New York Highlights
Exploring the city that never sleeps
It is one of the most visited places in the world and featured in a large number of movies: the Big Apple. Charlie feels as if she almost doesn’t have to write about it because the top 10 New York attractions are very well-known. However, she still wants to share with you which places she visited in the city that never sleeps to give you some inspiration.
Charlie had bought a Sightseeing Pass which covers the entrance fee to many attractions and landmarks. If you’re doing it right, you can save a lot of money with the pass. The amount you pay depends on the number of days you would like to visit with the pass and the type of flexibility you want. Charlie has definitely seen a lot more places than she would have otherwise visited thanks to the Sightseeing Pass.
Downtown and Uptown on the Big Bus
The first thing Charlie did was a Hop-on-hop-off-tour in an open top bus. It is usually the best way to get an overview of a place and to decide which areas or landmarks to explore further. Charlie walked up from Pennsylvania Station, passing 34th street to Times Square. The bus tour started in front of the M&Ms World. You cannot miss it! From the top of the bus, Charlie had the perfect views of the bustling streets of Manhattan and the skyscrapers.
They drove by the most iconic landmarks such as the Flat Iron, the Supreme Court and Brooklyn Bridge, Wall Street and Battery Park, Chinatown and Little Italy and of course the Empire State Building. Back at Times Square, Charlie switched to the other line of Big Bus to see Uptown Manhattan too. Along 5th Avenue and the most expensive shops, the bus passed by Central Park with its iconic horse carriages and the Zoo, the Plaza Hotel and Columbus Circle.
If you’re not on the bus and get around on your own, there is a good subway system and Google Maps is very reliable in New York. The cost is USD 2.75 per ride and you can pay by tapping your contactless card at the gates or purchase and top-up a Metro Card.
Walking Tours in New York
The Sightseeing Pass includes plenty of guided walking tours in New York. You could do food-related tours, see specific areas of New York or explore iconic movie locations. Charlie had exactly enough time for three walking tours: the Highline walk, a graffiti & street art walking tour, and the Dyker Lights Christmas walking tour. If she had had time for one more, it would have been the Harlem Hip Hop tour.
The Highline and Chelsea Market
The highline walk was guided by Isabella of Experience First and started at Chelsea Market in downtown Manhattan, the meatpacking district to be exact. Chelsea Market is an indoor market over three floors that became one of the most popular food markets in New York since 2000. It is also the place of a historic biscuit factory. The first Oreo was produced in that location in 1912. The reason why it was in the heart of the meatpacking district was the original recipe that contained pure animal fat as the filling of the biscuit.
In the 19th century, the area was one with the highest crime rates in the city. It was the meatpacking district where butchers and meat packers worked. Law enforcement was not present in the area. There is another reason why it used to be called “death avenue”: more than 100 railway intersections. Trains used to run through the area and caused high death rates. Protests at the beginning of the 20th century forced the government to implement changes and the highline was built. The trains ran from then on higher up above street level. It does not follow the usual gridlines of the streets of New York and even goes inside the buildings to deliver goods directly where they needed to be.
Technical advancements in the 20th century brought an end to this railway. Refrigeration systems and cheaper transportation by trucks on street level made the train tracks useless and the highline was abandoned. Over many years, debris accumulated on the highline, and it was discovered in the 1990s that indigenous plants had reclaimed the area. The collective “Friends of the Highline” was founded in 1999 and they made it their purpose to make the highline accessible again. They turned it into a garden project that shows all year-round plants in beautiful colours.
Next to the highline near Chelsea Market is a smaller version of the Statue of Liberty. It is there as a reminder that the highline used to go all the way down to the waterfront. You can also see the real lady of liberty from this spot. The mini-statue is always wearing a mask as a form of recognition of different cultures. When Charlie was there it was a woman wearing a hijab to pay tribute to injustice against women around the world.
There is also a viewing deck that allows a direct view on 10th Avenue. It shows the abrupt integration of the highline into the urban landscape.
Little Island and Pier 54
A bit further down the highline, you get a good view towards Little Island and the Pier 54. The Island was opened in April 2021 and is an elevated urban garden over the Hudson River. At the bottom is a performance area and most events there are free. Pier 54 is a metal archway that looks quite antique. It is a commemoration of the passengers of the Titanic. Pier 54 is the place where the Titanic was supposed to dock upon arrival. Instead, the ship that rescued most of the passengers from the Atlantic, the Carpathia, docked there instead.
In the same spot from the highline, you can see a modern piece of New York’s architecture: Solar carves. Newly built skyscrapers in the city now have glass facades in this particular shape to bounce of sunlight and brighten up the otherwise dark streets of the city.
As you turn around and look down to the centre of the meat packing district, you can see cobble streets that are very unusual for New York and date back to the original Dutch settlers in this part of the New World. The area has been modernized and is now an upcoming part of the city and no longer an area to avoid. However, the original architecture is still visible in the cobble streets, the warehouse type building and the metal honings. Only 7 meatpackers are left in the area and their rents are subsidised by the government to maintain some of the original culture of the area.
New York’s Skyscrapers
It is the type of architecture that the city is famous for: skyscrapers create this unique skyline that makes the Big Apple what it is today. If you’re in New York, you should at least visit one of the skyscrapers and enjoy a birds-eye-view over the city. Charlie even went to three skyscrapers thanks to the Sightseeing Pass. And, spoiler alert, the Empire State Building isn’t one of them.
Charlie visited Top of the Rock, the rooftop of the Rockefeller Centre, on her first day in the evening. It was already dark, and she could see the millions of lights of Manhattan:
If you don’t have a Sightseeing Pass, prices are as follows as of July 2024, and you need to book a time slot for your visit:
- Adults: $40
- Child (6 – 12 years old): $34
- Seniors (62+ years old): $38
Top of the Rock is open daily from 8 a.m. until midnight.
Another skyscraper Charlie visited was easily visible from the highline. The Edge looks like a giant balcony sticking out of a skyscraper and that’s what it is. The entrance is through a shopping centre at Hudson Yards, not far from Times Square. At The Edge, you can get the special adrenaline kick with The City Climb. You can climb the outside of a skyscraper.
Prices are as follows as of July 2024 and you can pre-order a glass of Champagne to enjoy up there:
- Adults: $40
- Child (6 – 12 years old): $35
- Seniors (62+ years old): $38
The Edge is open daily from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m.
The third skyscraper Charlie went to was One World Observatory at the roof of the newly build World Trade Centre. It is 1776 m high and the elevator brings you up in 60 seconds. Inside the elevator you can see images of how the surroundings of the tower would have looked and changed since the first settlers came. Once up there, you get the best view over the city and you can walk around 360 degrees. You also get a really good view over all bridges of the Hudson River, all of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty.
Prices are as follows as of July 2024:
- Adults: $44
- Child (6 – 12 years old): $38
- Seniors (65+ years old): $42
The One World Observatory is open daily from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m.
The Statue of Liberty
One iconic New York landmark is still missing here: the lady liberty.
The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to the United States and it used to be cluttered in Central Park. The city didn’t have the means to erect the statue originally. Joseph Pulitzer used his name and influence to raise funds for the pedestal so that the statue could finally find a home on Ellis Island. The best way to see the statue today is from a boat and Charlie wanted to do the Circle Line Landmarks Cruise. She was a bit too late for the last tour in the afternoon and was offered an evening tour instead. She had to pay $15 extra as the Sightseeing Pass did not cover the evening tour and it was certainly worth it.
There is live commentary on the boat and you will learn a lot about the city. Plus, you get to see the iconic New York skyline from the water. The boat goes very close to the Statue of Liberty which also is lit up at night. The tour became very special as the moon slowly rose in between the skyscrapers on their way back to the pier. It was the perfect last evening in New York.
