New York

NEW YORK – WHY GO?
New York, New York – those soaring skyscrapers, big-city lights, famous landmarks and unstoppable energy make the Big Apple the ultimate city break destination.

MUST SEE, MUST DO
Skyline views
New York’s most famous movie star, the Empire State Building, is just as impressive in real life and gives stunning views of Manhattan, Brooklyn Bridge and Central Park. It’s worth buying an Express Pass to avoid the long queues. For equally impressive vistas, head to the Top of the Rock Observation Deck, perched 70 storeys above Rockefeller Plaza. Dusk is the best time to watch the city twinkling below.

Statue of Liberty
Catch the free Staten Island ferry for a boat ride past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Buy a ticket in advance if you want to visit the crown of Lady Liberty, where the views are awesome.

World class museums
From the art treasures of the Met and the Guggenheim to the bizarre exhibits packing Ripley’s Believe it or Not! In Times Square, New York has a feast of museums. More sobering is a visit to the Ground Zero Museum Workshop on West 14^th Street, which reveals the inside story of 9/11.

Times Square
Flashing neon, beeping traffic and hundreds of people – Times Square is the beating heart of New York and is an exhilarating place to take an evening stroll, book a Broadway show or just stand still and let the world whizz past.

Central Park
Summer sees the lakes of the city’s green lung become a boating playground and around Christmas time Central Park turns into a winter wonderland when the tree-ringed rink opens and you can ice-skate hand-in-hand surrounded by Manhattan’s grand buildings.

Lower Manhattan
Start your exploration of Downtown with a foray into the galleries and stores of SoHo and Tribeca. Stock up with all things foodie at Chelsea Market before strolling along the HighLine – a former railroad track turned into an aerial garden walkway. 

Shopping
Where better for a shopping bonanza? Go and bend your plastic at Bloomingdales, Saks and Barneys, or in some of New York’s glittering designer emporia.

MAKE A DATE
January
Times Square is the place to be on New Year’s Eve. Later in the month Chinatown comes alive for the Chinese New Year.

February
Join hundreds of couples at the Valentine’s Day Marriage Marathon and get hitched on top of the Empire State Building!

March
Get your lucky shamrock ready for the huge St Patrick’s Day parade on Fifth Avenue.

June
Enjoy free performances of the Bard’s famous works in Central Park in the Shakespeare in the Park festival.

July
Join in the 4^th of July Independence Day razzmatazz.

September
Look out for movie stars at New York’s annual Film Festival.

December
Christmas starts with the lighting of the giant Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center.

NEW YORK ROMANCE
Take a horse-drawn carriage ride through Central Park, then get a cab to Brooklyn’s River Café for over-dinner views to die for.