New York City in Five Days
Guide for a short trip to New York City
You can easily spend months in New York City and the surrounding boroughs and still not see and experience enough. Here's a list of first-timer sights to see. Try to pick a few things from these lists and not rush too much because you'll be back.
Central Park & Museum Mile
Central Park
You can easily spend a full day exploring Central Park. Visit the Loeb Boathouse, Central Park Zoo, Bethesda Terrace, and try a bike or walking tour.
The Museum Mile
On the famous 5th Avenue, you'll find eight of the world's best museums:
1. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
2. Solomon Guggenheim Museum
3. El Museo del Barrio
4. Museum of the City of New York
5. Jewish Museum
6. Cooper-Hewitt National Museum of Design
7. National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts
8. Goethe House German Cultural Center
Not on Museum Mile but should be considered in your museum planning:
1. The Museum of Modern Art
2. The Frick Collection
3. The Morgan Library & Museum
4. Neue Galerie New York
5. National Museum of the American Indian
6. American Museum of Natural History
7. Brooklyn Museum
8. Whitney Museum of American Art
9. Tenement Museum
Midtown & Times Square
Midtown Highlights
Home to the most iconic buildings and neighborhoods in New York, including:
1. Chrysler Building
2. Empire State Building
3. United Nations Headquarters
4. St. Patrick's Cathedral
5. New York Public Library
6. Rockefeller Center and the Top of the Rock viewing deck
7. Radio City Music Hall
8. Grand Central Station
9. Times Square and Broadway
10. Flatiron District
11. Gramercy Park
12. Union Square
13. Hell's Kitchen
Downtown
So much is in lower Manhattan that it will take a few days to explore the various neighborhoods and sights.
1. Chinatown
2. Little Italy
3. Nolita
4. Lower East Side
-Wall Street
-9/11 Memorial and Museum
-Stone Street
-Tenement Museum
5. Chelsea & The Highline
6. Meatpacking District
7. Greenwich Village & Washington Square Park
8. West Village
9. SoHo
10. Tribeca
11. East Village & Alphabet City
12. Noho
13. Statute of Liberty
Farther down from the rest of downtown, the Statute of Liberty on Ellis Island is accessible by ferry tours. If you want to only see the statute from a distance, the Staten Island Ferry is free and runs frequently.
Brooklyn
1. Brooklyn Bridge. If weather permits, walk across.
2. Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
3. Williamsburg
4. Greenpoint
5. Bushwick
6. Coney Island. Farther out but a perfect experience outside of the city.
Bronx & Harlem
The Bronx
1. New York Botanical Garden
2. The Bronx Zoo
3. For Food: Arthur Avenue, "Little Italy"
Harlem & East Harlem
Explore Harlem and iconic sights like the Apollo Theater and visit East Harlem, known as "el Barrio" for colorful street art and authentic Puerto Rican dishes.