Best Places to visit in New York : The dream of walking the streets of New York is closer than ever: soon you will land in one of the most surprising cities in the world to get to know its personality in depth and live a unique experience.
But New York is a giant in capital letters, and as such, it can be overwhelming if you don’t know where to start…
In this list we list the most essential places in NY to serve as a guide and support when organizing your trip. Don’t let the most important thing escape you! And if you want to know what other experiences you can have in the city, take a look at our list of 50 things to see and do in New York. Now, let’s get started.
Here are the Top 10 Best Places to visit in New York in 2024 :
1. Times Square
When you arrive at the epicenter of New York, you will literally be amazed in colors. Times Square is a square where important streets meet (Seventh Avenue and Broadway), and it has become a global icon and a symbol of the city due to its massive advertising with screens, the brands and stores around it, its bars, theaters, restaurants, museums and its lively atmosphere in general.
Don’t miss one of the most authentic places in the world! Buy an ice cream and/or a hamburger, sit on the steps of the square while you eat it, and enjoy the constant coming and going of the thousands and thousands of people who walk through it every day.
If you go at Christmas, book a tour to see Times Square with Christmas lights, as well as other areas of NY. It is worth seeing the city from this perspective.
2. Brooklyn Bridge
New York is full of viewpoints with perspectives that take your breath away. The Brooklyn Bridge is one of those places. It links the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn and is an emblem of 19th century engineering.
From here you get very good views of the city, especially if you go at sunset. You will be surprised by those last rays of sun illuminating the windows of the imposing skyscrapers.
Put on comfortable clothes and cross this 1,825-meter suspension bridge on foot or by bicycle, stopping to enjoy the views and take your time to take the best photos. When you cross it, you will reach Dumbo’s particular neighborhood. This area is really attractive and very, very, photogenic! Truly, the Brooklyn Bridge is an open door to magnificent perspectives of the city.
If you prefer, you can always hire a guided tour to learn about the contrasts that this city offers. You will move away from the most conventional routes to enter the most real and surprising New York. This city is full of magical corners!
3. Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a famous complex of 19 commercial buildings that houses some of the most luxurious stores in the city.
We recommend that you walk through this area and enjoy its shops and activities, such as the ice rink, or, if you go at Christmas, its famous illuminated tree.
On the other hand, the 30 Rockefeller Plaza building is an art deco skyscraper located in the central part of Rockefeller and has an observation platform, known to everyone as ‘Top of the Rock’. There you can enjoy what many consider the best panoramic view of New York. It is undoubtedly the best point to see the Empire State from above. Don’t forget to book your tickets in advance to get them at the best price and skip the lines.
4. Central Park
Tired of the chaos and frenetic pace of the city? If at any time you feel like escaping, go to the lungs of New York: Central Park. This place is a true haven of peace where you can walk, meditate, play sports, delight in its lakes, viewpoints, gardens and monuments.
Bring your camera, because you will need it. Actually, it is very interesting to see how the sinuosity of nature and the green of the trees contrasts with the verticality of the skyscrapers that frame the scene.
5. Museum of Natural History
The Natural History Museum’s collection attracts millions of tourists a year and has topped lists of the best science museums in the world. Inside there are more than 35 million objects that will fascinate both adults and children.
The New York Museum of Natural History is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Get your ticket and visit its more than 45 rooms, where you can see everything from meteorites to dinosaur skeletons or blue whales.
6. Fifth Avenue
Order yourself a coffee from Starbucks, like Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada. But instead of taking it in the office, order it to go and adopt it as an essential complement to walk glamorously through one of the most famous streets in New York: Fifth Avenue. This is how you get in tune with the city!
Stroll down the street and delight in the windows of stores like Tiffany or Apple, and be surprised by the contrast of buildings like St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Both day and night, Fifth Avenue is an attraction 24/7.
7. Empire State Building
How about a walk through the New York sky? Climb the most famous skyscraper in the world for the best views of the city. If you like movies and saw King Kong, you will be interested to know that it was in the Empire State Building that the enormous gorilla climbed holding his beloved Ann.
We recommend that you go at sunset time. New York has incredible sunsets and from this building that measures 443.2 meters high, everything looks even more beautiful.
The time to enter is from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. and, in order to save you from the endless queues that form to get on, we recommend that you go with your tickets already purchased. This way you will save a lot of time and energy, we assure you.
8. Flatiron Building
Not far from Madison Square Park is one of the most unique buildings in New York: the Flatiron, which has a triangular shape and its end is no more than two meters wide.
This building is one of the oldest in the city and its aerodynamic shape produced a tunnel effect: the wind came strong through the street, which is why many onlookers sat on the sidewalks to watch it lift the skirts of passers-by. The police always had a hard job expelling them from this street.
9. Statue of Liberty
Needless to say, the Statue of Liberty cannot be missing from your list of essential places. How do you explain to your friends and family that you were in the Big Apple and didn’t visit it up close?
The Statue of Liberty is worthy of the title that corresponds to it, that is why we invite you to go and learn about its history, its symbology and the details of its construction.
It is located on Liberty Island, located south of Manhattan, and to get there, you will have to take a ferry.
We recommend that you book a tour in advance so you don’t have to worry about anything. With this excursion to the Statue of Liberty, you will also visit Ellis Island, an islet that explains a lot about the history of the statue and the place.
10. Metropolitan Museum of Art
You cannot leave New York without visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET), where some of the most important works in the world from the time of Egypt (with more than 26,000 objects) or Rome are found. It is located a stone’s throw from Central Park, and is the most visited in the entire city due to its important collection and its entertaining permanent and traveling exhibitions, as well as other activities that you can enjoy depending on the date you travel.
We recommend that you invest a whole morning in it and incorporate it into your travel itinerary. Please note that their hours are Sunday to Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
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