New York: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
This is the end where the city began, and also the end where it was broken. Start by the ferry that passes the statue, climb through Wall Street to where the towers stood, and finish on the Brooklyn Bridge — which in 1883 was the tallest structure on the continent. Go early: after eleven the bridge is a queue.
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A short history of New York
The Lenape lived on the island of Manhattan until Henry Hudson sailed here in 1609, and in 1624 the Dutch founded New Amsterdam. In 1654 23 Jews who had fled Recife in Brazil arrived here and founded the first Jewish community in North America. In 1664 the English captured the colony and named it New York. In 1789 George Washington was sworn in here as the first president. In 1886 the Statue of Liberty was erected in the harbour, and in 1898 the five boroughs were united into one city. Millions of immigrants passed through Ellis Island, and New York is the city with the largest Jewish community in the world outside Israel. On 11 September 2001 the Twin Towers collapsed.
The ten best sights in New York
1Times SquareLoud, bright, and worth exactly twenty minutes
2Empire State BuildingThe 86th floor is the one with the open air
3Brooklyn BridgeWalk it from Brooklyn to Manhattan, not the other way
4Statue of LibertyThe Staten Island ferry passes it for free
5The High LineA freight railway turned into a mile of garden
6Central ParkFour kilometres long. Enter at 59th and walk north
7Little IslandA park on concrete tulips in the Hudson, free
8Roosevelt Island TramA cable car over the East River for one subway fare
9Staten Island FerryFree, twenty-five minutes, the best view in the city
10Coney IslandAn hour on the Q train to a boardwalk and a wooden rollercoaster
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in New York →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in New York:
Free walking tours in New York
Downtown
This is the end where the city began, and also the end where it was broken. Start by the ferry that passes the statue, climb through Wall Street to where the towers stood, and finish on the Brooklyn Bridge — which in 1883 was the tallest structure on the continent. Go early: after eleven the bridge is a queue.
- Staten Island Ferry · Free, every half hour, and it passes the Statue of Liberty close enough. New Yorkers use it to get to work; you can ride it there and straight back.
- Trinity Church · For fifty years the tallest thing in New York, and now a small dark church with Alexander Hamilton buried in its yard, swallowed by banks.
- Charging Bull · An Italian sculptor dumped it outside the stock exchange one night in 1989 without asking. The city impounded it, the public demanded it back, and it never left.
- 9/11 Memorial · Two square voids exactly where the towers stood, water falling into them and vanishing. The names are cut through the bronze, and on a birthday a white rose appears in the letters.
- Oculus · A railway station shaped like a bird leaving a hand. Every 11 September at 10:28, the minute the north tower fell, the skylight is opened.
- Brooklyn Bridge · Its builder died before it began; his son took over and was crippled by the work; his wife finished it. Walk the wooden deck above the traffic.
The Village
The only streets in Manhattan that ignore the grid. Greenwich Village was built before the city was numbered, which is why West 4th crosses West 10th — it genuinely does. The Beats, the folk revival and Stonewall all happened inside these few blocks, and so does some of the best standing-up food in the city.
- Washington Square Arch · Built in wood for a centenary, kept in marble because nobody wanted it gone. Under the park are twenty thousand graves from a potter’s field.
- Stonewall Inn · A mob-run bar raided by police in June 1969. The customers fought back for three nights, and every Pride parade in the world dates from that pavement.
- Bleecker Street · Bob Dylan walked this block with his girlfriend for the cover of Freewheelin’. The record shops are gone; the pizza counters are not.
- Village Vanguard · A basement with a triangular room and no decoration, where Coltrane and Evans recorded live. Still one set a night, still cash at the door.
- The High Line · A freight line that carried meat into the city, abandoned for twenty-five years and nearly demolished. Two neighbours fought for it and it became a garden two storeys up.
- Chelsea Market · The factory where the Oreo was invented, now a corridor of food stalls with the original brick and pipework left exposed.
Uptown
The top half of Manhattan is really one big park with museums along its edge. Central Park is not nature — every rock, lake and path in it was designed and laid by hand. Start at the southern corner and walk north along Fifth Avenue, where six museums stand in a row.
- Columbus Circle · Every distance in New York is officially measured from this spot. The park starts here and runs four kilometres north.
- Bethesda Terrace · The only formal architecture in the park, and the angel on the fountain was the first public commission in New York given to a woman.
- Strawberry Fields · A mosaic with one word on it, facing the building where John Lennon was shot in 1980. Somebody is always playing a guitar here.
- Metropolitan Museum · An Egyptian temple that Egypt gave away, rebuilt indoors beside a wall of glass. Two million objects — choose two wings and leave the rest.
- Guggenheim · Frank Lloyd Wright’s last building, and a spiral you are meant to walk down rather than up. Take the lift to the top and let gravity do the curating.
- Natural History Museum · A blue whale hanging over the hall at ninety-four feet, and dinosaur floors arranged by family tree rather than by age.
Getting to New York and getting around
- JFK Airport · AirTrain to the E train, an hour to midtown
- LaGuardia · Closest airport — the free Q70 bus meets the subway
- Grand Central · Go in even if you are not catching a train
- Penn Station · Trains to Boston and Washington
- Port Authority · The bus out of the city, to anywhere
Museums in New York
- Whitney Museum · American art, at the foot of the High Line
- New-York Historical Society · The oldest museum in the city, and the Tiffany lamps
- Museum of the City of New York · Four hundred years of the city in one building
- Brooklyn Museum · Egypt, and the dinner party that changed feminist art
- Tenement Museum · One building, and the families who lived in it
Parks and gardens in New York
- Governors Island · No cars, hammocks, and the skyline behind you
- Prospect Park · The same designers as Central Park — and they preferred this one
- Fort Tryon Park · Cliffs over the Hudson, at the top of the island
- Riverside Park · Six kilometres of river path with almost no tourists
- Green-Wood Cemetery · A Victorian park with graves in it, and wild parrots
Things to do in New York with kids
- Bronx Zoo · The largest city zoo in the United States
- Luna Park, Coney Island · The 1927 wooden Cyclone still runs
- Natural History Museum · The whale, the dinosaurs and the planetarium
- Jane’s Carousel · A 1922 carousel in a glass box under the bridge
- Children’s Museum of Manhattan · Five floors, all of it hands-on
Cheap eats in New York
Eight counters where you order standing, pay in cash and eat on your feet. A pastrami cutter who has done nothing else for thirty years, a dollar-slice window, a lamb burger in a basement, a bagel queue that moves faster than it looks. None of them is a restaurant.
- Katz’s Delicatessen · Pastrami cut by hand, $26, since 1888
- Joe’s Pizza · A plain slice, $3.50, eaten standing on Carmine Street
- Xi’an Famous Foods · Hand-ripped noodles and a cumin lamb burger, $10
- Mamoun’s Falafel · Open since 1971, open till four in the morning, $5
- Ess-a-Bagel · Boiled then baked, and the queue moves
- Gray’s Papaya · Two hot dogs and a papaya drink, standing, $7
- Los Tacos No. 1 · No chairs anywhere, and the tortillas are pressed to order
- Di Fara Pizza · An hour in Midwood, and worth it
Live music in New York
- Village Vanguard · One set a night, cash at the door
- Smalls · Jazz until four, and a jam after midnight
- Birdland · Named for Charlie Parker, who played the first one
- Bowery Ballroom · A 1929 hall, and the best mid-size room in the city
- Brooklyn Steel · A steel plant in East Williamsburg, loud and tall
- Apollo Theater · Amateur night every Wednesday since 1934
Nightlife in New York
- Please Don’t Tell · Through the phone booth. Book at three in the afternoon
- Attaboy · No menu — they ask what you like and build it
- Employees Only · A psychic in the window, a bar behind her
- House of Yes · Circus, dancing, and a costume you are expected to wear
- Nowadays · A backyard in Queens that runs from Sunday afternoon
Holy places in New York
- St John the Divine · Unfinished after 130 years, and blessing animals
- Eldridge Street Synagogue · The first great synagogue built by immigrants
- Temple Emanu-El · The largest synagogue in the world, on Fifth Avenue
- Riverside Church · Where Martin Luther King gave his speech against Vietnam
Nature and day trips near New York
- Inwood Hill Park · The last original forest on Manhattan
- Jamaica Bay Refuge · Three hundred bird species, inside the city limits
- Wave Hill · A garden over the Hudson where Mark Twain once lived
- Staten Island Greenbelt · Fifty kilometres of trail, reached by the free ferry
Frequently asked questions about New York
What is there to see in New York?
The top sights in New York are Times Square, Empire State Building and Brooklyn Bridge. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in New York?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of New York without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in New York?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in New York, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Downtown.
How do you get to New York and get around?
The main ways are JFK Airport, LaGuardia and Grand Central. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in New York, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in New York that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in New York for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.