8 New York City travel tips plus the best attractions, food and things to do

The United States is the country that single-handedly brought us writing greats such as Mark Twain and Stephen King, award-winning movies and famous directors like Steven Spielberg and James Cameron, on top of caped superhero Superman and crusader Wonder Woman, and world-saving robots Transformers. I even weighed my chances of relocating to New York City (NYC) for work in my early twenties. What seeded my interest in America? Looking back, I can trace it to my steady diet of all things American. I started young with Disney cartoons, fast-food imports KFC and McDonalds, music icons Michael Jackson and Madonna and subsequently classic movies like When Harry Met Sally and fabulous musicals that grew out of that one fantastic country. I also invested hours of my early adulthood bingeing on seasons of Sex and The City and Gossip Girl, taking sartorial inspiration from the shows.

Like many wide-eyed immigrants and tourists, NYC has a certain allure that continues to rival other big cities. Just a few months before the world pandemic struck in 2020, I took my first trip to New York City and lived out my American dream. But a trip to NYC calls for deep pockets, especially with our exchange rates. Read on for NYC attraction suggestions and top travel tips to squeeze the most out of your experiences in the City and make your travel budget go further while indulging in a safe and fun trip to NYC. Better still with more than 100 attractions from Go City to pick from, you get to save big when you get a Go City package. Read on to find out how.

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Go City New York Pass

Here's a sample of how much you can save with a 3-day The New York Pass by Go City.

New York City travel tip 1: Take the Big Bus and see the top sights

Driving in NYC is no fun with its sky-high parking fees and dense traffic. Even for those who love walking, NYC’s sheer size can put you off. It is best to take public transport. Get your bearings on the City and learn its history with the famous Big Bus, which covers top sights and saves you from aching feet at the end of the day, with energy left for a Broadway show or dinner with drinks in the evening.

New York City travel tip 2: Save big with Go City’s New York Pass

One of the must-dos in NYC is its four observation decks, all offering different vantage views and unique experiences. Beautiful by day and night, you get to visit all four decks with an All-Inclusive Pass or a 4-Choice+ Explorer Pass without the need to choose! Gain greater mileage from your travel and save up to 50% per attraction when you purchase Go City’s “See More, Pay Less” packages! Read here to find out how it works.

One World Observatory

Empire State Building

Edge

Top of the Rock

New York City travel tip 3: Purchase your attractions tickets online in advance

In a city of immigrants, you will find yourself accosted by foreign touts and hawkers claiming to be “official representatives” near tourist attractions trying to sell you tickets at a discount or to help you skip the queue. Be sure to ignore them even when they promise you ridiculously cheap tickets. Remember this: If a promise is too good to be true, it often is. Purchasing tickets on-site can be time-consuming and leave you nervous. I suggest you secure your tickets online and score a discount or two with Go City's money-saving packages.

New York City travel tip 4: Reserve your tickets in advance

New York being New York, will always be swamped with tourists. Therefore, where possible, always, always make your reservations in advance to avoid any disappointment. Some advance reservations require a pass or order reference number to secure your booking, so have it handy! Be sure to check out the booking information listed on Go City’s reservations page and the individual attraction pages on the Go City website and app.

Your trip to NYC would not be complete without visiting certain popular attractions such as the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island Ferry. Some attractions remain popular for a good reason and may involve long wait times: Top of the Rock Observation Deck, One World Observatory, Best of NYC Cruise by Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises and Liberty Super Express Cruise don't have reservation requirements. Try to avoid school holidays and public holidays.

9/11 Memorial & Museum

Complete your 9/11 experience with the 9/11 Museum Workshop: Hands-On 9/11 Tour.

New York City travel tip 5: Staying safe

As with visiting any foreign country, it pays to stay hyper-vigilant, especially when out and about at night. A rule of thumb to staying safe in NYC: Stick to main streets and well-populated pathways and always keep your belongings close to you. Follow the traffic signals and look out for cars, skateboarders and cyclists. A tell-tale sign that you are a tourist, or worse, a lost tourist, is when you keep looking down at your smartphone, trying to find the right direction or locate a shop. It pays to plot your path before heading out — and stick to it. Download helpful apps like the Google Maps app, Citymapper, which helps you plan your subway route and Go City’s app and scan to any of the 100 plus attractions.

New York City travel tip 6: Get physically fit before the trip

One of my fondest memories during my 2019 trip was visiting The Vessel at Hudson Yards, which opened only two months before my visit in May and cost US$200 million to build. Spanning over 150 feet across 154 interconnecting staircases, The Hudson Yard Vessel, NYC’s skyscraping centerpiece, embodies the City's industrial heritage and is built on US history's most expensive real estate. If you are not up to climbing the staircases, you can opt for the elevator, but why deprive yourself of the incredible industrial view and the wind in your face?

Top of the High Line and Hudson Yards Tour

New York City travel tip 7: Lap up The City's cultural and artsy offerings

Be it museum-hopping or watching Broadway shows, indulge in NYC’s artsy scene. Visit the American Museum of Natural History building featured in Robin Williams's movie Night at the Museum. Learn about every facet of natural science in one of the largest museums in the world, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), a NY icon and one of the most visited museums in NY, or behold the architectural masterpiece Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s grand spiral stairs as you partake in the finest collection of modern art in the world.

Broadway fans, movie fanatics, and pop vultures take advantage of this behind-the-scenes tour like the NYC TV & Movie Bus Tour, Marvel & DC Superheroes Tour, Central Park TV & Movie Sites Walking Tour, and Broadway and Times Square Tour. Be ready to pay a fee should you choose to take photos with actors dressed as famous celebrities wanting to take photos with you. Pre-warn your children before they get overly excited with their favourite cartoon or Marvel characters. There's no such thing as a free lunch.

New York City travel tip 8: Explore the glorious food choices in NYC

Thanks to NYC’s melting pot of different nationalities, it offers diverse cultures and food. So be sure to join one or more of these food-related attractions and eat more than the usual pizza. Having first-hand knowledge of a destination's cuisine helps you understand a city's nuances much better.

Try these food tours available on Go City: take the Food On Foot Tours with Go City, Experience Spirits On Foot - Beer, Spirits & Wine Crawl with Go City, taste your way around NYC's most diverse borough – Queens-Flushing Meadows International Food Excursion, discover how immigrants to America made their mark on the City with cuisine with Tastes of the Lower East Side Walking Tour, or partake in live jazz, cool eateries, trendy bars, hip theatres in NYC's most fabulous neighbourhood with Greenwich Village at Night Walking Tour.

Why choose Go City?

Be it a one-day trip or a 10-day pass, choose your Go City to pass and save up to 50% per attraction.

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This content was produced in partnership with Go City.