Holidays in New York can overwhelm even the most blasé traveller. From skyscrapers to museums and department stores, New York is the city that does it bigger, louder and faster than any other. New York is best experienced at ground level where you can balance museums and sight-seeing with visits to pretzel carts and watching a neighbourhood basketball game. Manhattan is easy to navigate. It’s no more dangerous than the average city and New Yorkers speak English! However, every visitor needs to gaze at New York from on high at least once. You can take a helicopter ride or zoom up the iconic Empire State Building. The viewing platform at the Rockefeller Center is a few metres lower than the Empire State but the views are even more spectacular. To save queuing, book tickets beforehand. Accommodation in New York ranges from classy and famous hotels to ones that offer basic bedrooms for crashing after a day and night of high excitement. Wherever you find yourself on holiday in New York- from the increasingly middle-class and thriving neighbourhood of Harlem to the atmospheric Lower East Side just a half-hour subway ride away – the city will throw at you history, attitude and energy.
Shopping – but don't forget to factor in the sales tax
Energy
New trends – what’s hot in New York will soon be hot in Europe
Mediocre meals in the tourist traps on Times Square.
Most holidaymakers with a machine readable or biometric UK passport and a return or onward ticket can travel on the Visa Waiver scheme for stays of less than ninety days. It’s recommended that your passport has twelve months to run to the expiry date (visit www.fco.gov.uk for details).Tipping is a way of life. Double the tax part of your restaurant bill to know the amount you ought to leave. Tip a dollar a drink in a bar. Have a stash of dollar bills at hand to tip doormen, taxi drivers and chambermaids.
July and August can be very humid, making walking around uncomfortable. May, June, September and October are the most pleasant months. It can be bitterly cold in February and March.
Flights to New York from London take approx seven hours.
Driving is on the right. The subway is usually fine during the day and taxis are cheap.