New York
Things to do in New York: 20 ideas, neighbourhood by neighbourhood
By seven in the morning the runners already own Central Park. We have sorted 20 things to do in New York by neighbourhood, so you spend your days in the city rather than underneath it.
Most first plans for New York look tidy on paper and fall apart by lunchtime. A museum uptown in the morning, a ferry from the southern tip after lunch, a show in Midtown at night. By bedtime you have seen more subway tunnel than skyline.
So we have grouped 20 things to do by neighbourhood. Take one area a day and you can walk almost everything. Manhattan helps, because the streets run on a numbered grid and you always know roughly where you are. Each area comes with one hotel close enough to drop off shopping bags before dinner.
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In short
Almost all of the 20 best things to do in New York sit on Manhattan, in five areas that each fill a day. Give Brooklyn a sixth day and walk there over Brooklyn Bridge. On a first visit, Midtown is the most practical base because the classics are on your doorstep.
Our first choice: The London New York, a few blocks from both MoMA and Central Park.
Book your stay: See rooms at The London New York (Paid link)
How to plan your days
Manhattan is long and narrow. Crossing it east to west is quick, but walking from the southern tip up to Central Park is an afternoon, not a shortcut. Plan along the island instead: Midtown one day, the museums uptown the next, Downtown after that.
Two things are worth booking before you fly: crown tickets for the Statue of Liberty and seats for the biggest Broadway shows. Everything else can wait until you see the weather that morning.
Tickets and tours: See things to do in New York (Paid link)
Midtown and Central Park: the classics
1. Central Park
Walk in at Columbus Circle early, before the horse carriages and cyclists take over the loop. The park covers 843 acres, so pick a route rather than trying to see it all. Head north for Bethesda Terrace and Bow Bridge, or hire a bike if you want the full circuit.
2. MoMA
The Museum of Modern Art is on 53rd Street, five minutes south of the park. Van Gogh's 'The Starry Night' hangs here and is rarely without a crowd. Go straight to it when the doors open, then work through the rest at your own pace.
3. Grand Central Terminal
The main concourse is free and the ceiling is the reason to come. Its constellations are painted in reverse, as if seen from outside the sky. Downstairs by the Oyster Bar is the whispering gallery: stand in opposite corners of the arch and you can hear each other clearly.
4. The view from Top of the Rock
The deck on top of Rockefeller Center puts the Empire State Building in your photo, which is why many people choose it. We compare every viewing platform in our guide to New York's observation decks.
5. A Broadway show
The Theater District around Times Square has 41 Broadway theatres. The TKTS booth sells same-day seats at reduced prices, but the biggest musicals rarely turn up there. If one show is the point of the trip, book it from home. Tickets and seats are covered in our Broadway guide.
6. The Public Library and Bryant Park
Two stone lions, Patience and Fortitude, guard New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue. The Rose Main Reading Room is open to visitors and runs almost the length of a football pitch. Behind the library, Bryant Park has a lawn in summer and an ice rink in winter.
The London New York
The suites sit high above West 54th Street, with Midtown right outside the window.
Where to stay: The London New York
The hotel is on 54th Street, between MoMA and Times Square, so most of this section is a walk away. After a show you are back in your room in about fifteen minutes. First-timers who would rather spend their hours in the city than in transit will get the most from it. If you want somewhere small and characterful, look further downtown.
Book your stay: See rooms at The London New York (Paid link)
Upper East and Upper West Side: museum day
7. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met is too big for one visit, so choose two departments and leave the rest. Its Egyptian Temple of Dendur stands in a glass hall of its own, facing the park. Pay-what-you-wish entry applies only to New York State residents.
8. The Guggenheim and Museum Mile
From The Met, walk north along the stretch of Fifth Avenue known as Museum Mile. Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Guggenheim as a white spiral, with the art hung along the ramp. Take the lift to the top and walk down.
9. American Museum of Natural History
Across the park on the West Side, the blue whale model in the Hall of Ocean Life is 94 feet long and hangs from the ceiling. For families, it is the city's best rainy-day plan.
The Surrey
After a museum day, the terrace is the place for a drink above the brownstones.
Where to stay: The Surrey
The Surrey is on East 76th Street, among brownstones a block from Central Park. You can stroll to The Met along the park before the school groups arrive. It suits couples who want quiet nights. Evenings here are calm, so if you want bars outside the door, stay further south.
Book your stay: See rooms at The Surrey, A Corinthia Hotel (Paid link)
Downtown: where the city started
10. Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
Ferries leave from Battery Park on Manhattan's southern tip, and one ticket covers Ellis Island too. Millions of immigrants were processed there, and many visitors still look up their own family names. Crown tickets sell out far ahead; ferries and ticket types are in our Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island guide.
11. The 9/11 Memorial and Museum
Two square pools sit in the footprints of the Twin Towers, with the names of the dead cut into the bronze parapets. The memorial is open and free; the museum below ground needs a ticket. Allow at least two hours, and keep the evening after it gentle.
12. The Staten Island Ferry
The orange ferry from Whitehall Terminal is free and takes about 25 minutes each way, passing the Statue of Liberty at a distance. Get off at St George and catch the next boat back. The ride is the attraction.
13. Brooklyn Bridge
The bridge opened in 1883 as the first crossing of the East River. Walk it from Brooklyn towards Manhattan and the skyline stays in front of you. The walkway above the traffic gets crowded by midday, so go early or late for clear photos.
Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown
After a day on foot Downtown, the pool below the hotel is the place to recover.
Where to stay: Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown
The hotel is a few minutes from the memorial, in a district that empties of office workers at night. That means quiet sleep and a short morning walk to the Battery Park ferries. Choose it if you want to be first in the ferry queue. For restaurants and bars on the doorstep, Tribeca and SoHo are livelier.
Book your stay: See rooms at Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown (Paid link)
The High Line and Chelsea: a park on the tracks
14. The High Line
An old elevated freight line has become a park running about 1.45 miles from Gansevoort Street to 34th Street. It sits at second or third floor height, so you look straight into the windows along the way. Walk it north from the bottom in the morning, when there is room to stop.
15. Chelsea Market
The market hall fills the old Nabisco factory, where the Oreo biscuit was first made in 1912. Today it is a food hall, and the lobster rolls go quickly at lunch. Arrive before noon or after two.
16. The Whitney and Little Island
The Whitney Museum of American Art stands at the southern end of the High Line, in a Renzo Piano building with terraces facing the Hudson. Next door is Little Island, a park raised on concrete piles in the river, opened in 2021. Sunset from here costs nothing.
Where to stay: Gansevoort Meatpacking
The hotel sits in the Meatpacking District, a couple of blocks from the start of the High Line and close to the Whitney. The neighbourhood is full of bars and clubs, so the street stays busy late. Stay here if the evenings matter as much as the days. Light sleepers should ask for a high floor.
Book your stay: See rooms at Gansevoort Meatpacking (Paid link)
Greenwich Village, SoHo and the Lower East Side
17. Washington Square Park and the West Village
Start under the arch in Washington Square Park, then walk west into streets that ignore the grid. Getting lost here is part of the plan. At the corner of Bedford and Grove Street stands the building from the opening shots of 'Friends'.
18. The Tenement Museum and Katz's
The Tenement Museum on Orchard Street shows how immigrant families lived in crowded flats more than a century ago, with tours inside real apartments. Book a tour in advance. Finish with pastrami at Katz's Delicatessen, which has been on the Lower East Side since 1888.
Where to stay: The Manner
The hotel is on Thompson Street in SoHo, with the West Village to the north-west and the Lower East Side to the east. The streets around it are shops by day and restaurants by night. It works well if you want to shop and eat without the subway, while Midtown is still only a few stops away.
Book your stay: See rooms at The Manner (Paid link)
Brooklyn: the view back
19. DUMBO and Brooklyn Bridge Park
DUMBO stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, which is exactly where you are. From the cobbles of Washington Street, Manhattan Bridge frames the Empire State Building. Down by the water, Jane's Carousel turns inside a glass pavilion.
20. Williamsburg and Smorgasburg
Take the subway or the ferry north to Williamsburg. In season, the Smorgasburg food market sets up by the water on Saturdays; it is where the ramen burger first appeared. Check the day and site before you go, as the market has moved before.
The Hoxton, Williamsburg
From the Williamsburg rooftop, Manhattan fills the view across the East River.
Where to stay: The Hoxton, Williamsburg
The hotel is in Williamsburg, a few blocks from the East River, among coffee bars and record shops. Manhattan is a short subway ride away. It suits repeat visitors who want to live where New Yorkers actually live. On a first trip, Midtown will save you time.
Book your stay: See rooms at The Hoxton, Williamsburg (Paid link)
When is the best time to visit New York?
Spring and autumn are the comfortable seasons. May and June bring green parks, while September and October have clear air and shorter queues than the summer holidays. Summer can be hot and humid and winter is cold, though December has the lights on Fifth Avenue. Our seasonal picks are in New York at Christmas.
When should you book?
Flights and hotels: Searches for New York trips peak in January, which is when spring and autumn availability is widest. For flight and hotel packages, see New York city breaks.
Statue of Liberty: Crown tickets are released months ahead and go fast.
Broadway: The biggest musicals sell out at weekends. Midweek gives you more choice.
Things to do in New York: frequently asked questions
What are the best things to do in New York?
The best-loved things to do in New York are Central Park, the Statue of Liberty and a walk over Brooklyn Bridge. The view from Top of the Rock and a morning at The Met make most lists too. Add a Broadway show and the High Line and you have covered the classics in three or four days.
What can you do in New York when it rains?
When it rains in New York, head for the museums: The Met, MoMA and the Natural History Museum can each fill a day. Grand Central and the Public Library reading room are free and indoors. Chelsea Market covers lunch, and Broadway works just as well in the wet.
What can you do for free in New York?
Plenty of New York's best sights cost nothing: Central Park, the High Line, Brooklyn Bridge, Grand Central and the 9/11 Memorial. The Staten Island Ferry is free and passes the Statue of Liberty. The reading room at the Public Library on Fifth Avenue is open to visitors without a ticket.
Where is the best area to stay in New York?
For a first visit, Midtown is the best area to stay in New York, within walking distance of Central Park, MoMA and Broadway. The Upper East Side suits museums and quiet nights, Downtown suits early ferries, and Williamsburg suits repeat visitors. Every hotel we recommend is in our New York hotel guide.
What is the best thing to do in New York at night?
The classic New York night out is a Broadway show, ideally after dinner in the Theater District. Top of the Rock is at its best around sunset, and Brooklyn Bridge is a fine walk as the lights come on. For a free sunset over the Hudson, try Little Island or the High Line.