There’s no shortage of fun things to do in New York City, from seeing historic sites to sampling some of the world’s best food to filling your camera with breathtaking images of the city’s stunning skyline.
Unfortunately, many of the best things to do in New York are also expensive. Going to the top of the Empire State Building, for example, will provide breathtaking views of the city, but it will also set you back quite a little. Meanwhile, while seeing a Broadway musical in Times Square is on most travellers’ bucket lists, tickets for the most popular productions aren’t exactly inexpensive.
Don’t worry, there are lots of free activities to do in New York City that take use of the city’s history and culture. These are the greatest free activities in New York City.
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Staten Island Ferry
The Staten Island Ferry is a terrific way to get near to the Statue of Liberty without having to pay a high ticket price, making it one of the greatest free things to do in New York. As the boat departs from Battery Park, find a nice vantage point and enjoy the view of the city from the river. If you want to get off the ferry and tour Staten Island, Snug Harbour — once a haven for retired sailors, now a cultural centre and botanical park commemorating New York’s seafaring past — is a bit of a trip (40 minutes on foot or 15 minutes by bus), but well worth the effort.
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Beaches
You don’t have to travel all the way to the Hamptons to discover a nice beach close to the city. Visit Coney Island to combine a trip to the beach with a visit to the amusement park (the Coney Island Cyclone has been in operation since 1927). Or, head down to Brighton Beach, where you’ll find some excellent Russian restaurants. Take the ferry to Rockaway Beach for the price of a MetroCard and combine a day of sand and surf with delicious food (such as fish tacos from the Rockaway Beach Surf Club).
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Central Park
According to the Central Park Conservancy, there are around 210 different bird species found in Central Park, with many pausing in the Big Apple to rest and feed during their journey. Migrations along the Atlantic Flyway in the spring and autumn. In the conservancy’s Birding Guide, beginners can find information and a map of the finest viewing areas within the park.
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9/11 Memorial
The 9/11 Memorial consists of two reflecting ponds, each of which marks the footprints of the Twin Towers. It honors those who were killed in the site’s terrorist assaults in 1993 and 2001. The names of everyone who perished in the attacks are on the memorial pools’ edges. The memorial is always free to visit, and the museum is free from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays.
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Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of New York City’s most recognisable landmarks, and strolling across it is one of the greatest ways to take it all in. When it was in 1883, it was the world’s longest suspension bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge has already been declared a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service, and it is one of the best places to observe the city skyline. Pro tip: Arrive early because the bridge can get congested during the day.
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Walking tour
The city has a lot of history to learn, and a walking tour is one of the finest ways to experience it up close and personal. Sandemans New Europe provides free two-and-a-half-hour tours of downtown Manhattan that include some of the city’s most iconic locations, such as the Charging Bull, Wall Street, and the 9/11 Memorial. While the tours are free, tips for the guides are encouraged, so bring some cash.
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City’s inventive playgrounds
There are plenty of playgrounds in New York City for youngsters to burn off some energy, but some are cooler than others. Kids may explore pyramid-shaped climbers and check out the obelisk and sundial, both inspired by the Met’s collection of Egyptian art, at Ancient Playground, located close to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Burling Slip Imagination Playground, developed by architect David Rockwell, enables children to utilise their imaginations with big foam blocks, cloth, and boxes. Pier 6 at Brooklyn Bridge Park has playgrounds such as the Sandbox Village, where kids may play in little wooden houses in the sand, and the Water Lab, which will keep them soaked and cool on hot summer days.
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Queens County Farm Museum
The Queens County Farm Museum, which dates back to 1697 and is one of the most farmed sites in New York state, has cows, sheep, pigs, and other animals. The museum, which is out over 47 acres, is free to enter (except on specific event days) and allows visitors to learn about what the land was like before a bustling metropolis sprung up around it.
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Shakespeare in the Park
A fantastic theatre performance does not have to cost a lot of money. Every year, the Public Theatre conducts free Shakespeare in the Park, a summer series at Central Park’s open-air Delacorte Theatre. The series attracts celebrity names and distributes free tickets to each day’s performance via in-person distribution, an in-person standby in Central Park, and both digital and in-person lotteries.
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Ice cream museum
You can see ice cream being and even offer flavour ideas on the creamery’s “every flavour tells a story” board at Ample Hills’ interactive ice cream museum, located in its 15,000-square-foot Red Hook facility. If you become hungry (and we’d be if you don’t), try The Hook, a factory-exclusive flavour composed of burnt sugar ice cream blended with salty fudge pieces and Dutch stroopwafels (caramel-filled waffle cookies).
experience everything in New York, so book cheap flights to New York and experience the city’s famed cuisine.
