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There’s no doubt about it. New York City is an expensive city to visit (and to live!). With hotel nights running upwards of $200 – $300 dollars a night for a crappy hotel in the middle of nowhere, a budget is definitely needed keep your vacation in check. Despite the high costs, there are a surprising number of things you can do in the city for free. Here are 7 of my favourites:
Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is an architectural icon in the New York City skyline. Completed in 1883, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world until 1903 when the nearby Williamsburg Bridge was built. Running the length of the bridge is a raised pedestrian walkway which can easily be accessed from City Hall Park. The walk across the is about 2 km or 1.25 miles and there are benches along the way as well.
Read more: Walking Across the Brooklyn Bridge
Bust ghosts at the New York City Library
Want to see where Ghostbusters was filmed? Then you need to keep quiet at the New York City Library. For over 100 years, the two marble lions, Patience and Fortitude, have stood guard outside this Beaux-Arts building. Walk through the reading room with its original Carre and Hastings lamps. Explore the various exhibits in the library which feature a copy of the Declaration of Independence, a Gutenberg bible and lots of beautiful old maps. You can explore the library yourself or you can sign up for a free library tour.
Catch a Show
No, not a Broadway show. As an entertainment hub and home base for many tv shows, you can score yourself some tickets to see your favourite show filmed live with a little planning. As soon as you know you’ll be in the city, you’ll need to request tickets. It’s a gamble whether or not you get them. I went to see a filming of America’s Got Talent and more recently, The Chew. Both were widely different experiences and it’s really cool to see all that TV magic behind the scenes. Alternatively you can also get tickets to see the Upright Citizens Brigade in the Lower East Side.
Read more: Behind the Scenes at America’s Got Talent
Walk around Central Park
You can’t visit New York City without explore at least a little part of this massive park. Stretching over 800 acres, the park is huge and there is so much to see and explore. Check out the Central Park Carousel, one of the largest in the USA. Pay homage to John Lennon at his memorial in Strawberry Fields. Walk the famous mall seen in countless movies that leads to the Bethesda Fountain. Hunt for the Alice in Wonderland statue. The Central Park Conservancy also offers free walking tours. Whether your walk, run or bike around the park, it can be easy to spend a day here.
Take the Staten Island Ferry
To get a closer glimpse of the Statue of Liberty, hop on the Staten Island Ferry. While it doesn’t take you right up to the statue, it gets you closer than the view from Battery Park.
Read more: Riding the Staten Island Ferry
Free Museums and Museum Nights
There are lots of museums in New York that are free to the public. The New York Transit Museum is great for train lovers or see the world’s largest accumulation of gold at the Federal Reserve Bank. Depending on the days of your visit, you can get access to a variety of museums for free (or pay what you like). Every Friday evening after 4pm the Museum of Modern Art is free to the public. The Morgan Library and Museum are free on Tuesday and Friday afternoons.
Explore the High Line
One of my favourite features of the whole city, the High Line is a park built over what use to be the New York Central Railroad. In a perfect example of turning something of historic significance into something that can be used today. Check out the art and statues along the way. There are seating areas where you can enjoy a meal. Grab food from the nearby Chelsea Market or any of the restaurants and food carts along the way.
Read more: The NYC High Line – History Reinvented
Bonus:
Visit the Met
Did you know, technically the Metropolitan Museum of Art is free? It sits on land rented from the city for free which stipulates that the museum be free to the public. Of course, they don’t advertise it and suggest a donation of $25 for adults, but technically you don’t have to pay it. On average, people pay about $11 to enter.
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We’ll be in NYC at the end of the summer and I would definitely like to do some free things. The transit center sounds fun as I like trains and we’ll also probable take in The Met while we are there before we set sail about the Queen Mary 2.
Oops forgive the misspellings – *probably* and *aboard* – probably should not type so quickly on small screens!
Oooh! What a great place to start an ocean journey 🙂 I hope you enjoy NYC! It’s really muggy in the summers though!
How old is the Highline? Looks brilliant! I’ve actually done a number of those things – I saw the taping of the, I presume, very short-lived talk show ‘McEnroe’, hosted by the tennis great.
It’s quite young actually. They started work on it in 2006. The first section was opened in 2009 and subsequent areas were opened in 2011 and 2014. Pretty cool!
Great tips! We are going to NYC in a few months and I will have to store a few of those ideas. I love the idea of going to see UCB!
We were in NYC for the first time last year. Fun, but expensive. The Staton Island ferry was the best free thing we did – except for walking through central park.
#wkendtravelinspiration
What a great post! New York has been on my “to-visit” list for a few years now. I really hope I’ll be able to afford the flight one day haha. No but this is great, I especially liked the TV Show thing because it’s such an unique experience and I honestly didn’t know that you can do this for free 🙂
Love from Austria,
Kerstin
https://missgetaway.wordpress.com
I wonder if the library is going to be in the new Ghostbuster movie? Hope so. The great thing about New York is that you can get a lot of mileage about going to see in person the places which are extremely familiar on the screen.
That’s a great tip about the Met. The big London museum’s are free with suggested donations, and the Science Museum in particular makes you look someone in the eye as you walk through the barrier and decline to donate, so I am quite practised at brazening it out (I figure I spend enough money in the cafes/ shops to even it out).
What I don’t like is that even though it’s technically free, you still have to talk to someone. It’s a guilt tax almost. Whereas in most of the free museums in London that I went to, I could just walk in and start exploring the exhibits. I don’t need to talk to anyone and on the way out, a little donation went in the bin. I feel like if you’re asking for donations, don’t belittle your visitors. Trust that they will do the right thing and they more or less will.
I have to say that free things to do in big cities are fewer and fewer nowadays. You find yourself paying money left and right for almost everything, so you really begin appreciating when you can get something free. I hate it when places like the MET perceive a tax for entrance and they package it like a “suggested donation.” In time, that turns into a mandatory fee, like it happened with The Huntington Gardens in Pasadena, California. 26 years ago, we used to donate $5/person when we went to visited. Not the make you pay $25/person. It’s no longer free, although the gardens were donated to the city with the stipulation that they should be free for all. The city always finds a way around it.
Yup, I really don’t like how places are trying to be sneaky about it. At the Met, the fact that you don’t have to pay that amount is hidden so well. The only place you see it is on the bottom of the signs in teensy tiny writing. Most visitors completely miss it.
I just love NYC – I’ve done most of these, except the High Line and watching a live show – that must’ve been really cool!
Good recommendations! I have been to New York two times and never walked the Brooklyn Bridge. I would also like to walk the High Line.
I agree with what other commenters have written in here. It can be difficult to find free attractions in big cities. There are some things that are considered “must sees” and if you want to experience it you will have to pay the price. However, I do not think you have to fill your day with expensive experiences to have a good time. In New York, I enjoyed walking around Chinatown and Little Italy.
The Globetrotter Girls website is a good source to find free or low cost things to do in New York. Most of them are not in Manhattan though.
Agreed! I like to sprinkle the free stuff among all the paid things so I don’t feel as if I’m spending a whole lot in one day. I hope you get a chance to walk both the bridge and the High Line. Different, but very cool experiences.
Awesome tips! It’s been a while since I’ve been in NYC and your post made me want to jump into a plane and get there asap. Thanks for hosting 🙂
Thanks for the tips! I would have never thought about going to a TV filming show as part of visiting a city, but watching the “behind the scene” part sounds really interesting.
It’s SO fascinating! TV magic 🙂
Aah, New York, New York.
One, of the many, dream destinations to visit.
Loved your list!
I love New York. It can be a pricey city, depending on what you want to do, but there are definitely ways to save money and these are all great free suggestions. One of my favorite free museums I checked out was The Bronx Museum of the Arts. Great local museum with a lot of local art/artists – plus there’s free admission.
Thanks for the idea! Will have to check it out next time I’m there.
Lots of great options in this post! I had no idea that Lenon’s Strawberry Fields could be found in Central Park. And I’d love to visit the Met. My problem is that there is just so much to do in NYC that I never have time to do it all! This is a great list to start from though! 🙂
So true! There too many awesome things to do in the city and it’s so hard to narrow it down to a managable list!