Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hi everyone - I have some family coming in from Poland and we will likely find ourselves in Manhattan for at least one day (maybe 2). It will be my 2 cousins (guys in late 20's) and their girlfriends (same age).
What are a couple "must-see" things to do with them? It will likely be next Wednesday, October 12th. Weather looks pretty good!
I know some of the big ones are Central Park, Times Square, WTC Memorial, ESB observatory, but if there are any specific things, I would love a recommendation.
Check out the newly opened Urban Hawker food market on 50th between 6th and 7th. It's a Southeast Asian food market with all kinds of amazing food choices. It's a great place to grab lunch or dinner and try a sampling of different foods from around that region.
It really depends a lot on what they're interested in. There are a lot of museums with different sorts of exhibits that they might be interested in and many of them are close to or along Central Park like the museum of natural history, the met, neue gallery and others. If they're pretty fit and the weather is nice, it's pretty popular to walk along the Brooklyn Bridge one way and then the ferry the other with a lunch in DUMBO near the Brooklyn waterfront. If they're into performances, then there's jazz clubs and maybe broadway and if they aren't very comfortable with the English language then there are shows that are more spectacle than story like the Lion King.
Meals in the city can also be pretty memorable depending on what they're into. The most common meals I go into the city for are nicer Italian cuisine (seldom Italian-American which I generally do in Brooklyn or SI), Japanese cuisine around the Midtown East area, or a chophouse. There are also several really good Indian and Chinese restaurants, especially if they like spicy. There's just a lot of variety so if there's something they're interested in already or interested in trying, then that'd help narrow down the choices.
If they're out later in the evening, then probably a fancy bar / cocktail lounge might be up their and there are a lot of them in different parts of the city. These can be pretty luxurious and maybe have some special feature to them like they're historic or somewhat hidden like a speakeasy or have a particularly interesting view of something. For stuff like that I'm either Midtown East-ish, Greenwich Village, or Gramercy/Flatiron areas, but they're really placed throughout a lot of the city these days.
It really depends a lot on what they're interested in.
This, in a nutshell.
What do THEY want to see? The standard-issue tourist things, which you won't see much of in a one-day trip. The SOL, for example, requires catching the boat downtown, going out to the Statue, milling around there for a while, going back on the boat...that alone will take up most of a day with very little return when you can get about the same jollies from staying in Manhattan and looking across the river and saying "lookie, there's the Statue of Liberty". I mean, in my opinion, wasting half a day to say you stood by the Statue is not very exciting.
Walking through Central Park would be more fun. You might see performers, and there's just something cool about being in a huge park surrounded by skyscrapers.
The Museum of Natural History is always excellent, but---
For a first-time visitor, just walking around the streets of the city, grabbing some food, walking some more, people-watching, checking out the architecture and the shops, THAT is the very best way to experience one day in NYC. My opinion.
Going up to the ESB ob deck or the WTC ob deck is worth it for the views, though.
What do THEY want to see? The standard-issue tourist things, which you won't see much of in a one-day trip. The SOL, for example, requires catching the boat downtown, going out to the Statue, milling around there for a while, going back on the boat...that alone will take up most of a day with very little return when you can get about the same jollies from staying in Manhattan and looking across the river and saying "lookie, there's the Statue of Liberty". I mean, in my opinion, wasting half a day to say you stood by the Statue is not very exciting.
Walking through Central Park would be more fun. You might see performers, and there's just something cool about being in a huge park surrounded by skyscrapers.
The Museum of Natural History is always excellent, but---
For a first-time visitor, just walking around the streets of the city, grabbing some food, walking some more, people-watching, checking out the architecture and the shops, THAT is the very best way to experience one day in NYC. My opinion.
Going up to the ESB ob deck or the WTC ob deck is worth it for the views, though.
Agreed with all that but if you can fit in a broadway or off broadway show that to me is a great New York experience.
What is the fascination with stupid broadway shows?
People come to see the architecture no? History?
Broadway has been a prime tourist attraction for ages now. Whether cutting-edge or family-friendly, Broadway shows generally have the best performers there are and top production values — all thing most people can’t find elsewhere, even with very good touring companies. Live shows are increasingly uncommon experience for most people in the age of streaming. You may not care about Broadway theater, but tons of people do. Plus, they get the chance to see Times Square at night. And it doesn’t mean visitors have to ignore architecture or history.
If a show isn’t of interest to OP’s group though, I’d definitely pick a neighborhood of interest and tool around in and grab a bite for a few hours after seeing the major tourist attractions. That might be East Village, Harlem, Chinatown, Williamsburg, Jackson Heights … lots of choices. But you might see something in our city of interest beyond the usual.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
