Things to do in New York, splurging
Omakase counters, rooftop feasts, and the cocktail bars worth staying up for.
This is New York for people who book restaurants before flights: three days built around destination dinners, serious coffee, and the kind of shopping where you actually spend money. It covers the West Village, Williamsburg, and Midtown without ever feeling like a highlights reel.
Day 1: West Village, top to bottom
A Milanese espresso, a SoHo bookshop, svizzerina at Via Carota, a walk on Little Island over the Hudson, and an omakase counter to close.
- 9:30 AM
- 10:30 AM
Housing Works Bookstore
Browse rare books and support housing advocacy at this community-focused bookstore.
Map - 12:30 PM
- 2:30 PM
Little Island
Little Island: planted hills on concrete tulips over the Hudson, free and open daily.
Map - 7:30 PM
Mido Omakase - West Village
Destination omakase counter in the South Village, one of NYC's most talked-about seats, exactly the $$$ splurge requested.
Map - 9:30 PM
Day 2: Brooklyn, properly done
Coffee in Williamsburg, then across the bridge for the Tenement Museum, dip soba and a bookshop, and back to Brooklyn for Laser Wolf's rooftop grill.
- 9:30 AM
Maru Coffee
The Brooklyn branch of LA's Maru on Wythe Ave: a precise pour-over or a sweet milk tea.
Map - 10:30 AM
Tenement Museum
Guided tours through real 19th-century apartments: the city's origin story told in the rooms families actually lived.
Map - 12:30 PM
- 2:30 PM
McNally Jackson
Independent bookshop on Prince St with deep fiction, art and travel shelves; browse an hour.
Map - 7:30 PM
Laser Wolf Brooklyn
Laser Wolf Brooklyn is acclaimed and on every best-of list, rooftop Middle Eastern salatim feast, the destination dinner for tonight.
Map - 9:30 PM
Undercurrent
Undercurrent is a serious cocktail bar, the right note to end a splurge day in Williamsburg, well before midnight.
Map
Day 3: Midtown and Korea, after the Met
Start with Sant Ambroeus on Madison, spend the morning with five thousand years of art, then move through Koreatown and Hell's Kitchen toward Bemelmans Bar for a nightcap in the most beautiful hotel room in the city.
- 9:30 AM
Sant Ambroeus Madison
Sant Ambroeus is the gold-standard Milanese café stop, perfect espresso and pastry to start the day right.
Map - 10:30 AM
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
5,000 years of art in one building, Temple of Dendur to European masters, this is the Met at its best.
Map - 12:30 PM
Cho Dang Gol
Great-value Korean, order the soon dubu jjigae and pajeon; classic Koreatown destination.
Map - 2:30 PM
Top of The Rock
Open-air terraces on the 67th, 70th floors: panoramic Central Park and Empire State views in one shot.
Map - 7:30 PM
- 9:30 PM
Bemelmans Bar
Bemelmans Bar, legendary acclaimed hotel bar; arrive before the late rush for a legendary cocktail.
Map
Where to stay
The Ned NoMad
The Ned NoMad puts you between the West Village and Williamsburg days with the kind of design and members-club energy that fits a traveller eating at this level.
The Langham, New York, Fifth Avenue
The Langham on Fifth is the quieter, old-money play: excellent service, a short walk to the Met, and a room that keeps up with the dinners you've booked.
Make New York your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App StoreBefore you go
Book ahead
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art: a few days ahead
- Tenement Museum: weeks ahead
- Broadway: weeks ahead
- Lincoln Center: weeks ahead
- Top of The Rock: a few days ahead
- SUMMIT One Vanderbilt: a few days ahead
Skip these
- Times Square restaurants charge rent, not food quality, so eat two blocks west on 9th Avenue instead.
- Pedicabs use per minute fine print and short rides can cost hundreds, so agree a total price in writing or walk.
- Costumed characters, CD sellers and unofficial Statue of Liberty sellers turn a photo or free item into a payment demand.
- Do not do five observation decks, since one gives the skyline and the rest repeat it at different angles.
The full New York travel guide: when to go, safety, getting around