3 days in New York: a day-by-day sightseeing plan

New York is best seen on foot, so this plan keeps each day in one part of Manhattan, with a ferry or a short taxi ride where the distances get long. Day one starts out in the harbour at the Statue of Liberty and works north through Lower Manhattan to the Brooklyn Bridge, day two covers the Midtown skyscrapers, Rockefeller Center and MoMA before Times Square, and day three is a long museum day around Central Park that ends at the Flatiron Building.

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Day 1

Statue of Liberty, Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge

5 stops

09:00
Statue of Liberty
About 2 h
Take an early ferry from the Battery, allowing time for the security check before boarding, and walk around the statue's base on Liberty Island; with the right ticket you can also go up into the pedestal or the crown. Most ferries stop at Ellis Island and its immigration museum on the way back, which needs extra time if you want it.
Ferry, 20 min
11:20
The Battery
About 1 h 5 min
Back on Manhattan, the park at the island's southern tip has harbour views, the old fort of Castle Clinton and a waterfront promenade with several memorials. It is a good place for an early lunch before you walk north past Bowling Green and the Charging Bull to the World Trade Center site.
Walk, 15 min
12:40
National September 11 Memorial & Museum
About 1 h 35 min
Two memorial pools fill the footprints of the Twin Towers, with the names of the victims cut into the bronze panels around them, and the museum below ground holds remnants of the towers and personal stories from the day. It is a heavy visit, so take a quiet moment in the plaza before moving next door to One World Trade Center.
Walk, 3 min
14:20
One World Trade Center
About 45 min
The tallest building in the United States has the One World Observatory near the top, reached by fast lifts, with views over the harbour, the East River bridges and Midtown. If you skip the observatory, look into the Oculus next door, the white ribbed transit hall, before a short taxi ride to the Brooklyn Bridge.
Taxi, 4 min
15:10
Brooklyn Bridge
About 25 min
Walk onto the bridge from the Manhattan side along the raised promenade for a close look at the stone towers and the web of cables, with the Lower Manhattan skyline behind you. The plan gives it a short slot, but crossing all the way to Dumbo in Brooklyn is an easy way to end the day.

Day 2

Midtown skyscrapers, Rockefeller Center, MoMA and Times Square

5 stops

09:00
Empire State Building
About 45 min
The Art Deco tower on Fifth Avenue has an open-air observation deck on the 86th floor and a higher indoor one on the 102nd, and the lobby's Art Deco ceiling and murals are worth a look on the way in. From here walk northeast to the Chrysler Building.
Walk, 15 min
10:00
Chrysler Building
About 45 min
There is no observation deck here, so treat it as an outside stop for the stainless steel crown with its sunburst arches and the eagle gargoyles. Grand Central Terminal is a block west, and its main concourse with the painted ceiling fills the rest of the slot well.
Walk, 13 min
11:00
Rockefeller Center
About 45 min
The Art Deco complex between Fifth and Sixth Avenues centres on the sunken plaza with the gilded Prometheus statue, an ice rink in winter and the big Christmas tree in the holiday season. Top of the Rock, the observation deck on the main tower, looks straight at the Empire State Building and over Central Park, and St Patrick's Cathedral stands across Fifth Avenue.
Walk, 5 min
11:50
Museum of Modern Art
About 2 h 45 min
MoMA's collection runs from the late 19th century to today, with Van Gogh's The Starry Night, Monet's Water Lilies and Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon among the best known works. The long slot is enough for the fifth-floor collection galleries, one or two more floors and the sculpture garden, then walk southwest to Times Square.
Walk, 14 min
14:50
Times Square
About 25 min
The junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue is all screens and crowds, so a short stop is enough: climb the red steps above the TKTS booth for the view down the square. If you want to see a Broadway show tonight, the TKTS booth sells same-day tickets for many of the theatres around you.

Day 3

The Met, Central Park, Natural History and the Flatiron Building

4 stops

09:00
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
About 2 h 50 min
The Met is too large for one visit, so choose a few areas: the Temple of Dendur in the Egyptian wing, the European paintings upstairs, the American Wing and the arms and armour galleries are good places to start. The plan gives it the whole morning, and Central Park begins right behind the museum.
Walk, 6 min
12:00
Central Park
About 1 h 20 min
From the Met, cross the park westwards past the Great Lawn, Belvedere Castle and Turtle Pond, or swing south to Bethesda Terrace and its fountain and on to Strawberry Fields. Pick up lunch on the way and come out on Central Park West, opposite the Natural History Museum.
Walk, 10 min
13:30
American Museum of Natural History
About 2 h 40 min
The best-known halls are the dinosaur fossils on the fourth floor, the blue whale in the Hall of Ocean Life and the dioramas of the Hall of African Mammals. After a morning at the Met this is a lot of museum for one day, so keep to a few halls, then take a taxi downtown to the Flatiron Building.
Taxi, 11 min
16:25
Flatiron Building
About 45 min
Daniel Burnham's triangular tower from 1902 is an outside stop, best seen from its narrow north tip at the plaza where Fifth Avenue and Broadway cross at 23rd Street. Madison Square Park across the street is a calm place to sit at the end of a long day.

Good to know

Book the Statue of Liberty ferry ahead, especially for pedestal or crown access, which sells out early; the 9/11 Museum and the Empire State Building also sell timed tickets.
The subway covers the longer gaps quickly, such as getting home from the Brooklyn Bridge or from the Upper West Side; tap a contactless card or phone at the turnstile.
Day three is a long museum day with the Met and the Natural History Museum back to back, so if that is too much, pick one museum and give the spare time to Central Park.
Summers are hot and humid and winters cold, and the harbour ferry and the bridge are windy in any season, so carry a layer.
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3 days in New York: a day-by-day sightseeing plan

Statue of Liberty

The Battery

National September 11 Memorial & Museum

One World Trade Center

Brooklyn Bridge

Empire State Building

Chrysler Building

Rockefeller Center

Museum of Modern Art

Times Square

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Central Park

American Museum of Natural History

Flatiron Building

Good to know

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