New York City Travel Guide Travel Guides > United States > New York City Nick PapaFifteen-course tasting menus, the rarest vintage clothes, exotic cocktails, panoramic views from above and unexpected waterfront pleasures. This is New York City, where hundreds of years of ambition, concrete and American dreams have culminated in a city where there’s so much to do that it became famous for never sleeping. The city is quite literally packed with things to see and do — all in a compact space that gives the impression of a never-ending pavement of skyscrapers. If planned correctly, New York City can still provide those quirky, tourist-obligated experiences, but also elevate the everyday with local flavour and off-the-beaten-path finds. If you’re in search of a definitive New York City travel guide, you’ve come to the right place. Fancy a trip? Save yourself days of research by having us plan it for you. Discover Trip Design Hotels Things to do Things to see Food & Drink Shopping Nightlife Trip Design The best hotels in New York CityAce Hotel is affordable without sacrificing anything that appeals to young creatives. The buzzy lobby cocktail bar and on-site, Michelin-starred restaurant, The Breslin, offer all the essentials under one roof in Midtown Manhattan. A stay at The Standard, East Village places you just a skip from Greenwich Village, NoHo and SoHo. NO BAR, the hotel’s new-wave gay bar, tops the charts in any New York City gay scene guide with its dance parties, drag shows and late-night DJ sets.The Hoxton, Williamsburg is the British brand’s first opening in North America. Stay here for spectacular skyline views and proximity to all the ultra-hip things to do in Brooklyn. The hotel’s Summerly rooftop bar brings the Hamptons to Brooklyn with lobster rolls, dreamy cocktails and rosé aplenty. More stunning views await at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, where you can gaze at the hotel’s namesake, the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, from 1 Rooftop Garden & Bar. Ace Hotel New York | Photo: Fran ParenteiRecommended hotels in New York City Hotels - New York City ACE Hotel New York Situated inside a historic building, the Ace Hotel offers a unique style developed by local artists and designers. Guests at the hotel can eat at the Breslin Restaurant or The John Dory Oyster Bar. Book on Booking.com Hotels - New York City The Standard - East Village Located off Cooper Square in Manhattan’s East Village, this boutique hotel features on-site dining, a private garden, and free Wi-Fi access. Greenwich Village is 10 minutes’ walk. Book on Booking.com Hotels - New York City Pod Brooklyn The Pod Hotel Brooklyn is located 644 m from the Music Hall of Williamsburg and 966 m from State of New York – East River State Park. The Pod Brooklyn offers complimentary WiFi and concierge services. Book on Booking.com Hotels - New York City The Mercer Located in Soho, this luxury hotel is a 5-minute walk from Washington Square Park and Little Italy. It features 24-hour concierge service and loft-style rooms. Book on Booking.com Hotels - New York City The Bowery Hotel Featuring a lobby bar, The Bowery Hotel is located at the intersection of the Lower East Side and East Village. Each room at this boutique hotel features floor-to-ceiling windows and city views. Book on Booking.com Hotels - New York City 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge Every room in this waterfront hotel has a coffee machine with recyclable pods, mattresses with a hemp blend filling and organic cotton sheets. Book on Booking.com Hotels - New York City MADE Hotel Featuring a terrace, MADE Hotel is set in New York, 600 m from the Empire State Building. Ferris, the restaurant, specialises in American cuisine and is open for lunch and dinner. Book on Booking.com Explore more hotels like this in New York City View on Booking.comPowered by Booking.com Going to New York City? The same team that brings you the content you love designs your perfect tripThings to do in New York CityEvery gay New York City guide should tell you how to navigate the city in style. These days, it’s on a brand new fleet of ferries operated by NYC Ferry. Jet across the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn in mere minutes. Visit DUMBO for art galleries, Manhattan skyline views, and epic food at the historic Empire Stores, where the Time Out Market New York serves up bites from Jacob’s Pickles, Miss Ada and many more. Or take a ride to Greenpoint for concept shops, inventive restaurants and acclaimed cocktail bars. During the summer, take the ferry to Jacob Riis Park, one of New York City’s best beaches. Part of The Rockaways in Queens — a popular beach destination for more than a century — the seaside park is just 57 breezy minutes away from Wall Street / Pier 11 in Manhattan.Exploring the world-famous arts scene is one of the unmissable things to do in New York City. While the big museums often steal the spotlight, Manhattan’s real treasures are its independent galleries in art-forward Chelsea. Don’t miss David Zwirner, a Renzo Piano-designed gallery that exhibits international contemporary artists like Diane Arbus, William Eggleston and Yayoi Kusama. For a classic museum experience, the Whitney Museum of American Art (also designed by Renzo Piano) focuses on 20th and 21st-century American art.And no trip to New York City is complete without spending some time in Brooklyn. Visit Grand Army Plaza to explore the 1938 Central Building of the Brooklyn Public Library, one of the best-preserved Art Deco buildings in the United States. A short walk away, the Beaux-Arts Brooklyn Museum features works by Edward Hopper, Norman Rockwell and Georgia O’Keeffe. If you’re willing to go to the end of the line, ride the D, F, N or Q train all the way to Coney Island where you can enjoy the sea breeze and a Nathan’s hot dog on the boardwalk. The Whitney Museum | Photo: Karin JobstiRecommended experiences in New York City Experiences - New York City LGBTQ+ History & Culture Tour of Greenwich Village 3 hours Experiences - New York City Sex and the City Hotspots Tour 3.5 hours Experiences - New York City New York City Welcome: Private Tour with a Local Guide 2 - 8 hours Experiences - New York City Private Helicopter Tour over New York for Couples 30 - 45 minutes Experiences - New York City Niagara Falls Day Trip by Air from New York City 14 hours Explore more experiences like this in New York City Book on GetYourGuide.comPowered by GetYourGuide and ViatorThe Brooklyn Bridge (and the view from it) has always been one of the best things to see in New YorkThings to see in New York CityThe Empire State Building and Top of the Rock need no introduction. But if you can, avoid tourist-packed Midtown and do your New York City sightseeing south of Houston Street. In the ’70s, the late artist Keith Haring created an original mural for the Houston Bowery Wall, a fixture at the intersection between the East Village and Lower East Side. Nearly three decades after the artist died of AIDS-related complications, street artists continue to create murals at the high-traffic corner. To continue the public art tour, head to The High Line. Built on a historic, elevated freight line, the highly-acclaimed urban park features rotating murals and installations. Bring an iced coffee and stay awhile to enjoy the breeze on the Hudson River.Looking for less structure in planning what to see in New York City? Go off the grid in Greenwich Village, where the city’s orderly, numbered streets and avenues turn into angular, cobbled roads. Wander the neighbourhood without a plan to find charming cafes, restaurants and shops. In Washington Square Park, a 19th-century arc modelled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris is one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks. Nearby, pause in the much smaller Christopher Park for a quiet moment of reflection with George Segal’s Gay Liberation Monument. Across the street is the legendary Stonewall Inn, which features in every New York City gay bar guide as the birthplace of the Gay Rights Movement in the ’60s. The High Line Photo: Dimitar Belchev Brunch in New York is serious businessWhere to eat in New York CityFanelli Cafe in SoHo, with its neon sign and red gingham tablecloths, is a classic, old New York experience. First opened in 1847, it’s considered the second-oldest restaurant in the city. Sit at the bar and order the no-frills burger. Brunch in New York, meanwhile, is serious business. Friend of a Farmer, a pioneer in the farm-to-table movement since 1986, is designed like a Vermont farmhouse. Across the river, the late Heath Ledger’s Five Leaves restaurant in Greenpoint has one of Brooklyn’s best brunches.Pizza, the city’s undisputed favourite snack, is a food group all of its own. Step out of New York and into Naples at San Matteo, where more than 20 varieties of Neapolitan-style pizza emerge from a hand-built, wood-fired oven. Excellent toppings include house-made mozzarella by owner Fabio Casella, an authority on Italian cheeses. In Brooklyn, Paulie Gee’s serves inventive pies topped with unusual, locally-sourced ingredients like pastrami from Frankel’s Delicatessen and Mike’s Hot Honey.Plenty more inventive options are found in every corner of the city. In the Lower East Side, teen wonder Flynn McGarry helms the kitchen at Gem restaurant. Reserve a table in the 16-seat dining room for an always-changing, 15-course tasting menu. In Brooklyn, Blanca offers an upscale tasting menu in a tiny, reservations-only loft space with an open kitchen. At Chez Ma Tante in Greenpoint, familiar dishes — such as pancakes for brunch and grilled pork shoulder for dinner — are kicked up several notches, yet served in a straightforward manner with a healthy disregard for refinement. Paulie Gee's | Photo: Regina The Hoxton, WilliamsburgShopping in New York CityWell-heeled locals head to the cobbled streets of Tribeca to do their shopping. Stop by Best Made Company, an outdoor lifestyle concept shop where you can get clothes and gear for a trip to upstate New York.In the West Village, you can find coffee-table books and Marc Jacobs trinkets at Bookmarc. There’s no better place for high-end fragrances than New York-based Le Labo.And going to Brooklyn no longer means leaving the cosmopolitan city behind in Manhattan. Drama Club founder Jack Sachs opened his modern general store to meet the demand for a highly-edited selection of globally-sourced menswear and plenty of unique accessories in Greenpoint. Head to this airy space facing McGolrick Park for Gitman Vintage shirts, Comme des Garcons zip-around wallets and D.S. & Durga fragrances. Over at Wolves Within the emphasis is on Made in USA and Fair Trade practices. Discover true American fashions at this artsy Greenpoint shop with handmade shoes, wallets and hats. Pair these artisan finds with classic Timex watches and reissue Vans for a look that’s all at once vintage yet thoroughly modern. Best Made Co | Photo: Adrian Gaut NYC | Photo: Daniel Schwartz The hipster set goes to Royal Palms for shuffleboard and tiki cocktails, while an edgier crowd heads to House of Yes in BushwickNew York City nightlifeThe late Sasha Petraske is said to have ushered in Manhattan’s modern cocktail culture when he opened Milk & Honey on the Lower East Side in 1999. The bar is no longer, but across the East River in Long Island City, Dutch Kills — one of Petraske’s bars — is worth the trip for its wooden booths, dim lighting and cocktails made with hand-cut ice. There’s a menu, but tell the bartender what you’re in the mood for and they’ll create a bespoke cocktail just for you. In the far reaches of Chinatown, you’ll find mostly locals only at Mr. Fong’s, known for its Chinese-inspired cocktails, bar bites and jukebox. Nearby, an equally-local crowd packs out the century-old 169 Bar for cheap beer-and-a-shot combos, plus a bring-your-own-food policy.In Brooklyn, Long Island Bar is an old-school diner that was transformed into a retro cocktail bar by Toby Cecchini, who invented the Cosmopolitan in the ’80s. Sophisticated cocktails are on the menu at Henry Public in Cobble Hill, Clover Club in Carroll Gardens and Ramona in Greenpoint. The hipster set goes to Royal Palms for shuffleboard and tiki cocktails, while an edgier crowd heads to House of Yes in Bushwick. Located in a former ice warehouse, the performance-fueled nightclub hosts eclectic events and dance parties. For a classic dive bar experience, High Dive in Park Slope offers free popcorn and a summer patio – the perfect spot to relax and round out a busy trip to New York City. House of Yes | Photo: Kenny Rodriguez Custom Trip PlanningGo on that fabulous vacation you deserve even when you lack time to plan it yourselfFrom $35 Plan my trip Special SelectionExclusive Mr Hudson offersOut now from gestaltenMr Hudson Explores Browse the Book share Photo: Andrew David House of Yes | Photo: Kenny Rodriguez Ace Hotel New York The Hoxton, Williamsburg Dutch Kills | Photo: Isaac Rosenthal Dutch Kills | Photo: Isaac Rosenthal Photo: Andrew David Photo: Andrew David The Hoxton, WilliamsburgDid you enjoy this article? 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