New York day-by-day: Easy itineraries to maximize your visit

New York day-by-day: Easy itineraries to maximize your visit

ByABC News
June 12, 2008, 5:50 AM

— -- It's impossible to experience everything New York has to offer during a short stay. Even locals are always discovering something new in their native city! But we've pulled together what we consider to be the best itineraries for NYC visits from one to six days. Try them out, discuss them with your savvy traveler friends, and then add your own tips and tricks to help others get the most out of what's surely one of the most exciting urban areas anywhere.

If you have 1 or 2 days, you'll want to devote your time to visiting museums and iconic New York attractions, as well as that most New York of activities, shopping. I recommend bringing a comfortable (yet stylish this is a fashion capital, after all!) pair of walking shoes.

Day 1

Since museums tend to open earlier than stores, grab a coffee and bagel near where you're staying and head to the mother of all New York museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Plan to spend at least three hours wandering through the halls and exhibits that interest you most.

You'll probably have had your fill of art by lunchtime, when it's time to continue your strolling outdoors. Choose between walking into Central Park, directly behind the Met, from which you can walk all the way through the park, or down Fifth Ave, which runs directly parallel to the park, and where you can gaze into ornate multi-million dollar apartments and ancient mansions patrolled by the ubiquitous NYC doormen.

For a real taste of New York ladies who lunch, exit the park anywhere on the east side and walk one block east to Madison Ave. At 61st and Madison you'll find one of the city's most fabled department stores, Barneys. Before you peruse the merchandise, head up to the ninth floor for a spot of lunch at Fred's restaurant.

After you have your fill of food and finery, cut back one block west to Fifth Avenue and two blocks south to where Central Park ends at 59th St. Here you'll run smack into the newly renovated Plaza Hotel. Take a peek inside to see the renovated lobby and beautiful chandeliers. Then either cross the street to the Apple store's glass tower and the mega toy store FAO Schwartz, or continue south down Fifth Avenue, where you'll soon come upon Henri Bendel, Trump Tower, Gucci, Tiffany, and every chain store imaginable.

When your shopping stamina wears out, head for an early pre-theater dinner (of course, you've made reservations at least a week in advance!) at Anthos, rated one of the top 10 new restaurants by The New York Times (the chef, Michael Psilakis, was also nominated for a 2008 James Beard Award). Then, depending on your time and the state of your feet, either walk or cab it over to a Broadway show (for which you either bought tickets in advance or made a detour earlier in the day to the Times Square TKTS booth to pick up).

Day 2

Today you'll be up bright and early to see the most famous of all of NYC's attractions, the Statue of Liberty. You will have reserved tickets in advance at www.statuecruises.com for 9 a.m. or 9:30 a.m., which gives you access to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. (Get an early breakfast at your hotel or grab a coffee on the way; if you're really in a rush, there are concession stands on the ferries.) If you want to see both islands, you should allow about six hours; if this is your final day in the city, I recommend that you just see Liberty Island on this visit which will still take about three hours, including time on the ferry so that you can fit in some other New York attractions.

After returning to Manhattan at noon or 12:30pm, grab a cab up to the other must-see museum in New York, the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). The MOMA also contains one of the most-lauded restaurants in the city, The Modern, where chef Gabriel Kreuther prepares inventive seasonal American cuisine. After relaxing over lunch, spend a couple of hours admiring the contemporary art on display at this justly famous museum.

From the MOMA, it's a short walk over to Rockefeller Center (between 48th and 51st Streets and Fifth and Seventh Aves.) and Radio City Music Hall (if you so desire, you can take a tour, or just admire these iconic New York venues from the outside). It's another short stroll or cab ride to the Empire State Building. If you arrive around sunset, you can admire the transformation of the city skyline into a twinkling mass of lights from buildings and bridges.

The area around the Empire State is somewhat of a culinary wasteland, so walk four blocks west on 34th St. to Macy's department store, which tends to be open late, for either a peek at its famous window displays or some soothing retail therapy. When you've had your fill, head two blocks south down Broadway to 32nd St., where you'll find yourself in Koreatown, home of 24-hour Korean spas and delicious Korean barbecue joints. I recommend either Kum Gang San (49 West 32nd St.) or Gahm Mi Oak (43 West 32nd St.), and it's really hard to go wrong with the small side dishes (called "banchan") that come free with the meat, seafood or veggies that you often grill right at your table.

If you have any energy left over, go hear some cabaret in one of New York's famous venues. The Oak Room at the Algonquin (59 West 44th St., 212-840-6800) has shows at 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and 11:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; celebrated songstresses such as Barbara Cook and Eartha Kitt strut their stuff at Café Carlyle (35 East 76th St., 212-744-1600); and well-known performers like Rita Moreno and Bebe Neuwirth display their vocal talents at Feinstein's at Loews Regency (540 Park Ave., 212-339-4095).