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Travel in North America: Countries, Cities & Things to Do

Countries in North America

Best attractions in North America

All attractions in North America

Attraction

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art museumUpper East Side

The Met on Fifth Avenue is one of the world's great encyclopaedic art museums, spanning five thousand years of art from every corner of the globe.

Attraction

Statue of Liberty National Monument

National monumentLiberty Island

The copper statue gifted by France in 1886 stands on Liberty Island, reached by ferry from The Battery or Liberty State Park with Ellis Island included.

Attraction

Central Park

Urban parkManhattan

Manhattan's 843-acre green heart stretches from 59th to 110th Street, with lakes, meadows, bridges and landmarks such as Bethesda Terrace and Bow Bridge.

Attraction

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

Modern art museumMidtown

MoMA in Midtown holds one of the most important collections of modern and contemporary art, from Van Gogh and Picasso to film, design and photography.

Attraction

Empire State Building

Skyscraper and observatoryMidtown

The 1931 Art Deco tower on Fifth Avenue remains Midtown's defining skyscraper, with two observation decks and exhibits on the building's history.

Attraction

American Museum of Natural History

Natural history museumUpper West Side

Facing Central Park, this natural history museum is known for its dinosaur halls, the blue whale model, the Rose Center planetarium and the Gilder Center.

Best cafés in North America

All cafés in North America

Café

Café Sabarsky

Viennese café$$$Upper East Side

A Viennese-style café inside the Neue Galerie on Museum Mile, serving Austrian pastries, coffee and dishes amid period furnishings.

Café

Caffè Reggio

Historic Italian café$Greenwich Village

A Greenwich Village café open since 1927 that claims to have introduced cappuccino to America, with an ornate 1902 espresso machine on display.

Café

Devoción Williamsburg

Specialty coffee roaster$$Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Brooklyn coffee roaster Devoción's Williamsburg café serves fresh Colombian coffee sourced directly from farms, in a converted industrial building.

Best hotels in North America

All hotels in North America

Hotel

The Plaza

Historic luxury hotel$$$$Midtown / Central Park South

Opened in 1907 at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Central Park South, the Fairmont-managed Plaza is one of New York's most storied grand hotels.

Hotel

The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel

Luxury hotel$$$$Upper East Side

A discreet Upper East Side landmark run by Rosewood, home to the mural-lined Bemelmans Bar and the Café Carlyle cabaret room.

Hotel

The Greenwich Hotel

Luxury boutique hotel$$$$Tribeca

An intimate Tribeca luxury hotel with a residential feel, the Shibui Spa and pool, a courtyard, and the Italian restaurant Locanda Verde.

Hotel

The Standard, High Line

Design hotel$$$Meatpacking District

A glass-fronted Meatpacking District hotel straddling the High Line, with river and skyline views, The Standard Grill and the Le Bain rooftop.

Hotel

Arlo SoHo

Mid-range lifestyle hotel$$Hudson Square / SoHo

A design-forward hotel on the edge of SoHo with compact rooms, bunk-bed options, a courtyard, and rooftop cocktails with Hudson River views.

Hotel

The Hoxton, Williamsburg

Lifestyle hotel$$Williamsburg, Brooklyn

A 175-room Williamsburg hotel near the waterfront, with Manhattan views, a rooftop Israeli grill and a busy lobby café-bar.

Best nightlife in North America

All nightlife in North America

Bar

Village Vanguard

Jazz club$$West Village

A tiny, wedge-shaped basement jazz club on Seventh Avenue South that has hosted the music's greats at the same address since 1935.

Bar

Bemelmans Bar

Classic hotel piano bar$$$$Upper East Side

The Carlyle hotel's elegant piano bar, painted with whimsical murals by Madeline illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans, with nightly piano and late jazz.

Bar

McSorley’s Old Ale House

Historic ale house$East Village

Dating from 1854, this sawdust-floored East Village tavern serves its own house ale and is one of New York's oldest continuously run bars.

Bar

Westlight

Rooftop cocktail bar$$$Williamsburg, Brooklyn

A 22nd-floor rooftop bar atop The William Vale in Williamsburg, serving cocktails and small plates with sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline.

Bar

Le Bain & The Rooftop

Rooftop bar and club$$$Meatpacking District

The Standard, High Line's top-floor bar and club in the Meatpacking District, known for sunset cocktails, Hudson River views and late-night dancing.

Best restaurants in North America

All restaurants in North America

Restaurant

Katz’s Delicatessen

Jewish deli$$Lower East Side

A Lower East Side institution since 1888, famous for hand-carved pastrami on rye, corned beef and its role in When Harry Met Sally.

Restaurant

Joe’s Pizza (Carmine Street)

New York-style pizza by the slice$Greenwich Village

The original Greenwich Village slice shop founded in 1975 by Naples-born Joe Pozzuoli, serving classic thin New York-style pizza by the slice.

Restaurant

Peter Luger Steak House

Steakhouse$$$$Williamsburg, Brooklyn

A Brooklyn steakhouse dating from 1887 at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge, known for dry-aged porterhouse served in a beer-hall-style dining room.

Restaurant

Le Bernardin

French seafood fine dining$$$$Midtown

Eric Ripert's Midtown seafood restaurant has held three Michelin stars for years and remains a benchmark for refined French cooking with fish.

Restaurant

Gramercy Tavern

Seasonal American$$$$Flatiron District

Danny Meyer's Flatiron restaurant, open since 1994, pairs a seasonal tasting-menu Dining Room with a more casual, wood-grill-led front Tavern.

Restaurant

Russ & Daughters Cafe

Jewish appetizing and brunch$$Lower East Side

The sit-down cafe of the century-old Lower East Side appetizing shop, serving smoked fish platters, bagels, latkes and egg creams.

Best things to do in North America

All things to do in North America

Thing to do

Top of the Rock

Observation deckMidtown

Three tiers of observation decks atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza give unobstructed views of Central Park and a front-on look at the Empire State Building.

Thing to do

Chelsea Market

Food hall and marketChelsea

A food hall and shopping arcade inside a former Nabisco factory in Chelsea, packed with vendors selling seafood, tacos, bread, gelato and more.

Thing to do

SUMMIT One Vanderbilt

Immersive observation deckMidtown East

An immersive, mirror-lined observation experience at the top of One Vanderbilt, beside Grand Central Terminal, with glass-floored ledges and art installations.

Thing to do

Staten Island Ferry

Free harbour ferryFinancial District

The free, round-the-clock commuter ferry between Lower Manhattan and Staten Island offers views of the Statue of Liberty and the harbour skyline.

Thing to do

Times Square

Neighbourhood and Theater DistrictMidtown / Theater District

The neon-lit junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue is the heart of the Theater District, home to the TKTS booth and the New Year's Eve ball…

Best tours & activities in North America

All tours & activities in North America

Tour operator

Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises

Sightseeing boat cruiseHell's Kitchen / Midtown West

A long-running sightseeing cruise company sailing from Pier 83 on West 42nd Street, with full-island, half-island and evening harbour tours.

Tour operator

Big Onion Walking Tours

History walking toursCitywide

Founded in 1991, Big Onion runs history-focused walking tours led by historians and graduate students across around 20 New York neighbourhoods.

Tour operator

Foods of NY Tours

Food tourGreenwich Village

A New York food tour company running tasting walks since 1999 through Greenwich Village, Chelsea Market and the High Line, Chinatown and beyond.

Tour operator

Free Tours by Foot New York

Pay-what-you-wish walking toursCitywide

A walking tour company running guided tours in Manhattan and Brooklyn since 2009, with a pay-what-you-wish option on most public tours.

Tour operator

Classic Harbor Line

Schooner and yacht cruisesChelsea

Cruises around New York Harbor on classically styled sailing schooners and motor yachts, departing year-round from Chelsea Piers.