EAST COAST MAXXING – How to make the most of your time in the USA

By Lucy Kyle, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, USA

The USA is massive and it can be overwhelming to decide what you want to see and where you want to go, so I have put together a guide of weekend trips you can do on the east coast to maximise your time there!

NEW YORK CITY, NY

First and foremost, New York City, there is so much to explore here and it is super easy access from New Jersey as well as many other states via public transit – NJ Transit, Amtrak and Flixbus. Once you are there it is also easy to get around via the Subway! New York has the most extensive metro system of any of the cities I have been to which is great if you don’t have a car, which I doubt most exchange students will. On my first trips to New York I made sure to hit all the iconic tourist spots such as Times Square, the Empire State Building and taking the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, but there are plenty more spots to see! The Roosevelt Island Tramway only costs $3 (the same as the subway) and gives great views of midtown and the Upper East Side, especially at sunset.

The Met is iconic and rightfully so, I have been a number of times since coming to Jersey and still have only seen a small amount of the exhibitions in there, one of my favourites was on the artist Man Ray and his experimental art and films. The roof garden is also gorgeous and provides incredible views across Central Park where you can see the Park Avenue skyscrapers as well as much more of NYCs iconic skyline. I would also recommend Brooklyn Bridge Park for views of the East River, and Dumbo for that iconic picture of the Manhattan Bridge!

If you get hungry I would recommend Sushi Counter in the West Village where you can get 3 hand rolls for $12 which are delicious. Also skip the lines at viral spots like Apollo Bagels and Liberty Bagels and instead go to a local spot such as Leo’s in the Financial District for a delicious lunch after checking out Brooklyn and Wall Street.

PHILADELPHIA, PA

I think Philadelphia is one of the most underrated spots on the east coast! Just a short train ride from New Jersey, and voted the most walkable city in America, Philly has lots of hidden gems and is a day trip that can’t be missed. Spring is the most beautiful time as the cherry blossoms are out and it’s great to walk around the city in the sunshine. I would not so much recommend taking the metro here as it is not as expansive or utilised as the subway in NYC so does not feel as safe, but you can get most places in the city on foot anyway.

The iconic Rocky steps are outside the beautiful Philadelphia Museum of Art, JFK Plaza is the LOVE park, and Philadelphia City Hall are some of the best known spots and are definitely worth checking out when you’re there. We also visited the Liberty Bell, the Old City, and the Betsy Ross House, where the first ever American flag was designed!

For food spots we went to Sabrina’s Cafe, which is on Drexel University campus, for brunch, the food was great and it was a lovely campus to walk around. I would also recommend getting food in Chinatown as there are plenty of delicious and affordable spots there!

BOSTON, MA

Boston is a little further north so definitely cold, especially if you go in February like we did! It is worth braving the snow for the gorgeous city in New England, the city has the perfect blend of old and new and feels pretty safe. It also has an excellent metro system for getting around the city, which is very important to me, we got a Flix Bus here and stayed in a hostel to do this trip on the cheap because Massachusetts can be a pretty expensive state.

Visiting Harvard is a must, the university is so beautiful and it was so fun pretending to be Elle Woods for the day! We also went to the Modern Art Museum (MAAM) which had free entry and fun exhibits as well as activities. One of my favourite areas of the city was around Fenway Park, so if you are there during the summer I would recommend checking out a baseball game while you’re there, Go Red Sox!

For food we enjoyed Italian food at Serafina Back Bay, dim sum in Chinatown, and bagels at Mamaleh’s in Cambridge which is an authentic Jewish Delicatessen.

WASHINGTON D.C.

Washington D.C., was the most recent trip we have taken, it is great for students as you can learn so much at the Capitol and in all the museums completely for free! It also has great public transit and an expansive metro system which you can take straight from the train station when you arrive. It is definitely the city that feels the cleanest and safest so amazing for visiting with friends or alone. We went for three days but there is so much to do here you could definitely stay busy for longer!

While we were there we went up the Washington Monument for 360 degree views of the city, had a tour of the Capitol building, went to the African American Museum, and the National Air and Space Museum. We also walked around the Martin Luther King Jr, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, top tip: get a Lime bike or scooter while there! It will mean you can see much more faster and they are super popular in the city so very easily accessible and everyone uses them. My favourite thing we did which was not widely advertised was the People’s White House Experience. It is completely free and you can walk around learning more about the White House and even take pictures in the Oval Office!

We went to a Pete’s Diner on Capitol Hill for lunch and got coffee at Peet’s Coffee in downtown (did not realise until now that they had almost the same name!) but our favourite spot was Sweet Lemon Cafe, I would recommend getting the pistachio iced latte!

There are plenty more spots on the east coast that are worth visiting and day trips in Jersey such as Princeton, and Newark but I hope this guide can be of help to anyone wondering where to start on their east coast travels. I am heading over to the west coast after finishing exams and I can’t wait to follow up this post with my west coast recommendations!