New York City Between Urban Greenery, Art and History
Accommodation in New York City
You can discover New York City through a wide range of themes: from the expansive greenery of Central Park to museums with very different collection focuses and places that bring history to life. When planning your trip, it helps to first choose the experiences that interest you most.
Urban Greenery and Sweeping Views
Central Park stretches between 59th Street and 110th Street, and between Fifth Avenue and Central Park West. Covering 843 acres, it is a public shared space for playing and relaxing. If you’d like to experience the park with a guide, consider Iconic Views of Central Park, a tour offered by the Central Park Conservancy. Since tour availability may change, check in advance whether it is running at the time of your visit.
The observation deck on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building offers another perspective on the city: from there, the 360-degree view spans New York City. The building’s visitor exhibits are on the second and 80th floors and are open to all ticket holders. Since visitor operations may change, it is advisable to check the latest visitor information before your visit. The views and exhibits offer different experiences: a panorama of the city on the one hand, and the exhibition spaces inside the building on the other.
Places and Stories from the City’s History
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum honors nearly 3,000 people who were killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and February 26, 1993. At the site of the former Twin Towers, the 9/11 Memorial Museum tells the story of the 2001 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. These two dates are therefore among the historical events explicitly covered.
Federal Hall is where George Washington took the oath of office as the first president of the United States. Castle Clinton was built during the War of 1812 to defend the harbor. Castle Williams, meanwhile, was completed in 1811 and influenced the design of coastal fortifications over the following 50 years. These sites offer different historical points of reference: a defining moment in the early presidency and structures associated with harbor defense and the development of coastal fortifications.
The exhibition New York at Its Core tells the story and explores the future of New York City through the stories of immigrants, politicians, builders and other New Yorkers. The Tenement Museum takes a different approach: its apartment tours visit historically recreated homes of immigrant and migrant families who lived in New York tenement buildings. It also offers neighborhood tours of the Lower East Side that explore the area’s past and present.
Museums with Different Areas of Focus
If you’d like to organize your visits by theme, the museums offer a wide range of perspectives. The Rose Center for Earth and Space presents the 13-billion-year history of the universe. MoMA’s collection includes nearly 200,000 works from the past 150 years. The museum also offers tours led by professional art historians; availability and booking terms may change. So check the latest information if you’re planning a tour.
The Whitney Museum of American Art focuses on 20th-century and contemporary American art, with particular attention to works by living artists. The museum in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District can be reached by bicycle, car and public transportation. Comparing these institutions involves more than just their art: their collections and thematic focuses differ, as do the access options mentioned for each.
At the American Museum of Natural History, the Discovery Room is a hands-on learning space for children ages 4 to 12. It is open daily except Tuesdays; the schedule may change, so check it before your visit. Compared with the Rose Center, it offers a different subject within natural history and space science: a learning space for children rather than the universe’s long history. This can help you plan your museum visits around the exhibits you actually want to see.
An Island to Explore on Foot and by Bicycle
Governors Island is explored on foot and by bicycle. The ferry there departs from the Battery Maritime Building, 10 South Street in Lower Manhattan. Check the schedule before you travel.
This lets you choose a hotel based on your personal travel plans, without having to combine the different museums, sites and activities into a single itinerary.
Discover more destinations: Manhattan, Bronx, Brighton Beach, Staten Island, Brooklyn, New York City, Queens, Suffolk.
Go to the main travel overview: New York.
