This week I have my first ever guest post!
I would like to introduce the lovely Winta from Wandering Outside the Box. She loves walking and exploring her city, so she has written a post about exploring NYC on foot. She wrote this just for a walk and a lark so I am feeling honoured! Winta has loads of gorgeous photos from her travels around the world, so please do pop over to her blog and take a peek. I mean, do that *after* you read/like/share this post. 😉

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New York City is a walker’s wonderland. It is my favorite method of exploring the city. New York City is really a walk, ferry, walk, bike, walk, subway, taxi, Uber kind of city. We all know about New York City rush hour horror stories. Because of that, I typically prefer all the other means of transportation. Today, as a dedication to Josy’s A Walk and A Lark Blog, my partner and I decided to take a trip into the city to show what it’s like to take a stroll around this magical place that draws the attention of millions.

We have recently moved from Manhattan to Staten Island (sometimes known as the Forgotten Borough of New York). For those who aren’t familiar with New York, it has five boroughs: Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the Bronx. Manhattan and Staten Island are like night and day. Where as Manhattan is loud, hustling and bustling with activity, Staten Island is very peaceful and quiet. Our apartment accessible to Manhattan by a 25 minute pleasant ferry ride. Rent is much cheaper and living conditions are much nicer. This is great because we will be able to show you the quiet side of New York as well as the loud and bustling streets we see in movies. We started our expedition from our apartment.

The walk to the Staten Island ferry from our apartment takes about 15 minutes. Along the way, we enjoy views of beautiful tree blossoms. Spring time in New York boasts tree blossoms and flowers of all spectrum of colors. The blossoms stay brilliant on the trees for weeks.

We don’t mind the quiet lifestyle that Staten Island offers. We’re both reserved people who like to explore on our own at our own time. While most people go into Manhattan to party, sight-see, shop, we like to walk around in a quiet park. We discover things that aren’t typically seen in Manhattan.

More tree blossoms paired with the signature NY graffiti art.

Here we’ve reached the ferry terminal. Right outside the ferry terminal are sets of busses. Busses are probably the easiest and fastest way to get around Staten Island.

The ferry ride lasts 25 minutes, giving us wonderful views of the New York skyline. The best thing about this ferry is that it’s completely free. En route to Manhattan, we pass by the Statue of Liberty. A closeup view of her for free versus a $40 Liberty tour boat is a good deal to me. In comparison with Manhattan’s over-packed subway commute, Staten Island’s ferry is much cleaner, roomier, and more relaxed. It’s also much cheaper (free)!

To get anywhere quickly, we like to bike to the area we want to go, then get off and walk around. We bought a year’s plan of CitiBike. We use a pass retrieve a bike from a dock, and deposit it in one of the thousands of bike docks throughout Manhattan. We took the East River Bikeway to get up to midtown. Bikeways in NYC are the best, and lets us enjoy sights that would not have been seen while in a subway or car.

It is a beautiful day to go on a walk. NYC is full of parks. There is always people walking their pets, jogging, reading in the park. Here are some of the lovely views of the park and surrounding areas. When hungry, we typically eat at food stands or hole in the wall shops all over Manhattan.

It was already past 11pm when we left the theatre. Here is the night view of the Brooklyn Bridge as we biked back to the ferry. New York is truly beautiful. We biked in the night, mostly in an empty bikeway.