REVIEWS: The Independent Guide to New York 2016

 There are some cities that you fall completely, head over heels in love with.

New York is my favorite place in the world.  If you have been there, then you know what I'm talking about. It's fast, unapologetic and alternative. There is always something to do, places to go, things to see and bars to visit.

I managed to go for eight days and I plan on going back to visit as soon as I am able to go. I didn't even scratch the surface of what there is to do in New York. This feeling of constant energy is part of the reason that New York and I get on so well. We are both totally hyper.

The amount of traveling that I do is slightly crazy. Last week, in one week, I managed to visit a grand total of four cities and two of those I visited twice. That is insane and tiring. So I rely on good guidebooks and good information. I haven't always got time to google and read blogs.

I was recently given a copy of the Independent Guide to New York City 2016 to read. It has made my resolve to go to New York even stronger.

I often find with guide books, I have to take the general points from them and also, the maps before googling the alternative hot spots for art, culture and of course, pints. I was impressed by the selection of things to do in the book including suggestions for comedy clubs, Activist art centers (ABC Rio), 1920s themed clubs (Cotton Club) and also great places to visit like MOMa or Times Square.

It's amazing for food suggestions as well. One of the things I loved the most about New York is the diversity. You can easily have an American breakfast, followed by an Italian lunch before finding a lovely place for African food for dinner. It's very easy. However, without a suggestion or a nudge, its easy to find the wrong place.

I was lucky while I was there, I only had one slightly dodgy meal which was sushi. This book is amazing for suggestions of sushi, African, Italian from sandwiches to Jewish food to noodle bars.
It makes me so happy to see alternative suggestions in this book. Again, this is normally the information I assume will only come from native New Yorkers or those with experience of the city.

I was pleased to see detailed information about the ESTA which is a travelers visa. I only found out about this by pure chance which would have meant chaos at the airport and possibly going home if I hadn't have applied for it in time. Luckily, it all passed and I was fine! Its great to see information like this included in the book because its extremely important.

The guide to the subway was great as well! I was lucky in that I had an actual New Yorker as a guide every day so I never had to think about the cost or tickets I needed - I just got on with it. The book offers a breakdown of the maps, general information and ticket prices. Which is fantastic as I don't know how I would have coped with all of this on my own. In fact, reading the book meant I was finally able to understand how the subway worked and what tickets I had paid for myself. I travelled in and out of Queens everyday where I was staying so I took a lot of the subway and trains. Stressful!

There are more then just New York though, the series also includes, Paris, Orlando and Disneyland.

My favorite place in New York?

I suggest going to the Barcade. It's a huge bar (I think there is more then one branch of it) filled with 80s and 90s arcade games! I spent two very happy evenings here playing Tetris and drinking beer. In fact, I spent my last night in New York here. I loved it. The game selection is really really good as well!
MOMa was incredible as well. I loved it. I had a good wander around before being completely engrossed in a Jackson Pollock painting. It's totally worth taking the time to visit it.

The book also has a different section for all the festivals separated by month. I normally spend hours trying to find out which city has a festival when, so again, this is really handy. I love the sound of the Village Halloween Parade in October.

I'll also give anyone a tip flying from the UK to New York. Sometimes, flying from Ireland can be cheaper. I saved myself about £100 flying from Shannon airport to JFK instead of going from Birmingham. I did have to fly from Nottingham to Dublin first which isn't the worst. In fact, I had a few days of recovering from jet lag in Ireland before coming to Nottingham! The many joys of traveling as much as I do means that you are constantly on the go and spend a lot of time, recovering from long journeys. I am currently recovering from an overnight travel from Dublin to Rome to Foligno in Italy!

I would strongly suggest having a look at this guide if you are looking for sights, sounds, stores and more. It's actually really great. I found myself looking to see if there were any guides to Italy as I currently live here and am traveling around in the summer.

You can find the guides on Amazon.co.uk here