# Best things to do in New York City

The attractions that top TripAdvisor, Time Out and the big travel blogs for a first trip to NYC, from the classic landmarks to the parks and museums locals love too.

- 2074 votes · 21 items
- Jul 29, 2022 · H. Bradley
- https://even.best/en/l/3/best-things-to-do-in-new-york-city

## Top 20

1. **Central Park** (189 · ▲200 ▼11) — 843-acre park in the middle of Manhattan with Bethesda Terrace, Strawberry Fields and Bow Bridge. <https://www.centralparknyc.org/>
2. **Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island** (179 · ▲185 ▼6) — The 1886 gift from France, reached by ferry together with the immigration museum on Ellis Island. <https://www.nps.gov/stli/>
3. **The Metropolitan Museum of Art** (124 · ▲142 ▼18) — One of the world's largest art museums, with collections spanning 5,000 years, from the Temple of Dendur to Van Gogh. <https://www.metmuseum.org/>
4. **Empire State Building** (115 · ▲127 ▼12) — Art Deco skyscraper from 1931 with open-air observation decks on the 86th floor. <https://www.esbnyc.com/>
5. **Times Square** (87 · ▲97 ▼10) — The neon-lit crossroads of Broadway and Seventh Avenue, home of the New Year's Eve ball drop.
6. **Brooklyn Bridge** (86 · ▲104 ▼18) — 1883 suspension bridge whose elevated wooden walkway gives classic Manhattan skyline views.
7. **9/11 Memorial & Museum** (86 · ▲99 ▼13) — Twin reflecting pools in the footprints of the Twin Towers and a museum on the September 11 attacks. <https://www.911memorial.org/>
8. **The High Line** (82 · ▲92 ▼10) — Elevated park built on a disused freight rail line on the West Side, running from Gansevoort Street to Hudson Yards. <https://www.thehighline.org/>
9. **Top of the Rock** (75 · ▲87 ▼12) — Observation decks atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza with a direct view of the Empire State Building and Central Park. <https://www.rockefellercenter.com/attractions/top-of-the-rock-observation-deck/>
10. **Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)** (64 · ▲78 ▼14) — Midtown museum with Van Gogh's The Starry Night, Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and Warhol's soup cans. <https://www.moma.org/>
11. **A Broadway show** (57 · ▲67 ▼10) — The Theater District around Times Square has 41 Broadway theatres; TKTS booths sell same-day discounted tickets.
12. **Grand Central Terminal** (54 · ▲62 ▼8) — Beaux-Arts station from 1913 with a celestial ceiling mural and the Whispering Gallery. <https://www.grandcentralterminal.com/>
13. **American Museum of Natural History** (53 · ▲71 ▼18) — Dinosaur halls, the 94-foot blue whale and the Hayden Planetarium on the Upper West Side. <https://www.amnh.org/>
14. **Rockefeller Center** (44 · ▲60 ▼16) — Art Deco complex with the Christmas tree and ice rink in winter, Radio City Music Hall and NBC Studios. <https://www.rockefellercenter.com/>
15. **One World Observatory** (44 · ▲54 ▼10) — Observation floors on levels 100–102 of One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. <https://www.oneworldobservatory.com/>
16. **DUMBO** (41 · ▲52 ▼11) — Brooklyn waterfront neighbourhood with the famous Washington Street view of the Manhattan Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge Park.
17. **Greenwich Village** (39 · ▲51 ▼12) — Bohemian downtown neighbourhood around Washington Square Park, with jazz clubs and comedy cellars.
18. **Chelsea Market** (29 · ▲47 ▼18) — Food hall in the former Nabisco factory where the Oreo was invented, right by the High Line. <https://www.chelseamarket.com/>
19. **Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum** (27 · ▲42 ▼15) — Frank Lloyd Wright's spiral building on Fifth Avenue, opened in 1959, with modern and contemporary art. <https://www.guggenheim.org/>
20. **Staten Island Ferry** (26 · ▲44 ▼18) — Free 25-minute ferry from Lower Manhattan that sails past the Statue of Liberty. <https://www.siferry.com/>
21. **Summit One Vanderbilt** (23 · ▲38 ▼15) — Mirrored observation experience opened in 2021 at the top of One Vanderbilt, next to Grand Central. <https://summitov.com/>

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.