Day 1 – Welcome to New York City

Day 1 – Welcome to New York City

Starting in Times Square, we’ll take the subway to 61st St. and 5th Ave. We can pop into the lobby of the Plaza Hotel to view their beautiful Christmas tree. We’ll then walk down 5th Avenue to view the holiday windows of Bergdorf-Goodman, Versace, and Tiffany. And of course, we’ll see other designer flagship stores like Gucci, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Cartier. Our next stop is St. Patrick’s Cathedral, home of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, completed in 1878. Then we come to Rockefeller Center, a complex of 19 buildings; the first 14 were built by John D. Rockefeller Jr. between 1930 and 1938. We’ll see the magnificent Radio City Music Hall, a part of Rockefeller Center, and, of course, the legendary Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. The Rock Center Christmas Tree is a live tree that must be a minimum of 65 feet tall, and it is always donated by landowners, usually from within a 250-mile range of NYC. The tree is covered with over 40, 000 LED lights and topped with a 9.5-foot Swarovski crystal star! We will continue, passing 47th St. in NYC’s Diamond District and on to Grand Central Terminal. From there, we’ll head west, back to the hotel.

Accommodations:  Riu Plaza, Manhattan Times Square