Things To Do in New York City

It is not easy to choose the best things to do in New York City, the legendary City That Never Sleeps. New York City has a centuries-old reputation as a world-class center of finance, food, fashion, art, and fantastic fun. With so much to see and do, it can be difficult for a visitor to know where to begin. An inside tip to help you get started—check out the amazing New York CityPASS. It covers 3 essential attractions including the Empire State Building, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the American Museum of Natural History, then you choose 3 more stops from a list of top City highlights.

Use the CityPASS to build a basic itinerary, then you can go on to explore much more including the five distinct boroughs, iconic bridges and buildings, Manhattan, Central Park, Times Square, and Broadway—all made world famous by TV, movies, and most of all, travelers’ stories. From fine dining and the fantasies of Broadway theatre to tourist classics like the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and the Empire State Building; cutting-edge art and music, 24/7 bustling action on the streets, the calm of the beaches, parks, and wineries out on Long Island; New York City is endless. In fact, Condé Nast Traveler magazine reports that overnight visitors to the City often end up extending their stays to an average of 7.9 nights. You will never see all of New York City even if you are born and raised there, but here at Cool New York City we connect you with some of the top highlights.

Explore our site to find must-see destinations, day tours that cover a lot of ground and let you experience the people, food, and ambiance of New York up close, and trips beyond the City to Niagara Falls or the Amish Country for example. You will find it all right here, and as an independent private company not tied to any particular tour operator, Cool New York City has the freedom to locate and recommend the very best New York City tours and activities. Browse around and explore your ultimate resource for the best things to do in New York City.

New York City Attractions

Do you want to start in the center of it all, Times Square, the Crossroads of the World, and explore the City at street level from there? Or begin with an iconic must-see like the Statue of Liberty, 911 Memorial Museum, Empire State Building, or Central Park? Those are certainly all items you won’t want to miss on a New York City visit, so it’s up to you to put together an itinerary of personal favorites.

A Hudson River and New York Harbor cruise is a good way to get a feel for the City. The river and bay helped attract Native American villages to the area that later became the site of New Amsterdam, a Dutch colony established in 1624 and later renamed New York in 1664 when the English took over. Cruising will give you views of Manhattan’s West Side, the Financial District, Ellis Island, Lady Liberty, and the New York skyline.

Then enter the beating heart of the City with a tour of the Boroughs: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Coney Island, Harlem, and Queens. Or head to Chinatown and Little Italy to taste the cultural history of two important early immigrant groups along with the delicious culinary treats these neighborhoods are renowned for. It’s a great chance to try a slice of legendary New York pizza, and the Chinese food is incredible as well.

New York City has so much to offer that it is nearly impossible to get a handle on the choice tours, treats, attractions, and activities without a resource like Cool New York City at hand. Great photos, descriptions and details, insider information and thousands of genuine visitor reviews are just the beginning. Fast, secure one-stop scheduling and booking are right here as well. It only takes a few minutes to have everything arranged, with vouchers and all necessary information delivered by email right to your smart phone or tablet.

Recommendations: The Best Things to Do in New York City

With hundreds of the best New York City tours and activities right here on the pages of Cool New York City, it is not easy to home in on the best things to do in New York City. Our hand-curated Cool New York City Top 10 New York City™ is a good guideline. But if you want a locals’ choice selection of little-known gems of the City, consider these 3 bits of advice:

Any small-group walking tour is almost guaranteed to be fun for people who like to get a close look at things. Flatiron and Union Square will be interesting for fans of the John Wick action movies, and of course the architecture in these neighborhoods is world famous anyway. Walking also gets you up close to tasty snacking opportunities and interesting shops, and a small group with a friendly local guide offers the flexibility needed to do a little exploring off the beaten track.

Speaking of action movies, it’s a lot of fun to take a New York City TV and movie tour. So many shows and films have been centered on the City and its inhabitants over the decades that most of what non-New Yorkers know about the city comes from those sources. You will see locations and backdrops that are bound to be familiar from endless movies and TV shows like The Sopranos, Sex and the City, and hundreds more. It's a great chance to take pictures against some classic backgrounds, grab a drink in an iconic bar or coffee shop, and get to know a lot about the City along the way.

For a day trip outside the City, Niagara Falls is a very popular option. But for something really unusual, especially for our international visitors, a trip out to Philadelphia and the Amish Country is top choice. This trip offers immersion in the center of the American story with a visit to Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the famous Liberty Bell is on display. See Constitution Square and historic downtown Philadelphia then go east of the city to Lancaster County where Amish farmers carry on traditional lives farming with horses and living without electricity, phones, running water, and modern appliances. You will never forget the experience.

In the end, finding the best of New York City is really up to you. This is one of the world’s top tourist destinations and there really is something, or many things, for everyone. Fortunately, Cool New York City makes it a lot easier to organize your City itinerary, and that is our goal: making it simple and enjoyable to explore the possibilities, learn from the descriptions, photographs, and reviews, then find your own best New York City tours and attractions.