POV: You are only in New Haven for 24 hours, and you want to experience the best things the city has to offer. Here's exactly how you should spend your day.
All locations are within about a mile radius of each other, scattered throughout the beautiful Yale campus. If you spend the whole day on foot, you'll walk about 3-5 miles while soaking in the beautiful architecture that can only be found in New Haven, CT!
Here's an outline of the itinerary:
Koffee?
Escape New Haven
Frank Pepe Pizzeria
The Shops at Yale
Anchor Spa
Villa Lulu
Milkcraft
Crown/College St Bar Hopping
Insomnia Cookies
Breakfast: Koffee?
Start your day on the artsy side of town! Koffee is everything you want your neighborhood coffee shop to be and more. Its effortlessly cool vibe reminds you that you're surrounded by an eccentric crowd without a pretentious feel. They offer a number of coffee drinks and baked goodies like muffins, scones, tea breads, croissants, bagels, and other morning sweets.
Morning Activity: Escape New Haven
Escape New Haven was voted CT’s Best Escape Room in 2020 by the readers of CT Magazine. Whether you're an individual or with a group, you can book one of four themed rooms where your team will have 60 minutes to figure out the clues and escape! All rooms are designed & built entirely in-house and the current titles are Before Moonrise, The Crypt, The Gallery and The Game Show.
Lunch: Pepes
The rumors are true: Pepe's does have the best pizza in America (sorry not sorry, New Yorkers). Now's your chance to visit New Haven's "Little Italy" to see for yourself. The line at Pepe's is always out the door, so you might have to wait — but trust us, it's a lot shorter for lunch than dinner. If you want to taste their award winning pie, order the white clam!
Afternoon Activity: Shopping at The Shops at Yale/walking around Yale
You haven't truly experienced New Haven without walking around Yale and shopping at the shops. The Shops at Yale has about 30 retail locations consisting of book stores, national & local clothing brands, beauty & accessories, gifts & unique finds, and — of course you can't leave New Haven without some — Yale merch.
When exploring New Haven, we recommend starting on Broadway then making your way over down Elm St to the green. You'll pass the breath taking residential halls that you might confuse for Hogwarts. Experience the heart of the city (and maybe a few homeless people) at the New Haven Green before making your way up to Hillhouse Ave to see some of the best sights Yale has to offer. Finally head over to Grove St Cemetery and take a glimpse of the country's oldest graveyard also known as the "city of the dead" with many notable people buried there. If you have time, pop by the courtyards across the street to see the stunning architecture of the Beinecke Rare Book Library and the Sterling Memorial Library.
Happy Hour: Anchor Spa
A New Haven Bar with rich history, Anchor Spa has been a New Haven staple since the 1930s, known as a favorite watering hole for actors, artists, poets, writers, and Yalies, and the after-work hangout spot for bartenders from other bars. Not only is it the only black-owned craft cocktail bar in New Haven, but it's definitely one of the city's best. While they take the art of craft cocktails seriously, they are some of the most fun people I've ever met. They love experimenting to concoct new drinks, and if you're lucky maybe you'll catch Raasikh in the action!
Dinner: Villa Lulu
Villa Lulu is a relatively new Italian spot, but it's quickly grown to be a city favorite. There's an outdoor patio on the bustling, colorful College St, and 2 stories of indoor dining in an atmosphere that has contemporary & stylish decor with a comfortable & homey feel. You really can't go wrong with anything on the menu, but if you want recommendations, order the eggplant meatballs & pork belly for appetizers, and squid ink fettuccine & bucatini with red sauce for entrees. If you want to keep it super Italian, order affogato & cannolis for dessert… or on the contrary, head over to our next recommended spot for ice cream!
Ice Cream: Milkcraft
Milkcraft combines the 2 most amazing ice cream innovations: the creamiest ice cream frozen by liquid nitrogen and the Hong Kong style bubble cone. But their creativity doesn't stop there; you can also get your ice cream in a sweet glazed "creamee" bun or (if you're boring) in a cup. They have amazing rotating small batch flavors, some you'd never expect to be in ice cream, including Strawberry Balsamic, Bourbon Breakfast, Cookie Butter Blue, Milk & Cereal, Miss Piggie Does Vermont, and more.
Going out: Crown/College St. Bar hopping
Everybody loves a good Crown/College St Bar crawl. If you're lucky enough to be here on a weekend night, this is the place to be. And if you're here during the week, it might be a little quieter, but it'll give you a chance to look around and appreciate all the unique spots New Haveners know & love.
Start your night at Geronimo Tequila Bar which offers the largest selection of tequila on the east coast: over 400 options for tequila and 40 varieties of Mezcal. Next, stop by the trendy new Via to snap an Instagram pic in front of their neon sign. Then, if the dance floor is open, pop by Bar and go into the back room for a relaxed, club-like atmosphere. Or if you want to end the night on a more chill note, head back down college street to Elm City Social, famous for their prohibition themed setting and their rubber ducky cocktails.
Late Night Munchies: Insomnia Cookies
We won't blame you if you're the drunchies type - calories don't count after midnight anyway! Insomnia cookies is conveniently located right in the middle of all the bars you were just at, open 'til 1 am Sunday - Wednesday and 'til 3 am Thursday - Saturday.
We hope you enjoyed your 24 hours in New Haven and hope to see you again soon... Our city has so much else to explore!
What did you think of our suggestions? Did you try another place that you liked? Let us know in the comments!
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