Share a vlog
New York

New York

United States, North America

Skyscrapers, world-class museums, Central Park and five boroughs of neighbourhoods, all tied together by a subway that never stops.

Quick decisions

How many days?

3 days: Lower Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park and one big museum. 4 to 5 days: add Brooklyn, the High Line and a Broadway show. 6 days or more: add Queens, Harlem or a day trip up the Hudson.

Where should I stay?

Midtown: central and easy, but little charm. Greenwich Village or the Lower East Side: streets you'll want to walk at night. Upper West Side: calm, next to Central Park. More in our where to stay guide.

Do I need a car?

No, and please don't. Parking is scarce, traffic is slow, and since January 2025 cars pay a congestion toll to enter Manhattan at or below 60th Street. The subway runs 24 hours.

Best for

First-timers: yes, it's easier than it looks. Food lovers: every cuisine on earth within a subway ride. Families: yes, with parks and the Natural History Museum. Art fans: the Met and MoMA alone fill two days.

Before you go

ESTA: most visa-waiver travellers need one, and the fee went up sharply in September 2025. Book ahead: Statue of Liberty pedestal and crown tickets, Broadway and popular restaurants. Tipping: expected almost everywhere.

Getting around

From the airports: AirTrain JFK plus subway or LIRR, NJ Transit from Newark, the free Q70 bus from LaGuardia. In the city: tap a contactless card or phone with OMNY. Details in our getting there guide.

Continue your trip

Amtrak trains reach Philadelphia in under an hour and a half, Washington DC in about three hours and Boston in about four. Metro-North runs up the Hudson Valley to towns like Beacon and Cold Spring.

Overview

New York is bigger than any list you bring to it. The famous pieces are all real: the view down Fifth Avenue, the Statue of Liberty from the water, the Met's Egyptian temple, a slice of pizza folded in half on a street corner. But the city works on a scale of neighbourhoods, and each one feels like a different town, from the brownstone streets of Brooklyn Heights to the Chinese bakeries of Flushing.

Give it four or five days, plan one area per day to cut down on travel, and walk as much as your feet allow. Our New York travel guide explains how the city fits together.

Getting there

Three big airports serve the city: JFK in Queens, Newark across the river in New Jersey, and LaGuardia, the closest to Manhattan. Each has a rail or bus link, and Newark's AirTrain is being replaced, with weekday shuttle buses during the works. Our getting there guide compares every option.

Where to stay

Midtown is the practical choice for a short first trip, close to Times Square, Grand Central and most subway lines. Greenwich Village and the Lower East Side have more life on the street, the Upper West Side suits families, and Brooklyn gives better value with a view back at the skyline. We compare them in our where to stay guide.

Things to do

Most first trips circle three things, and we have full guides to Central Park, Brooklyn and the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. For the museums, the observation decks, the High Line and Broadway, see our things to do list.

Food and drink

Start with the classics: a plain slice of New York pizza with a thin, foldable crust, a bagel with cream cheese (a "schmear") and lox, and pastrami on rye from a Jewish deli. Then go further. Queens alone has regional Chinese, Colombian, Tibetan and Greek food, and the 7 train through Jackson Heights and Flushing is the city's best food tour.

Culture

The Dutch founded New Amsterdam at the tip of Manhattan in the 1620s, and the English renamed it New York in 1664. Through the 19th and early 20th centuries millions of immigrants arrived through the harbour, many processed at Ellis Island, and their languages, food and churches still shape the neighbourhoods. Around a third of today's New Yorkers were born outside the United States.

Reviews

No reviews yet.