45 Things to See and Do in New York City

From the best shops and restaurants to experiences you won't find anywhere else, here's how to get the most out of New York City. There's something for everyone in the Big Apple—whether you like trying out new foods, going on exciting outdoor adventures, or treating yourself to a day of shopping. Here are the best tips, tricks, and spots for first-time tourists and lifetime New Yorkers alike.

Tiffany & Co. has been a fixture on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street in Manhattan since it opened its doors on October 21, 1940, and the all-day Blue Box Café drew in crowds from around the country when it opened in 2018. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the café is temporarily closed but is scheduled to reopen in 2022 alongside the Tiffany New York flagship reopening.

“Seeing a Broadway show is great, but if you’re in New York in the summertime, nothing beats Shakespeare in the Park. It’s a free series put on by the Public Theater in an open-air venue in Central Park, and combines astonishing performances from incredible talent with a night under the stars for an unbeatable theatrical experience.” —Adam Rathe, Senior Editor (Arts and Culture), Town & Country

"Every time I go, I encounter a room I’ve never been to before. But I never leave without visiting the medieval armor on the first floor."—Jamie Rosen, Contributing Editor, Town & Country

843 acres are open to visitors in America's most-visited urban park, which was designed in 1858 by landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux after they beat out 32 competitors for the project. Now a National Historic Landmark, the park is full of places to explore, starting with its zoo, Bethesda Fountain, the mall, and Woolman Rink. Even the Metropolitan Museum of Art technically falls within its confines.

The expansive 55,000-square-foot drill hall plays host to year-round events, including the Winter Antiques Show, TEFAF New York, and its own cultural programming. But what you might not know is that visitors can tour other areas like the first-floor period rooms and restored Board of Officers Room and Veterans Room with a guide.

Even if your college days are in the past, you can still explore the city's only Ivy League institution. Head out on a self-guided tour or choose one of the options with a guide, including one that covers the history, architecture, and sculpture of the Morningside Heights campus. For more architectural splendor in the neighborhood, don't miss the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.

There might not be a more traditional Upper East Side experience than drinks at Bemelmens Bar and a show at Café Carlyle. The cabaret theater has hosted luminaries like Alan Cumming and Judy Collins since its debut in 1955. Unfortunately due to COVID-19, Cafe Carlyle is closed until further notice.

Located on four acres overlooking the Hudson River in Upper Manhattan's Fort Tryon Park, this annex of the Metropolitan Museum of Art includes four cloisters and a group of reconstructed chapels and halls from medieval French monasteries and abbeys.

The 250-acre National Historic Landmark in the Bronx hosts more than a million visitors annually. One of its top draws right now? Yayoi Kusama's Cosmic Nature exhibition, which runs through October 31.

America's only museum dedicated solely to design has been a branch of the Smithsonian since the 1960s. It now has a collection of more than 210,000 design objects that span 240 years, all housed in industrialist Andrew Carnegie's former mansion on the Upper East Side. The Cooper Hewitt remains temporarily closed, though you can stay updated on their reopening plans here.

The Gilded Age mansion of industrialist Henry Clay Frick is one of the most visually interesting places to visit in the city today. But for the next two years, the Frick won’t be where we’ve always known it. While the museum is being upgraded by architect Annabelle Selldorf, its treasures will be a few blocks away, in the Frick Madison, the building Bauhaus architect Marcel Breuer designed for the Whitney Museum of American Art in the mid-1960s.

"The king of the old-school appetizing shops, Zabar's is not a deli, as you can’t order lunch. It’s not a supermarket, as there’s no produce (well, not much), and you can’t get paper towels or dish soap. But it has the best selection of cheeses on earth (not an exaggeration), many of them very inexpensive. And prepared foods. And outstanding, reasonably priced coffee. And loose tea of several dozen kinds. And who else has a lox counter—just lox, nothing else. And I haven’t even mentioned the kitchenwares department upstairs, which is one of New York’s best-kept secrets."—James Lochart, Copy Chief, Town & Country

The Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and New York City Ballet all perform here. The Met Opera House, in particular, is worth visiting even without a show ticket—and with current COVID-19-related shutdowns, it may very well be the best option. But there's hope: Lincoln Center's plaza was transformed with a synthetic lawn to host outdoor events during the spring and summer of 2021.

Located at the northern end of Fifth Avenue's Museum Mile, MCNY offers exhibitions on the city's art and history, including "New York at Its Core," which charts the city’s rise from a striving Dutch village to today’s "Capital of the World."

Founded in 1869, the American Museum of Natural History now has more than 32 million specimens and cultural artifacts in its collection. Stroll through the museum's 570,000-square-foot space on Central Park West, which includes 45 permanent exhibit halls including dinosaur fossils, stunning dioramas, and, in the Milstein Family Hall of Ocean Life, a 94-foot-long, 21,000-pound model of a blue whale suspended from the ceiling.

The city is home to 72 Michelin-starred restaurants, but eating at them doesn't require spending your entire paycheck in one fell swoop. Here's a handy guide with a few tips for making the most the culinary scene on a tight budget.

"This park—which runs along the Hudson River from 79th to 129th streets—is never crowded, almost devoid of tourists, and perfect for a warm weather stroll. Don’t miss the pretty community garden (which made a cameo in You’ve Got Mail) around the 91st street mark."—Leena Kim, Assistant Editor, Town & Country

"There are bigger and more famous museums in Manhattan, but the Morgan Library—built in the early 1900s by McKim, Mead & White to house the library of Pierpont Morgan—is something of a hidden gem. The museum houses impressive exhibitions you won’t catch at other institutions, and its permanent collection of manuscripts and rare books is one of a kind."—Adam Rathe, Senior Editor (Arts and Culture), Town & Country

Located in the middle of Midtown, SPYSCAPE provides an interactive deep-dive into the worlds of deception, encryption, surveillance, hacking, intelligence, cyber warfare, and special ops. One especially cool feature is the Special Ops Tunnels, laser mazes that test visitors' agility and reaction times (think Catherine Zeta-Jones in Entrapment).

Joe's Pub is an iconic stage in New York City. Go at the right time, and you can catch some legendary performances from up-and-coming artists.

St. Patrick's Cathedral is easily the city's most famous. The brick and marble Roman Catholic church, which opened in 1879, can seat 2,200 during non-COVID-19 times.

Even if you are just passing through to catch a train, the station, completed in 1913, is an architectural marvel.

Many Broadway theaters are making a comeback after shutting down for the COVID-19 pandemic. With both new shows and classic favorites making their returns, it's an exciting time for any theater fan.

Walk up the steps of the Beaux-Arts Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library and past the Library Lions to discover one of the city's best public spaces. Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, The Library offers limited services at select library locations for holds, pickups, and returns.

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From 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. every day, the 1,454-foot-tall Empire State Building's two observation decks provide unobstructed, panoramic views of the city. A 2007 poll conducted by the American Institute of Architects also named the country's tallest LEED-certified building "America’s Favorite Architecture," putting it ahead of even the White House.

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"The hip downtown neighborhood is home to some of the city’s most historic places to grab a bite, and this three-hour guided food tour allows you to experience them all. You’ll sample warm knishes at Yonah Schimmel Bakery, crunchy half-sours at the Pickle Guys, and traditional Jewish deli fare at Russ & Daughters, among other local favorites."—Lindsay Silberman, contributor, Town & Country

"Few places give you a taste of nostalgia quite like Economy Candy in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The sweets shop, which has been in business since 1937, is stocked from floor to ceiling with every vintage candy imaginable—from Abba-Zaba bars to Turkish Taffy. The store’s owner often tells customers 'if you can't find it here it's not being made and if it is made, we'll find it for you.'"—Lindsay Silberman, contributor, Town & Country

"In a city where trendy restaurants come and go, Indochine is something of an anomaly. The French-Vietnamese eatery has been an enduring staple of the downtown fashion set for more than 30 years—a place where Andy Warhol, Halston, and Jean-Michel Basquiat regularly dined and partied until sunrise. Nowadays, the décor is slightly dated and the menu hasn’t changed much, but that’s all part of Indochine’s charm. When you go, don’t leave without trying the crispy shrimp."—Lindsay Silberman, contributor, Town & Country

"This food market, which features shops and stalls that specialize in everything from hummus (Dizengoff) and halvah (Seed + Mill) to spices, fish, matcha, tacos, and kitchen supplies, was way ahead of its time in bringing together disparate vendors under one roof, and it continues to be a great way to spend a weekend morning (it does get really busy in the afternoons)."—Jamie Rosen, Contributing Editor, Town & Country

"After walking through Chelsea Market, which spans an entire city block, head up to the High Line, an elevated park on former train tracks."—Jamie Rosen, Contributing Editor, Town & Country

Everything John Derian and his team source for their three little shops in the East Village is beautiful, but be sure not to miss the decoupage tabletop items.

Tesla debuted its newest showroom in the heart of the Meatpacking District in 2017. The 10,900-square-foot space offers an up-close-and-personal look at the automaker's electric vehicles.

The transportation hub designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava near the World Trade Center cost nearly $4 billion to build and contains the largest shopping mall in Manhattan. Stop by for the views; stay to peruse the selection at London Jewelers and Longines.

"This West Village spot is the best place for an aperitif and fresh vegetable-centric small plates on a summer evening. The sidewalk chairs and tables add to its charming, rustic European vibes."—Leena Kim, Assistant Editor, Town & Country

In the spring and summer, Gallow Green is a garden rooftop bar on top of the McKittrick Hotel in Chelsea, home of the immersive theater spectacle Sleep No More. It's outfitted like a secret garden in an abandoned Scottish train station, and the rooftop venue specializes in cocktails including signature large format punches along with seasonal cuisine for dinner and brunch on the weekends.

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The three-story observatory on top of the Western Hemisphere’s tallest building offers some of the best sights in the world. On a clear day, you can see up to 50 miles from the top of the 1,776-foot-tall skyscraper.

The first restaurant in New York to exclusively serve Wagyu beef sandwiches, Don Wagyu is located in the open-air Bowery Market. It offers up three sandwich-and-fry options that range from $28 to $180 (the top-of-the-line "sando" is made with beef from five cattle shipped to the U.S. every month from a family-owned farm in the Miyazaki Prefecture in Japan). Only about 200 sandwiches are available per day.

"18 miles of books" is the slogan at this bookstore, which opened in 1927. Today it carries more than 2.5 million used, new, and rare books "covering topics as far-ranging as occult to philosophy to finance."

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The 9/11 Memorial (shown here) includes two massive pools that cover the original footprints of the Twin Towers, with nearly 3,000 names of the men, women, and children killed in the attacks inscribed into bronze walls surrounding the pools. Downstairs, the 9/11 Memorial Museum displays artifacts linked to the events of 9/11 and tells the stories of the victims.

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In 15 minutes, you can see a lot more from the air than you would in a whole day of touring by foot. After boarding the chopper at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport, you'll be able to take in sky-high views of the World Financial Center, Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Chrysler Building, and other landmarks.

The 5,989-foot-long Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in 1883, offers a quintessential New York experience for walkers and bikers. It also features some of the best views of the city's skyline.

"Everyone’s got a favorite spot for baked goods, and one of ours is this Greenpoint, Brooklyn donut shop that’s been churning out sweets since the 1950s. If you can make it through the ever-present crowd, snag a seat at the retro counter and order a few—we like the chocolate and blueberry buttermilk varieties—to share with friends. Otherwise, take some to go and feast in nearby McCarren Park."—Adam Rathe, Senior Editor (Arts and Culture), Town & Country

"In what other city is this even an option? You can ride to Coney Island/Brighton Beach fairly easily (from Brooklyn or Manhattan), and there are lots of things to do when you get there (roller coaster, aquarium, Russian restaurants—even minor league baseball!). But if what you want is just beach, go to Jacob Riis State Park/Fort Tilden. You feel as if you’ve made it to the edge of the world."—James Lochart, Copy Chief, Town & Country

Founded in 2010, Kings County Distillery began in a 325-square-foot room in East Williamsburg and now operates out of the 118-year-old Paymaster Building in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Stop by for a tour or tasting—the Gatehouses at the entrance to the Navy Yard serves the whiskeys in cocktails, pours, and tasting flights.

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While visiting the crown requires some serious advance planning, tours of Ellis Island that include the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal and observation decks, as well as through the Great Hall exhibits at Ellis Island, are easily bookable.