New York City 3-day itinerary

Start on the Lower East Side with a coffee from Devocion on Grand Street. Walk through the Tenement Museum neighborhood — even the exterior tells stories of immigrant New York. Head into Chinatown via Canal Street for dim sum at Nom Wah Tea Parlor on Doyers Street, Manhattan's oldest dim sum house. Dumplings from $6, turnip cakes and shrimp rolls for under $8. The street itself has wild gangster history.

Walk to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum ($26 adults, $15 students). The memorial pools are free and profoundly moving — allow 20 minutes there alone. Then explore the Oculus transit hub, a Calatrava-designed marvel of white steel ribs. Walk Wall Street past the Stock Exchange and Federal Hall. Take the free Staten Island Ferry from Whitehall Terminal for Statue of Liberty views — 25 minutes each way.

Walk the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset — start from the Manhattan side for the unfolding skyline reveal. In DUMBO, grab a slice at Juliana's or L&B Spumoni Gardens if you venture further into Brooklyn. The waterfront at Main Street has the iconic Manhattan Bridge framed between brick warehouses. Then take the F train to the East Village for drinks on St. Marks Place or craft cocktails at Death & Co.

Enter Central Park at 72nd Street from the west. Walk Strawberry Fields, Bethesda Fountain, the Bow Bridge, and the Ramble — a wild 38-acre woodland in the middle of Manhattan. Exit on the east side at 82nd Street for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Met is pay-what-you-wish for NY residents but $30 for visitors — worth every cent. Focus on the Egyptian Temple of Dendur and the rooftop garden.

Walk down Fifth Avenue past the Guggenheim's spiral exterior. Continue to Rockefeller Center — Top of the Rock ($43) has unobstructed views including the Empire State Building, which you can't see from the Empire State Building. Pop into St. Patrick's Cathedral (free). Grand Central Terminal's Beaux-Arts ceiling and whispering gallery are free to explore. Lunch at the lower-level food court — Shake Shack or Xi'an Famous Foods for $10–15.

Walk through Times Square — chaotic, neon-drenched, and quintessentially New York. For Broadway, TKTS booth in Times Square sells same-day tickets at 20–50% off (cash and card accepted). Shows start at 7 or 8pm. If Broadway's too pricey, Off-Broadway shows on the Lower East Side start at $30–50. Post-show, grab late-night dollar dumplings at Vanessa's in Chinatown — open until midnight.

Start at Washington Square Park — street musicians, chess players, and NYU students under the marble arch. Walk the tree-lined streets of Greenwich Village where Bob Dylan played his first NYC gigs. Bleecker Street has some of the city's best coffee (Caffe Reggio, open since 1927) and vinyl record shops. Continue to the West Village for brunch — Buvette on Grove Street for a Parisian-style croque madame ($18).

Walk to Chelsea Market in the old Nabisco factory — a gourmet food hall with everything from tacos ($8) to lobster rolls ($22). Los Tacos No. 1 is the consensus favorite. Then step onto the High Line, a 1.45-mile elevated park built on a disused freight rail line. Walk north from Gansevoort Street, passing wildflower gardens, art installations, and framed views of the Hudson River and city skyline.

Subway to the East Village for the city's best bar scene. Start with craft cocktails at Please Don't Tell (PDT) — enter through a phone booth inside Crif Dogs hot dog shop on St. Marks Place (reservations essential). Then bar-hop down to the Lower East Side — Pianos, Arlene's Grocery, or Welcome to the Johnsons for cheap drinks and live music. Late-night slice at Prince Street Pizza — the pepperoni square is legendary.