New York City

Epicenter of the arts. Architectural darling. Dining and shopping capital. Trendsetter. New York City wears many crowns, and spreads an irresistible feast for all.

Nexus of the Arts

The Met, MoMA and the Guggenheim are just the beginning of a dizzying list of art-world icons. You’ll find museums devoted to everything from fin de siècle Vienna to medieval European treasures, and sprawling galleries filled with Japanese sculpture, postmodern American painting, Himalayan textiles and New York City lore. For a glimpse of current and future greats, delve into the cutting-edge galleries of Chelsea and the Lower East Side, with their festive opening-night parties (usually Thursday night if you want to join in), or head to new frontiers in Brooklyn and Queens.

Urban Wanderers

With its compact size and streets packed with eye candy of all sorts – architectural glories, vintage cafes, atmospheric booksellers – NYC is a wanderer’s delight. Crossing continents is as easy as walking a few avenues in this variegated city, where an estimated 800 languages are spoken. You can lose yourself in the crowds of Chinatown amid bright Buddhist temples and steaming noodle shops, then stroll up to Nolita for enticing boutiques and coffee tasting. Every neighborhood offers a dramatically different version of the city, from the 100-year-old Jewish delis of the Upper West Side to the meandering cobblestone lanes of Greenwich Village. And the best way to experience it is to walk its streets.

The Night Is Young

When the sun sinks slowly beyond the Hudson, New York transforms into one grand stage. This is a city of experimental theater, improv comedy, indie cinema, ballet, poetry, burlesque, jazz and so much more. Prohibition-era excess informs a stylishly retro bar scene. Pubs once frequented by longshoremen are preserved for new generations of drinkers. Harlem’s momentous drag balls paved the way for a phenomenally diverse LGBT+ scene. New York’s nightlife is inexhaustible: happy-hour specials melt into rooftop bars, acrobatic nightclub shows and after-hours parties, before you finally stagger into an all-night diner for pancakes. Try to keep up.

Culinary Capital

Hungry travelers have long been drawn to NYC. The city remains at the culinary cutting edge with striking fusion cuisine, innovative vegan dining, world-renowned mixologists and 76 Michelin-starred restaurants (and counting). A farm-to-table ethos continues to inspire menus you won't find anywhere else, using seasonally driven produce to mouth-watering effect. Boutique production methods lovingly create one-of-a-kind coffee and chocolate, as well as small-batch whiskey and craft beer. But a New York food odyssey needn't cost top dollar: sample legendary doughnuts and bagels, eat your fill in diners, hunt food trucks, or find your allegiance in the city’s pizza wars.