Photos show what it's really like to holiday shop at the largest department store in the US

The department store moved to this location, which is an entire city block, in 1902, according to Macy's Inc. In 1924, the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade ended at the store, ushering in the holiday season, which it's done almost every year since.

Around 20 million people visit Macy's Herald Square every year, the department store reported in 2013.

Approximately 7,000 people visit the Macy's holiday windows every hour, the New York Daily News reported in 2022.

I traveled to Macy's in December, at the peak of the holiday season. Midtown Manhattan, where the store is located, is famously one of the most crowded areas of the city, teeming with locals, tourists, and commuters trying to get to Penn Station, which is also on 34th Street.

The change was to reflect the theme of this year's windows, which is also Give Love. The change did not go over well with everyone, according to some Twitter users.

I also felt kind of awkward when I got close, knowing that I'd be in dozens of random tourists' photos for the rest of time.

It felt overwhelming to be around this many people, especially after almost three years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Throughout the first floor, there were garlands, lights, and crystal-encrusted balls hanging from the ceiling.

Everywhere I turned, there was a different counter for a luxury makeup brand, like Dior, Chanel, or Estée Lauder. More than one employee offered me a spritz of new perfume.

The first floor had exceptionally high ceilings, so there's essentially a half-floor above the makeup section that has more shopping and a Starbucks. In the photo above, you can see the mezzanine on either side of the escalators.

This holiday season, Macy's partnered with the defunct toy store to bring it back at 400 Macy's locations across the country, according to Insider.

Kids couldn't meet Santa at this installation, but they could peer through clear windows at animatronic tools "building" toys and other fun things.

That's a Barbie Eco-Leadership Team set, with dolls made from recycled plastic.

Barbie's actually had dozens of jobs since her introduction in the '50s, but this was still surprising to me — the coolest thing I remember my Barbie doing was having bendable knees so she could ride a bike.

When I was there, there was a long line to meet the big guy, even though you have to reserve a time slot online just to make it through the doors to actual Santaland.

According to The Points Guy, 170,000 people go through Santaland every year.

Most of the decorations are inside the ticketed area, but Macy's also made the outer waiting area festive for passersby. This train was surprisingly large, and it was decorated with candy canes, tinsel, a wreath, and lights.

Just like the real windows on the street, this mini Macy's had display windows, though these showed scenes from the 1947 film "Miracle on 34th Street." In the movie, a Macy's Santa convinces a court of law that he's the real Santa.

I wanted a quick bite — thankfully, there was an Au Bon Pain across the floor from Santaland.

I ordered a chicken Caesar wrap and took a break from exploring to do some people-watching.

The sixth floor is mainly dedicated to homes, including bedding, pillows, rugs, decor, furniture, and kitchen gadgets.

The large Godiva display was filled with chocolates and gift boxes. I always appreciate some chocolate, so I was surprised there wasn't a soul to be seen, besides the cashier.

Stella 34 is an Italian restaurant that serves lunch, dinner, and drinks. It also serves a weekday $32 prix-fixe menu, with a choice of chicken pagnottella, meatball pagnottella, paccheri pasta, and margherita pizza for the main course.

When I walked by, the place was busy. The restaurant also has a beautiful view of Herald Square and the bright lights of the city.

Since I didn't grab a bite here, I can't speak to the quality of the food, but the restaurant has 3.5 stars on Yelp.

The shoe section of any department store is my favorite section, because it's easy to try on shoes and there's often a good sales section. While the Macy's shoe section had tons of variety, I asked for a few different pairs to try on, only to find out that they were out of my size.

So, I decided to call it an evening and leave the store.

At this entrance, the doors were flanked by artificial tree trunks and animatronic woodland creatures, like this squirrel that was wagging its tail and looking around at the thousands of shoppers.

I would've liked to get a better look at the windows before I was tired from hours of exploring, but since it was so crowded, I couldn't. Now that it was almost closing time, I was able to get a closer look.

Then I finally hopped on the subway, ready to head home and decompress from all the people I had been surrounded by inside the store.

Despite the crowds, I would definitely go shopping at Macy's Herald Square again, though maybe not during the holiday season. If anything, just walking by the display windows will be enough to put me in the holiday spirit.