New York City is one the most iconic places on the face of this planet. It has some of the most famous landmarks in the world like Status of Liberty, 9/11 memorial, Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square to name a few.

New York is made up of 5 boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx & Staten Island. Since, most of the attractions are located in Manhattan, the best area to live is Manhattan. But since it is very expensive most of the time, the second best is Brooklyn.

Travelling: Although most of the attractions are in Manhattan area, but still it is very huge; So the best option is still to get a metro card (can be bought from any machine at any metro station). This metro card covers all boroughs. If you get a hotel in Jersey city, then this card will not cover that area and you have to buy tickets for Jersey transit (which is expensive) and also you could get stuck in traffic in the Lincoln tunnel which links New Jersey to New York. You can get a weekly pass ($34) or you can use the pay as you go by topping-up the metro card in case you plan less number of journeys on metro card ($2.75 per journey).

Main Attractions: Times Square, Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, 9/11 memorial, One world Tower, Brooklyn Bridge, Chrysler Building, Central Park, Grand Central Terminal, Madison Square Garden, Fifth Avenue, High Line, UN Headquarters, Broadway, China Town, Little Italy, Wall Street Bull, Yankee Stadium(Bronx), The MET, NY Public Library, Bryant Park, Lincoln center for Performing Arts, Chelsea, West Village etc.

Basic Information: A B1/B2 visa is required if you are travelling to USA for tourism. Currency: US Dollar is used. Airports: There are three airports that serve New York: JFK Airport(in Queens area), LaGuardia-LGA(also in Queens) & Newark International (EWR) in New Jersey. All airports have good connectivity with Manhattan(main center where all attractions are). Weather: Best weather is between March-May & Sept-October. Commute: New York Subway is one of the best(not new though) and is very well connected & best part is that it runs 24×7. Metro card is very-very useful & if staying for more than 4 days, buy a 7 day metro card. Accommodation: Hotels are very expensive in New york (especially Manhattan), Brooklyn is the next best option and comparatively cheaper but still quite expensive. Cheapest option is new Jersey but it is not covered under New York Subway system (Metro card not valid). Food: Don’t forget to try out different local pizza joints, different types of bagels, rice & chicken/falafel from halal trucks, burritos etc. Day trips: The best day trip will be to Washington, Atlantic City, Philadelphia, New Jersey & Boston. Bookings required: Statue Cruises (For Status of Liberty & Ellis Island), book early to have access to crown of the statue- Only 500 slots per day, or the pedestal of statue. Also book at-least one of the following’s top: One world observatory, Empire state building or Rockefeller center. Sim/Internet: You should get a sim at airport as you’ll need google maps a lot. You’ll get one for less than $30 (I got Lyca sim for $26 with 2GB).

Itinerary: I’ll provide an itinerary for 4 days that will more or less cover most of New York’s main attractions. First day, start with the Times square. Explore all nearby lanes, alleys, stores etc. Eat a pizza slice from John’s of Times Square. Then from there go to Bryant Park, Spend some time there. Go to New York Public library which is just adjacent to the park. Look at the collection books & buy something from the gift shop there (very interesting stuff- like Newton’s pendulum/cradle). From there go towards Chrysler building. From there take a long walk to the UN Headquarters. Just look at all the colossal buildings that you find all around you. Check out Trump World Center opposite to UN building. Then, walk to the starting point of the Roosevelt Island Tramway & then take the tramway to Roosevelt island (this is covered in metro card). You’ll get best views from this tramway. On Roosevelt island, take a stroll along the east river and look at one side of the New York Skyline in peace of Roosevelt island. Then take the tramway back to mainland Manhattan & then walk/subway to Grand Central station. Look at the ceiling of the mail auditorium. Then go to the basement & have something to eat from the food court. Walk to the Empire State building and if you have bought tickets, then go to the observation deck on top & enjoy the New york skyline. After that walk back to times square & try to find the US Debt Clock (hint- its behind one of the broadcast channel’s building). Then sit at TKTS stairs on times square and observe the crowd & then go back to your hotel at a time of your liking (remember metro is 24×7) or else you could take the famous yellow cab back (or UBER as well). Second day, start the day with some bagels and then hop on to the metro & take the metro to Madison Square garden and check it out. There is a Hooters just opposite to it – if you’re interested 😉 . Walk over to Radio city. Check it out. Then go to Rockefeller center– The Tonight show with Jimmy Fallon is shot there. Check out the Lego store in the Rockefeller Plaza. Go to Broadwaytheater & watch a broadway show (if you get a chance or a ticket)- or alternatively there are a lot of other theaters on the broadway (and tickets will be cheaper). Now, stroll to St Patrick’s Cathedral & check it out. This is on Fifth Avenue. You can walk from one end of Fifth avenue towards Central Park. Central park in itself is so huge that it would probably take one complete day for you to cover it completely. So, before exploring it, go to Lincoln center for performing arts and check it out. Then come back to Central park and walk towards The MET (Metropolitan museum of Arts), where the Met gala takes place (try walking inside the park & you come across a number of things like central park zoo, different lakes etc. You can then go to Guggenheim museum. Then cross the park and go to American museum of Natural History. Then from outside the museum take the subway towards Yankee stadium (its in Bronx). Then take a train back to times square. walk towards Macy’s & check it out and all other things that are near by. Whenever you feel like go back to your hotel room. Day Three, take metro to China town and just enjoy the neighborhood. Roam around and try out authentic Chinese food from a number of shops & restaurants. Adjacent to china town is Little Italy. This is an Italian neighborhood and you should try some Italian food. Then go to Battery park, from there you can either catch the staten island ferry and check out Status of liberty from the ferry for free but I would recommend that if you want to enjoy it from closer you can book your tickets via Statue cruises ( I think this the only cruise that goes to Statue of Liberty & Ellis island). You should try to book the tickets as early as you can because there are three types of tickets- Island ground, Pedestal & crown. The Crown and pedestal tickets are limited and are sold very quickly. Price is almost same for all three, so better get the best one. Then once the cruise is finished, walk to Wall Street Bull. Take a photograph there and then explore the wall street & walk towards NY Stock Exchange. From there, go to Soho neighborhood, then Greenwichvillage neighborhood, then West Village neighborhood. Go to Chelsea market and then walk to the start of theHigh Line. Walk from one end of the sky line to the other end. This is one of the most amazing things in New York. Then again catch metro & go to Times Square or even china town & have dinner there. On Fourth day, walk to 9/11 memorial, and soak in the atmosphere at the memorial where the twin towers once stood. After that, if you’ve booked the One world observatory at the One World Tower, then go to that at the specified time or buy the ticket from there itself. (buy the basic one as others don’t have anything worth the price). The experience is amazing, the lift itself is amazing that takes you to the top of 104th Floor, highest in western hemisphere in 47 seconds (plus they have a small video in the lift). From top, just observe the NY skyline. You can even see the Statue of liberty as well from there.Then take a metro ride to Brooklyn Bridge. Just walk across from one end to the other end & enjoy the skyline from the bridge & the view of Hudson flowing underneath. Then on the other side, either walk to the brooklyn park or walk back to the manhattan side of the bridge and then take a metro to times square and then enjoy the rest of the day at your leisure.