New York has so many things to do and places to visit, that it takes at least a week to see the main attractions of the "city that never sleeps."
But what happens when you only have a few hours to take a look at the "big apple"? To answer this question we have created for you an itinerary of what to do in New York in 3 days.
What to do in New York in 3 days
To get to know the “capital of the world” in 3 or more days, the ideal is to have the New York Pass (NYP), the best tourist pass with which you will save money and time knowing the attractions of the city.
Enjoy New York in 3 days
With a good itinerary, 3 days are enough to enjoy NY, its buildings, its parks, museums, sports spaces, avenues and historical monuments.
New York Pass (NYP)
This tourist passport will guide you if it is your first time in the city and you don't know which places to visit, where they are or even the price of the attractions.
How does the New York Pass work?
First define how many days you will be in NY and how long you will use the New York Pass. Also decide if you want the pass printed to arrive at your home through the mail or if you prefer to pick it up in New York. You can also download the application to your Smartphone. The NYP will be active when you present it at the first attraction you visit.
The NYP will save you up to 55% of the price of tickets to the more than 100 attractions included in this pass, some of which are free such as visits to museums, guided tours of the city's neighborhoods and districts, a walk through Central Park and Brooklyn's bridge.
Other free NYP attractions include the Empire State Building, a sightseeing bus route, Hudson River cruises around Ellis Island, and visiting the Statue of Liberty.
We recommend reserving the entrance online or by phone call to the attractions to visit, so that you avoid the entrance queues.
With the NYP you will also have discounts in shops, restaurants and bars. Expand this information here.
You already know the advantages of obtaining the New York Pass. Now let's start our adventure in the great "Iron City".
Day 1: Midtown Manhattan tour
Manhattan concentrates the most iconic of NY, so we suggest you take a tour on the tourist bus, Big Bus or Hop on Hop Off Bus, in which they will briefly narrate the history of the city while you walk through its most famous places, such as the Empire State Building, Wall Street and Madison Square Garden. This service is included in the New York Pass.
You can get on and off at any point along the route if you want to walk or make a stop to eat or shop.
Exploring Time Square
Explore Bryant Park behind the N.Y. Public Library on foot. In spring and summer it is an extensive green area and a huge ice rink, in winter.
Continue your tour at Grand Central Station, one of the most beautiful and busiest in the world, where in addition to enjoying its architectural beauty, you can enjoy a snack in its large food area.
At Rockefeller Plaza enjoy panoramic views of the city from the famous Top of the Rock observatory. Nearby is Radio City Music Hall, the most important entertainment venue in the city. As you walk east you will find the famous St. Patrick's Cathedral.
To the north of New York is the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) with 6 floors of the most representative of this genre, with a souvenir shop and restaurant. On Friday afternoons, admission is free.
You can take a walk or bike ride in Central Park, visit the John Lennon memorial at Strawberry Fields Forever, where you can ride a carriage through its tree-lined paths, and then return to Time Square to enjoy its lights and screens at dusk. night.
In Time Square you can end your first day in the city in one of its many restaurants and then by watching one of the spectacular Broadway musicals.
Time Square Restaurants
Walking through Time Square will whet your appetite. For this we suggest some restaurants in this iconic district of N.Y.
1. Zoob Zib Thai Authentic Noodle Bar: Thai cuisine suitable for vegans with fast and efficient service. Their portions and prices are reasonable. It is on 460 9th Avenue, between 35 and 36 streets.
2. The Mean Fiddler: Irish pub in the heart of Manhattan at 266 47th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue. It is set with live music and televisions with sports broadcasts. They serve beers, burgers, nachos and salads in a relaxing atmosphere.
3. Le Bernardin: elegant restaurant very close to Radio City Music Hall at 155 51 Street. They serve French cuisine with exclusive dishes and selected wine tastings.
Day 2. Downtown Manhattan
We are going for the second day in Lower Manhattan starting at Madison Square Garden (MSG), a sports venue where musical and sports shows are held. It is between 7th and 8th avenues.
Very close to the MSG, on 34th Street, is the famous department store, Macy’s, which each year starts the popular Thanksgiving parade with towering floats and a colorful Christmas tour with characters from movies and cartoons.
You can enjoy brunch in the Chelsea Market, a large area of restaurants and bars where you can eat to continue the journey to Wall Street.
Once in this area we can suggest enjoying two tour options: by water, through the Staten Island Ferry or by air, through a helicopter tour.
Helicopter tour
With the New York Pass you will have a 15% discount on the cost of the tour. Helicopter tours for 5 or 6 people can be 15 or 20 minutes.
1. 15-minute tour: consists of a flight over the Hudson River in which you will see the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Governor Island and the Financial District in Lower Manhattan.
You will also see the immense Central Park, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and the George Washington Bridge.
2. 20-minute tour: more extensive tour that includes views of Columbia University, the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, in the Morningside Heights neighborhood and towards the cliffs overlooking the Hudson River known as the Palisades of New York .
If there is no baseball game, the tour will conclude with a flyby of Yankee Stadium.
Staten Island Ferry
The Staten Island Ferry connects the Borough of Manhattan with that of Staten Island in a 50-minute ride. It transports more than 70 thousand passengers every day and it is free.
You will be able to enjoy views of the Manhattan skyline, from the Statue of Liberty from the Sky Line.
To board the ferry you have to get to the White Hall Terminal next to Battery Park, in Downtown Manhattan. Departures are every 15 minutes and on weekends they are a little more spaced.
Stroll down Wall Street
After enjoying the walk by land or river, you will continue with a visit to the emblematic buildings of the Wall Street financial district, such as the Federal Hall National Memorial, a stone-fronted building that hosted the first United States Congress.
The New York Stock Exchange is another site of interest, as well as the symbol of this district, the imposing sculpture of the Bronze Bull.
Another recommended tour is the 9/11 Memorial, a space to reflect on the events that occurred on September 11, 2001, where thousands of people died in a terrorist attack on the Twin Towers. At the One World Observatory you can enjoy a beautiful view of the New York skyline.
Many restaurants and bars await you in the Tribeca neighborhood with the most representative of world cuisine, so that you end the second day with a delicious dinner.
Tribeca Restaurants
1. Nish Nush: Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Israeli cuisine with vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, kosher dishes, among other specialties.
Fast food restaurant with very ad hoc accessible prices, if you want to feel like a New Yorker. It's at 88 Reade Street.
2. Grand Banks: You are on board a boat at Pier 25 on Hudson River Park Avenue. They serve seafood specialties like lobster roll, burrata salad and good drinks.
3. Scalini Fedeli: Italian restaurant at 165 Duane Street. They serve different pasta specialties, salads, vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free dishes. You must reserve.
Day 3. Brooklyn
On your last day in New York, you will see the Brooklyn Bridge on a 2-hour guided tour, which is included at no cost in the New York Pass.
The tour starts at City Hall Park, a pleasant park surrounded by emblematic buildings where the N.Y. You will cross the nearly 2 kilometers of the Brooklyn Bridge on foot or by bike.
If you decide to hire a guided tour of this emblematic structure, you will learn about its history.
DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights
Arriving in this cozy district, the famous DUMBO neighborhood (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass), on the banks of the East River, is worth exploring. You will be able to enter bars, pizzerias, galleries and the Brooklyn Bridge Park, where there is also much to see.
The Brooklyn Heights neighborhood is famous for being home to the writers Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, and Arthur Miller. Also for its beautiful tree-lined streets with houses built in the 20s, many of which still retain their original architecture.
Another point of interest is the Brooklyn Borough Hall, a Greek-style building that served as the city hall before this district became part of New York.
Towards Court Street is the Temple Bar Building with its characteristic rust green domes built in 1901 and for more than 10 years was the tallest building in Brooklyn.
On the Brooklyn Boardwalk you will have the most beautiful views of Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty and New York.
Back to manhattan
After the tour of Brooklyn we recommend a walk through Little Italy (Little Italy). On Grand Street and Mulberry Street are America's oldest Italian shops and restaurants.
Continue to Soho, a trendy neighborhood with a cast iron setting surrounded by buildings, where you will find numerous art galleries and luxury boutiques.
Chinatown also has its charm to browse the handicraft, accessory, gadget stores or to taste oriental specialties. It is a little piece of China in New York where you will surely enjoy your food.
Chinatown Restaurants
1. Zoob Zib Thai Authentic Noodle Bar: to try the most representative of Thai cuisine in dishes with vegetables, tofu, pork, seafood and the authentic noodles, served with beer and cocktails. The service is fast and the prices are reasonable. It is at 460 9th Avenue.
2. Whiskey Tavern: this pub with a large bar of beers, hamburgers, wings, pretzels and other typical dishes of American food, with excellent service and a good atmosphere, is located in the heart of Chinatown. It's at 79 Baxter Street.
3. Two Hands: Australian food with healthy ingredients and delicious juices. The service is good and although their prices are high, the food is worth it. It's at 64 Mott Street.
Finish the tour on the third and final day with a stroll through the Greenwich Village neighborhood, where there is a good selection of bars and restaurants for a night of fun in the Big Apple.
Conclusion
Perhaps you think the number of sites proposed to enjoy New York in just 3 days is exhausting, but with the New York Pass it is not like that. This tourist ticket will be of great help to you to move around the city and become familiar little by little with the neighborhoods and districts.
You will like the city so much that you will soon want to return, we assure you.
Share this article on social networks so that your friends also know what to do in New York in 3 days.
See also:
See our complete guide to the 50 best places to visit in New York
Enjoy our guide with the 30 different activities you can do in New York
These are the 10 best places of interest in New York
