me and print it off!) so you have it to hand should you get lost or need to hail a taxi!
So that's a wrap for our USA adventure itinerary planning blog post. Stick around to read about what happened on our trip and whether we stuck to the itinerary, got lost, went hungry or ran out of money!
NEW YORK AND MEMPHIS TRAVEL BLOG.....COMING SOON!
Thanks for reading,
Big love,
L x
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