New York, USA: What to See in 5 Days + Tips on How to Save

Have you read our article with 44 tips on what to see in New York but you don’t know how to put it together in 5 days, or you’re here for the first time and need help with your itinerary? Whether you want inspiration on what to see in New York in 5 days, are looking for tips on which part of New York to stay in or are wondering how to save money on tickets, read on to find out.

Weather New York: when to fly to New York?

For me the best time is autumn, winter and spring, in summer it was too hot in New York and there were too many tourists. In general, however, every period has something to it. Even though it’s quite cold in December and January in New York, it’s a magical time, especially when it snows.

I found New York the most beautiful in May, June, September and October.

Where to stay in New York

I mentioned in a previous article about New York ( what to see in 3 days ) that it’s best to stay in Manhattan so you don’t have to waste time moving from other parts of the city.

If you’re lucky and they have availability, I recommend either the Artezen Hotel on Wall Street or the Best Western Plus Soho Hotel near SoHo and Chinatown.

How to save up to 34% on New York City admission

On GetYourGuide you can buy a New York CityPASS, which saves you about 34% on admission. As part of New York CityPass, you have access to:

• Empire State Building
• American Museum of Natural History

And then you can choose 3 of these attractions

• Top of the Rock® Observation Deck
• Ferry Access to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
• 9/11 Memorial and Museum
• Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises
• Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum
• Guggenheim Museum

What to see in New York in 5 days: itinerary

Five days is quite enough time to see New York, unless you’re like me and feel the need to see all the museums – even a week is not enough. 😁 Let’s take a look at what to see in 5 days in New York.

Day 1: Midtown Manhattan

• Start your stroll in Central Park, this iconic park is over 340 hectares so you won’t get through the whole thing, but it’s nice to get your bones moving in the morning and avoid the biggest crowds and meet the locals.

• Top of the Rock – Personally, this is my favorite sight in New York, and I’ve really been to all of them, and more than once. It has a view of the Empire State Building. If for some reason you don’t buy a CityPass, buy a Top of the Rock ticket at GetYourGuide.
• From here, take a proper tour of Rockefeller Center, those of you who like the Christmas movie Home Alone will probably want to take a picture in front of Radio City Music Hall, and for us LEGO fans, a stop at the 5th Avenue store is a must before continuing on to St. Patrick’s Cathedral .
• If you like art, there’s room to visit MoMA – Museum of Modern Art, or continue on to Time Square, where, in addition to the luminous billboards, you’ll find some of the famous shops like Hershey’s Chocolate World and Disney.
• End the day with a stroll along Broadway and Columbus Circle. For those of you who speak English well, we recommend going to a show, it’s worth it (you can buy a ticket safely on GetYourGuide, for example). Don’t buy tickets on the street! They’re usually scams.

Day 2: Brooklyn and the Financial District

• We’ll start our second day in Brooklyn – on the popular Brooklyn Heights Promenade, stretching your legs and taking panoramic photos overlooking Manhattan.
• Then we slowly move to the Brooklyn Bridge through the DUMBO district. (DUMBO, short for “Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass,” is a small but significant neighborhood in Brooklyn, located on the border between Brooklyn and Manhattan. You have beautiful views of the Brooklyn Bridge from here).

• Battery Park – The second big stop is Battery Park, where you’ll find The Sphere, a peace symbol that stood between the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center before it was damaged in the 9/11 attacks. September and subsequently moved here.
• From Battery Park, take the ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. If you don’t buy your entry to the Statue of Liberty as part of CityPass, you can buy it through GetYourGuide so you don’t spend time in line for tickets.

• From Battery Park, head straight to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum – it’s both a memorial and a museum created in memory of the nearly 3,000 people who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. September 2001 at the World Trade Center. You’ll find it where the World Trade Center Twin Towers stood .
• You’ll see how much time you have, but if you have any left, you can also visit the One World Observatory. You can buy your ticket again via GetYourGuide.

Day 3: Museums or attractions of your choice

Dedicate the third day to the museums, New York has some of the best museums in the world and they are interesting even for those who were last in a museum in high school. 😁

• The Metropolitan Museum – it houses two million works of art, including paintings by artists such as Vincent van Gogh, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Cézanne, and Titian.
• The Guggenheim Museum – which is a short walk from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and houses works by many leading artists, including Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh and Wassily Kandinsky.
• The Intrepid Museum – officially known as the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum – for anyone interested in planes, ships, submarines and space.
• American Museum of Natural History – one of the most popular museums in the world, visited by over 5 million people a year.

• Head over to the Chrysler Building and see one of New York’s most iconic skyscrapers, built in 1930 in the Art Deco style.
• From the Chrysler Building , it’s a short walk to Grand Central Station / Grand Central Terminal, the iconic train station you may recognize from the movie Friends with Benefits, starring Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake.
• From here you can go to the Empire State Building, if you have enough time you can go up. But make sure you have bought a ticket in advance (for example, via GetYourGuide).
• From the Empire State Building, if your feet aren’t aching yet, take a walk to the next major skyscraper: the Flatiron Building, which is shaped like an iron.

• For the evening we recommend going on an evening cruise around Manhattan, we did it and it was a great experience. That’s when we found her on GetYourGuide. Availability is by season. In winter they run different cruises than in summer.

Day 4. SoHo and ChinaTown

• You’ll probably want to take a break from museums, so we’ll head to SoHo, known for its impressive cast-iron buildings from the late 19th and early 20th century. This neighbourhood has always been known as the centre of the art scene.
• From here we move on to Chinatown, on the way you can stop at the unusual Museumof Ice Cream or if you love contemporary art, I recommend the New Museum.
• And it’s going to Chinatown! As soon as you enter, you’ll suddenly find yourself in a whole different world 😁 You can even buy a food tour of Chinatown and Little Italy on GetYourGuide .

• If you’ve already seen New York’s Chinatown, don’t forget another very popular neighborhood – the Italian one, called Little Italy. Historically, there was quite a large community of Italians living here, unfortunately it is getting smaller and smaller, which is why we recommend visiting it as soon as possible.
• Now you have to decide where you stand in terms of time, either catch up on something you missed in the previous days or we have a tip for you for an afternoon trip – head to Coney Island, but you need plenty of time, it will take you an hour just to get there.
• Coney Island features a historic amusement park with the world-famous Cyclone roller coaster, one of the oldest wooden roller coasters in the world, and the Wonder Wheel, a giant wheel offering beautiful views
• In addition, Coney Island is simply alive, especially in the summer there are a lot of events and there is also a relatively large public beach.

Day 5. Chelsea and Greenwich

• On our last day, we’ll head to Chelsea Market first thing in the morning, which is located in one of the most elegant neighborhoods in New York. Here you can buy original souvenirs instead of the traditional trinkets sold on every corner.
• There are two other contemporary art museums/galleries near Chelsea Market that are worth mentioning (and visiting, but I know not everyone is an art fanatic), one of them is the David Zwirner and the other is Whitney Museum .

• From Chelsea Market, head towards the High Line Park. It is an innovative park located on a former railway line, 9 meters above the city and offers beautiful views of New York.
• After that, we’ll head to Hudson Yards, where you’ll find more interesting buildings from recent years. One of the most beautiful is probably the Vessel, a structure of interconnected staircases that form a unique tower resembling an inverted beehive.

• Another interesting structure is The Edge observation deck, built in 2020. It is the highest outdoor observation deck in the Western Hemisphere, located at 345 metres at 100. of the 30 Hudson Yards skyscraper. Unlike traditional observation decks, the Edge rises 24 metres from the side of the building, creating the illusion of being suspended in mid-air. Be sure to buy your ticket in advance on GetYourGuide so you don’t stand in line.

• Another interesting building is The Shed, an art centre dedicated to various art forms. But what is interesting is the construction of the building, half of the building is fixed to the high-rise building, the other half functions as a movable extension, which can, if necessary, cover part of the adjacent courtyard and create a temporary hall for 1,250 seated and up to 2,000 standing spectators.
• Move over to Greenwich Village, this neighborhood was a hotspot in the 60s. a 70. years 20. century epicentre of the civil rights movement, the feminist movement and the LGBT movement, and has been home to famous American artists such as Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock.

• Plan an unusual experience for your last day , we were surprised to find that a helicopter flight over New York is actually quite affordable (at least when compared to prices elsewhere).

Where to go next

Want to know if New York is safe, what else to see or what to try? Read our next article with 44 tips on what to see in New York.

After all, you won’t be in New York for five days, but only three? Read, what to see in New York in 3 days.