Hello everyone!
One of the most colorful seasons of the year is here, autumn. The parks are filled with leaves and most of the houses are decorated with pumpkins and, of course, Halloween themed decorations on their doors.
This is a very peaceful season, people stroll calmly in the parks and there are way fewer people visiting the city, surely after the summer stampede. Therefore, it is a very good opportunity to visit those places that are usually more crowded, such as viewpoints or museums.
First of all, autumn is the season of pumpkins without any doubt. You can find them in many ways in supermarkets and restaurants. Even if you want to carve them, you can always find them at one of the stalls in parks or gardens. In addition, the ‘Open House New York‘ is celebrated in October, an event where many buildings open their doors to the public, even botanical gardens. In order to participate in this event you have to enter a lottery for most tickets, however to access some buildings you can just get in by getting a ticket at the box office or by queuing at the entrance. It’s totally free and you can participate at this website: ohny.org
Secondly, it is the best time to travel, as it is the low season and you will find a lot less tourists. If you like hiking and visiting national parks I advise you to get a National Parks card. It’s $80 a year and you can share it with another person. Usually, in the US, access to national parks is $30 to $40 per car, so it is much more affordable to have a membership. Of course, there are many whose access is totally free. I advise you to check first what kind of route you want to do. In the eastern and northern part of the country there are quite a few free parks, however in the western part (grand canyon, zion national park…) they are mostly fee-based. In New York state there are also many short hikes that can be accessed from the city by train.
Finally, something I’m sure you’ve been waiting for, Halloween. One of the neighborhoods where they like to take scary decorations more seriously is the Upper West Side. You can stroll through any of its streets, especially the ones closest to Central Park, to discover how they fill the porches of the townhouses with witches, pumpkins or giant skeletons. You can also visit the neighborhoods of Brooklyn or West Village. In addition, throughout the month of October there are many events in the city such as costume parties, costumed dog parades or the great Halloween night parade where millions of people go to the big capital to celebrate it. Of course, go well in advance since the event is always crowded. Moreover, if you have time you can take a trip to Sleepy Hollow, the town where Tim Burton’s movie was inspired.
I hope all of this information and tips are useful, see you in the next post!
