Guides / Manhattan
GuideThings to do in Manhattan
Where we would actually send you in Manhattan: the parks and streets worth the walk, the food worth the line and the bars worth staying out for. Best first.
What to see
Best firstParks, streets, museums and the places you came for.
9.9Central Park843 acres of engineered wilderness that the rest of the city was built around.9.9Rockefeller ParkThe best open space downtown, and the one that hits differently if you actually live here.9.8Freeman AlleyA narrow, graffiti-lined alley off Rivington that dead-ends at one of downtown's best-hidden restaurant doors.9.8The Met CloistersMedieval Europe rebuilt in Fort Tryon Park, over the Hudson.9.8Washington Square ParkThe rawest square in New York — everything happening at once, and never the same twice.9.7Commerce StreetA crooked two-block street that explains why people romanticize the West Village.9.7Ford Foundation AtriumA third of an acre of indoor jungle behind a glass wall on 43rd Street, free to visit.9.7Hudson River GreenwayThe most scenic ride in New York — get lost on it, and the George Washington Bridge never seems to get closer.9.7Morningside ParkA cliff face with a waterfall at the bottom, separating Harlem from Morningside Heights.9.7The High LineA freight rail viaduct that was going to be demolished, replanted instead.9.7Times SquareYes, locals put Times Square on the M List. There is nowhere else on Earth like it: the whole world in a few blocks, and energy you can't find anywhere else.9.6Inwood Hill ParkThe last old-growth forest left on Manhattan, at the very top of the island.9.6Riverside ParkFour miles of Hudson waterfront that the Upper West Side treats as its back garden.9.6Salon 94Serious contemporary art inside a Carnegie Hill mansion, and it costs nothing to walk in.9.5Carl Schurz ParkThe mayor's front garden, on a promenade over the East River.9.5Grand Central Main ConcourseThe best room in New York, and it costs nothing to stand in it.9.5The Frick CollectionOld Masters hung at the scale of a home. It feels like real luxury, because it was.9.4Casa de Montecristo Cigar LoungeWalk in and you are somewhere else — the premier cigar lounge in New York, and a humidor worth the trip alone.9.4New York Public LibraryThe grandest free building in New York. Marble halls, the lions out front, and a reading room under a painted sky that you can walk into for nothing.9.2High BridgeNew York's oldest standing bridge, built to carry water, reopened for walking in 2015.9.2Riverbank State ParkA 28-acre park built on the roof of a sewage treatment plant, with a pool, a rink and the Hudson in front of it.9.2Tudor City GreensTwo private-feeling gardens above 42nd Street that anyone can walk into.9.1190th Street–Overlook TerraceA subway station carved 140 feet into the rock, with a tunnel that opens onto a park.9.1Bennett ParkThe highest natural point in Manhattan, marked by a rock and a plaque almost nobody visits.9.1Fort Tryon ParkThe best park in Manhattan that most of Manhattan has never been to.9.1Martinez Handmade CigarsCigars rolled in front of you just off Seventh Avenue — walk in and you could be in the Dominican Republic.8.9Bryant ParkMidtown's best place to stop. Sit down, rest your feet, eat something and watch the city go by, a block from everything you came to see.8.9The Metropolitan Museum of ArtTwo million works and some genuinely magnificent rooms — go off-peak or the crowd wins.8.9The Whitney Museum of American ArtRenzo Piano's museum at the bottom of the High Line, with outdoor terraces on several floors.8.7Neue GalerieA small Fifth Avenue mansion holding Klimt’s gold portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, with a Viennese cafe downstairs.8.6Marcus Garvey ParkA rocky outcrop in the middle of Harlem, with the last fire watchtower in America on top.8.5Greenwich StreetA walk down Lower Manhattan that changes century every few blocks.8.5The 187th Street StepsA street that gave up and became a staircase, climbing the ridge in one go.8.1Horus CafeThe down-to-earth hookah lounge Manhattan is short of — properly prepared, coals kept up, no forced vibe.8.1Riverside Drive at 96thThe best walk on the Upper West Side, in either direction from 96th.Where to eat
Best firstRestaurants we would go back to, best first.
9.9Pommes FritesFresh Belgian frites, a wall of sauces, and the most generous beer pour in New York.9.9Spicy VillageBig tray chicken on Forsyth Street — spicy, numbing, and built for a table, though we know someone who finishes one alone.9.8Joe's PizzaThe benchmark. If you only eat one New York slice, this is the one every other slice gets measured against.9.5BarbouniaMediterranean cooking full of life and flavor on Park Avenue South. Order widely: every dish is worth trying.9.5Grand Street Skewer CartCharcoal, a hand fan and a stack of skewers on Grand Street — the cheapest great thing you will eat in Chinatown.9.5Mary O'sA one-room shop in the East Village whose Irish soda bread scones are the reason to go, and it is not close.9.4Lao Ma SpicyBuild your own dry pot at the counter — pick the meat, pick the vegetables, name your heat out of five.9.3TabetomoGreat Japanese ramen on Avenue A. No reservations: it's first come, first served.9.2Scarr's PizzaSkip the famous takeout line: walk inside, get a table, and have great pizza with a drink from the bar.9.1FelixA French bistro on the West Broadway corner that turns into a party without anyone announcing it.9.1KopitiamMalaysian food and drinks on East Broadway that hit the spot every single time — walk in, find a seat, order at the counter.9.1Magdy'sA humble Park Avenue cart run by a family who genuinely cook — and portions that outrun the price.9.1Surreal CreameryLoud, photogenic sundaes — but the plain soft serve underneath is the actual reason to come.8.9HaandiPakistani cooking on Lexington made with real care, in a room that has no interest in impressing you.8.9The Halal GuysThe 53rd and 6th cart we have been eating at for fifteen years — and the corner trick that skips the line.8.5Super BurritoMission-style burritos on Third Avenue, signage that could be 1987 Taco Bell, and Guinness on tap.8.5Taiwan Pork Chop HouseA steam-table counter on Doyers, the crooked block below Canal — cheap, fast, and better than it needs to be.Where to drink and go out
Best firstBars, rooftops and nights out.
9.8Cellar DogJazz downstairs, ping pong and shuffleboard in the same room, and the only cover charge in the city we would call cheap.9.7Bar Room at The BeekmanA drink beneath a nine-story atrium in one of downtown's most beautiful historic buildings. Romantic, unhurried, and made with care.9.7OverstorySixty-four floors up at 70 Pine, on a terrace small enough that the height is the only thing you notice.9.6Empire State Building ObservatoryDead center of Manhattan, with all four sides of the island in front of you — and the only deck where that is true.9.1124 Old Rabbit ClubA true speakeasy, hidden in plain sight on MacDougal Street: no sign, unmarked stairs, and a dark room full of people who found it.9.1Orchard StreetA street that gives you FOMO just walking down it — outdoor tables, shops, galleries, and no reason to leave.8.9Le BainA penthouse discotheque at The Standard with a plunge pool in the middle of the floor and a disco ball over it.8.9Mr. PurpleTwo terraces and a pool fifteen floors over Orchard Street, in the middle of everything the Lower East Side does well.8.9The Four-Faced LiarThe best Guinness we have had in New York, in a dark room off Washington Square that never quite fills.Questions
What is the best thing to do in Manhattan?
Central Park in Manhattan, which we score 9.9/10. 843 acres of engineered wilderness that the rest of the city was built around.
Where should you eat in Manhattan?
Start with Pommes Frites, Spicy Village and Joe's Pizza.
What is free to do in Manhattan?
Central Park, Rockefeller Park and Freeman Alley cost nothing, out of 26 free places we list in Manhattan.
Did anyone pay to be on this list?
No. Nobody pays to be included, to rank higher or to be left off. Every place here is one we visited and would send a friend to.