Stand on the elevated platform at Mets–Willets Point and the 7 train rattles in beside a globe made of steel rings — the Unisphere, still holding up its end of the sky above Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Queens is where New York City spreads out, turns residential, and keeps talking in more languages than anywhere else on earth.
This borough suits travellers who have already done Midtown and want the other New York: sculpture gardens and film museums in Long Island City and Astoria, ball games and tennis in Flushing, and a real Atlantic beach at the end of the A train. It also suits anyone who wants to eat, shop and wander without a crowd of tourists in the frame.
This guide covers the sights and experiences the sources describe, plus a one-day plan that strings them together. Western Queens is the urban, dense end; eastern Queens is quieter and more suburban, so plan your day around the subway lines rather than trying to cross the whole borough on foot.
Top things to do in Queens
1. Flushing Meadows Corona Park and the Queens Museum
The park is the borough's great open space, reached on the 7 line by exiting at Mets–Willets Point. Inside it, the Queens Museum offers visual art, cultural events, Worlds' Fair memorabilia, and the Panorama — a sprawling scaled-down model of the entire city, a leftover attraction from the 1964 World's Fair. It is remarkably accurate, with one exception: the World Trade Center has never been removed from it.
Combine the museum with the rest of the park in a single visit, since the Unisphere, the museum and the ballpark all sit within the same grounds. Give the Panorama more time than you think it needs.
2. Citi Field
Citi Field in Flushing is home to the New York Mets, and watching a game there is one of the borough's signature experiences. It sits in the same park as the Queens Museum and the tennis center, so a game can anchor a whole afternoon or evening in Flushing.
Because the stadium is on the 7 line at Mets–Willets Point, you can arrive early, see the museum, and walk to the ballpark without moving your car.
3. USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
Also in Flushing, this is the site of the U.S. Open tennis tournament. If your visit coincides with the tournament, this is the borough's biggest sporting draw; the rest of the year the complex remains the anchor of the Flushing Meadows cluster.
Pair it with Citi Field and the Queens Museum, all within the same park and all served by the same subway stop.
4. Museum of the Moving Image
Just off Northern Boulevard in the area between Astoria and Long Island City, at 35th Avenue and 36th Street, this museum showcases movies and the televisual arts, including video games, with revolving exhibitions. Interactive exhibits on the history of video games are part of what it offers.
Kaufman-Astoria Studios, home of Sesame Street among others, stands next door, and there is a large movie theater nearby as well as a 24-hour diner and bar called Cup that serves pitchers of beer. Take the R/M or the N/W line.
5. Socrates Sculpture Park
This is a free place to view art in Long Island City, overlooking the East River and sitting next to the Costco on Vernon Boulevard. It is the rare Queens art stop that costs nothing and is as much about the waterfront setting as the works on view.
Pair it with the other Long Island City and Astoria museums, which cluster in the same part of the borough.
6. Isamu Noguchi Sculpture Museum
Located in Long Island City, this museum occupies Noguchi's former sculpture studio, which gives the collection a sense of place that a conventional gallery cannot. It is one of the several museums that make Long Island City and Astoria worth a dedicated half-day.
Check whether your employer is a museum member before you go: if you work for a large company such as IBM, GE or Citigroup, your company may be a sponsor, and this applies across museums in New York City, though different museums have different sponsors.
7. Museum of African Art
Another of the museums in the Long Island City and Astoria cluster, this one adds to the case for treating the area as the borough's museum district rather than a single stop.
Group it with the Sculpture Center and the Noguchi museum, which are in the same part of Queens, and use the same employer-membership check to see whether admission is covered.
8. Sculpture Center
The Sculpture Center rounds out the Long Island City and Astoria museum group, and like the others it rewards being seen as part of a cluster rather than a destination on its own.
Build an afternoon around these three or four institutions, then finish at Socrates Sculpture Park for the river view.
9. Rockaway Beach
You can visit the beach without leaving Queens. Rockaway Beach faces the Atlantic on a narrow peninsula, linked to the rest of Queens by bridge and by the subway on the A train, and it can also be reached by road from Nassau County and by bridge from Brooklyn. It is a fine stretch of relatively unpolluted sand.
Aside from the still-visible Empire State Building and the planes landing at nearby John F. Kennedy Airport, it is perhaps the most pastoral experience in New York City. The peninsula is bicycle accessible if you prefer to ride.
10. Jacob Riis Park
The cleanest beach on Rockaway can be found at Jacob Riis Park, part of the Gateway National Recreation Area. It is a federal beach and therefore subject to different laws than the rest of the Rockaways — worth knowing before you settle in for the day.
Note that women may legally go topless at any public New York beach, though not many do. Treat Jacob Riis as its own jurisdiction rather than assuming the rules of the surrounding Rockaways apply.
11. New York Hall of Science Farmers Market
At 111th Street and 48th Avenue off Corona Avenue, this market runs on Wednesdays from 10AM to 3PM, June to November. It is a straightforward way to see the borough's food culture in the same trip as Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
Time your visit to a Wednesday and combine it with the park and the Queens Museum, which are nearby.
12. Queens Botanical Garden Farmers Market
Held at Queens Botanical Garden off College Point Boulevard and Blossom Street in Flushing, this market runs on Fridays from 8:30AM to 4PM, June to November.
It pairs naturally with a Flushing day built around the park, the museum and the stadium.
13. Jamaica Farmers Market
On 160th Street off Jamaica Avenue, this market runs Fridays and Saturdays from 8:30AM to 4PM, June to November. It is the eastern option among the borough's farmers markets.
Since it operates two days a week, it is the most flexible of the three if your schedule is not built around a single weekday.
If you only have one day
Morning: Start in Long Island City and Astoria, where the museums cluster. See the Isamu Noguchi Sculpture Museum in Noguchi's former studio, then the Museum of African Art and the Sculpture Center, and finish the morning at Socrates Sculpture Park, the free art stop overlooking the East River next to the Costco on Vernon Boulevard. If you are near the Museum of the Moving Image at 35th Avenue and 36th Street, that is the same area and the same subway lines — R/M or N/W.
Afternoon: Take the 7 line to Mets–Willets Point and spend the afternoon in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Visit the Queens Museum for the Worlds' Fair memorabilia and the Panorama of the city, then walk the park itself. If the Mets are playing, stay for the game at Citi Field; if the U.S. Open is on, the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is in the same grounds. If your day falls on a Wednesday, Friday or Saturday between June and November, fit in one of the farmers markets — the New York Hall of Science market on Wednesday, the Queens Botanical Garden market on Friday, or the Jamaica market on Friday and Saturday.
Evening: Ride the A train out to the Rockaways and end the day at Rockaway Beach, with the Atlantic in front of you, the Empire State Building still visible behind, and planes coming in to John F. Kennedy Airport. If you want the cleanest sand, walk on to Jacob Riis Park, part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, and remember that as a federal beach it follows different rules from the rest of the Rockaways.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a car to see Queens?
No. The 7 line reaches Flushing Meadows Corona Park at Mets–Willets Point, the A train reaches Rockaway Beach, and the R/M or N/W lines serve the Museum of the Moving Image area. Rockaway is also bicycle accessible by bridge, and reachable by road from Nassau County or by bridge from Brooklyn if you do drive.
Is there anywhere in Queens to see art for free?
Yes. Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City is a free place to view art, and it overlooks the East River next to the Costco on Vernon Boulevard.
Can I get to a beach without leaving the borough?
Yes. Rockaway Beach sits on the Atlantic on a narrow peninsula linked by bridge and by subway to the rest of Queens. The cleanest stretch is at Jacob Riis Park, which is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area and, as a federal beach, is subject to different laws than the rest of the Rockaways.
When are the farmers markets open?
The New York Hall of Science Farmers Market at 111th Street and 48th Avenue off Corona Avenue runs Wednesdays, 10AM to 3PM, June to November. The Queens Botanical Garden Farmers Market off College Point Boulevard and Blossom Street in Flushing runs Fridays, 8:30AM to 4PM, June to November. The Jamaica Farmers Market on 160th Street off Jamaica Avenue runs Fridays and Saturdays, 8:30AM to 4PM, June to November.
Pick your subway line, check the calendar against the tennis tournament and the market days, and start mapping out your Queens day.