The Best Places to Shop in New York City

In October this year I visited New York City for the first time and absolutely loved the city and it's never-ending list of things to see and do. So I've decided to create three travel guides including the best places to shop, eat and see, starting with this post featuring my favourite NYC shopping spots.

MACY'S

Macy's on West 34th Street is an absolute must visit, it's the largest department store in the world so I recommend either choosing certain departments to visit, or dedicating an afternoon to browsing if you really want to see everything. 

FIFTH AVENUE

The world famous Fifth Avenue is renowned for its countless number of designer shops and boutiques, you can't step a few feet without seeing a huge designer name like Yves Saint Laurent or Henri Bendel. One of my top picks to visit along 5th Avenue is Aritzia which is a slightly more affordable, although still pricey, fashion boutique filled with high quality on trend pieces. The other is without a doubt one of my favourite NY department stores, Bergdorf Goodman. Bergdorfs is split into two stores across the street from each other, one for womenswear and one for mens. The womenswear store is filled with amazing high end brands, although my favourite part of the store is the extensive beauty hall downstairs. The beauty hall has all the premium beauty brands you would expect including Charlotte Tilbury, Tom Ford and La Mer so if your planning to buy any premium beauty items this is definitely a lovely environment to do so in.

BIRCHBOX, SOHO

You probably know Birchbox as the monthly beauty subscription box, but their store in SoHo allows you try and purchase the products they send out without subscribing to the service. The store also has many brands that aren't available in Sephora, and this is the only place I saw certain brands like Jouer and Sigma in my whole time in NY. It's located in SoHo which has really interesting stores and art galleries to visit so it's certainly worth taking a trip there. 

LEXINGTON AVENUE

The main reason that this location is included in this list is for Bath & Body Works, the B&BW Store here is the only one reasonably near to central Manhattan so it's worth walking here, and I also recommend visiting Sprinkles Cupcakes which is also on Lexington Ave whilst your there. Bath and Body Works has a huge selection of scents and is unlike any store we have in the UK, it's also much more affordable than our main brands like Yankee Candle. Lexington Avenue also has a great Sephora that's a lot less busy than the ones dotted around Times Square so you can shop much more peacefully than in the crowded stores. 

WOODBURY COMMON PREMIUM OUTLETS

Woodbury Common is located around an hours coach journey from Manhattan, but it's worth the trip if you want some major discounts on designer brands. It has huge names from Dior to Jimmy Choo. I also picked up some amazing Kate Spade items that had a huge 60% discount, as well as Levi's t-shirts and a classic Tommy Hilfiger navy jumper. The coach departs from the Port Authority bus terminal, which was conveniently right near our hotel but if you have money to spare I would definitely recommend organising your own transport home.

Be sure to let me know your favourite New York shopping destinations so I know for my next visit, or if you're planning a trip to NYC soon! Keep an eye out for my other New York guides, which will include the best places to eat and the best things to see and do.