New York, New York

Somehow it's happened.  After just under six weeks and 21,000 miles, here I am in my final port of call; the gorgeous, glorious, hedonistic, hectic, unbelievably fabulous New York.

Not that getting here was easy.  After a six-hour delay at Chicago's Union Station (it actually made me feel a bit wistful for the trifling delays I normally suffer with Southern rail), the train chugged slowly through endlessly snowy landscapes, with great piles of the stuff piled up against houses and at the sides of roads.  By the time we finally pulled up at Penn Station it was 1.30am, rather than our supposed arrival time of 6.25pm.  Arriving at the hotel to discover they couldn't find our reservation was not what we wanted to hear.

But no-one can stay cross, or tired, in New York for long.  At first I wasn't going to write a blog post about New York, because it's all been said so many times before, but I think tips and recommendations are always helpful, so here's a few.

Pick your time when to go.  It may be perishing cold here right now, but in winter the ice rinks are open (the one below is at Rockefeller Plaza), all the tourist attractions are quieter and you're more likely to be able to get a table for dinner at the restaurant of your choosing.

Events like Restaurant Week (nycgo.com/restaurantweek) which happens in February, are a great way to save money while eating in some top restaurants.  Try to come in the week rather than at a weekend when, again, the main sights and shopping areas will be far less busy.

In terms of where to stay, New York can be wincingly expensive. Location makes a huge difference - if you're in Midtown, you're close to all the sights, but if you stay below 14th Street - in Soho, the East Village, or the Lower East Side, you'll experience a more authentic side of Manhattan.  At the budget end, there's nowhere to beat Citizen M in Midtown (citizenm.com), where rates start at around £120 a night - a bargain for NYC.

If budget isn't an issue, then Crosby Street Hotel in Soho is, for my money, one of the best hotels in the city.  Part of the British www.firmdale.com chain, it matches English style with NYC chutzpah.  But the prices will sting.

Eating out can be a full-time occupation in NYC, and the best way is to try and encompass everything from classic diners to ethnic coffee shops to Italian pasta like Mama used to make.  We've eaten eggs-over-medium with hash browns and endless coffee at the Evergreen Diner (www.evergreendinernyc.com) in Midtown, delicious tapas at Barca (www.barca-tapas.com) in Soho, slightly strange cookies and 50p tea and coffees in an unpronounceable Chinese coffee shop, deep in Chinatown and fabulous Greek meze at the Kellari Taverna (www.kellari.us) also in Midtown.

It's our very last day today, so we're just going to stroll - because that's the best way to see the city.  We'll head on up to the wonderful Flatiron Building

and then wander back down to Chinatown for a late lunch.  That's the plan, but when you wander in New York, you never know quite what you're going to find - yesterday we encountered a whole celebration in Chinatown, with dragons frisking about outside shops to ward off evil spirits for the coming year.

And then, after that, the airport will beckon.  But it's far, far too soon to be thinking about that...