Things To Do In New York
New York City
There’s nowhere quite like New York, America’s epicentre of culture and commerce.
Welcome to the city that never sleeps. New York is a vast metropolis where anything can happen one minute you’re taking in the neon-lit commercial mecca of Times Square, the next you’ll be sipping drinks in a trendy Brooklyn dive bar or strolling through acres of urban greenery in the iconic surrounds of Central Park.
However you choose to begin your New York City adventure, arriving into town via Grand Central Terminal will ensure a suitably splendid entrance. The aptly named station (it’s both grand and central) houses elaborate architecture and artwork, providing its 700,000 daily commuters with an inspiring start and end to their journeys. Manhattan is New York City how you imagine it. Most of the Big Apple’s recognisable sites can be found here, including the Empire State Building. This towering landmark and its dazzling coloured lights can be enjoyed from the ground for free, but seeing the city from its 102nd floor observatory is an essential NYC experience. From up here you can map out the city as the birds do, planning your route through its varied neighbourhoods while basking in the glow of a Manhattan sunset (it’s the best time to visit, as you’ll see the city transitioning from day to night). For the best view of the tower itself, try Top of the Rock at the Rockefeller Center, which is located directly opposite the Empire State Building and provides similarly spellbinding vistas of the city.
Continue to find your bearings with a walk along the High Line. What used to be an unsightly freight line through the Meatpacking District has become one of New York’s most appealing urban spaces a 2.4-kilometre (1.5-mile) stretch of green where you can take your time ambling across the city and admiring its sights from nine metres (30 feet) above the ground. Art installations, food vendors and some inspired landscaping make it easy to while away an afternoon enjoying views of the Hudson River.
When you’re done with the razzle-dazzle of Manhattan, New York has four other boroughs to explore. Brooklyn is big enough to be its own city accessible by foot via the stately Brooklyn Bridge and it’s where you’ll find independent shops and bars in the hip neighbourhood of Williamsburg, kitsch coastal amusements in Coney Island, and verdant foliage in Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Sports fans will want to spend some time in Queens and the Bronx, home to two of America’s most legendary baseball teams. The Mets play at Citi Field in Queens, while the Yankees hit their home runs from Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. If you’d prefer to catch some fast-paced basketball, head to Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks shoot hoops.
Taking the free ferry to Staten Island means you’ll catch sight of New York’s most recognisable landmark. The Statue of Liberty holds her torch aloft from her pedestal on Liberty Island, which is visible from the boat. For a closer look, take a trip to the island and enjoy a self-guided audio tour to learn about the history of this remarkable monument. Book tickets in advance if you want to step inside the statue and see New York from Lady Liberty’s crown.
Museums in New York provide a cultural antidote to the touristy hubbub of its most famous sights. Perhaps the most noteworthy of these is the Metropolitan Museum of Art (known as the Met for short). Countless significant artworks fill the walls and halls of this vast museum, with highlights including a reconstruction of an Ancient Egyptian temple and priceless paintings from around the world. Its roof garden and bar provide the perfect place to relax between exhibitions, and contain sculptures by contemporary artists.
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) houses one of the world’s best collections of work by artists including Vincent van Gogh, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock and Roy Lichtenstein. If you’re still craving creative prowess after exploring its four levels, there’s the Guggenheim; the building is a masterpiece in itself, an inverted-ziggurat structure designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
When you’ve filled your boots with art, the American Museum of Natural History showcases wonders of an entirely different kind. Kids and adults alike marvel at the feats of evolution inside this temple to Mother Nature, such as a 28.7-metre (94-foot) long blue whale suspended from the ceiling and more dinosaur skeletons than you can shake a prehistoric stick at.
A more sobering experience (but no less vital) is to visit the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Here, a pair of square reflective pools surrounded by America’s largest manYou canwalk or cycle from Manhattan toBrooklyn via the Brooklyn Bridge Manhattan’s famous skyscrapers include the Empire State Building,the Chrysler Building and One World Trade Center made waterfalls mark the precise location where the Twin Towers once stood. Around each pool’s edge, the names of the 2,983 victims are inscribed into bronze parapets as a tribute to those who lost their lives.
You’ll need to keep energy levels up with plenty of food while exploring New York’s sprawling neighbourhoods. As luck would have it, this city is one of the best places in the world for eating. Whether you choose to dine in style at one of NYC’s many Michelin-starred restaurants or keep it real with meals from street vendors, foodies will be in awe of the culinary variety that can be found here.
Pizza is something of a speciality in New York, and there’s no shortage of quality outlets to grab a slice from. Some of the best include Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn and Lombardi’s in Little Italy. You’ll also want to grab a bagel while you’re in town; for this, try the smoked salmon and cream cheese number at Russ & Daughters. And what would breakfast in New York be without coffee? The city is awash with independent cafés you’ll barely walk two blocks without discovering one.
But you shouldn’t confine yourself to purely local flavours during your stay in New York. There’s a whole world of cuisine here, with more than 200 different nationalities calling the city home. Make the most of this global microcosm by sampling as many delicacies as possible, from steaming noodle bowls in Chinatown to mouthwatering pierogies in Little Poland.