Our Trip To The High Line in New York City

Mary and I have been wanting to visit and walk The High Line in New York since it recently opened — the High Line is a newly finished and opened public park that was built on an old rail system that had since become overgrown with natural vegetation and trees and was actually in danger of being torn down. It's now owned by NYC and maintained as an incredibly beautiful public park where visitors can literally walk above the bustling streets on the west side of the city.

 

As we got up on the line, we realized we'd timed it perfectly. Evidently the line is always very crowded and quite the tourist destination. We'd heard it was nearly impossible to get a seat along the walkway. there are several amazing built in lounge chairs on rail castors and seating pavilions at different viewpoints — all of which were nearly empty when we arrived right around 10 AM on Sunday morning.

  

So that's our insider tip — if you want the High Line to yourself or just want to nab a seat while you're there, try getting there before 10 AM on a Saturday or even better, a Sunday morning. They open as early as 7 AM, but we weren't quite that brave.

We also loved all the historical rail details left in tact on the line — they were a beautifully designed mix between history, nature and modern architecture:

Every part of the High Line was a little different, with new views of the city and other interesting walkways surrounded by natural vegetation. We heard that the park left most all of the natural elements in tact and that they'd been seeded and grown over the years from natural wind, bees, and birds:

 

We even found a section of bush filled with these tiny little birds hopping about:

The natural elements of the line were just incredible, like these trees growing up and out of the old rail line:

We were so excited to be up there and taking pictures, we even caught a few shots of one another doing, well, what we love to do:

And you'll see why. The views went on for miles and they were simply put — breathtaking:

We came up on one ending point where the line literally just stops and there is a sort of lookout point. We thought it was particularly funny and classic that this end of the line was sponsored as the "Tiffany & Co. Foundation Overlook." See the little plaque below:

 

All jokes aside, there were plaques with historical information all along the line and if it's sponsorships like these that helped make walking the line possible, we're for it! At this particular ending point, we took the opportunity to snap a photo of the two of us as a memory from the visit:

There were also some funny "only in NYC" moments too, like the tall building that was filled with Audi's and BMW's on every floor — look closely at the windows below to see:

 

We're more used to seeing these "sky lots" as we call them, since the cars are literally stacked on top of one another in thin air. It's always so interesting to see and feels so dangerous, even though we know they've got their system down:

We loved the clever building dwellers who put up fake window shades that look like people peering out the windows — look closely at the two windows below to see what we mean:

It was particularly funny, because as you walk the High Line, you are literally passing so closely by buildings that are filled with tenants. Both of us wondered what it might be like to live on the High Line and if it makes that floor of the building less or more expensive to rent.

Looking down on different street level rooftops was fun too. We got to see the city from a completely different perspective, like the vine terrace below and other previously hidden rooftop gardens:

Mary was pretty interested in getting this DVF shot below. I had no idea what it stood for, haha and have since been educated on the world of Diane von Furstenberg:

 

The art installations and wall murals were out of this world, larger than life and in your face:

There was also food, art and music along the line — it looked like a great place to grab lunch if you live in the area or just grab a snack as you walk around:

When we made it to the other end point of the line, you could see where other parts of the rail system were still in tact but hadn't begun the public transformation the other part of the line had undergone. They were giving public tours of the overgrown space to anyone who wanted to experience the line in it's natural state before new work takes place.

Mary and I loved the chance to get to walk the High Line and were excited to see there is still work to be done. It will give us a great excuse to come back and walk it again in the future.

This was such a fun stop for us since it was something completely new for the both of us. We'd definitely recommend walking the High Line as a must for your next trip to the city or if you need a spot to recommend for anyone you know that's visiting.

I tried testing out my panoramic photo app and got the shot above — click it to make it larger. Hopefully it can help illustrate a little bit just how magnificent the views are on The High Line.