New York in Three Days: The Classic First-Visit Itinerary

Three days is the shortest trip that still feels like New York rather than a photo stop. The plan below splits the city into downtown, midtown and uptown, so you spend your time walking instead of riding the subway end to end.

Day 1: Lower Manhattan and the harbour

Book the first Statue of Liberty ferry of the morning from Battery Park; the security queue is the slowest part of the day. Back on land, walk to the 9/11 Memorial, Wall Street and the Charging Bull, then across the Brooklyn Bridge in the late afternoon for the skyline from the other side. Dinner in DUMBO or Brooklyn Heights.

Day 2: Midtown and a show

Start at Grand Central Terminal, then Bryant Park and the New York Public Library. Afternoon: Times Square, the Rockefeller Center area and Fifth Avenue. If you want an observation deck, book sunset now. Evening: a Broadway show, or the free option of walking the theatre district and eating in Hell's Kitchen.

Day 3: Central Park and a museum

Morning in Central Park from the south end: Bethesda Terrace, the Bow Bridge and the reservoir. Then choose one museum, the Met or the Museum of Natural History, and give it three hours rather than trying to see both. Finish on the Upper West Side or in Harlem for dinner.

Practical notes

• Buy MetroCards or tap a contactless card; the subway runs all night.
• Book Liberty ferry, observation decks and shows before you fly, not on the day.
• Museum suggested donations are for New York residents; visitors pay the full price.