I went holiday shopping at Macy's Herald Square, the largest department store in the US. It was overwhelming to say the least.

The department store moved to this location, which is an entire city block, in 1902. In 1924, the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade ended at the store, ushering in the holiday season, which it has 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 in December 2022.

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.

"Give Love" can also be seen across the department store this year. This switch was to reflect the theme of the windows, which is also Give Love, according to CBS.

The change from The change did not go over well with everyone, according to some users on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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

It felt overwhelming to be around this many people, even after three years since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

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.

Last holiday season, Macy's partnered with the defunct toy store to bring it back at 400 Macy's locations across the country, according to Business Insider. The pop-up is back again in 2023.

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.

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 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.

You can also eat breakfast with Santa.

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 3.6 stars on Yelp.

The shoe section of any department store is my favorite — there's often a good sales section. While the Macy's shoe section had a lot 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.