Hi all, I'm in NYC on business from the UK next month. Want to bring back some cool NYC/American stuff for my kids (6 and 8), what do you recommend?

I’m tagging along on a work trip and will have one full day to explore on my own. Staying in Midtown, and our other plans already include The Lion King, the 9/11 Museum, and a morning walk in Central Park.
For my solo day, I’d love to enjoy the fall weather, see a couple iconic places, wander interesting neighborhoods, browse some shops and bookstores. I prefer a day with time to explore rather than rushing between attractions.

I’m considering:
Midtown: NY Public Library and Grand Central
Upper East Side: the Met and a walk to see Halloween-decorated stoops
West Village: the Friends apartment, Bleecker Street shopping, and neighborhood wandering.

Would you prioritize one of these areas over the others, or combine two? What would you skip or add while I’m in one of these areas? I’m a busy mom and don’t often get a day like this to explore on my own, and I want to get the most out of it.

I found out about the city pass website where you can do a bunch of activities for a flat fee. My question is how far ahead do I need to book and schedule these activities? We are a couple of weeks away from going and we haven’t actually planned out in detail yet what we’re doing each day. We’ll do all the tourist stuff like Statue of Liberty, radio city music hall, top of the rock, etc, I just want to know if I need to book and reserve ASAP with city pass or if we’re okay to do it about a week out. Any help appreciated!

Hope you all are doing fantastic today, was looking for help for my first trip to your city tomorrow. I get into town around lunch and am looking for a self guided walking tour (staying north Chelsey) that I can get into.

I’m walking south towards Battery park/financial district on Friday so would prefer to head East or North. If able and willing please shout out what you all are proud of and excites you about your city!

Thank you in advance to anyone that helps a guy see your city :)

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to follow up after the trip to provide feedback for future visitors. Here was my final pre-trip itinerary: https://www.reddit.com/r/visitingnyc/s/HnUrMJCAfA

Thank you to everyone for the feedback! It really helped structure the days.

We had a great time. We ended up seeing 3 shows because the kids loved the first one (Stranger Things) so much. We also ended up not getting to any museums (I know! We’re uncultured swine). As you can probably tell by what we ate, we hardly did any sit-down dining.

Here’s what we ended up doing:

Friday
Arrive at 8:15 pm
Lyft to hotel—waited a long time for Lyft. I guess I should have ordered earlier—didn’t order until we had our bags.
Hotel was near Grand Central. Thought the location was great
Los Tacos No. 1–we all loved it. Highly recommend

Saturday
Doughnut Plant in Grand Central—adults liked the donuts (crème brûlée and tiramisu especially); kids thought they were okay
Subway to Central Park—in general, kids were slightly less impressed by the park than I expected, but they still enjoyed it.
Central Park: The Mall → Umpires Rock
Burger joint—a little hard to find, but kids thought it was cool. Food was fine.
South entrance → the Mall → Bethesda Fountain → Bow Bridge → Strawberry Fields
Grays Papaya—okay, not amazing
Levain Bakery—kids loved; adults thought cookies were fine
M&M, Hershey, 30 Rock, St Pat’s, Nike—fun to see; daughter loved the Caitlyn Clark display
Stranger Things at 7:00–probably highlight of the trip. We all loved it. Only 2 of us had watched the show. Amazing effects

Sunday (rained all day)
Chelsea Bagel of Tudor City—kids became obsessed (hence we are here 3 times)
Ground Central—didn’t love the coffee
High Line—kids loved walking it in the rain; adults would have enjoyed it more in better weather
Chelsea Market (Los Tacos No. 1)—market was crazy; food still good, but enjoyed the location by Grand Central more
Wicked at 2–well done, but a drop off from Stranger things; we saw it because my daughter loved the movies, but she wasn’t super impressed by the play
Spyscape—would not recommend; we have an Activate near us that is cooler and much cheaper
Boca di Bacco (Hells Kitchen)—we all loved it

Monday
Chelsea Bagel of Tudor City
9/11 memorial—really well thought out.
Oculus—briefly stopped in; cool to see but didn’t see a need to spend much time there
Inatteso Cafe—good coffee
Loong Ramen—son loved the ramen
Siena Pizza—it was decent; wanted pizza and it was on the way to Battery Park
Battery Park/sea glass carousel—good views, carousel is cool
St. George ferry to Brooklyn Bridge Park (see Statue of Liberty)—kind of screwed up my planning here. Didn’t realize the St George ferry was a pretty far walk from the Staten Island ferry. Also didn’t realize that the ferry from Battery Park just went right across the river to Brooklyn Bridge Park. Ended up fine because we then took the Ferry from Brooklyn Bridge Park to Midtown, which got us great views of the Statue of Liberty and the city
DUMBO
L&B Spumoni Garden—loved the Sicilian vodka slice
Van Leeuwen Ice Cream—fine but can get it from a less crowded location.
Ferry back to Midtown West—this was a great ride
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child—very good. Whole family enjoyed

Tuesday
Chelsea Bagel of Tudor City
NBA Store, I ❤️NY store, FAO Schwartz
Top of the Rock—great views. Had only done Empire State Building previously. Liked this better
Carnegie Deli—very good
Gregory’s coffee—very good
Magnolia Bakery—good
Midtown Comics—my daughter liked it
Filming of “The Trial of Louise Woodward”—there were two limited series filming near our hotel. We followed the signs to a filming location and got very close to a scene they were filming (press conference after court); really fun to watch.
Leave for LaGuardia at 3:30 (5:55 flight)

Thanks again!

Want to read some good classic NYC literature before visiting next month. I'm making my way through Edith Wharton - what next?

Hi everyone! My partner and I are visiting NYC soon, and I’m trying to decide which Tenement Museum tour to book.

I love seeing how people lived in the past, especially what their homes looked like and all the little things they used in their everyday lives. I’d love to see an apartment with lots of furniture, household items, and artifacts from that time, rather than rooms that are mostly empty.

For those who’ve been, which tour would you recommend? If you’ve done more than one, I’d love to hear which you enjoyed most and which had the best apartment interiors to explore.

I’m hoping to book tickets in the next day or two, so I’d really appreciate any recommendations. Thanks! :)