New York City travel guide
Where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Things to do in New York City, planned over three days
Best time to visit New York City
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best weather, fall colour in Central Park, every seasonal thing open and the cultural season in full swing.
Spring mirror of autumn, with park blooms, outdoor dining, Governors Island and Queens Night Market open and Pride in June.
Hot and humid, with Governors Island evenings, night markets, outdoor concerts, baseball and the Rockaways as compensation.
December magic with the Rockefeller tree, windows and ice rinks, at the year's highest hotel rates and thickest crowds.
The cheapest, quietest version, with empty museums, Restaurant Week deals, Broadway discounts and possible snow.
Value shoulder months, fickle in March, blossom in April and underrated golden calm in November.
What's on
- New Year's Eve in Times Square 31 December
The famous countdown, with pens, no bathrooms and hours of standing.
- Village Halloween Parade 31 October
Anyone in costume can join the march up Sixth Avenue.
- Tribeca Festival June
Indie film premieres in June.
- Governors Ball June
A three day music festival at Flushing Meadows.
- Feast of San Gennaro mid-September
Little Italy's street fair.
- Open House New York October weekend
Normally closed buildings and sites open citywide for one October weekend.
- New York City Marathon first Sunday of November
A street party across the city on the first Sunday of November.
- Thanksgiving Parade Thanksgiving
Book parade route hotels far ahead or watch from the street early.
- US Open late August to early September
Pauses the Queens Night Market and spikes Queens prices.
Worth the trip for
Best things to do in New York City
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Five thousand years of art on Central Park, best done as three chosen wings over three to four hours.
Central Park
A half day wander through the Ramble, Bow Bridge, Bethesda Terrace and the Mall beats a photo stop.
Tenement Museum
Guided tours through real tenement apartments tell the immigrant story of the city in the rooms lived in.
Broadway
One musical chosen for the show itself, the defining night out, with talent density found nowhere else.
Lincoln Center
Ballet, opera or the Philharmonic as the grown up alternative to Broadway, paired with dinner nearby.
Top of The Rock
The one deck to pay for, with Central Park to the north and the Empire State Building in the downtown view.
SUMMIT One Vanderbilt
The immersive mirrored room alternative to a classic open air observation deck.
Brooklyn Bridge
Walk it at sunrise before the crowds, then land in DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights for the best free morning.
Where to stay in New York City
Upper West Side
best all-round base for a first trip
A real residential neighbourhood between Central Park and the Hudson, calm at night and twenty minutes from most sights.
Greenwich Village / West Village
couples and charm
The prettiest, most walkable streets in Manhattan, with Village nightlife on the doorstep and pricier small hotels.
Tribeca / Lower Manhattan
a quiet splurge and downtown days
Cobblestones and serious restaurants, easy walks downtown, and quiet streets at night.
Chelsea / NoMad / Flatiron
the central compromise
The most geographically honest base for a mixed itinerary, with less neighbourhood soul and more convenience.
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
food-and-nightlife trips and repeat visitors
Restaurant and bar density around Bedford and Wythe, bigger rooms for the money, and a short L train ride to Manhattan.
Brooklyn Heights / DUMBO
views and quiet
Postcard skyline and brownstone calm, with the bridge walk as the morning route into Manhattan and thin hotel supply.
Think twice about
- Times Square / Theater District core
The densest crowds, tourist priced chains and flashing light as a home base. Visit at night, sleep elsewhere.
- Penn Station / Port Authority blocks
Far west Midtown around West 34th to 42nd and 8th to 9th has the grittiest hotel blocks, with visible homelessness and drug use late at night.
- Airport corridor and New Jersey listings sold as New York
Hotels near JFK or LaGuardia or in New Jersey far from a subway make a cheap room expensive once travel time is priced in.
- Illegal whole-apartment short-term rentals
Renting a whole apartment under thirty days is effectively banned unless the host is present and registered, so too good listings can be illegal or scams.
Best restaurants in New York City
Semma
Untranslated South Indian cooking from Tamil Nadu, the most exciting dinner in the city right now.
Atomix
A fourteen seat Korean tasting counter of extraordinary precision, the single best special occasion dinner.
Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi
Afro Caribbean cooking built from a Bronx childhood, bodega classics reimagined at the highest level.
Le Bernardin
Eric Ripert's French seafood institution, the classic hushed and perfect fine dining night.
Lilia
Missy Robbins' pasta dinner New Yorkers cross the river for, in a converted auto body shop.
Via Carota
The neighbourhood trattoria perfected, with cacio e pepe, chopped salad and vegetables as the main event.
Katz's Delicatessen
Hand carved pastrami on rye since 1888, tourist famous and still genuinely the best deli.
L'Industrie Pizzeria
The current best slice answer, light and blistered, plus soft serve with olive oil and sea salt.
Outdoor things to do in New York City
Downtown Boathouse
Free volunteer run kayaking on the Hudson, with boat, paddle, vest and safety briefing included.
Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse
Free kayaking from Pier 2 with the downtown skyline as the backdrop, reserving ahead in summer.
Classic Harbor Line
Sunset sails on schooners from Chelsea Piers past the Statue of Liberty and the downtown skyline.
Manhattan by Sail
The 1929 schooner Shearwater offers a smaller, wood and canvas sunset sail with a cash bar.
Central Park Loop
The six mile car free park loop by bike, best before 9am on weekends before the crowds build.
Hudson River Greenway
A flat, traffic free path running the length of Manhattan's west side from the Battery to the George Washington Bridge.
Rat Rock
Real Manhattan schist bouldering near 62nd Street, free and legal, with regulars happy to share beta.
Movement Long Island City
The city's largest climbing gym, with 45 foot walls and two bouldering floors one stop from Midtown.
Best hotels in New York City
The Lucerne Hotel
A 1904 landmark on West 79th two blocks from Central Park, the Upper West Side main hotel.
Hotel Belleclaire
A value leaning Broadway hotel in an Emery Roth building, good for families in the area.
Walker Hotel Greenwich Village
A small, well run boutique on West 13th, the Village base local roundups reach for first.
Washington Square Hotel
Old school and art filled, facing Washington Square Park since 1902, with small rooms and a perfect location.
The Greenwich Hotel
The downtown splurge, with every room different plus a spa and Locanda Verde downstairs.
The Evelyn
A Beaux Arts NoMad hotel with bigger than average rooms for the price and strong in house food.
Hotel Chelsea
The legendary artists' hotel, now a proper luxury property where you pay for history.
Wythe Hotel
The original Brooklyn boutique in a converted factory, with Manhattan views and Le Crocodile downstairs.
Is New York City expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $180 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $360 a person |
| Splurge | $750 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to 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
- Governors Island: a few days ahead
- Village Vanguard: a few days ahead
- Tatiana opens on Resy twenty eight days out at noon ET and prime slots go in minutes, and Atomix sells out faster.
- Book Top of the Rock sunset slots, Tenement Museum tours, 9/11 Museum entry and Broadway hits days to weeks ahead.
- Book refundable rooms early and re shop later, since prices swing around UN week, Fashion Week, the Marathon and mid December.
- Statue of Liberty crown access books out months ahead.
Is New York City safe?
- Realistic risks are pickpocketing in crowds, phone snatching at cafe tables and the scams listed, so keep wallets in a front pocket and bags zipped.
- Homelessness and people in crisis are most visible around Penn Station and Port Authority and in the subway, so pick a bed away from those blocks.
- Let people off the train first, move to the centre of the car and ride in the conductor's car late at night.
- Call 911 for emergencies and 311 for non emergency city services.
- Check your government's current travel advice before you go.
New York City travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- 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.
- Little Italy touts on Mulberry Street sell tourist menus, while Peter Luger no longer reliably matches its price on current form.
Getting around New York City: public transport and more
- Tap a contactless card or phone with OMNY on the subway, with fares capped after twelve paid rides in seven days.
- Walk and use NYC Ferry more than cabs, since Midtown car traffic moves at walking speed in daylight.
- JFK is AirTrain plus LIRR or the flat rate cab, LaGuardia is the free Q70 bus or a cab, and Newark is NJ Transit from the AirTrain.
- Do not rent a car, since parking costs more than several good meals and day trips work by train.
Who New York City suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Great |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Great |
Make New York City your trip
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