Things to Do in New York
Prices, opening hours, best times to visit and the stuff nobody tells you, everything you need for a first trip to New York, plus one pigeon's opinions on all of it.
Loud, fast, relentless, my kind of city, frankly. This is the proper, no-nonsense guide to things to do in New York: what things actually cost, when to go, what to skip, and which bits are worth the queue. Eight main stops below, roughly in the order that makes sense for a first visit, plus a quiz waiting for you elsewhere on this site to see if you were paying attention.
Central Park
Eight hundred and forty acres in the middle of one of the densest cities on Earth, one of the most visited urban parks in the world, and one of the better free things to do anywhere. I have colleagues who never leave it. Very insular, that crowd, but I understand the appeal.
Bethesda Terrace, the Bow Bridge, and Strawberry Fields (the John Lennon memorial) are the classic photo stops, but honestly just wandering off the main paths is the better move, the park's big enough to lose the crowds within ten minutes of any entrance.
Hours Daily, 6am–1am
Address Spans Manhattan roughly 59th to 110th Street
Official site centralparknyc.org
The Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island
Standing on her own island in New York Harbor since 1886, a gift from France, and one of the most recognisable monuments on the planet. Her torch was actually closed to visitors for decades after a nearby explosion in 1916, even I didn't know that one until I did my research.
The ferry (the only way to reach the island) also stops at Ellis Island, where over 12 million immigrants were processed between 1892 and 1954, now a properly moving museum. Pedestal and crown access need booking well in advance, they sell out fast, especially crown tickets, which are limited to a handful of visitors per hour.
Hours Ferries run roughly 8.30am–3.30pm, more frequent in summer
Getting there Ferry departs from Battery Park, Manhattan, or Liberty State Park, New Jersey
Official site statuecruises.com
The High Line
An elevated former freight railway line, converted into a public park, running through Manhattan's West Side. Old freight train tracks, now full of plants and tourists taking photos of each other. I approve of any infrastructure that gets reclaimed by greenery.
It runs about a mile and a half from Gansevoort Street up to Hudson Yards, and it's free the entire way. Go early morning or early evening if you can, it gets busy midday in summer, more shuffling than strolling.
Hours Daily, roughly 7am–10pm in summer, shorter in winter
Address Runs from Gansevoort Street to West 34th Street, Manhattan
Official site thehighline.org
Empire State Building
A 102-storey Art Deco tower that defined the New York skyline for nearly a century, the world's tallest building for 40 years, and still one of the most recognisable in the world. The open-air 86th floor observatory wraps around the spire at just over 1,000 feet, no glass between you and the view.
The 102nd floor is an extra, enclosed, climate-controlled, and pricier, a good option if the weather's bad or you want the quieter of the two decks. Either way, book online ahead of time, the queues for walk-up tickets can eat a large chunk of your day.
Hours Daily, roughly 10am–6pm depending on the day, last elevator 45 minutes before close
Address 350 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10118
Official site esbnyc.com
9/11 Memorial & Museum
The two reflecting pools sit exactly where the Twin Towers stood, the largest man-made waterfalls in North America, names of the nearly 3,000 victims inscribed around the edges. The outdoor memorial is free and open to everyone; the museum below tells the fuller story with genuine care and, unsurprisingly, isn't a quick visit.
Give the museum at least two hours, longer if you want to read and watch everything. It's a heavy visit, appropriately so, pace yourself and don't try to combine it with too much else that same day.
Hours Memorial daily 7.30am–9pm; museum typically 9am–7pm, last entry earlier
Address 180 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10007
Official site 911memorial.org
Times Square
Impossible to skip and, honestly, worth seeing at least once, the screens, the crowds, the sheer sensory overload of it all. It's louder and more crowded than nearly anywhere else in the city, and everyone knows it, which somehow doesn't stop several hundred thousand people showing up daily anyway.
It's free to just stand there and gawk, which is really the whole point. The TKTS booth on the red steps sells same-day discounted Broadway tickets if a show catches your eye while you're there.
Hours Always open, busiest evenings and weekends
Address Broadway & 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10036
Official site timessquarenyc.org
Brooklyn Bridge
Opened in 1883, once the longest suspension bridge in the world, and still one of the best free things to do in the city. The pedestrian walkway runs above the traffic, roughly a 40-minute walk end to end with proper skyline views the whole way across.
Walk from Manhattan into Brooklyn rather than back, DUMBO on the Brooklyn side has good coffee and the famous view of the Manhattan Bridge framed between two buildings on Washington Street, worth the detour.
Hours Always open, best early morning or just before sunset to avoid the crowds
Getting there Entrance near City Hall, Manhattan, or Adams Street, Brooklyn
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Two million objects spanning five thousand years, one of the largest art museums in the world, and impossible to see properly in a single visit, don't try. The Egyptian wing (with an entire ancient temple reassembled indoors) and the rooftop garden (seasonal, with excellent Central Park views) are good places to anchor a first visit.
New York residents pay what they wish; everyone else pays the standard admission, which also covers same-week entry to the Met Cloisters uptown if you want the medieval art wing too.
Hours Daily except Wednesday, roughly 10am–5pm, Fri–Sat until 9pm
Address 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028
Official site metmuseum.org
Best time to visit New York
Spring (April–June) and autumn (September–November) give you the best weather for walking the High Line, Central Park, and the bridge without summer's humidity or winter's real cold. Autumn also gets you Central Park's foliage, which is worth timing a visit around if you can. For the full month-by-month breakdown, including when hotel prices actually drop, see our Best Time to Visit New York City guide.
December has its own appeal despite the cold, the holiday windows on Fifth Avenue and the Rockefeller Center tree are worth seeing if your visit lines up with it, just expect the biggest crowds and highest hotel prices of the year.
Getting around New York
The subway runs 24 hours and covers the whole city, a MetroCard or contactless tap works across the network and is by far the cheapest way to get around. Manhattan itself is very walkable between nearby sights, Midtown to the 9/11 Memorial is a proper hike on foot, but Central Park to the Empire State Building is a pleasant 25-minute walk if the weather's playing along. If you're mapping out exactly how to spend your time, our 24 Hours in New York City and 2 Day New York City Itinerary guides lay out an hour-by-hour and day-by-day plan.
Keeping an eye on costs? New York City on a Budget covers what's free and where the tourist markup actually is. And once your dates are set, Where to Stay & Eat in New York City breaks down the neighbourhoods.
Frequently asked questions
- Is New York worth visiting?
- Yes, easily. Free world-class parks, some of the best museums anywhere, and an energy that's hard to find elsewhere.
- How many days do you need in New York?
- Four full days covers the highlights above comfortably; a week lets you add Brooklyn neighbourhoods and a Broadway show without rushing.
- Is New York expensive?
- Yes, one of the pricier cities on this list. The free things (Central Park, the High Line, Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square) help balance it out.
- What is New York famous for?
- The Statue of Liberty, Broadway, Central Park, and being one of the most influential cities in the world for finance, art, and culture.
That's everything I've got.
A note before you plan around this: prices, opening hours, booking requirements and admission details in this guide were correct at the time of writing, but venues change these often and sometimes without notice. Always check directly with the attraction or its official website before you travel or build a schedule around a specific time or price.
Before travelling to any destination featured on this site, please also check your government's latest travel advice, as safety situations, entry requirements and travel warnings can change.
