New York, United StatesThe Big Apple

New York

Five boroughs of walkable neighborhoods, museums, food and live shows. It rewards a long weekend on foot and by subway, and it is the natural hub for any trip along the northeast corridor.

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Best months: Apr to Dec
Ideal stay: 3 to 5 days
Train: Not confirmed
Bus: Not confirmed

Photo by Yilei (Jerry) Bao on Unsplash

Best months

January
February
March
April, a good time to go
May, a good time to go
June, a good time to go
July
August
September, a good time to go
October, a good time to go
November, a good time to go
December, a good time to go

Known as

Big city
Arts city
Food city
Historic

Getting there

Highway / road trip
Commercial airport
Local public transit
Ferry

Train and bus

Train: Not confirmed
Bus: Not confirmed

People

8,804,190

in the city, 20,112,448 in the metro area

Languages

English

New York is a set of villages that share a subway. Manhattan gets most of the attention, but Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island each have their own streets, food and pace. Most visitors sleep on the island and cross a bridge when they want a change. North of 14th Street the grid makes Manhattan easy to read, while Greenwich Village and the streets below it wind around older lanes. Plan each day around one area rather than a list of sights, because the walk between two places is often the best part. Expect to cover a lot of ground on foot and to be tired by evening.

The big institutions are worth planning around. The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History each fill a day if you let them, so choose a few galleries and leave the rest. Central Park links the two sides of the Upper East and Upper West Sides. Downtown, you can walk the Brooklyn Bridge, take the ferry past the Statue of Liberty, and see the 9/11 Memorial. The High Line gives a quiet elevated walk on the west side, and Grand Central Terminal is worth ten minutes even if you are not catching a train. Book a Broadway show for at least one evening.

Eating is a main reason to come. Every neighborhood has a signature: dumplings and noodles in Flushing and Chinatown, pizza by the slice, bagels with lox, delis on the Lower East Side, and Caribbean, Korean and Ethiopian kitchens spread across the boroughs. Many of the best meals are cheap counters rather than famous restaurants. For drinks, the East Village and Lower East Side have small bars, Williamsburg has breweries and rooftops, and the West Village has jazz clubs and cabaret rooms. Late-night food is easy to find almost anywhere, which suits a city that does not go to bed early.

Choose a base near a subway line you will use often. Midtown puts you close to Penn Station, Grand Central and the theatres. Lower Manhattan is quieter at night and close to the ferries. Brooklyn and Long Island City reward you with more space and a one or two stop ride into Midtown. Do not drive in the city. The subway runs all day and night, buses fill the gaps, and the ferries are a pleasant way to cross the harbor. If you arrive by car, leave it in a garage or at the edge and use transit for everything else.

Spring and autumn are the comfortable seasons, with long walks, outdoor tables and clear light. Summer is hot and humid, though parks and rooftops stay busy. December brings department store windows and the tree at Rockefeller Center, along with crowds. January and February are cold but quieter, which suits museums and theatre. Give New York at least three days to see the headline places without rushing, and five if you want to explore neighborhoods beyond Manhattan. A first visit can easily use a full week, and repeat visitors tend to return for one borough at a time.

New York is the hub of the northeast corridor. Amtrak runs south to Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, and north through New Haven and Providence to Boston. Highways and commuter trains open up the Hudson Valley, the Jersey Shore, Long Island and the Connecticut coast. It works well as the start or end of a long loop, because flights and trains arrive from everywhere. If you are driving a larger route, plan to park once on arrival and leave the car alone until you head out again. Metro-North trains from Grand Central reach Hudson Valley towns such as Cold Spring for an easy day out.

Highlights

Central Park
Walk the lawns, lakes and Bethesda Terrace, or hire a bike for the loop.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
A huge Fifth Avenue museum where a few galleries make a good visit.
Brooklyn Bridge
Walk the pedestrian deck from Brooklyn toward the lower Manhattan skyline.
The High Line
An elevated park on a former rail line on the west side.
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
Reached by ferry from Battery Park or Liberty State Park.
Grand Central Terminal
A working station with a famous main concourse and a painted ceiling.
Broadway
Theatres around Times Square put on shows most evenings of the week.
Staten Island Ferry
A commuter ferry that passes the Statue of Liberty on the way.

Neighborhoods

Greenwich Village
Low-rise streets, cafes, small music venues and Washington Square Park.
Lower East Side
Old tenement streets with delis, bars and small galleries.
Upper West Side
Residential and calm, with the Natural History museum and Central Park on its doorstep.
Williamsburg
A Brooklyn waterfront district of breweries, record shops and rooftop views.
Harlem
A historic Black cultural center with jazz, soul food and the Apollo Theater.
Flushing
A Queens neighborhood known for Chinese and Korean food, reached by the 7 train.

Getting around

Walk and use the subway, which runs all day and night, with buses and ferries to fill the gaps. Driving in the city is slow and parking is hard.

Where to next from New York

Pick a city to see how far it is and how to get there, then add it to your route. Choose how many miles out to look, up to 200.

Show on the map Cities Listings Both

19 cities within 100 mi of New York by road.

Zoom with the buttons, or hold ctrl while you scroll. Our cities are the markers; other towns on the map are for reference only.

Pick a city on the map to see how far it is and add it to a route.

All 19 cities within 100 mi, with travel times

Jersey City New Jersey
about 4 mi · about 6 min by car · estimated
Newark New Jersey
about 11 mi · about 17 min by car · estimated
Elizabeth New Jersey
about 14 mi · about 23 min by car · estimated
Paterson New Jersey
about 21 mi · about 33 min by car · estimated
Yonkers New York
about 22 mi · about 36 min by car · estimated
Woodbridge New Jersey
about 23 mi · about 37 min by car · estimated
Edison New Jersey
about 29 mi · about 47 min by car · estimated
Stamford Connecticut
about 42 mi · about 48 min by car · estimated
Norwalk Connecticut
about 50 mi · about 57 min by car · estimated
Lakewood New Jersey
about 56 mi · about 1 h 4 min by car · estimated
Cold Spring New York
about 61 mi · about 1 h 9 min by car · estimated
Toms River New Jersey
about 63 mi · about 1 h 12 min by car · estimated
Trenton New Jersey
about 65 mi · about 1 h 14 min by car · estimated
Bridgeport Connecticut
about 67 mi · about 1 h 16 min by car · estimated
Lambertville New Jersey
about 67 mi · about 1 h 17 min by car · estimated
Danbury Connecticut
about 69 mi · about 1 h 18 min by car · estimated
New Haven Connecticut
about 87 mi · about 1 h 39 min by car · estimated
Waterbury Connecticut
about 96 mi · about 1 h 49 min by car · estimated
Allentown Pennsylvania
about 97 mi · about 1 h 50 min by car · estimated

Best months

Known as

Getting there

Train and bus

People

Languages

Highlights

Neighborhoods

Getting around

Scores

Where to stay

Things to do

Food & dining

Work remotely

Where to next from New York

Best months

Known as

Getting there

Train and bus

People

Languages

Highlights

Neighborhoods

Getting around

Scores

Where to stay

Things to do

Food & dining

In an emergency, call 911

How safe is New York?

Safety score

Violent crime

Areas to be careful in

Police

Hospitals

Work remotely

Where to next from New York

Community

When to go

Annual events

Tours and activities

Upcoming events

Routes through New York

Community

Reviews

Review New York

Locals

In an emergency, call 911

How safe is New York?

Safety score

Violent crime

Areas to be careful in

Police

Hospitals