Top 10 Things You Should Visit in New York without Breaking the Budget

Tomorrow my interview on the Expats Blog will be live so be sure to check it out, it was before I was sick so there’s funny in there :)… But today, I am sharing some budget friendly tourist ideas for seeing New York City. Ok let’s be honest… this is for you guys who come to New York and can’t do anything cos you spent all the money on your 8’x10′ box of a hotel room.

So here goes……..

New York City is a tourist Mecca. The place is fairly hoping day and night. Nothing shuts it down, well nothing short of 10-20 inches of snow but hey that brings a nice peace to it anyway. The problem is that it can be expensive. Here’s some ways to see the place without spending much. Call it the cheapskate tour.

1. Staten Island Ferry. Better than a Liberty/Harbour cruise and free When you come to New York of course you wanna see Lady Liberty. She’s the jewel of the New York Harbour. Unfortunately, to go over there can be an all day experience and you get shuffled through a security check strict enough to rival any airport. Not to mention the expense. For a nice boat ride on the Harbour and a cruise past Lady Liberty for free, you can jump on the Staten Island Ferry, They hardly ever crash these days and it’s a free ride. We love free….

2. Wall St, the Bull and the Financial District Walking around the Financial district is pretty cool, all the small cobblestone streets. The area has quite a history and of course, the Bull, everyone needs to go say Hi to the Bull. He gets all his power from the ball rubbings he receives, so go grab a handful.

3. Central Park, Carriage ride, Ice Skating You can spend days in Central Park and not see it all. There’s so much to see. It’s New York’s backyard. Beautiful in any season. You can Ice skate in the winter, take a horse and carriage ride anytime, go to the zoo, see many and varied buskers and performers and just enjoy the beauty of the park. 825 acres of spectacular, including children’s playgrounds along the edges. The park has everything for every one…It really deservess 2 points.

4. Union Square Farmers Market A local farmers market that has become so popular it is open 3 days a week. So much fresh produce is available and many unique Characters frequent the place. It’s a fun place to just bustle through and rub shoulders with the locals. You might even bump into a celebrity.

5. First Corinthians Baptist Church Harlem Gospel Experience Nestled in the Lower Harlem on 116th st and 7th ave, is the First Corinthians Baptist Church where they run services all day Sunday. The church is housed in a turn of the century building and boasts an authentic gospel choir. A must see and an easy subway ride from midtown …The church is free so stop in and enjoy. The services go all day.

6. Times Square Just do it.. but for God Sake walk faster, you tourists just get in the way ALL the time, so frustrating. (I might be local now) If you come at Christmas time and stay, you can see the ball drop for New Years Eve. The atmosphere is electric and the locals never go so there’s plenty of room for tourists. You’re sure to meet some great people. I hear you don’t have to pee in bottle or anything.

7.The Apple Store, 5th Avenue Stores Cruising through the Glass 5th Avenue Apple Store is a cool thing to do, buying something is a bonus but you can totally go in for a look around without spending anything, go on, I dare you 🙂

8.The Museums If you love museums then you need to see The Met, The Museum of Natural History and the other majors but you should know that the price is suggested…which means that you can just give them 5 bucks and you’re in.

9. Walk the Brooklyn Bridge If you come at the right time of year you can enjoy a pleasant stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge. It’s  a great way to see the skyline of the city and it’s a fun thing to do. It’s available all year round but the weather can be prohibitive in the colder months. But totally worth it. People leave love locks in the middle, so if you feel the need ,bring your padlock and lock up your love on the bridge… but not literally. You get arrested for that shit in NYC.

10. Empire State Building 34th St, Macy’s  The Empire State is worth a look of course and the Macy’s building, which is great shopping. If you’re a foreigner you can go to the visitors centre and get an 11% discount card, so you don’t pay the state taxes on your purchase. It’s easy to get lost but there are so many things to see and the old wooden escalators are a treat. The Rockerfeller Centre (Top of the Rock) is another look out point. It’s quicker and cheaper and you can see the Empire State. I always prefer that but…. Do the Empire State, just to say you have 🙂 It’s quite an experience.

Above all enjoy it. Don’t be scared to ride the subway. It’s totally safe. Bring walking shoes, you’ll do plenty of that and most of all have fun!

A Mother Life
Well looky here…how did it get to Hump Day again? I think someone is flicking the desk calendar over too fast. You know what hump day brings? The hook up! Come on you know you wanna link up..

Comments 13

  1. Linking up again today! We’ve been to NYC with the kids a few times, and I was happy to see we hit most of the things on your list. My favorite was walking across the Brooklyn Bridge – very cool.

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  2. I think I’ve done them all. Except the carriage ride. And I didn’t go skating in Central Park, but we did in Bryant Park which is free I think, but you have to pay for skates if you need to rent. Great list.

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  3. Love New York…and I’m lucky enough to live close by. I’ve done a lot of these and I agree…great list and everyone should do them at least once in their lifetime.

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  4. Great list of NYC activities! It’s true what you say–my cousins from Puerto Rico were complaining about how much their feet hurt and how quickly New Yorkers walk so definitely bring your walking shoes and walk a little faster than you normally do and you should fit in better!

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