Itinerary · 8 days · 40 places
8 Days in New York
Eight days in New York: the great classics of Midtown and Downtown, a day in Central Park with Museum Mile, a whole day in Brooklyn from DUMBO to Williamsburg — and evenings when places really are still open.
Open in the appThere you can adjust the plan to your dates, your pace and your interests.
Photo: Following NYC · Pexels
The route on the map
The plan, day by day
Day 1Settling into the Village
Arrival in New York
Hotel check-in
Your base is in the West Village, where the streets break out of the grid and little cafés and jazz cellars sit between the brick houses.
Washington Square Park
In the evening street musicians play beneath the marble arch, while chess players sit at the stone tables in the south-west corner.
Day 2Midtown from above
Empire State Building
From the open-air deck on the 86th floor you watch the avenues run north like canyons; the Art Deco lobby on the ground floor deserves a look of its own.
New York Public Library
Behind the two lions a marble staircase leads up to the Rose Reading Room, a hall the length of a football pitch with a painted ceiling.
Grand Central Terminal
In the main concourse the starry sky is painted back to front on the ceiling, and outside the Oyster Bar doors the whispering gallery carries voices from corner to corner.
Museum of Modern Art
Van Gogh's Starry Night, Monet's Water Lilies room and Picasso's Demoiselles hang on the fourth and fifth floors, while downstairs the tranquil sculpture garden is open.
Top of the Rock
From the Rockefeller Center terrace you get the Empire State Building and Central Park in a single shot — unlike from the ESB platform.
Evening: Times Square
After dark the billboards blaze so brightly you could read a newspaper on Duffy Square; the red TKTS steps give you an overview of the whole scene.
Day 3Downtown, the harbour and Ground Zero
Charging Bull at Bowling Green
The bronze bull has stood at the foot of Broadway since 1989; early in the morning you can reach its horns without queuing.
Staten Island Ferry from Whitehall Terminal
The free ferry sails past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island — stand on the right on the way out and on the left on the way back.
9/11 Memorial & Museum
In the footprints of the Twin Towers water falls into two black pools, and the museum below holds the remains of the foundation wall and a crushed fire engine.
Oculus at the World Trade Center
Calatrava's white ribbed hall above the station looks like a skeleton; every year on 11 September the skylight at its apex opens.
Wall Street and Trinity Church
Federal Hall with its Washington statue, the Stock Exchange with its giant flag and, at the head of the street, the church in whose graveyard Alexander Hamilton lies.
South Street Seaport and Pier 17
Cobblestones, old sailing ships at the quay and, from the roof of Pier 17, the view back to the Brooklyn Bridge in the evening light.
Evening: Chinatown on Mott Street
Between Doyers Street and Canal Street neon signs glow late over noodle kitchens and teahouses, and the bakeries are still selling egg tarts at ten.
Day 4Central Park and Museum Mile
Bethesda Terrace
The double staircase leads down to the angel fountain by the lake, and in the arcade below a cappella groups almost always sing because of the acoustics.
Belvedere Castle
The weather station at this little castle on the rock records New York's official temperatures; below lies Turtle Pond with the Delacorte Theater.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Egyptian Temple of Dendur behind its glass wall, the Arms and Armor galleries and the European masters easily fill two and a half hours — admission for out-of-state visitors is fixed, no longer pay-what-you-wish.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
You take the lift to the top and walk down Wright's white spiral past the paintings — here the building itself is the real exhibit.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir
The 2.5-kilometre loop around the reservoir offers the best-known view of the Upper West Side skyline, and in the evening hundreds of joggers run here.
Evening: Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle
In the bar decorated with murals by Madeline illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans, live piano starts at half past five, and a jacket is appreciated.
Day 5Brooklyn: DUMBO to Williamsburg
Brooklyn Bridge
Walk from City Hall over the wooden boardwalk between the Gothic stone arches and the web of cables, with the cars and the East River below you.
DUMBO and Washington Street
From the cobblestones of Washington Street the brick buildings frame the arch of the Manhattan Bridge with the Empire State Building inside it.
Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 1
Lawns right on the water with the full view of Downtown Manhattan, and next door the historic Jane's Carousel turns in its glass pavilion.
Brooklyn Heights Promenade
A narrow balcony above the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway from which you see the harbour, the Statue of Liberty and the skyline all at once.
Williamsburg and Bedford Avenue
Vintage shops, record stores and cafés between North 4th and North 9th Street, with large murals in the side streets in between.
Evening: Domino Park
On the site of the old sugar refinery a boardwalk with loungers looks out as the sun sets red over the skyline behind the Williamsburg Bridge.
Day 6The High Line and the West Side
Chelsea Market
In Nabisco's former biscuit factory, fish, taco and bakery stalls line up beneath exposed pipes, with a waterfall splashing in the middle of the hall.
High Line
The disused freight railway runs nine metres above the street and threads its way between the buildings of Chelsea as a perennial garden.
Little Island at Pier 55
An artificial park on tulip-shaped concrete piles in the Hudson, with a small amphitheatre and views downriver.
Whitney Museum of American Art
20th-century American art from Hopper to Warhol, plus outdoor terraces looking straight onto the end of the High Line.
Hudson Yards
Among the glass towers stands the beehive-shaped Vessel with its 154 flights of stairs, next to the sliding shell of the arts centre The Shed.
Evening: Meatpacking District
Beneath the High Line, bars and rooftop terraces on old cobblestones keep the party going until late.
Day 7Upper West Side and Harlem
American Museum of Natural History
The blue whale hangs above the Hall of Ocean Life, and on the dinosaur floor stands a titanosaur too big for the room — come early, before the school groups arrive.
Strawberry Fields
The Imagine mosaic lies opposite the Dakota Building, where John Lennon lived; usually someone is playing his songs beside it.
Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine
The largest Gothic cathedral in the world is still unfinished to this day; inside, modern artworks hang between the chapels.
Columbia University and Low Memorial Library
The campus is a quiet brick courtyard above the city, with the bronze Alma Mater statue seated in front of the library steps.
Apollo Theater on 125th Street
In front of the illuminated sign of the theatre where Ella Fitzgerald got her start and James Brown recorded his famous live album, your stroll along Harlem's main street begins.
Evening: Smoke Jazz Club
A small club on Broadway at 106th Street with sets seven nights a week — booking a table is advisable.
Day 8Last morning in Midtown
Bryant Park
The lawn behind the library, with its carousel, pétanque court and folding chairs, is the best place for a quiet start to the morning.
Fifth Avenue and St. Patrick's Cathedral
Window-shop your way up from 42nd to 51st Street, ending at the white neo-Gothic cathedral opposite Rockefeller Center.
Departure from New York
Make it your trip
Viatro AI opens this plan in the app — with map, travel times and opening hours. You change the days, pace and places yourself.
