New York City Breaks

A guide to New York

New York offers an endlessly exhilarating roller coaster of sensations, thanks to an energy and verve that thrills visitors from the moment they catch sight of that famous skyline. Visitors will inevitably focus on the island of Manhattan, the pulsating heart of the world’s most exciting metropolis, and all first-time trips must include all the strangely familiar, yet ultimately thrilling iconic sights: the Empire State Building, Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, the Statue of Liberty and Broadway. Yet most visitors ultimately agree, it is the extraordinarily diverse cultural and ethnic mix, and the city’s sheer energy that makes New York so memorable.

Unexpected diversity, exhilarating Manhattan

New York’s varied characterful architecture usually surprises first-time visitors expecting wall-to-wall modernity and non-stop towering skyscrapers. In fact, New York offers countless surprises and idiosyncrasies that run counter to preconceptions, even in the heart of the financial zone. It is the extraordinary diversity of the city’s neighbourhoods that makes New York so enjoyable. Amazingly distinct areas like Greenwich Village, China Town, Soho, Tribeca, Chelsea, Harlem and Little Italy offer an endlessly fascinating, exhilarating and unexpectedly varied and challenging experience, especially for those who like to walk. Longer trips will allow for time to visit neighbourhoods like Brooklyn, and oddities like weirdly old-fashioned Coney Island.

Incomparable cultural scene

The city features an overwhelming choice of wide-ranging cultural activities, with outstanding art galleries and museums and an incomparable theatre, live music and jazz scene, and of course, an astonishing choice of interesting shops, restaurants and cafes. New York weather is as varied and exciting as the city itself, making breaks popular all year round, with winter and Christmas trips being particularly memorable.