Things to do in New York: Top 10

A building so large that it has its own zip code, visiting the Empire State Building – with its long maze of queues and epic elevator journeys – is a feat of endurance. But everyone should probably do it at least once. Formerly the world’s highest building, you can still see five of the USA’s fifty states from this Art Deco giant’s observation deck – plus the whole of Manhattan island. The beautiful Chrysler building – once a great rival for the ‘world’s tallest building’ title – gleams, defeated, below.

The Empire State Building is open from 8.00 am ’til 2.00 am. Whilst there’s no truly quiet time to visit, before 10.00 am is your best bet, especially if you're bringing kids. Buying an express pass helps beat the long queues inside, though you’ll still have to go through airport-strict levels of security. Once you’re through, you can visit the 86th or 102nd floor.

Whilst the 86th floor might seem like a cop-out for the altitude-inclined, it’s cheaper, out in the open air, and arguably offers a better view than going higher up.

Book the Empire State Building Main Observation Deck (86th floor)

When people refer to Top of the Rock (usually in some sentence like ‘we didn’t go up the Empire State Building, we went to Top of the Rock’), they are referring to the observation deck at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. This colossal skyscraper has one of New York’s most popular viewing platforms on the 70th floor. From here, you can see just how massive Central Park is, spread like a big green picnic blanket below the tower. Plus, you’ll actually get the Empire State building in your viewfinder (something number 1 on our list will never be able to claim). Like the Empire State Building, the most popular time to visit Top of the Rock is at sunset, when the light is best for photographs.

On ground level, the Rockefeller Center comes into its own in the holiday season, when you can see the famous Radio City Rockettes chorus line, inhale the evergreen scent from one of New York’s largest Christmas trees, and slip over the city’s most famous skating rink.

Sunset is the most popular time to visit the Top of the Rock. Expect to pay a $10 surcharge if you book one of the coveted sundowner slots.

Book Top of the Rock New York

America’s First Lady in waiting, the beautiful Statue of Liberty, stands on an island in New York Harbor. You can reach her easily by ferry. Once you meet her, remember to say ‘Bonjour’; she’s French, built by famous French engineer Gustav Eiffel. You can also book to visit her crown – though climbing up the 146-step spiral staircase is not for the faint hearted.

Liberty Island and Ellis Island are a short ferry ride apart. When Ellis Island served as an immigration inspection station, 12 million immigrants passed through its offices – including Bob Hope in 1908 and Cary Grant in 1920 – alongside countless forgotten others. The island’s museum is at once inspiring and heart-breaking – as immigration into the US remains resolutely difficult.

New York’s other islands provide a breezy escape from the city centre, whether you’re chugging over to Staten Island, relaxing on Governor’s or you’ve entered a hot dog eating competition over at Coney.

Tour the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

It was always going to be difficult for New York to make a memorial to the victims and heroes of 9/11. The scale of the tragedy – and the enormous space left by the fallen Twin Towers of the World Trade Center – seemed impossible to fill. But now the footprints of the two towers have been turned into two sunken pools continuously filling with cascades of water. The ‘Reflecting Absence’ memorial – as it’s known – is a fitting, large-scale tribute.

Below this simple, but monolithic pair of monuments you’ll find the National September 11 Museum set in the foundations of the original Twin Towers. Tissue stations are provided – and often needed – around the exhibits, which include harrowing burnt-out artefacts and melted equipment from brave first-responders. Complete your tour of the area, and end with a ray of hope – by ascending to the observation deck of the One World Trade Center. The tallest building in New York City has popular skyline views.

This isn’t the only place you can contemplate the events of 9/11. The 9/11 Tribute Museum is five minutes south and run by the September 11th Families' Association. It offers powerful guided tours led by people who were personally affected by the events.

Tour the National September 11 Memorial

In the centre of the world’s busiest city there’s one miraculously peaceful haven: Central Park. With 834 acres of green space to its name, it cuts a huge grassy swathe out of Upper Manhattan. Tower blocks peer in on all sides, like spectators at a terrarium. In the park, you’ll see New Yorkers at their most leisurely. Students lie on the grass, while tourists, Instagrammers and national press alike stand side by side to snap photographs of Bow Bridge. Pampered pooches are kept on tight leashes around the squirrels, but children run riot – with sleds in winter and with model boats at Conservatory Water in the summer.

There are permanent residents, too: statues of Alice in Wonderland and Balto, the brave Alaskan sled dog – plus Strawberry Fields – a quiet corner of the park dedicated to the Beatles’ John Lennon, which sits below his former home in Dakota Apartments.

In the summer, come here for Shakespeare in the Park – free evening performances of Shakespeare’s most beloved plays – put on by the Delacorte Theater.

Central Park bike rental

It should come as no surprise that a city as culturally important as New York is full of museums. For the most comprehensive collection, make your way to the Met – that’s the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in case you didn’t know, and it’s one of the largest museums in the world. This massive collection has over two million works spread over several buildings. The main museum is on 5th Avenue. Most people head straight to the Egyptian rooms, which can be exhaustingly busy, though you shouldn’t miss the important Temple of Dendur alongside the usual morbid ranks of mummies.

You’ll see other blockbuster treasure in the arms and armour gallery – and from here you can easily transition into the America Wing for the museum’s prized ‘Washington Crossing the Delaware’ by Emanuel Leutze. It also houses more recent work by Georgia O’Keeffe. The Impressionists are upstairs. Spot Van Gogh and Monet – the most recognisable artworks in the museum.

Look out for the Met’s fashion exhibitions. These spectacular events attract the city’s Miranda Priestleys.

Purchase the New York CityPASS for access to six top landmarks, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The most visited place in the world, Times Square in the Theater District is a blaze of digital billboards and is usually filled with milling tourists. Many people are here to get cheap Broadway tickets – though some are just here to snap a selfie at the centre of the world.

The best way to get day seats at Broadway’s staple shows is to queue at a TKTS booth: there’s one right on Times Square, under the steps. Here you’ll get 50% off Broadway hits like The Lion King, Chicago or Jersey Boys. You can also book online or enter day seat lotteries for the biggest shows – Hamilton has the hardest tickets to snaffle up (but it’s always worth a shot).

Look out for a street performer known as the naked cowboy performing at lunchtimes (mercifully, he wears y-fronts).

Pick five attractions for your New York City Explorer Pass – including Ripley’s Believe it or not on Times Square

Here’s one for the kids, the creature lovers and the Jurassic enthusiasts: the American Museum of Natural History. It might have found new fame in the Night at the Museum films, but it’s the exhibits – including a new and important climate change display – that keeps people returning.

This museum is home to some 33 million specimens – some adorable, some possessing far too many legs to be considered cute. There’s a T-Rex skeleton in the Saurischian hall on the fourth floor that will have kids screaming in delight. The dinosaurs are kept away from the hall of meteorites on the first floor, where the largest rock to hit the US from space has stood since 1906. There’s also a huge space devoted to… space: the Rose Center, which has an enormous planetarium.

Don’t leave without swinging by a felled 1,400 year old Giant Sequoia (just try and count those rings!) in the Hall of American Forests. Or for something even older, look out for the famous Lucy: her skeletal remains are 3.18 million years old, making her one of our earliest known ancestors. She hangs out in the Anne and Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins.

Visit the American Museum of Natural History

You haven’t seen the real New York until you leave Manhattan. 10,000 pedestrians cross Brooklyn Bridge every day to New York City’s famous Brooklyn borough. Be one of them on this 35-minute stroll across the Hudson. The bridge isn’t the only attractive sight. Take in great views of the Statue of Liberty, and Lower Manhattan through a fan of suspension cables. You can also make the journey on a Citi Bike – available for rent throughout the city. This makes the crossing much quicker but is harder to do with an ice cream in your hand.

Once you’re on the Brooklyn side, Williamsburg is your nearest hipster hangout. Dumbo (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) has the Brooklyn Bridge Park, whilst Brooklyn Botanic Garden comes into its own in spring with the arrival of the cherry blossom.

Brooklyn Bridge Park is a waterfront park that comprises a series of piers – and even a small pebble beach (off Pier 4). The main reason to hang out here is to feast on a picnic – and a stupendous skyline view. For more great views, consider a sightseeing ferry tour.

Book a sightseeing ferry tour

Fed up of always looking up at skyscrapers? A walk on the High Line will sooth the crick in your neck. Formerly an abandoned railway viaduct, the High Line reopened in 2009 as a public park. Its long, thin walkway trails past inviting lawns, public art and flower beds – all raised several metres up from ground level. It’s free to visit. Enter and leave the park from a number of different points in Chelsea via elevators and staircases. Stroll along for views of West Manhattan and to observe hipsters in their natural habitat: lounging on the High Line’s deckchairs. Look out for Nabisco – the birthplace of the Oreo cookie – and Frank Gehry’s IAC building.

After a walk, pop into the nearby Chelsea Market: an urban food court selling mini doughnuts, gelato – and massive fried chicken sandwiches.

For classic glamour, it can only be The Plaza. This grand dame of the New York scene is set on Central Park and serves a lovely afternoon tea. Staying here feels like staying in a marble-clad resort: with shops, food halls, restaurants and a spa and salon all under one roof, it’s tempting to make like Eloise – the eponymous children’s book heroine who is said to live on the ‘tippy-top floor’ – and never leave.

Book a stay at The Plaza

In the heart of the hubbub sits the smart InterContinental Barclay. This modern hotel has a marvellous location – and you can make the most of it with your room’s floor-to-ceiling windows. The spacious bathrooms have luxurious rain showers – perfect after a stint in the hotel gym.

Book a stay at InterContinental Times Square