Stand at the corner of Broadway and Wall Street and you can see the whole arc of the city in one glance: Federal Hall, where George Washington was inaugurated as president, the New York Stock Exchange across the way, and the Woolworth Building rising behind City Hall. This is where Manhattan began as a Dutch trading post, and it still reads like a lesson in how the island grew.
Manhattan suits travellers who like to move on foot and let a neighbourhood unfold block by block. The island is divided into three informally bounded components — Lower Manhattan, Midtown, and Upper Manhattan — and this guide groups the sights that way so you can plan a day without crossing the borough twice.
What follows is a selection of the landmarks, museums, parks and experiences worth building a trip around, followed by a one-day route and answers to the questions visitors ask most.
Top things to do in Manhattan
1. Central Park
By far the largest and most famous park in the borough, Central Park is where the city relaxes. On a sunny day you can join New Yorkers on the benches, bike the paths, watch the ducks on the pond, boat on the lake, sunbathe on the Sheep Meadow, skate at the Wollman Rink, or catch a concert or play. The small Central Park Zoo sits inside it too.
Pair it with Museum Mile on Fifth Avenue along the park's edge, where several of the city's major museums are clustered.
2. Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
Out in New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of arriving immigrants in the late 19th century and remains a world symbol of the United States and its ideals. Ellis Island, beside it, was the first impression of many Americans-to-be.
The ferries to the Statue and to Staten Island depart from Battery Park, so combine the trip with a walk through the Financial District beforehand.
3. Wall Street and Federal Hall
Wall Street is the center of the financial world and the heart of Lower Manhattan, home to the New York Stock Exchange and Federal Hall, where George Washington was inaugurated as president. It is the most concentrated dose of the city's early history and its present power in one short street.
Walk north afterwards to the City Hall area, flanked on the east by the Brooklyn Bridge and on the west by the Woolworth Building, the "Cathedral of Commerce".
4. National September 11 Memorial
The National September 11 Memorial sits at the site of the former World Trade Center towers, west of Wall Street. It is a different kind of landmark from the towers around it, and a place to move through slowly.
It fits naturally into a Lower Manhattan walk that also takes in Wall Street and Battery Park.
5. Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge flanks the City Hall area on the east and is one of the borough's best-known crossings. Walking it puts you above the harbor with the Lower Manhattan skyline behind you.
City Hall Park, a small but delightful square just off the bridge, makes an excellent spot to rest after walking over — note that most of the grass is fenced off for security.
6. Empire State Building
The Empire State Building dominates the surrounding area of Midtown and is one of the skyscrapers that define the island's silhouette. The Chrysler Building stakes its ground nearby, so you can see two of the city's most recognizable towers in a single stretch.
Combine the area with a walk down Fifth Avenue, the ultra-luxury shopping corridor.
7. Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal is one of the three most-visited tourist attractions in Manhattan, and it sits amid the tall structures of Midtown alongside the main branch of the New York Public Library and Rockefeller Center.
It is an easy stop between Midtown sights, and the library and Rockefeller Center are within the same wander.
8. Times Square and the Theater District
Times Square, in the Theater District on the west side of Midtown, is the insanely crowded tourist hub of the borough. Broadway is famous for its many shows, especially musicals.
For same-night tickets at discounted prices, usually around half off, look at TKTS online, or check BroadwayBox.com and NYTix.com.
9. Metropolitan Museum of Art
On Museum Mile — Fifth Avenue along Central Park in Uptown Manhattan — you will find the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the largest and most important museums of art in the world.
Its medieval-themed extension, The Cloisters, sits at the northern end of Manhattan inside Fort Tryon Park, so the two can anchor separate halves of a trip.
10. American Museum of Natural History
Across Central Park from Museum Mile, on the Upper West Side, is the massive American Museum of Natural History, one of the largest science museums in the world. The American Folk Art Museum is nearby.
Cross the park on foot to get there and you turn the transfer into a walk through Central Park.
11. Guggenheim Museum
The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Guggenheim Museum sits in the Upper East Side and Harlem area, near the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the Jewish Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, and El Museo Del Barrio.
These sit close enough together that you can choose two or three in an afternoon rather than trying to see them all.
12. The High Line
The High Line in Chelsea is built on a defunct railway that runs thirty feet above the street, making it a walk with a view rather than a park in the usual sense.
It pairs well with Hudson River Park, whose promenade runs along the Hudson from 59th Street toward the southern tip of the island.
13. Fort Tryon Park and The Cloisters
In Uptown Manhattan, Fort Tryon Park contains one of the highest points and some of the best views on the island, as well as The Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Nearby at the northern tip of Manhattan is Inwood Park, the last remaining virgin forest on the island, where many arrowheads and other Native American artifacts have been found.
14. Greenwich Village and Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village is one of the excellent cosmopolitan spaces that serve as centers of neighbourhood life. The Stonewall Inn here, part of the Stonewall National Monument, is considered the birthplace in 1969 of the modern gay-rights movement.
Saunter along the tree-lined streets of the Village, and if you are in the mood for street basketball, the West 4th Street Courts are legendary for intense pick-up games.
15. Chinatown and the Lower East Side
Chinatown has the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, and Columbus Park is a centre of neighbourhood life there. The Museum of Chinese in the Americas is in Chinatown, while the Lower East Side holds the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, the Museum at Eldridge Street, and the New Museum.
Walk it rather than ride it — the scruffiness of Chinatown is part of the experience.
If you only have one day
Morning: Start in Lower Manhattan at Wall Street and Federal Hall, then walk north to the City Hall area to see the Brooklyn Bridge and the Woolworth Building. Rest in City Hall Park, then continue west to the National September 11 Memorial. If time allows, head south to Battery Park, where the ferries to the Statue of Liberty and Staten Island depart.
Afternoon: Cross the "valley" of shorter buildings into Midtown. Take in the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building, then Grand Central Terminal, the main branch of the New York Public Library, and Rockefeller Center. Walk down Fifth Avenue, and finish the afternoon at Times Square in the Theater District.
Evening: See a Broadway show. Check TKTS online for same-night tickets at discounted prices, usually around half off, or look at BroadwayBox.com and NYTix.com.
Frequently asked questions
How should I get around Manhattan?
Perhaps the most obvious thing to do in Manhattan is to walk, a lot. One of the greatest things to see in Manhattan is Manhattan itself, so plan on strolling through Central Park, walking the tree-lined streets of Greenwich Village, taking a walk along the High Line, heading down Fifth Avenue, and experiencing Chinatown and Times Square first hand. New York Penn Station is the busiest transportation hub in the Western Hemisphere if you are arriving by train.
Where can I see a show or a game?
Broadway is famous for its many shows, especially musicals, with discounted same-night tickets usually available through TKTS online, BroadwayBox.com and NYTix.com. For sports, Madison Square Garden sits atop Penn Station in Midtown and hosts major concerts, conventions and sporting events, including the New York Rangers, the New York Knicks, and St. John's Red Storm college men's basketball games.
What can I do for free?
If tickets to Madison Square Garden are too expensive, there are plenty of places to watch more informal, amateur matches for free. Notable spots include Pier 40 on the Hudson River at the end of Houston Street, which has baseball, soccer and rugby fields, kayaking and rowing, and trapeze artists, along with the many recreational facilities of Central Park. You are welcome to watch and maybe even join in.
Which parks are worth my time beyond Central Park?
Fort Tryon Park has some of the best views on the island, Inwood Park holds the last remaining virgin forest, and Riverside Park makes for a lovely stroll or picnic overlooking the Hudson. In Midtown, Bryant Park behind the New York Public Library shows free movies on summer nights, Union Square is home to a popular greenmarket, and Madison Square Park has flowering trees in spring and views of the Flatiron, Metropolitan Life and Empire State buildings.
Pick the neighbourhoods that match your pace, string together a morning and an afternoon, and start mapping out your days in Manhattan.